Ashlynn's Olympics 2014

This is one of my favorite things our school does. It is the Lincoln Olympics! It was started when Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002 and they have kept the tradition going since then. During our PTA meetings we were worried that we wouldn't be able to fit it in because our school was switched a traditional schedule this year and we did the Olympics in July instead of May. We were all excited that we were able go on with the games! I was at another event with Carter, but we were able to get away early to catch a few events of Ashlynn's. She was so excited to see us and cheer her on!

It was hot and sunny day but the kids had so much fun with all the activities!

Math & Science Olympiad 2014

Carter and his friend Cameron were also selected to participate in the Math and Science Olympiad for their school. Their event was the mystery architecture. They had to build the highest tower using paper and tape and had a time limit. When they found out this was their event the boys practiced during their recess and prep time for a whole month to make the perfect tower and they had it down to a science. So, an unfortunate event happened at the competition...their time limit was shortened to 12 minutes instead of 20 minutes. So, they did what they could and did not place in the event, but still had a awesome tower to be proud of. They still got to miss a day of school so they were excited for that!     

The PE Decathlon winners again..

Carter was selected again to participate in the 4th annual Davis School District Decathlon for the 2nd year. When he found out he was so excited to do it again. This is such a fun activity for the kids! As a fourth grader their team came in 4th and this year their team came in 3rd. They were given the bronze metal to show their achievement of winning. Their team had to do several events that you learn in PE through out the school year. Our PE teacher puts together the top 2 girls and top 2 boys from each grade starting at 4th grade. So, there are only 12 students from 4th-6th grade that can participate. So, that in itself is a hug accomplishment too. Their team did so good and we were all proud of their efforts! 

The 4th graders got 4th and the 6th graders got FIRST place..Yahoo! We all placed out of the 18 schools. We are the Lincoln Lynx!

Carter is back at it again..

Carter thought he might not play baseball again after having built a fear of being hit by a pitch by a player. He was so terrified after being hit last fall that he wouldn't bat during the rest of the season. After the fall season was over we pulled him off his competition level team and he had a choice to make because if even though he was one the best players he had to get over this fear to play again. 

He went to a hitting camp this winter and he started to build his confidence again.  He made the decision to play again and bat. So, here he is on another city league and he is very happy with his decision.

He was very nervous the first few times up to bat, but after a few games he is getting more confident with his batting skills. His last game he had 2 hits and scored both times!

 Carter has also have been working on his pitching and doing very well. Once this boy has his mind set on something he usually does it very well. I love this quality about him but it can be a little frustrating at the same time.

This decision he made to beat this fear and continue doing something he loves to do is a well learned life lesson for him. I hope that he can take this achievement and remember this feeling of conquering something that is hard in life. It may be a small thing now, but this is huge in his life now. We are so proud of him! We love to see him smile!

Cup Stacking Tournament

Carter was introduced to cup stacking in his PE class a couple of years ago and he would come home and want to use all the plastic cups in our cupboard to this cup stacking activity. We all thought he was crazy and just making things up. We then found out that this is real thing and they sell cups specially for this so, we bought him is own set that year and he practiced them every day.  

 Well...his PE teacher (which has incorporated this in her PE curriculum) knew he was the best in their school and very fast with the cup stacking formations. So, she encouraged him to participate in a Utah tournament in Ogden. He was so excited to attend and compete with others! 

 Here he is warming up...

 It is hard to see but they posted their scores up on the screen and at one point he was on top of the leader board. He ended up getting fourth in his division for the whole cycle. Wahoo!! 

 Here he is concentrating and doing the formations. It is hard to visualize what they have to do but there is a algorithm they have to follow and it is all about doing each algorithm the fastest and there of are a few rules about how the cups can be stacked. There is no way I could even attempt this!

He had so much fun at the tournament that when he came home he started stacking his own cups again. With him getting fourth in his division, he qualifies to attend another Junior Olympics tourney in Iowa. We probably won't be going, but what a another awesome talent he has.    

Ashlynn's Fairy Garden

We got this idea from the St. George Peterson's..A Fun Fairy Garden!

We went to the nursery and they had a good size section with lots of cute things to make a fairy garden. Ashlynn picked out all the things and this is what she created.

Blue rocks that make it look like a river with a cute bridge. There is also a picnic basket on a blanket.

 A cute little gnome,,.

 I love the fun chair, umbrella and tire swing...

She assembled this all by herself while the rest of us were working in the yard. She is such a creative girl! We have it on the front porch for all to enjoy.



Another sign of Spring...

We have a few trees around our house that hold some of these amazing things...nests with eggs. Matt found this medium size nest in our pine tree in the back and it had one cute little egg inside.

 This nest belongs to a dove and it amazes me that they can make these perfect nests out of twigs.

We are on the look out for the little bird that will hatch from this egg.  This is just another sign that Spring is here! Our grass is finally green and our trees are filling in from the winter.