Spring Band Concert

All the 6th grade band students from all the elementary schools, plus all the 7th, 8th and high school bands in the district came together for a huge spring concert (which was their fundraiser for the year).  It was pretty neat.  They all did a great job and worked well together even though they only practiced a few hours all together earlier in the day.  Tyler really enjoys playing the trumpet.  He and his friend, Sam, who is next to him in the picture will get together every now and then and play together.  He has really improved since the beginning of the year!  Mom and Dad came down to watch him and my mom was so impressed and excited about the opportunities there are here for kids and music.  This is the second time I was impressed with how the community comes out to support the youth in the area.  Columbus is a great place to raise a family!

These are all the different grades together.

First Day of School!

WAAAAAY back on August 5th, they had their first day of school.  This is the last year they will all be at the same school.  I think I started the tradition of holding up the number of fingers for what grade they would be in because I am always so frazzled and unprepared the night before/morning of that I just am not organized enough to remember to write the famous "First day of ______" on a piece of paper and have them hold it up for a picture, so last minute I just had Tyler hold up 1 finger back when he was in 1st grade, and I still haven't been organized enough to do it, so the finger holding up has stuck.  The question is, what happens when they are in 11th grade? :)  Maybe then I will be more organized.

Tyler's last year in elementary school!!!

Morgan is in the grade that Tyler was when we moved here!

And little man Harrison wowed us with how easily he got on the bus and didn't cry ONCE! :)

Ready for a great year!

Makin' Grandpa proud

Tyler had to give a speech on a famous African-American who has been an influence to others, so he chose Colin Powell.  He had to dress up like the person he was reporting on and give the speech as if he was that person.  I called my dad up to see if we could borrow his army hat, and of course, he gave Tyler his army coat to wear as well.  I ironed it and we rolled up the sleeves for him to wear.  Too bad we didn't get the smell out - it was very musty and old smelling, but oh well!  It was kind of cool because my dad served in the Vietnam War and Colin Powell did too.  Tyler's teacher said he was very creative and did a great job.  I was impressed that he memorized his entire speech and knew it very well!

 Here Tyler is giving his speech to his grandma, grandpa, aunt and uncle.  They were all very impressed that he had memorized it so well. :)  Way to go, Tyler!

The Handy Hook

 

The 4th grade always has an Invention Convention in the spring.  Tyler's group decided to invent The Handy Hook.  It is to keep your jacket or backpack from falling onto the floor if it accidentally (or a bully does it! as they said :)   ) gets bumped and knocked off of the hook.  It is a clip that attaches to the hook on the wall.  They spent a lot of time drawing up plans, researching, making the poster and figuring out their presentation.  It was really fun to look at all the inventions the kids came up with!  One of my favorites (besides Tyler's of course!) was this clear plastic curtain that attached to your umbrella.  It hung all the way down to the ground, so you had your own little enclosure to stay completely dry in the rain!  Some weren't new inventions at all, but hey, they are 10 year olds, right?  Anyway, I was pretty impressed with what they came up with.  These boys are some good kids, so it was nice to see Tyler become better friends with them.

Gone fishin'

Some pretty proud little boys!

This next picture was a different day.  Harrison was the lucky guy and caught a HUGE bass!  Look how happy he is!  He truly is a born fisherman.  He is ready to go out with Kent at any given moment and will stay out as long as possible.  Of course, Tyler would stay out until the wee hours of the morning if he could as well.  I think he really enjoys hanging out with his dad though too.  And Kent usually enjoys the company - unless he is really in the mood to try and catch a muskee, which he never has yet, then he leaves Harrison at home so he can really concentrate. :)

 

 

Spring Soccer

At the beginning of the season I asked Tyler if he was excited to play this season and he said only if  he was on a winning team.  Um, well, too bad his wish didn't come true!  Their team lost all but one game and they tied that one.  Oh well, at least he had fun and he seemed to improve.  He had to miss half of his games though because he was sick for one, he had the DI competition another time and one got rained out and so they made it up on a Sunday, which we have a rule that we don't play sports on Sunday.  A couple years ago he missed a bunch b/c of sickness and rain.  That's the only thing about spring soccer.  It's pretty cold still and rainy.  Kent helped coach this season, which helped him get in shape more! :)  I can't believe how much older Tyler looks from the fall soccer pictures I took of him!

Destination Imagination

So, I am EXTREMELY behind, which has made me less enthused to try to catch up, but here it goes.


Tyler was on a team called Destination Imagination for school where the group of kids has to think up and put together, by themselves, a certain challenge.  Adults could help lead them along with their thinking by asking questions, but they had to come with the ideas and do all the work themselves.  The division Tyler's group was in was called Assembly Required.  They had to build something that would carry one of them from one place to another without using human strength.  They came up with the idea of a hovercraft sling-shotting them from "island" to "island" (they had to make up a story to go along with their idea and then act it out).  They actually made a hovercraft that worked!  It was pretty cool I must say.  Tyler was the one manning the hovercraft and did a great job at it.  They made Lego buildings to go with the story and added music played by one of the boys as well.  It took lots of Saturday mornings and evening practices, but it was such a great experience for Tyler.

So here is a quick run-down of the skit that Tyler made up:  It was extremely hot on Hot Island, so hot that the teachers were afraid the kids would get heat stroke once school let out and they were on their way home, so they called the Ice Man to help out because his truck was a hovercraft and could go over water AND land.  He had to go to Cold Island to mine the ice, take it to the snowcone factory, make enough snowcones for all the kids and teachers and bring the snow cones to them just in time for them to get out of school.  Pretty creative, huh?

Getting some last minute advice from the coach at District:

Coach Clark, Coach Thompson and team

 The school

The snowcone factory

Getting ready for the big event!

Setting up.  They used a shop-vac motor to blow air into the bottom of the hovercraft so it would hover. 

Here they are showing the judges what they did and how it all worked.  I guess funny hats are a big thing with DI.

 

 

They played music while they were waiting for everyone to finish up and start the awards ceremony, so it got all the kids dancing.  At first Tyler was a little hesitant to get involved, but then he really started enjoying himself!  It made ME want to get out there and get boogie-ing!

 

 

Tyler with one of his good friends, Clark

 

They made it to State!  Even though they didn't finish their entire skit and presentation within the 7 minutes, they got 3rd place and qualified for State.  They didn't make it to Nationals b/c of a few rules they didn't know about, but they finished the whole presentation at State and did an AWESOME job!  They worked SUPER hard and really worked their minds and learned so much about working together as a team.  He definitely learned a lot and I think it was a great experience for him.

 

Bio Bottle

Here is Tyler's bio bottle that he worked very hard on. In case you can't tell who it is, it is Thomas Jefferson. :) He had to make a sculpture out of a pop bottle as well as write a report and make a timeline about a famous American. I wish the picture wouldn't have been fuzzy - I need to try and do better at taking more than one picture for this very reason, but at least you can see it. It wasn't quite as fun as doing Morgan's library project, but I enjoyed helping Tyler and learning more about Thomas Jefferson. He got an A+! Way to go, Tyler!

Pinewood Derby Winner!

Tyler with his Alligator "funny" Pinewood Derby car - for all you girls out there who don't know what a funny car is, it is a car where the entire top lifts up so the driver can get in. Good info to know just in case. ;) Kent and Tyler worked really hard this year making a pretty awesome-looking car!

Ready for the race!

In first place BY FAR!!!

The winner!

Every time he raced he won first place. This is his happy dance because he was beaming with pride! It's a good thing too since last year he didn't even get to finish racing because his car had too much weight in the back and kept falling off the track and making all the other cars fall of the track too!

He won overall fastest! Way to go, Tyler! He qualified for District, and he was going to go, BUT Morgan ended up breaking her arm and had to get the cast on the same time as the District race, so due to scheduling conflicts Tyler had to forego his chance to win District. Poor guy, but at least he was a good sport about it.

Favorite big brother.

I can always count on Tyler to help out with Callie. He's really the only one that she will go to when it comes to her brothers and sisters. He's really good at snuggling with her and holding her when I need an extra hand. Of course, he has always been very responsible and one who is good at taking care of his younger siblings, even as a really little boy! I remember one time (and we have it on tape!) when Morgan was about Callie's age and I sat her on the dining room table. Tyler was sitting on the chair next to her and got this really worried tone in his voice and was afraid she was going to fall off and hurt herself. It was quite sweet AND amusing. :) I told him I wouldn't let her fall and get hurt, but you could tell he was really worried for her. He has always been the cautious one and is concerned for the physical welfare of others (mostly - unless he is wrestling them!). It is so nice to be able to have a helping hand around when Kent isn't home!

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

Happy 10th, Tyler!

Here are 10 things about Tyler:

1) He is a great big brother

2) He works hard in school and does well

3) He loves to read

4) He likes to keep his things organized and well-kept

5) He loves soccer and football

6) He makes friends easily and is nice to everyone

7) He has won the Citizenship award almost every year in school

8) He LOVES Star Wars and Superheros

9) He is allergic to Brazil nuts, hazel nuts, dust mites, and mold in the fields

10) He is in his DOUBLE DIGITS now!!!

We love you lots, Tyler and hope you have a wonderful day!

Love,

Dad, Mom, Morgan, Harrison, and Callie

Fall Soccer

Tyler was finally able to play a sport without having to worry about moving in the middle of the season. I have to admit I enjoy fall soccer MUCH better than spring. The weather is so much nicer!!!

He really enjoys playing. His team is definitely not a winning team, but that seems to always be his luck. He has been playing football at recess and says he really likes it, but I really hope he doesn't ask to play! Too dangerous for me. I'm just glad he gets out and plays a sport. He needs to get away from his video games and TV a little more!

He really has improved in the last few weeks with his blocking and being more aggressive. Way to go Tyler! He is pretty close in size to a lot of the boys on his team BUT he is one of the oldest ones! It goes from 7-9 years old in his league. I guess he'll grow someday!

The Taulman Mile.

Jackson, Alex, Tyler; he's off!; almost done!; recouping with an apple and water

Every year the kids' school has all the students run the "Taulman Mile". It was named for a retired PE teacher who I guess wanted the students to get in better shape and learn more about physical fitness. Anyway, they have been practicing for it all year and ran it a couple weeks ago. The teachers run it (one used roller blades this year!) and the parents are invited to run with their kids if they want to. My contribution was to hold Tyler's class sign so they would know where to meet afterwards. :) I thought it might rain because it did earlier in the day, but it cleared up and was actually really nice, besides a little humidity, for the race. I was so impressed and proud of Tyler and Morgan! This school definitely has so many neat activities that really help the kids become more well-rounded. I will miss not having them go to this school, but I've heard good things about the school in Columbus too.

ready and excited!; steady pace; almost done!; chowing down on an apple and water