Volleyball

Parker is playing Volleyball for Concord High.  He started off the year thinking he was going to play Golf in the Spring, then he decided he wanted to do Track after his successful Cross Country Season.  Finally, he decided on Volleyball with a little encouragement from his PE Teacher (who was also his Cross Country Coach, and is the Volleyball Coach).  He went to conditioning several days a week for a month or so and then had two weeks of tryouts.  He was excited when he found out that he made the Varsity team.

He's never played Volleyball before and is doing a great job.  They have a lot of Freshmen on JV and a couple of them made Varsity, so they should be pretty good in a couple of years.  The season has just begun, but already they're showing signs of improving.  A couple of weeks ago they had a Jamboree at Campolindo on Saturday.  Parker played the Varsity games in the morning and then stayed and played JV too since their setter had to leave.  He ended up playing 13 games that day (only 20 minutes each ... but still)!  He was pretty worn out when we got home!

Only problem with Volleyball is that he sacrifices his body for the ball.  His knees and elbows are pretty banged up.  He takes after his dad ... but that's what makes him a great athlete!

Congrats Parker!

Awesome job Parker!

Calissa's Science Fair Project

Calissa is in 4th grade this year, which means that she got to participate in the science fair at her school.  We talked about quite a few ideas for her project, but she ended up choosing: "Where is the best place to store bread?"

 Thank heavens for all those Monday holidays we had.  We were able to get started on it the end of January without adding it to a already full week of homework and activities.  We went to the store and bought Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread.  She decided where she was going to test out storing it.  Then, she labeled her Ziploc bags and put the bread in.

 She decided to test out the counter, in the sun (on her desk), in a dark cupboard, in the refrigerator and in the metal bread drawer.

 Then, she made a chart and we checked on them everyday.  And then we continued to check on them EVERYDAY!  Three weeks later there was still NO MOLD on ANY OF THEM!  Crazy, huh?  I figured since the bread was $5 a loaf, it wouldn't have a lot of preservatives.  Guess I should have bought a loaf at Trader Joe's!

 Calissa did about 75 percent of the typing herself. I just formatted and printed her things.  She cut and glued everything all by herself.  I did offer to help, but she refused.  She did a great job and we were proud of her hard work!

 Well, it was science in action.  Her conclusion was that if you want to buy bread that doesn't mold, buy Oroweat Country Buttermilk!  Who knows how long it would have lasted!

Happy Birthday Travis!

 Trav's birthday almost got overlooked this year.  If you'll notice, he is not blowing out candles on homemade cinnamon rolls.  Instead, he's blowing out candles on homemade coffee cake.  I had been so busy subbing and running the kids around, that I forgot that I make cinnamon rolls and that his birthday was that week.  (Well, I didn't really forget ... but when I was planning the menu for the week, I forgot!)  I was really tired the night before his birthday, but since coffee cake was on the menu for breakfast, I figured I'd better make it.  Once it was in the oven, I realized that I had made a mistake!  Travis said he didn't mind, but I do owe him some cinnamon rolls one day soon!

 Blowing out his birthday candles on Thursday morning!  He got a new suit for his birthday (which we had bought in January, but he didn't pick up until right after his birthday).  We had a crazy, busy day that day.  Calissa had Activity Days, Conner had Baseball Practice, Parker had Volleyball Practice and both the boys had a Basketball Game for Church.  Travis had visits to make, so we didn't even see him until about 9 that night.

For Sunday dinner he asked for Shells.  We went to the grocery store on Saturday and bought everything except for the CHEESE!  Which is a crucial ingredient for shells!  Luckily, Drew picked up some cheese for me when he was picking up this yummy chocolate cake for dessert. 

Here is Travis in his snazzy new suit.  Handsome, huh?

On Monday, we got to celebrate once more at Benihana with the family as well as Drew, Tina and Christopher.  We had lots of yummy food and a great time!

Hope you know how much we love and appreciate you Trav!  Happy Birthday!

100,000 miles!

We've been watching our mileage since we knew we were getting close to 100,000 miles on the Honda Odyssey.

We were close as we came home from church, and made it to 100,000 as I took Conner to collect Fast Offerings after church.  

We had to take pictures since dad wasn't with us.  Parker and Calissa came out to the car when we got home to see.  (It was still on 100,000 miles).  I don't know why this was so exciting, but it kind of was!

(Hopefully it lasts for a long time to come! What you can't see in this picture is the check engine light that's been on for months!)

Oakland Museum of California

On Thursday I got to go on a field trip with Calissa's class to the Oakland Museum of California.  It is a museum of California's history.  I had never been before, but it was a really nice museum.  Calissa's class was the only class there and they had 7 docents for only 30 kids.  They were in such small groups as they walked us around the museum that showed the early history of the Indians, Missions, Spain coming, and the Gold Rush.  After about an hour, we were let loose on our own to explore the rest of the museum which covered California up to the present day. We easily could have spent more time there, but as you know, we had a schedule to keep to.  After looking around, we went outside in their grass area to eat lunch.

Here is my group of kids.

Lawrence, Jonathan, Natalie, Calissa and Elise

It was a nice low-key field trip and I'm glad that I got to spend time with Calissa and her class!

Court of Honor

The boys had a Court of Honor last Wednesday and they each received a couple of merit badges.

 Conner received Citizenship in the Nation (required) and Shotgun Shooting and Rifle Shooting.

He's doing really great!

Parker received his Geo-Caching and Personal Fitness (required).  He only has two more to finish up and then he can work on his Eagle Project.  He's getting closer!

Way to go boys!