Courtney's Field Day

Courtney had field day today.  They needed volunteers so I helped out.  Because of that, I only got to see a few of her events, but she had a great time.  The sprinklers went on three times during the competitions, which caused a lot of squeals and kids to run for cover.  But everyone enjoyed having the water to cool them off.  It was a warm day!

Here are some photos from her events.

This is their home-made drinking fountain made from a media cart, some tubing and a
hose.

 Here she is falling in the three-legged race:

 Getting ready for the three-legged race:

 Running the 50 yard dash (she came in 4th):

 This is the softball throw:

She is finished!

It was a fun morning! 

Ethan Rode a Horse

Ethan's piano teacher has horses. She came up with a great reward for her students who practice...they get to go on a horseback ride through Snow Canyon State Park! Ethan worked hard and earned the reward but wasn't sure he wanted to ride the horses or not. She set up a time to take 3 of her students and Ethan decided he would be okay to go. It was cold and windy but he didn't want to take a coat...the red coat he is wearing is because his teacher gave it to him and told him to wear it.

He had a lot of fun riding through Snow Canyon! He was saddle sore and the ride was 1 1/2 hours long, but he loved it. He has now earned another ride which she is going to take him on soon.

Here is the video of Ethan riding (it's jiggly because his teacher is on a horse too):



Here are some photos she sent us too:

Ethan's Reward

Ethan's teacher has a rewards program for learning times tables and division. She uses a program called Rocket Math. Each day they spend 2 minutes practicing times tables then she gives them 1 minute to do a test. They have a goal and, if they make their goal, they move on to the next level. The levels are lettered A through W. If a student doesn't get their goal, they repeat that test the next day.

Last week Ethan passed his times tables off and he was given a HUGE candy bar as a reward. He was given his reward at school and this is all that was left of it when I saw it after school. Although he didn't eat it alone. Courtney needed help on her homework and I was teaching piano so Ethan helped Courtney. I heard him tell her that if she got a problem on her homework correct then he would give her a piece of candy. I don't think she has ever worked that hard on her homework before. ;)

Now he is working on division and hoping to get another candy bar! Great job Ethan!!

Dance Competition

Last Saturday, Courtney had a dance competition at Dixie State...and it was a LONG day. There were about 20 dance companies and over 250 dances. Most of the groups were from the Salt Lake and Utah County areas. A few were from St. George but most were here on their Spring Break.

Courtney was in three dances - two of those were with her Kindergarten through 2nd grade group and the other was her Lil' All Star dance with the older girls. They split the competition up into age categories so her dances with the K-2nd group were in the morning (8 and 11:10) but her dance with the older girls was at 10:05 p.m.

We went to the first two dance and then I took Courtney to lunch. I brought her home, hoping that she would take a nap so she wouldn't be miserable at night. I forgot that this is Courtney we are dealing with. No nap was taken and by 7:30 she was wanting to go to the competition and watch the other dances.

I got her ready and we went to the competition while the boys stayed home and slept. She was pretty tired but excited to be dancing with the big girls. When their turn finally came around they nailed it!! It was the best I have seen them perform the dance.

We didn't stay around for the awards ceremony because it was so late but Courtney's dance instructor emailed us. The K-2nd grade group were given a 1st place on their lyrical routine and 2nd place on their jazz routine. The Lil' All Stars/All Stars routine was given 1st place!! I was so excited. They worked hard. Now all we have is her end of the year review and dance is finished for another year.

Here are some photos from the late performance (I didn't get any of her earlier dances because I was on the wrong side of the gym).

Look at her big smile!
Pretty pose:
With her trophy:

Soccer Boy

Ethan has been playing soccer and, I think, he has been enjoying it. He likes playing goalie. He loves playing without glasses on.

Here are some photos from his latest game: (he is #8)

Hilarious Soccer Courtney

Courtney is absolutely hilarious when she plays soccer. Her coach put her in as a goalie for the first half of the game last night and she was dancing around, sliding back and forth, and telling everyone where to stand. It was so funny.

During the second half of the game she was taking a break for a few minutes on the sideline and she and her friend, McKaye, decided to try and "trick" the other team. Courtney's team is pink (the Pink Panthers) and the other team was blue. Courtney and McKaye began yelling "Go blue team! Go blue team!!" as loud as they could. The soccer ball was near the other teams goal and a girl on the blue team stole the ball and began trying to kick it away from the goal. Suddenly, Courtney and McKaye began yelling their "Go blue team!" cheer. The girl with the ball (on the other team) looked up and was distracted by them just enough for our team to steal the ball and make an easy goal. Those two girls went nuts!!! Their plan had worked. It was so funny.

Here is a video of Courtney in the goalie box calling a play-by-play on herself. The sound isn't great because the wind was blowing but she is saying things like "now I go to this side to stop the ball" etc. She is so funny because she coaches, sings, dances and generally loves playing soccer!

Courtney's Recital

Courtney had her very first piano recital last night. She hasn't really been taking lessons from me but she has learned a few songs and doesn't every shy away from the spotlight. I never want to discourage her so she was in my recital. She did a great job. She was a bit nervous at the beginning and messed up a bit, but she did GREAT!!

I can't figure out how to rotate the video so you'll have to lie down to watch it. ;)