Trombone Time

I can't believe that our oldest child is about to WRAP UP his first year at Middle School?!?! WOW! Time is just going so quickly. There were moments when I thought that these four young sons would never stop spitting up, or make it through another ear infection, or never stop spitting up, or never get tired of playing Thomas The Train, or never stop playing Legos, or or or...

Ben wanted to join the Band his first year of Middle School. Great! He chose the trombone and I kinda' winced at this decision (quietly). I envisioned loud, awful screeching, more loud brassy noise throughout the entire house for a mere 30 minutes EACH DAY! This was going to be interesting... (Would I have to "ban" him to the garage?)

Well, I'm still waiting for the above-mentioned! Ben plays remarkably! He plays by ear on his trombone (just like Glenn on the piano). It is amazing! You name it, he can play it on the trombone! Incredible. I LOVE IT! He plays so nice. It is wonderful to listen to - a trombone!

So, there are about 7 trombone players in the 6th grade. The boy we carpool with, Deanthony, is also a fellow trombone player. There is a girl, Jada, who is a trombone player too. These 3 compete for 1st chair each and every week. Who comes up first usually? Take a guess?! :)

The boys are excited that Jada will be switching Middle Schools next year. There has been a school boundary split. But I remind them that she will once again re-appear when they all get to High School! AUGH!


For competition this year the 6th grade band performed "The Tempest" and "Labyrinth." Ben has the links posted on his blog if you want to hear the band play. They received a I rating (first division), which is Superior, as in the best rating available! They also were named best in their class (out of all the other schools that participated). Good Deal!

And at the beginning of the year, he also signed up for an end-of-the-year solo contest. Basically, you go into a room and perform a piece of your choice in front of a judge. Ben did awesome and received a I rating. Good Job Ben! He also received the "Top Trombone Player" award for the Trombone Section in his grade. Nice Job!

SLC - 2010

We have a family tradition - when you turn 8 you get to go to Salt Lake City and go to General Conference (with Dad for now). General Conference is a church conference held twice a year (1st Sunday in April and October). Our prophet plus many other leaders speak to us at this time. (It's on television for those of us who don't go down to SLC.)

Since Nicholas turned 8 last year (right after General Conference was held) he had to wait till this year (April 3rd) to go. After conference they hit the slopes of Alta! They had a WONDERFUL time skiing! (We would never go to Conference in October; there may not be enough snow to go skiing!) Thanks for waiting NICK!

As for Christopher and Emma and I - well, we had fun going to Chuck-E-Cheese! Christopher also had a soccer game in there! Chris enjoys soccer and a few weeks back scored a goal from 1/2 field! The ball sailed up and over the other team and came down right in front of the goal and rolled in!! It was amazing!!! Coach was amazed!!! We know Christopher has some GREAT LEG POWER, but didn't know he could do that! Now he's faithfully practicing in the back yard - full on power house kicks! Watch out!

2009-2010 Gymnastics Overview

I didn't post much during Nicholas' gymnastics season. It was very very busy with every one's schedule. Yesterday Nicholas went to the North Texas State Championships. It was AWESOME!


Let's go back... The Friendship Invitational held in Allen, Texas back in February (2/6/10) was a great meet. Nick received 2nd place in the All-Around. He got a personal best of 15.6 in the rings. He scored another personal best in the pommel horse with a 15.7.


The Garland Classic held in Garland, Texas was in late February. Nick received 3rd place with an 88.6 in the All-Around. Eagle Gymnastics Team received 2nd place.

The Empire Last Chance was held in early March. Nick was 2nd place in the All-Around.



So, as you can see, Nick still brought home lots and lots of medals this season. I think he brings home, on average, 7 to 8 medals a meet. He has quite the collection! But I seem to keep asking him, "Nick, last year you brought home many more 1st place medals than you are this year. What's the scoop on this?" He always smiles! He assures me that the competition is harder. Last year he was in Level 4 which routines are much easier. This year he has practiced Level 5 routines. By the time the State Meet rolled around, he was able to polish off his floor routine with TWO BACK HANDSPRINGS! It was just awesome! He had his personal best on floor at the State Meet, scoring a 15.3! (Floor is hard for Nick! On the other hand, rings are NOT!)

As for the State Meet held yesterday, he scored in the 15s and a few 14s. Judging seemed tough. Competitors seemed really really good. He placed 4th in the All-Around (89.8). A team mate, Harrison, placed 3rd in the All-Around (90.0)!

There are 4 boys that compete in Level 5, ages 7 and 8, for Eagle Gymnastics. These four boys brought home the North Texas State Championship 1st Place (again). These same boys brought it home last season also! Good Job Team Eagle Gymnastics!

Harrison, Joshua, Zachary and Nicholas

My Emma Lee

I had the opportunity to visit Dear Friends in Utah a few weeks back (my b-day wish)! I was gone for 6 days and 5 nights. (Not that I was counting!) It was a SPLENDID time - FOR EVERYONE!

Glenn wanted to paint Emma's room ever since we landed in Dallas a few years ago. There had never been time. I am not a painter (not yet anyway) but someday want to tackle that project. Her room was dark, navy blue... each time I would just shake my head when I went into her dark cave.

But after 6 days and 5 nights... WA LA --

2009-10 Gymnastics Begins

Nick was able to compete in last Saturday's Empire Gymnastics Invitational in Euless "Useless" Texas (Hey, the announcer said it just that way! I'm sure he was joking.) When I asked Nick if he was ready to compete, he said, "Oh yeah!" And yes he was! The numbers show that he is at the start of the season - and has room for improvement BUT despite a few missteps on landings everything WENT GREAT! He came home with 3rd place in the All-Around (89.8) (1st place in All-Around was 91.2, 2nd place was 90.0.) 1st place in vault (15.0). 1st place tie in rings (15.2). 3rd place tie in p-bars (14.7). 4th place in pommel horse (15.0). 5th in both highbar (15.0) and floor (14.9). The boys who scored higher than Nick were from Empire Gymnastics and were a year older... competing in the same Level 5. We're not sure if he'll face them in the state meet in April, but until then, it's great competition! Here's a quick shot of his Pommel Horse Routine... Glenn placed the camera right infront of the horse and then went away... Nick did not know he was being videoed THAT close-up.

Happy Birthday Emma

Today Emma Lee turned FIVE YEARS YOUNG! We stuck with tradition - DOLL CAKE! We have this cake book and she looked through it many, many times this year, but still went with the doll cake. It is such a fun cake to make. It's so easy too!





She had a WONDERFUL time decorating it... and so did the brothers, EVEN THOUGH they want NO PART with a beautiful PINK doll cake!

More Happenings Before 2010

Tonight, this morning... I'm not sure what to call it...

I wanted to post a picture of our "UN" traditional Christmas Dinner! After our "UN" traditional Thanksgiving Dinner (steaks) we decided to keep with the "UN" tradition. For Christmas we had Baby Back Ribs... and they were tasty and so so easy.

When the kids woke up on Christmas morning, I put 3 racks of ribs into the crock-pot... poured on some BBQ sauce and by the time the PARTY was winding down... the ribs were ready to eat! (This is DEFINITELY the WAY TO GO!)

Each of the boys received a NERF Raiders-CS35 gun. This gun holds 35 bullets (in a round) and they shoot quite well. What I didn't realize when I purchased them, that they each came with an additional 100 bullets! That's 400+ bullets flying through our home! Fun, Fun, Fun! You can only imagine... a few years back we bought each of the boys a set of marbles. (Each container had 200 marbles... WHAT WERE WE THINKING!) We just haven't learned... but you know, it sure has been fun!



Here's a few additional photos from Christmas 2009: