{E's past 8 weeks}

E has had a record 8 weeks.

Week 1: All school winner of the Geography bee (he beat the upper grammar and high schoolers!)

Week 6: 3rd Place winner in 3rd grade in the Science Fair

Week 8: 2nd Place Winner in the Pinewood Derby!

Way to go E! We sure are proud of you!

{3rd Place}

This must be E's year at school.

On Friday we found out he won 3rd place in the Science Fair for his grade level!!! He was so excited and happy. He was surprised again with the win, and so proud of himself. He worked really hard on this project and it was his FIRST big paper to write. He did all the research himself and I helped him do the outline and he wrote the rough draft all alone. It was wonderful. He did a great job on this project!

Way to go E!!

{Love poem}

So for all school devotional this morning, E's class was in charge of it. And since it is Valentine's Day they each shared a line of poetry that they had written last week.

It had to start: "Love is like" and they had to use personification. It was the most memorable devotional this year.

E's was:
          "Love is like food, on the table, speaking kindly words to my belly."

So So So Funny!!

{raingutter regatta}

This year we only had one boat to make for the big race.

So here is E with his custom designed and built boat!

{First Project of 2nd Grade}

This is E's first project in 2nd Grade. He needed to make an "All About Me" poster for his class. This was a great way for his teacher to get to know him and was an easy project for him to do the first week of school.

{Baptism}

Yesterday was E's baptism day. He was lucky enough to  be baptized on his actual birthday.

We were so lucky to have almost all our Apo Family attend and many of our Walker family come for the event.

We are so proud of the choices E has made so far and we are excited that he wants to continue making those good choices.

We missed all our friends and family who couldn't be here for the event and know that we were thinking of you.

Grandma and Grandpa

Apo Family

Walker Family

{The Last Game of the Fall And Awards}

It was E's last game. It got warmer so we weren't all freezing (remember we are in Vegas so freezing is below 60 degrees). It was a great season and E had a great time. It was his first season the "big field" so it was a challenge but he figured out how helpful it is to play the position you are put in so you don't run yourself ragged chasing the ball on the big field.

And the picture is horrible and my battery died so it was the only one I got that day.

Then the next Tuesday was his season closing party. E got another trophy and his coach, who we love, talked about how hard he worked and how for being the smallest on the team he did a great job. We had a really young team this year and I think they only lost 2 games all season...They did a great job!

{Jobs}

So in our house everyone has "jobs" to do. This summer a few new ones have been added to the list the boys can do on their own...which I am happy to report that laundry is one of them.

K can now load the washer, add soap and start it without assistance. So E sorts laundry and K loads and makes the switch to the dryer. E unloads the dryer and puts it on the blue couch where the boys sort, fold and hang their clothing.

This has changed my week!! They are really good at it and we have had no big laundry accidents yet...

I did tell them that when school starts again it will go back to being a Mom Job b/c they won't have all the extra time they have over the summer.

E has also gained more bathroom jobs. This is him cleaning the mirror this week. I thought it was funny that he was standing in the sink....he said he forgot about the mirror and did the counter first, then remembered and stood in the sink since he hadn't cleaned that yet. Very resourceful I think!

Afterthought...okay so I am not making them do the whole house's laundry just thier own. And they like it.....really they do. They have said to me how easy the job is but it is a lot of trying to remember to get it in the dryer later. They have had nights where they have no clean jammies b/c they forgot to switch it over to the dryer. Learning from little mistakes now is good I hope.

{first time goalie}

In goal for the first time ever...

won't touch the ball with his hands...

and figured out it is pretty boring when the

ball is on the other side of the field....

but loves to "do goal kicks!"

{first game of the season}

Ehan lives and breathes soccer when we are playing. His love is spreading into basketball, which he has informed us he will play next season...I think that in Vegas you can play in the summer or winter....so we will have a season of soccer followed by basketball then back to soccer again. Welcome to the world of a boy who loves sports!

Anyways....Chad is coaching this time and E. loves it. It is a 5/6 year old league that plays on a half field, with 4 on the field at a time and this year a goalie. This goalie thing is new and confusing for the kiddos. Some now want to pick up the ball the time and others refuse to use their hands while in goal. So it will be fun.

The greatest part is watching the ones who just run the other direction all the time. I have never yelled "turn around" or "go the other way" so many times. I really love this age group soccer better than the older kids. We laugh a lot and everyone wins! I will be sad when he is out of this league and moves up tot he more serious one next season!

Here's our boy in action!

Spelling Sentances

Almost every night E has to write his spelling words 4 times each and a sentence for each word. Most of the time he is right on top of it and needs a little help with the sentences. One day about two weeks ago he sat down and did all his homework without a peep...never asking for help...and I didn't think anything about it.

So when Monday rolled around and we were getting ready for school the next day, I looked over his homework packet to make sure it was all done. And I was reading over his sentences and found this one...

"I am white."

The spelling word was white. I was laughing so hard! And of course showed it to Chad.

You see when E was born he was very "white" compared to our first baby. E was blond haired, blue eyed, and very white skin. K was dark headed, dark eyes, and darker skin. So we have always lovingly called E our "white baby" especially in the summer when I have to consciously remember to lather him in sunscreen all the time.

So for him to write this sentence was too funny!

Only here...

So this is what Ethan brought into the house today after jumping on the trampoline...

Sorry it's so blurry

You see we plant our garden in February every year and usually by July everything is dead. this year the tomatoes have made a come back and seem to have survived our two days of snow last week. Only Ethan eats tomatoes in this household so he was very happy to get a few more.

Ethans First Reciation

For part of the class party Ethan had to memorize a poem to present in front of the class. He was so ready and so proud of himself when he was done. He was the only one to not need help and to just get up and do it without being poked and prodded. It was a great moment!!

Oh....the poem he did was called "If you talk to a Monkey" by Rowena Bennett.

If you talk to a monkey

he seems very wise.

he scratches his head

and blinks both eyes.

but he won't say a word

he just swings on a rail

and makes a big question mark out of his tail.

The end of the season...the soccer season....

Saturday late morning was the day appointed for Ethan's end of season Soccer party and since it is freezing cold here {it is under 60...go ahead and laugh...but we are freezing} we went with the team to Peter Piper Pizza.

And Ethan got to be with his teammates, eat pizza, play arcade games and get a trophy.

Here is a picture of him and his coach this year. He was Kaden's coach last year and we love his style of coaching and his great philosophy that you don't' make the kids hate the sport and force them into anything, or yell at them for mistakes or for not winning. He is all about the fun of the game. being a good sport, and the love of the game. We are so lucky to have found a great coach for these past two seasons.

And next year we will have a great coach next season...Chad plans on coaching.

Ethan's Badge

Ethan was so proud of himself when I picked him up from school on Tuesday. He got into the car and immediately asked if I noticed his "badge" that he got for voting. I asked what they were voting for he said "president" like I was really dumb. So I asked who he voted for to which he said "McCain".

Then we get home and he shows Chad the "badge" and Chad asks "who did you vote for?" To which Ethan answered "Obama"

I think our child doesn't know who he voted for but he was sure that the "score" was 7 to 3. But he doesn't know who won either.

Get in Love

So to my great joy Ethan is studying Shakespeare's plays in school this year. Imagine 1st graders trying to learn Shakespeare. I took a great class my 2nd year in college that was all Shakespeare and I loved it! So this thrills me that he is coming home with these stories to share.

(Add another reason to the list of things I love about our school)

Here is the first one he came home with....

Ethan calls this one "the ALL play"

And it goes like this (Ethan's version)

"there is this King and he kicks out this girl and the girls helper. The girl is named Roseline and her girl helper is someone I don't know. But that Orlando and this boy get in a wrestling match and then Orlando and Roseline get in love"

"get in love" I love that part....somehow love comes and you just get it. No falling in love in this boys mind...he was more focused on the wrestling part. Love was a side note.

Than this week he came home with "Romeo and Juliet the sock puppets" (that is Ethan's title)

It goes like this "there is a boy Romeo and in my story he has a cape and Julia or Julie or something like that, she has long hair. And their families are fighting but no one knows why and than Julia calls for Romeo from her window and Romeo hears her and they get in love. And then they die."

More getting in love....happens a lot in these stories!

BIg Day for Ethan

Ethan Scored His FIRST GOAL EVER TODAY

&

He LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH!!

Number 5

This soccer season our Ethan is #5. Saturday was his first game on Team Shakers. They have grey shirts and they play 4 on 4 with no score keeping.

This year seems like the kids understand the sport a bit more as there is more kicking of the ball and less of a jumble of kids in one spot for most of the game.

Ethan is more aggressive and touched the ball more in this game than he did all last season.

He told me that he thinks he will play soccer "for-e-ver"