Class Poetry Night

Mrs. Atkinson's class put on a poetry night at school. The kids have been working very hard on their writing skills since the beginning of the year. They each got to choose their favorite type of poem and do some creative writing. It was neat to see their different personalities come through.

Zoe was pretty nervous about it this afternoon. She does love being on stage, but she gets nervous when everyone's eyes are on her with the microphone in hand. She did a "Because" poem, titled "Ice Cream Cone" and she did a great job! Her voice was steady and she memorized the entire thing, never even having to look at her paper.
Mrs. Atkinson truly has a love of writing. Her passion for it is a huge influence on her students. Zoe sure does love her!

Want to buy some Girl Scout Cookies?

It's that time of year again! Zoe couldn't wait to get out and start selling Girl Scout Cookies this morning. This is one of her favorite things about being a Girl Scout. Her friend Heather had spent the night, so the two of them braved the neighborhood (being escorted by Joe of course). Her big goal this year is 185 boxes, but her more realistic goal is 130. At $4 a box, that is a lot! This year Girl Scouts has decided to do selling a little differently. We actually picked up the boxes early, so we can sell with boxes in hand instead of taking orders. We'll see how it goes!

Is it really the sun???

After 6 straight days of rain, hail, lightning, and thunder, we actually woke up to the sun shining this morning! What a beautiful sight. I actually enjoy the rainy weather, but was looking forward to going outside with the kids.

Cooper is a Trailblazer of the Month!

Cooper was awarded the Trailblazer of the Month Award for Academic Excellence! He got called up at Friday Flag Salute and was given his dog tag and high-5's from the student council.

Afterwards we went back to his class to hear the great things that Mrs. Falciano had to say about Cooper for his award:

I absolutely love having Cooper in my class. He's an all around great student and it is evident how dedicated he is to his learning. He is always focused and engaged during instruction and strives to go beyond my expectations in our class. Cooper loves a good challenge! He is also kind and a good friend to all his classmates. Way to Go Cooper! ~Mrs. Falciano


Congratulations Cooper...we are proud of your achievements this year! Keep up the good work!

So many celebrities...so little time!

I was lucky enough to get to be an official "seat filler" for the People's Choice Awards this year. Jenn was able to get me hooked up, so a group of us headed up to L.A. for a fun night out.

(Vickie, Feliza, me, Jenn, Joy, Erica)

There was A LOT of waiting, but the people watching was a blast! There were some pretty interesting outfits. We were told to wear either jeans with heels and a nice top, or a dress for a night out. It was funny to see what some of the 18 year olds tried to get away with wearing! We had a fun time scoping out the scene before we finally headed inside.
The seats are basically all up to chance as a seat filler, depending on where you are and when. Our original seats put us on the left side of the theater about 20 rows back. They weren't the best seats, but we still had a great view. A few of us snuck out to the lobby and went upstairs where we had a view of the red carpet. When walking back to our seats we got to go right past choreographer, Tyce Diorio and dancer, Katie, from So You Think You Can Dance. I was so thrilled, and excited to tell Zoe.
The show was a ton of fun and we couldn't believe everyone we got to see. We kept trying to get our casting guy to move us closer, and he finally gave in. For the last 20 minutes of the show, we were 4th row center. It was pretty neat to be so up close! Queen Latifah was the host and we saw so many people: Ellen, Mary J. Blige, Christian Slater, Chevy Chase, Jeff Probst, Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman, Hugh Laurie, Steve Carell, Rascall Flatts, George Lopez, Jessica Alba, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Mariah Carey, Ashton Kutcher, Colbie Caillat, Kate Walsh, James Denton, and of course, some Twilight guys: Taylor Lautner and Kellan Lutz. Of course, there were more, but those are the highlights!
After the show, we tried to stalk the after party, but no luck. So we headed home, stopping for a quick dinner on the way.

It sure was a fun night out! I was pretty star struck! Thanks Jenn (and Joy) for getting us in! :)

I think I'm too old for this...

Another day of snowboarding, but it didn't turn out nearly as great as usual. After the first 2 hours of the day, I took a really hard fall on my back. I eventually made it down the mountain, but I fractured my tail bone and bruised my bottom vertebrae pretty bad, so that was it for me. The kids enjoyed the rest of the day, although it was crowded so the lift lines were pretty long. Cole and Grandpa got to come with us today though, so it nice to have them along.


To top off the day there were huge traffic delays and the drive that normally takes less than 2 hours took 4 1/2 hours! It felt like the longest drive ever. The kids were so good in the car though, so at least that made it a bit more pleasant.
Hopefully this will be a quick recovery...I don't think I can stand being down for long.

Happy 2010!!

We spent a quiet night at home for our New Years celebration. I decided to take down all of our holiday decorations and clean the house yesterday, so after 12 hours, I was beat! The kids went over to the neighbors house for some banana splits after dinner and came home about 8:30. We celebrated the New York ball dropping at 9 o'clock, just in case we couldn't stay up until midnight. Zoe worked on some Legos earlier in the day and created this cute little sign for us!
Zoe has been anxiously waiting to change her earrings since getting her ears pierced. Since it has been just about 6 weeks, we thought New Years Eve would be a great time.
Unfortunately, she already has a bit of an infection in the back of one ear. Not sure how that happened since she is extremely diligent about cleaning them, but she has pretty sensitive skin. After some tears, and heavy duty cleaning, we got the new earrings in and she was a happy girl.

We were determined to say up, so we played some games and watched tv. The last hour the kids focused on their DS's to try to stay awake! Cooper started to doze at 11:30. Zoe, Daddy, and I stayed awake and made it until it was officially 2010. We dragged Cooper up to wish him a Happy New Year and then off to bed everyone went.

Happy New Year! Welcome 2010!