Everybody Was Too Hot

Well thank goodness I wasn't the only one who was too hot at soccer!

 

We still had 2 games we needed to make up, but the soccer league pretty much said "just forget about it".

Sounds good to me.

 

Kyle and Reed's little team was actually pretty good.  They won all their games, and though we weren't supposed to keep score, JR always did. 

 

 

So here's to spring soccer that quickly felt too much like summer soccer!

(We celebrated at Dairy Queen.)

Nothing Like Storage Wars

Every year the 4th grade does a "points for pages" auction.  Every page you read gets you a point, and at the end of the year, you get to buy things with your points at a live auction.

 

 

JR's teacher let him count all the books he read in Denver (which would have been more if he'd known he'd get to use them to buy stuff) and he wound up with 10,376 points for the auction.

 

 

The kids were super excited about the auction and the ones that watch Storage Wars (like JR) were planning to run up the prices.  (They were told they would not be allowed to bid on the next 5 items if they did that.)

 

 

JR also asked if they could say "yep" to show they were bidding (like Dave Hester does on Storage Wars) but they were told the same thing.

 

 

 

So with no "yeps" and just a paddle for bidding, the kids entered to find the auction items set up. 

 Just look at all this cool stuff (over 200 items)!

I was a point keeper (so this was my view).  I had about 6 kids I was in charge of.  I kept track of what they bought, and how many points they had left to spend.

Sometimes they would try to bid more than they had, so I had to stop them.

There was 1 ipad up for auction and the kids really couldn't get into the grove until that came up.

The kids that thought they might have a chance at it wouldn't bid at all.

The girl who had the most points had 26,000 and they knew she wanted it, but JR wasn't going to let her have it without paying for it.

 

 

When the ipad went up, all the paddles shot up, but JR called out, "All in!"

JR had the most points of any boy, and was in the top 5 of all the kids.

 

 

JR put up all his 10,376, so she had to out bid him, which she did.  She got the ipad (I think she had to pay 10,500), but he brought her down to where she had about as many points as the top 5 kids.

 

(And yes, I think she totally deserved the ipad. She read the most, so she should get it.)

 

 

It was fun to see what the kids would get into heated bids over (Nerf guns and a Sharknado poster),

but when the smoke cleared JR walked away with:

-a $10 itunes gift card

-a $15 itunes gift card

-a $15 Target gift card

-a $25 Game Stop gift card

-a hardback copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. (He wanted the hardback for his collection.)

-a Duck Dynasty board game

-a homework pass

-a Chick-fil-A lunch this Friday at school for himself and a friend where they will sit at a special reserved table and also have a special dessert (he's picked his friend, Olivia)

 

 

And what he's most excited about....

 

That's right, it's a snow cone machine. (We've already made snow cones twice.)

 

 

 

All the kids after the auction with their winnings.

It really was the most fun I've had at school in a long time!

So Xylophones are Making a Comeback

 If having JR's first performance of Seussical wasn't enough for a Thursday night, it was also the night of the kids' school Spring Concert. 

 

Obviously JR told them he wouldn't be in the show, but Kyle and Reed were super excited about playing the xylophones.

 

 

Can you see Kyle and Reed back there? 
Reed is 2nd from the left in a blue shirt and Kyle is standing next to him on the front row.

 

The little boy next to Reed (with his arms crossed) got quite the earful from him during practice. According to Reed, the little boy was being silly.

 

Reed told me he said to him, "Do you plan on acting like this for the real show?"

 So much fun to hear your own words come out of your child's mouth.

 

 

I couldn't see Reed from where I was sitting, but I had a great shot of Kyle.

(front and center, yellow shirt).

 

I'll spare you the video footage. You can thank me later.

"Seussical the Musical" by Horton's Mom

It was a very busy week and weekend, and we were happy to finish up the 2nd performance of Seussical the Musical yesterday.

 

JR really has a knack for playing the "poor, pitiful, mistreated hero", and his Horton the Elephant was no exception.  I thought he did a fantastic job.  Seussical is a hard script, as almost every line is sung, and he was onstage almost the whole time.

 

 

We weren't allowed to video, and I don't know the directors at this theater well enough to just ignore the rules, so all I have to show are pictures.

 

 

So if you haven't seen the show, the best way to describe it is that they took the books Horton Hatches the Egg and Horton Hears a Who and kind of smushed them together into a show. 

Then there are other Dr. Seuss characters who are worked into those stories with the Cat in the Hat as the narrator.

 

 

Here's my best at walking you through it:

 

 

Opening song: Oh the Thinks you can Think (also a title of a Dr. Seuss book)

Horton enjoying the cool of the pool in the Jungle of Nool with Mayzie La Bird in the background.

 

Hearing the "Help!" of the Whos.

Horton (with the Bird Girls as back-up singers) save the Whos and place them on a clover.

 

 

 

 

All the other animals laugh at Horton for "talking to a speck of dust".

Singing Alone in the Universe.

 

 

 

 

 

The Wickersham brothers make fun of him and steal the clover with the Whos.

 

 

Gertrude shows off her new, big tail like Mayzie's so Horton will notice her (he doesn't, he keeps looking for the clover). 

Mayzie about to convince Horton to sit on her nest

(she was down in Fort Worth where she met Tweat McFirth, he flew off to San Juan and left her with the egg).

 

 

 

Horton sitting on Mayzie's egg.

 

Gertrude got rid of her tail and found Horton's Whos for him. (He finally notices her.)

 

Horton goes on trial for "talking to a speck, disturbing the peace, and loitering on an egg". 

Here he awaits the verdict from Judge Yertle the Turtle

Gertrude and Horton trying to save the Whos from being boiled in a hot steaming kettle of beezlenut oil.

(Those are the Whos with The Grinch..he's a Who too! Who knew?)

Everyone finally hears the Whos and The Sour Kangaroo says she will help Horton take care of them. 

(Horton doesn't look like he believes her in this picture, but why would he...she's called him "the biggest blame fool in the Jungle of the Nool" the entire show).

 

Everyone is happy, and start the last song and dance number.

 

 Dancing and singing ensue.

And Horton finally gets to meet JoJo the Who, who he's been talking to (even sang a duet with), but never sees until now.

End Show.

Fashion Fabulous Friday

 

 

This picture of us at the JDF ball arrived in the mail this week.

It was a nice surprise, especially since we don't have many pictures of us looking so fancy.

Fabulous indeed.

Reed will Make Sure You are Appreciated

So it looks like saving all JR's projects for Kyle might be a waste of time since Reed's going to be doing all Kyle's work anyway.

 

 

It's teacher appreciation week, and Reed drew the most beautiful picture of his teacher. 

(His teacher is Asian, so she has that awesome Asian hair.) 

Reed drew her with gorgeous flowing black locks and side swept bangs.

Big full lips and long eyelashes.

 

 

He then surrounded her with hearts and flowers.  She looks like something out of Disney cartoon.

(I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it!) 

 

 

I told Reed, "Don't fold it so it will look smooth when she's frames it."  Reed asked how did I know she's frame it. "Um, because if anybody drew me with hair like that, I'd frame it!"

 

 

 

Reed then drew a picture of his P.E. coach (because he really likes him) and when he was finished with all that, started worrying that Kyle was watching Spy Kids and not drawing pictures.

 

 

 

Reed was so concerned that Kyle's teacher wasn't going to get a picture of herself from Kyle that he took it upon himself to do it. 

He said, "Should I draw it like Kyle would draw it?" 

 

 

I told him no, Kyle's teacher would know Kyle didn't do it no matter what he did.

 

 

Here's what he came up with for Kyle's teacher. Cracks me up.

Kyle definitely scored the best twin ever!

Baptism (by what felt like literal) Fire

It rains a lot in Houston. 

(You wouldn't know that from talking to my parents because they can never get enough rain).

But, yes, most people would say that we get a lot of rain.

 

 

It seems to have rained every Sunday in soccer season, so here we are in hot and humid May, trying to make up soccer games at 1:00 and 2:00 in the afternoon.

 

 

Ya know what you normally do in Texas at 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon May-September?

You stay inside in the air-conditioning.

(You actually go in about 9:00 AM and don't come out til 7:00 PM.)

 

 

I thought my poor Colorado babies were going to die, but they held their own, and they didn't look anymore hot and sweaty as the "used to it" Texans.

 

You can almost see how red Reed's face was in this one.

Despite the heat, they've gotten where they can really kick the ball. 

These are pictures of balls they have just kicked (not balls headed toward them). I'm always impressed when the ball goes flying across the field off the ground.

Our poor children drained the 3 water bottles we brought, so Jason and I went right out and bought them a half gallon water jug.  Maybe that will get them through the next game.