Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas Morning
Is there anything better than Christmas morning? The look on the kids faces after the gifts they have received is incredible. What we enjoy the most is the kids are truly thankful for anything they receive. They don't take it for granted. This is our favorite time of year. We have a lot going on today...over to Nana & Papa's for Christmas and dinner. Hope everyone has a safe and merry Christmas.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Eve
It's finally Christmas Eve and we are excited about tomorrow! We have had a great couple of days leading up to Christmas. We have gotten to spend a lot of time with family hanging out. We had a makeover party a couple of days ago. The girls had so much fun and looked considerably older with makeup. We went to Nana & Papa's house yesterday for enchiladas (they were incredible). Today, everyone came over to our house to decorate cookies for Santa. Everyone had a great time. Some very creative people designing cookies I tell ya. Erin ate one of my favorites...still not sure how she got icing behind her head. Guess will have to chalk that up to one of the great mysteries of life. We are settling to go to bed so the big guy can come visit. Hope everyone has a GREAT Christmas eve and a better Christmas day.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Christmas Break
It's been so long since I've updated the blog, I may have forgotten how. Things have been incredibly busy at the Chavez house. Thank God we made it to Christmas break. Here's a rundown on what's up with each...
Erin - Erin is doing great! She loves school and her teacher, Mrs. Gauna. Erin and Dad have read all of the Junie B. Jones books through 1st grade. We have to look and see if they have any Junie B. Jones 2nd grader books. Erin is still loving her dance classes (hip-hop, ballet, and tap). Erin is doing really well with gymnastics - she is looking good with her handstand snap-down. Erin keeps talking about taking karate. We may try and do that as a family if we can find the time to wedge it in.
Emily - Em has been a little lost with soccer season being over. She's used to going to practice twice a week and rushing around those days to get everything done. Can't tell you how nice it's been not to squeeze practice in during the weeks. Em's team played in a couple of tournaments and did pretty well. Em competed in the ready writing UIL competition and she finished 5th overall. We were really proud of her (she still believes she should win everything). Em is busy with Christmas parties with her new friends and buddies from the soccer team. The girl has a crazy social calendar to make up for soccer.
Elizabeth - E is doing great. Looks like she will finish the semester on the National Junior Honor Society again for all A's. Her spanish class was a struggle. The teacher speaks broken English, so it's hard to understand him. He's a nice guy, and he loves E. E's basketball team played in a couple of tournaments (won 1 and placed 2nd in the other). E is having fun playing. Burdened with the Chavez height, it's not looking like she will be able to dunk the ball anytime soon. E is still 1st chair in band. She had a solo during the Christmas concert - sounded terrific.
Melinda - nobody is more ready for the Christmas break than Melinda. She is still involved in too much. She is looking forward to relaxing at home for a while.
Eric - Eric has been on Christmas break for a week, but hasn't stopped working. His new territory in Fort Worth looks like it will take most of his time. Eric is looking forward to spending time with the family and not dealing with work.
For those interested, we did make a decision about schools for the girls. All of the girls will be attending Academy in January. Emily has really enjoyed being there and we were advised to make the move soon. Starting the girls in January will give Elizabeth a chance to tryout for high school cheerleader. We took a tour of the middle school with E. She's nervous about the change from her friends, but it's the best. Erin got to tour the elementary school and found someone she knew from Emily's soccer team (another younger sister, Reagan). Erin had her class Christmas party today, & her teacher was upset Erin is leaving. We are looking forward to making new friends in Academy, and not losing touch with our close friends now. Wish us luck in the new year!
Erin - Erin is doing great! She loves school and her teacher, Mrs. Gauna. Erin and Dad have read all of the Junie B. Jones books through 1st grade. We have to look and see if they have any Junie B. Jones 2nd grader books. Erin is still loving her dance classes (hip-hop, ballet, and tap). Erin is doing really well with gymnastics - she is looking good with her handstand snap-down. Erin keeps talking about taking karate. We may try and do that as a family if we can find the time to wedge it in.
Emily - Em has been a little lost with soccer season being over. She's used to going to practice twice a week and rushing around those days to get everything done. Can't tell you how nice it's been not to squeeze practice in during the weeks. Em's team played in a couple of tournaments and did pretty well. Em competed in the ready writing UIL competition and she finished 5th overall. We were really proud of her (she still believes she should win everything). Em is busy with Christmas parties with her new friends and buddies from the soccer team. The girl has a crazy social calendar to make up for soccer.
Elizabeth - E is doing great. Looks like she will finish the semester on the National Junior Honor Society again for all A's. Her spanish class was a struggle. The teacher speaks broken English, so it's hard to understand him. He's a nice guy, and he loves E. E's basketball team played in a couple of tournaments (won 1 and placed 2nd in the other). E is having fun playing. Burdened with the Chavez height, it's not looking like she will be able to dunk the ball anytime soon. E is still 1st chair in band. She had a solo during the Christmas concert - sounded terrific.
Melinda - nobody is more ready for the Christmas break than Melinda. She is still involved in too much. She is looking forward to relaxing at home for a while.
Eric - Eric has been on Christmas break for a week, but hasn't stopped working. His new territory in Fort Worth looks like it will take most of his time. Eric is looking forward to spending time with the family and not dealing with work.
For those interested, we did make a decision about schools for the girls. All of the girls will be attending Academy in January. Emily has really enjoyed being there and we were advised to make the move soon. Starting the girls in January will give Elizabeth a chance to tryout for high school cheerleader. We took a tour of the middle school with E. She's nervous about the change from her friends, but it's the best. Erin got to tour the elementary school and found someone she knew from Emily's soccer team (another younger sister, Reagan). Erin had her class Christmas party today, & her teacher was upset Erin is leaving. We are looking forward to making new friends in Academy, and not losing touch with our close friends now. Wish us luck in the new year!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
We have been so caught up in the daily routine, someone forgot to update the blog. So here are some of the latest tidbits:
Erin - Erin was very excited about Halloween. She kept going back and forth on which costume to go with. She finally settled on Sharpay. For those of you not in the know (like me), Sharpay is a character from High School Musical. We saw High School Musical 3 at the movies, and it sealed the deal for Erin. She can sing just about every song from the soundtrack to you if she's "feelin' it". Erin is in the middle of her dance classes. That's right, classes. Erin is taking tap & ballet. She is also taking hip-hop. She is a busy girl on Thursdays. She was so excited and showed Dad some of the moves they were going over in her tap class in the entry way to our house. If the dance studio sounds that cool, it must be a lot of fun. Erin is doing great at school. She set the goal of 250 AR points for the year. If she gets to 250 points, she gets to be principal for the day. Erin likes to be in charge.
Emily - Emily had a couple of options for Halloween. She was invited to go to a couple of parties, but opted to hang with the family. She went as Athena. She had the toga and gold leaves. Looked cool. Tried to get her to channel Belushi with "Toga, Toga", but she got a couple of looks like she was losing it. She stopped not long after that. Em is having fun with her soccer team. She is playing well and gets along great with the other girls. Em got a new pair of soccer shoes with her #15 on them. She got an assist with her new shoes in her team's 1-1 tie. Em is doing really well in school. She has decided to tackle the UIL competitions, again. This year she is going to compete in Ready Writing and Number Sense. In Ready Writing, they are given a prompt and have to write about it. She is very creative and does well with this. She is really good in math, so she thinks Number Sense will be fun. She's careful not to say easy because she doesn't know what to expect. Think they have the competition in a couple of months.
Elizabeth - E was too old (cool) to go out for Halloween. She went and watched Temple whip Belton, again. E had fun finishing up the volleyball season and cheerleading. She enjoyed both, but think she was ready to move to the next thing. The next thing is basketball. E made the basketball team again. She's on the B-team this year. She will get more playing time on the B-team, and her buddies are on it with her. E had a fall band concert last week. Lita was able to join us. E had a solo to start one of the songs. We were very proud of her.
Melinda - Mel is finally finished with cheer. More of a pain than anyone would have imagined. The kids were good. The parents and administration were a different story. She has a couple of things left with cheer - one pep rally for basketball and tryouts for next year and she's completely done. Eric will say NO for her next time. She is still very busy with the Math Specialist role, mentoring, and working on curriculum. Hopefully, we can get a couple more things off her plate.
Eric - Eric is still staying busy with work. Eric's company had some lay-offs, so his territory has changed. He will be covering Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Waco, Temple, and Tyler soon. He will have some more travel, but change is good. He is looking forward to the new territory.
Evidently, the Chavez family has forgotten they own a camera. We have not taken pictures in forever. We will get some taken and posted in the next couple of weeks.
Erin - Erin was very excited about Halloween. She kept going back and forth on which costume to go with. She finally settled on Sharpay. For those of you not in the know (like me), Sharpay is a character from High School Musical. We saw High School Musical 3 at the movies, and it sealed the deal for Erin. She can sing just about every song from the soundtrack to you if she's "feelin' it". Erin is in the middle of her dance classes. That's right, classes. Erin is taking tap & ballet. She is also taking hip-hop. She is a busy girl on Thursdays. She was so excited and showed Dad some of the moves they were going over in her tap class in the entry way to our house. If the dance studio sounds that cool, it must be a lot of fun. Erin is doing great at school. She set the goal of 250 AR points for the year. If she gets to 250 points, she gets to be principal for the day. Erin likes to be in charge.
Emily - Emily had a couple of options for Halloween. She was invited to go to a couple of parties, but opted to hang with the family. She went as Athena. She had the toga and gold leaves. Looked cool. Tried to get her to channel Belushi with "Toga, Toga", but she got a couple of looks like she was losing it. She stopped not long after that. Em is having fun with her soccer team. She is playing well and gets along great with the other girls. Em got a new pair of soccer shoes with her #15 on them. She got an assist with her new shoes in her team's 1-1 tie. Em is doing really well in school. She has decided to tackle the UIL competitions, again. This year she is going to compete in Ready Writing and Number Sense. In Ready Writing, they are given a prompt and have to write about it. She is very creative and does well with this. She is really good in math, so she thinks Number Sense will be fun. She's careful not to say easy because she doesn't know what to expect. Think they have the competition in a couple of months.
Elizabeth - E was too old (cool) to go out for Halloween. She went and watched Temple whip Belton, again. E had fun finishing up the volleyball season and cheerleading. She enjoyed both, but think she was ready to move to the next thing. The next thing is basketball. E made the basketball team again. She's on the B-team this year. She will get more playing time on the B-team, and her buddies are on it with her. E had a fall band concert last week. Lita was able to join us. E had a solo to start one of the songs. We were very proud of her.
Melinda - Mel is finally finished with cheer. More of a pain than anyone would have imagined. The kids were good. The parents and administration were a different story. She has a couple of things left with cheer - one pep rally for basketball and tryouts for next year and she's completely done. Eric will say NO for her next time. She is still very busy with the Math Specialist role, mentoring, and working on curriculum. Hopefully, we can get a couple more things off her plate.
Eric - Eric is still staying busy with work. Eric's company had some lay-offs, so his territory has changed. He will be covering Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Waco, Temple, and Tyler soon. He will have some more travel, but change is good. He is looking forward to the new territory.
Evidently, the Chavez family has forgotten they own a camera. We have not taken pictures in forever. We will get some taken and posted in the next couple of weeks.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Good things!
Things are in full swing around the Chavez household. To give you an idea about the activities we are involved in: Mondays - Em soccer practice, E volleyball practice, Tuesday - E cheer at football games, Wednesday - Cheer practice (E & Melinda), Thursday - Em soccer practice, E volleyball game, Friday - night off???
Erin is doing great. She is really enjoying her class. When you asked Erin about the best parts of her day, her response is almost always lunch and recess (those were the 2 Dad excelled at too).
Em is doing great and enjoying her new school. Em's school had student council elections for each of the grade levels (1 boy and 1 girl). Em decided she wanted to run. We have no idea how, but she won the election. She's only been at the school for 3 weeks when the election happened and beat out 5 girls that had been there for a long time. Just Em being Em I guess. She had a project to do on a state, and drew South Dakota. She can tell you all you want to know about the state and then some.
E is very busy but having fun. She is doing really well with volleyball. She is loving cheer. There are some dance steps you have to know and she loves that part. She may tryout for the dance squad in high school. She is tied for 1st chair in band.
Melinda is busy with everything. She thinks she may have overdone it a bit with all of the things she has taken on. She is still working on her word for the year...NO!
Eric got back from a business trip to Las Vegas and was happy to be home. May have to burn the clothes from all the smoke smell.
Erin is doing great. She is really enjoying her class. When you asked Erin about the best parts of her day, her response is almost always lunch and recess (those were the 2 Dad excelled at too).
Em is doing great and enjoying her new school. Em's school had student council elections for each of the grade levels (1 boy and 1 girl). Em decided she wanted to run. We have no idea how, but she won the election. She's only been at the school for 3 weeks when the election happened and beat out 5 girls that had been there for a long time. Just Em being Em I guess. She had a project to do on a state, and drew South Dakota. She can tell you all you want to know about the state and then some.
E is very busy but having fun. She is doing really well with volleyball. She is loving cheer. There are some dance steps you have to know and she loves that part. She may tryout for the dance squad in high school. She is tied for 1st chair in band.
Melinda is busy with everything. She thinks she may have overdone it a bit with all of the things she has taken on. She is still working on her word for the year...NO!
Eric got back from a business trip to Las Vegas and was happy to be home. May have to burn the clothes from all the smoke smell.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Remembering 9-11
I found myself spending more time today remembering where I was when the Twin Towers were hit. I was preparing to drive to San Antonio to see some physicians and have dinner. I didn't go. I spent a good part of the morning in disbelief and then in anger. I still hold that anger today. We were fortunate enough not to have lost any family during the attack. I have had the good fortune to meet a lot of people through my job and travel quite a bit. I had the opportunity to go to ground zero 4 months after the attack. The mess was unbelievable. The area had been fenced off to begin clearing and sorting. There was a viewing platform set up with well-wishes from all over the country that had been posted to the sides of the platform. One of the guys I work with is from upstate New York. His best friend was a FDNY firefighter. He died that day helping others. He left behind a wife and 2 young daughters. I remember talking to him on the platform by the little church. In one of the trees by the church, there were window blinds. I remember looking at the blinds and hearing about this guys family and tears came to my eyes. They still do.
I guess the one thing I got most out of all of this is to appreciate your friends and family even more than I do. Never want to think I didn't appreciate what I had when I had it. God Bless to all and don't forget....
I guess the one thing I got most out of all of this is to appreciate your friends and family even more than I do. Never want to think I didn't appreciate what I had when I had it. God Bless to all and don't forget....
Sunday, September 7, 2008
September 2008
We are back in the swing of school. The routine is finally coming back to us. Here is the latest...Erin has read 6 Junie B. Jones books and is leading her class in AR points. We are signing her up for dance this week. I believe she decided on hip-hop again. Em is enjoying Academy so far. We all went to an Academy football game this past Friday. Far cry from the Temple games we've attended. The stadium was about the size of our middle school. Academy won, but it was a different world. Em is in the middle of a social studies project on South Dakota. Em's team won their first soccer game. E is cheering at her first game this week. We are very excited to get this thing going. E is doing well in Spanish and enjoying it. We do have some exciting news....E made the volleyball team this year! Yea! She is on the B team & should get to play quite a bit.
Mel is keeping up with the crazy involvement she into this year. Everyone is a little tired from the week but we're hanging in there.
Mel is keeping up with the crazy involvement she into this year. Everyone is a little tired from the week but we're hanging in there.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
School starts
We started school this week with a lot of excitement. Em is going to a new school (Academy). She started back a day before E and Erin. Erin was very excited about school...she wants to have the most AR points in her class and she has her buddy Kenna with her. Erin and Dad are still reading Junie B. Jones (Erin's favorite). Em has had some great first days. They have 5th grade in middle school at Academy. Em has 7 different classes. She is ready to start P.E. Em has to have 100 AR points each semester. Right now, Em is loving the Nancy Drew series. Elizabeth had a good first day, but is a little worried about her Spanish class. She has trouble rolling her Rs. Kind of funny...she has all advanced classes, finished in the top 10 students in her grade last year & she is worried about Spanish. She worried the same way about the clarinet & ended up 1st chair for 2 years in a row. If you call the house and someone speaks Spanish, it may be Elizabeth so beware.
Mel has a lot of energy going into the first week...don't know where she gets the energy from. She has a student teacher to start the year with her, and a couple of new teachers she is mentoring. She is still involved with the curriculum writing. She still has too much on her plate. Seems Thornton Elementary was abuzz at open house when everyone found out Em wasn't returning. Parents started questioning if they should leave too. Check out Melinda and Em starting trends. I'm hoping they will help bring back 80's music and parachute pants (funny to see those at high schools again!).
Dad took off the first week of school to help ease back into the routine. Kind of nice havin' some time off. If I could win the lottery, I might be able to get used to this. Of course, I might have to start playing for that to happen.
Mel has a lot of energy going into the first week...don't know where she gets the energy from. She has a student teacher to start the year with her, and a couple of new teachers she is mentoring. She is still involved with the curriculum writing. She still has too much on her plate. Seems Thornton Elementary was abuzz at open house when everyone found out Em wasn't returning. Parents started questioning if they should leave too. Check out Melinda and Em starting trends. I'm hoping they will help bring back 80's music and parachute pants (funny to see those at high schools again!).
Dad took off the first week of school to help ease back into the routine. Kind of nice havin' some time off. If I could win the lottery, I might be able to get used to this. Of course, I might have to start playing for that to happen.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Ready for school?
We are within a week of school starting back up and we are looking at each other trying to figure out what happened to the summer. Melinda went back to work this week. She was working on and off all summer. We had Emily's open house tonight at Academy (yes, we decided to try Academy this year with Em). Em's science teacher used to teach with Melinda, so we know her (Donna Beach). She is Molly Beach's mother...Elizabeth's buddy from preschool at Immanuel. Em has a couple of her soccer teammates in some classes. Em is excited and ready to start school. Em starts on Monday and Elizabeth & Erin start Tuesday. Erin and Dad started reading the Junie B. Jones series tonight. It was so much fun listening to Erin laugh when she was reading. She was laughing so hard, Dad had to help her finish reading a couple of chapters. Elizabeth is ready to rule the school in 8th grade. She is considering not staying in band because she wants to tryout for Kittens in 9th grade. In previous years, the high school wouldn't let kids in 8th grade band tryout for kittens (makes no sense to me).
Emily had her first soccer tournament this past weekend in College Station. Her select team tied 3 games and lost 1. Considering they have only practiced 4 times before the tournament, they did pretty well. Em is playing center midfield. Em really had fun having almost all of the girls from her team in our hotel room to mess around. She has a fun group of girls on her team.
Emily had her first soccer tournament this past weekend in College Station. Her select team tied 3 games and lost 1. Considering they have only practiced 4 times before the tournament, they did pretty well. Em is playing center midfield. Em really had fun having almost all of the girls from her team in our hotel room to mess around. She has a fun group of girls on her team.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Elizabeth's Birthday
We went back-to-back on the birthdays. We had a lot of fun with Elizabeth's day. We went shopping in Austin for clothes and then dinner at Nami (Hibachi). We were tired by the end of the day, but everyone had a good time. E had some good news with cheerleading...she is one of the fliers now. She was a little anxious about being thrown in the air, but settled into it and did great! She is pretty excited about cheer starting.
Emily started practicing with her select soccer team this past week. She had a great time. They scrimmaged with some 12 year old girls. Em stayed with them pretty well. She threw the ball in further than any of the 12 year olds. Had a coach ask me what we were doing to get her to throw the ball in that far...didn't tell him it was the gymnastics she has taken for a couple of years. We have a preseason tournament August 16 & 17th.
Erin has decided she is sticking with dance. She is taking hip-hop for sure and may take tap/ballet as well.
We have only 3 weeks left until school starts for the girls. Melinda has about 3 days off until she starts back. She has meetings & curriculum going on for the next 2 weeks until she is scheduled to return. Not sure where the time went...none of us are ready to go back. Get the feeling it will come whether we are ready or not.
Happy belated birthday to Tia Jill. Her birthday is the day between Erin and Elizabeth's. Hope your day was great, Tia!
Emily started practicing with her select soccer team this past week. She had a great time. They scrimmaged with some 12 year old girls. Em stayed with them pretty well. She threw the ball in further than any of the 12 year olds. Had a coach ask me what we were doing to get her to throw the ball in that far...didn't tell him it was the gymnastics she has taken for a couple of years. We have a preseason tournament August 16 & 17th.
Erin has decided she is sticking with dance. She is taking hip-hop for sure and may take tap/ballet as well.
We have only 3 weeks left until school starts for the girls. Melinda has about 3 days off until she starts back. She has meetings & curriculum going on for the next 2 weeks until she is scheduled to return. Not sure where the time went...none of us are ready to go back. Get the feeling it will come whether we are ready or not.
Happy belated birthday to Tia Jill. Her birthday is the day between Erin and Elizabeth's. Hope your day was great, Tia!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Erin's Birthday party
This summer has flown by so far. We just had Erin's birthday party...it was a blast. Everyone has stayed busy, but not crazy...thank God! Erin had her party to celebrate the big number 7. We went to Build-a-Bear at the Lakeline mall. We had 5 girls go with us and a couple of younger brothers and sisters. The girls had so much fun. Everyone got to pick their favorite animal and clothes to go with it. I wasn't aware of the difficult decisions 7-year olds have to face..this purse or these shoes. This may be practice for later in life. Everyone decided and Erin loved her purple bear. After Build-a-Bear, we ate dinner at Macaroni Grill. All of the kids had a great time eating together. After that, we came home for cake and presents. Erin loved all of her gifts.
Once everyone had settled down after cake and presents, they decided a pillow fight was in order. We have a couple of videos of the girls getting into the fight...you've never heard so much giggling in your life. We finally got everyone settled in around 11:00pm for a movie. The last 2 awake were still going at 1:15am. We all got up around 7:30am...there will be some little girls crashing early tonight! We spent today at Hank's Town playing games. We are now in the middle of the 3-D Hannah Montana concert...jealous??? I believe I know the words to almost every Hannah Montana song now. Where did the 80's go??? Emily loves her bear as well. Emily did want it known that she beat Melinda once at Dance Revolution. The crown may have to be passed on...we'll have to wait and see. Elizabeth is really good at Dance Revolution as well. Don't think she competed against Mel. Next week is Elizabeth's turn. We will see what she decides to do for her birthday...stay tuned
Once everyone had settled down after cake and presents, they decided a pillow fight was in order. We have a couple of videos of the girls getting into the fight...you've never heard so much giggling in your life. We finally got everyone settled in around 11:00pm for a movie. The last 2 awake were still going at 1:15am. We all got up around 7:30am...there will be some little girls crashing early tonight! We spent today at Hank's Town playing games. We are now in the middle of the 3-D Hannah Montana concert...jealous??? I believe I know the words to almost every Hannah Montana song now. Where did the 80's go??? Emily loves her bear as well. Emily did want it known that she beat Melinda once at Dance Revolution. The crown may have to be passed on...we'll have to wait and see. Elizabeth is really good at Dance Revolution as well. Don't think she competed against Mel. Next week is Elizabeth's turn. We will see what she decides to do for her birthday...stay tuned
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Double Celebration
Hope everyone enjoyed their July 4th...we had a great time. We had Nana & Papa over and had ribs. Erin finally tried ribs and she loved them. Melinda took Emily and Elizabeth out to watch the fireworks. They had a lot of fun. The finale was their favorite part. Dad and Erin stayed home and watched the Boston Pops play and watched the firework display on TV. Erin thought it was great but wanted to watch Bratz Rock Angelz instead.
The fireworks were a prelude to the big birthday we celebrated the next day. Melinda turned 40! She had breakfast in bed (the girls got doughnuts and coffee for her). We took Melinda to a movie (Wall-e) and then out to dinner. After dinner, Melinda decided she wanted TCBY. So, we headed over for some frozen yogurt for dessert. It had been so long since we had TCBY, the girls didn't remember what it was. Everyone enjoyed their dessert, especially Melinda. Today, we are going over to Nana & Papa's for breakfast. The party continues...
The fireworks were a prelude to the big birthday we celebrated the next day. Melinda turned 40! She had breakfast in bed (the girls got doughnuts and coffee for her). We took Melinda to a movie (Wall-e) and then out to dinner. After dinner, Melinda decided she wanted TCBY. So, we headed over for some frozen yogurt for dessert. It had been so long since we had TCBY, the girls didn't remember what it was. Everyone enjoyed their dessert, especially Melinda. Today, we are going over to Nana & Papa's for breakfast. The party continues...
Friday, June 27, 2008
Summer fun
We are into summer and having a blast. We have quite a few activities going on, but it's a lot of fun. We had a visit from Tia Jill and Julia. Tio Mike and Max weren't able to make it this time. We are ready for all of them to make the trip when they're ready. Here's the latest:
Erin - Erin and Elizabeth were asked to be in a commercial for a Temple family recreation & fun place, Hank's Town. They shot the commercial today and they had so much fun. The commerical is schedule to air Saturday, July 5th (Melinda's birthday). Erin believes this could be her big break. Look out Hannah Montana! Erin has been to the local waterpark, Summer Fun, and absolutely loves it. She has a summer pass & is ready to go 24/7. Erin is really excited about her latest Webkinz. She has been on the Webkinz website almost everyday now. Evidently it is really cool....I'm too old to know now. Erin has decided she wants to stay in dance and take hip-hop again.
Emily - Em just finished the University of Texas soccer camp today. Em and Dad drove to Austin every morning this week...Austin traffic is still horrible. The camp was from 9-3. Em got a picture with Coach Petrucelli (UT's head coach). Em thought it would be cool to show him the picture in 8 years when she starts to play for him and say remember when. Love her positive thinking. She did great at camp. A trainer from another soccer club, Cortney, was asking about where Em was playing. She is interested in having Em switch soccer clubs and join Lonestar Soccer Club with her. Em just made the select soccer team for Centex Cyclone in Temple. We will probably wait until next year to consider the switch, but it was cool to feel like she was being recruited. Em wore herself out all week.
She had a few friends that made it to the camp as well (Caroline, Ashley, Kaitlyn, Alana, and Valencia). I may be a little biased, but she was the best out there. Em is looking forward to spending a lot more time in the pool since soccer is over and it is hot!
Elizabeth - E has cheer practice once a week for 3 hours. She is still loving it. She probably loves it more now since Melinda is in charge. Mel has a couple of coaches working with the girls, so they are already looking better than last year. E has cheer camp coming up soon. She and Melinda will be doing that for a full week. E is true to her word....I want to hang out with friends, swim & not much else. That is exactly what she is doing. E has decided that Rice University needs to be included in the selections for colleges.
Melinda - Still busy with everything cheerleading. She has things beginning to take shape. She may begin to enjoy more instead of working to organize. Melinda has many projects for the house this summer. She will also be busy with a Math conference in Dallas for a week. Too much going on still....
Eric - Eric took the week off to go to the UT soccer camp with Em. Had a great time watching how many drills Em knew and had an easy time with. Driving every morning and afternoon in Austin traffic wasn't a lot of fun, but it was worth it. I got to speak with Chris Petrucelli (UT head coach) a couple of days. Intense guy that seems to really enjoy the kids. A buddy I work with and I were the only ones that stayed for camp each day for the whole time. The others were probably smarter for getting out of the heat.
Erin - Erin and Elizabeth were asked to be in a commercial for a Temple family recreation & fun place, Hank's Town. They shot the commercial today and they had so much fun. The commerical is schedule to air Saturday, July 5th (Melinda's birthday). Erin believes this could be her big break. Look out Hannah Montana! Erin has been to the local waterpark, Summer Fun, and absolutely loves it. She has a summer pass & is ready to go 24/7. Erin is really excited about her latest Webkinz. She has been on the Webkinz website almost everyday now. Evidently it is really cool....I'm too old to know now. Erin has decided she wants to stay in dance and take hip-hop again.
Emily - Em just finished the University of Texas soccer camp today. Em and Dad drove to Austin every morning this week...Austin traffic is still horrible. The camp was from 9-3. Em got a picture with Coach Petrucelli (UT's head coach). Em thought it would be cool to show him the picture in 8 years when she starts to play for him and say remember when. Love her positive thinking. She did great at camp. A trainer from another soccer club, Cortney, was asking about where Em was playing. She is interested in having Em switch soccer clubs and join Lonestar Soccer Club with her. Em just made the select soccer team for Centex Cyclone in Temple. We will probably wait until next year to consider the switch, but it was cool to feel like she was being recruited. Em wore herself out all week.
She had a few friends that made it to the camp as well (Caroline, Ashley, Kaitlyn, Alana, and Valencia). I may be a little biased, but she was the best out there. Em is looking forward to spending a lot more time in the pool since soccer is over and it is hot!
Elizabeth - E has cheer practice once a week for 3 hours. She is still loving it. She probably loves it more now since Melinda is in charge. Mel has a couple of coaches working with the girls, so they are already looking better than last year. E has cheer camp coming up soon. She and Melinda will be doing that for a full week. E is true to her word....I want to hang out with friends, swim & not much else. That is exactly what she is doing. E has decided that Rice University needs to be included in the selections for colleges.
Melinda - Still busy with everything cheerleading. She has things beginning to take shape. She may begin to enjoy more instead of working to organize. Melinda has many projects for the house this summer. She will also be busy with a Math conference in Dallas for a week. Too much going on still....
Eric - Eric took the week off to go to the UT soccer camp with Em. Had a great time watching how many drills Em knew and had an easy time with. Driving every morning and afternoon in Austin traffic wasn't a lot of fun, but it was worth it. I got to speak with Chris Petrucelli (UT head coach) a couple of days. Intense guy that seems to really enjoy the kids. A buddy I work with and I were the only ones that stayed for camp each day for the whole time. The others were probably smarter for getting out of the heat.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
School's out!
We made it through the final 2 weeks. There was so much going on I will try not to forget too much. The summer looks to keep everyone busy, but not crazy like during school. Here are the updates:
Erin - Erin made it to the awards ceremony. She wasn't quite sure she could wait to get her trophy. Thankfully, she did and received her trophy for all of her hard work reading. Nana and Papa were able to make it to the awards. Papa offered to take Erin's trophy off her hands, but she had a serious death grip on the thing. Wouldn't have had a chance prying those fingers loose. Erin's teacher, Ms. Tyson, has gone through the growth of the family first hand. She was Elizabeth and Emily's teacher as well. I'm sure she is going to miss not having another Chavez to look forward to in a future class...unless Dad needs to start over. Erin's dance recital was terrific. She had so much fun and it really showed. One of her buddies in dance is Emma Cox. Here's some trivia for you...Tia Jill babysat Emma's Mom growing up. The circle of events is amazing. Could this be the start of the 6 degrees of Erin???
I tried to include some video of Erin dancing...she is 3rd from the left. Erin is looking forward to swimming and playing with her DS Lyte this summer.
Emily - Em had an incredible year. She had so many awards they barely fit on the certificate. Em wanted them to include Gifted & Talented on the award. The GT kids had more work than their regular classmates (Latin, 3 books, additional work, etc). Looking at her certificate, I don't know where they would have put it...no room. Em is really looking forward to the University of Texas soccer camp in 2 weeks. She plans on reintroducing herself to Chris Petrucelli (head coach). She told me she was going to tell him her name and let him know she would be playing for him in about 8 years. He should probably start to know her name. Made sense to me. Em is looking forward to swimming, soccer camp, soccer tournament, and playing with her DS Lyte this summer.
Elizabeth - E finished the year strong. Her overall grade for the 1st semester was a 96. This is what they based her top 10% performance upon. The 2nd semester her overall average was a 98. She didn't let down and kept doing well. We are very proud of her. E found out the last day of school that she made the symphonic band again for next year. This is the school's top band. She was excited a couple of buddies made it this year with her. E received the award for Outstanding Student for symphonic band. Pretty cool since only 1 student receives the award. E received a certificate for participating in the Duke University Talent Search as well. E made the National Junior Honor Society for the 2nd year in a row. Fortunately, she seems to realize this is not an award you just get. You have to work hard all the time to keep your grades high enough to be included. E is looking forward to hanging with her friends at the mall, movies, or whatever. E has cheer camp this summer as well.
Melinda - Mel made it through the rest of the year. She is still working with some partners on math curriculum for the school district. She is neck deep in the cheerleader sponsor thing already. She is getting things organized for the year and for the cheer camp coming up. So much for the break...she hasn't taken a break yet. Mel had a great time with Monika and Kim on their getaway weekend. I suspect that's what helped Mel get through the rest of the chaotic year.
Erin - Erin made it to the awards ceremony. She wasn't quite sure she could wait to get her trophy. Thankfully, she did and received her trophy for all of her hard work reading. Nana and Papa were able to make it to the awards. Papa offered to take Erin's trophy off her hands, but she had a serious death grip on the thing. Wouldn't have had a chance prying those fingers loose. Erin's teacher, Ms. Tyson, has gone through the growth of the family first hand. She was Elizabeth and Emily's teacher as well. I'm sure she is going to miss not having another Chavez to look forward to in a future class...unless Dad needs to start over. Erin's dance recital was terrific. She had so much fun and it really showed. One of her buddies in dance is Emma Cox. Here's some trivia for you...Tia Jill babysat Emma's Mom growing up. The circle of events is amazing. Could this be the start of the 6 degrees of Erin???
I tried to include some video of Erin dancing...she is 3rd from the left. Erin is looking forward to swimming and playing with her DS Lyte this summer.
Emily - Em had an incredible year. She had so many awards they barely fit on the certificate. Em wanted them to include Gifted & Talented on the award. The GT kids had more work than their regular classmates (Latin, 3 books, additional work, etc). Looking at her certificate, I don't know where they would have put it...no room. Em is really looking forward to the University of Texas soccer camp in 2 weeks. She plans on reintroducing herself to Chris Petrucelli (head coach). She told me she was going to tell him her name and let him know she would be playing for him in about 8 years. He should probably start to know her name. Made sense to me. Em is looking forward to swimming, soccer camp, soccer tournament, and playing with her DS Lyte this summer.
Elizabeth - E finished the year strong. Her overall grade for the 1st semester was a 96. This is what they based her top 10% performance upon. The 2nd semester her overall average was a 98. She didn't let down and kept doing well. We are very proud of her. E found out the last day of school that she made the symphonic band again for next year. This is the school's top band. She was excited a couple of buddies made it this year with her. E received the award for Outstanding Student for symphonic band. Pretty cool since only 1 student receives the award. E received a certificate for participating in the Duke University Talent Search as well. E made the National Junior Honor Society for the 2nd year in a row. Fortunately, she seems to realize this is not an award you just get. You have to work hard all the time to keep your grades high enough to be included. E is looking forward to hanging with her friends at the mall, movies, or whatever. E has cheer camp this summer as well.
Melinda - Mel made it through the rest of the year. She is still working with some partners on math curriculum for the school district. She is neck deep in the cheerleader sponsor thing already. She is getting things organized for the year and for the cheer camp coming up. So much for the break...she hasn't taken a break yet. Mel had a great time with Monika and Kim on their getaway weekend. I suspect that's what helped Mel get through the rest of the chaotic year.
Friday, May 16, 2008
May 2008
We are finally getting to the end of the year. Everyone here is ready for summer break. Still have lots of activities over the next 2 weeks, but here's the latest.
Erin - Erin and Dad went to the Cameron Park zoo in Waco with Erin's class. We had one of Erin's buddies, Ashley, with us during the trip. We had a lot of fun seeing all of the animals. Erin's favorites were the Scarlett Iris and the bald Eagles. They were pretty birds. We got to see the giraffes up close. All of the animals were awake and moving since it wasn't hot. After the zoo, we went with the class for a picnic. Erin rode back to Temple with Dad. We stopped at Marble Slab and had a little ice cream...very good! Erin had strawberry with gummy bears. Watching Erin eat it made my jaw hurt. Erin is very excited about the 1st grade award ceremony in a couple of weeks. This is where she will get her AR trophy. The dance recital is in a week. Erin is tired of practicing and wants to just dance. Eerily sounded like Footloose.
Emily - Em has been very busy with school and soccer. Her GT class started another book, the Invisible Thread. She has stayed busy with her Latin homework as well. Em is close to getting enough points for her AR trophy too. She should have her points in the next week or two.
Em had been practicing with some of the select soccer trainers for our local soccer club. She really enjoyed it. After one of the practices, a trainer brought a speed gun to see how fast the kids could shoot. The kids were pretty excited. Emily shot the ball 40mpg!!! She beat all of the girls with her shot & ALL OF THE BOYS! There were a couple of boys from her school that got a little razzing the next day from Em. She was really excited about winning. Em's team, United, went to the CAYSA invitational tournament. It was for area teams that had won there clubs championship or finished in the top 2 or 3. We won 2 games and lost 1 during the tournament. We missed going to the semifinals by 1 point. One of the teams we beat ending up playing for the championship. The girls played terrific and had a good time. After the tournament, most of the team went to Gattiland to burn off the remaining ounces of energy the girls had left. Em was amazing.
Em tried out for the select soccer team since Dad's knees won't let him coach anymore. We found out yesterday that Em made the team. There were 30 girls trying out, and they are wanting 16 for the team. Em and another girl from our team, Breyanna, both made it. Em is super excited about playing select.
E - E is finishing up her year, finally. She participated in the band solo/ensemble competition and received 1's (highest marks). She got a first place ribbon for her solo. She just had the end of year concert with her band and they sounded really good. We have National Junior Honor Society and the 7th grade awards and E is finished for the year. E is looking forward to swimming and sleeping late this summer.
Melinda - Mel finally got through the TAKS tests and now it's wait and see. She worked really had to help all the kids pass...let's hope they did! Because Melinda doesn't have enough on her plate, she is going to be the cheerleader sponsor at Travis Middle School next year. I'm not sure when she is going to find the time, but she is looking forward to being around E and the other cheerleaders. Now the school will actually have someone that knows what they're doing. Mel goes on her escape weekend with Moni & Kim next week. I know she will have fun and definitely needs the R&R. The girls & I plan to load up on candy and find things to break.
We will have another installment in a couple of weeks to end the school year...YEA!!!
Erin - Erin and Dad went to the Cameron Park zoo in Waco with Erin's class. We had one of Erin's buddies, Ashley, with us during the trip. We had a lot of fun seeing all of the animals. Erin's favorites were the Scarlett Iris and the bald Eagles. They were pretty birds. We got to see the giraffes up close. All of the animals were awake and moving since it wasn't hot. After the zoo, we went with the class for a picnic. Erin rode back to Temple with Dad. We stopped at Marble Slab and had a little ice cream...very good! Erin had strawberry with gummy bears. Watching Erin eat it made my jaw hurt. Erin is very excited about the 1st grade award ceremony in a couple of weeks. This is where she will get her AR trophy. The dance recital is in a week. Erin is tired of practicing and wants to just dance. Eerily sounded like Footloose.
Emily - Em has been very busy with school and soccer. Her GT class started another book, the Invisible Thread. She has stayed busy with her Latin homework as well. Em is close to getting enough points for her AR trophy too. She should have her points in the next week or two.
Em had been practicing with some of the select soccer trainers for our local soccer club. She really enjoyed it. After one of the practices, a trainer brought a speed gun to see how fast the kids could shoot. The kids were pretty excited. Emily shot the ball 40mpg!!! She beat all of the girls with her shot & ALL OF THE BOYS! There were a couple of boys from her school that got a little razzing the next day from Em. She was really excited about winning. Em's team, United, went to the CAYSA invitational tournament. It was for area teams that had won there clubs championship or finished in the top 2 or 3. We won 2 games and lost 1 during the tournament. We missed going to the semifinals by 1 point. One of the teams we beat ending up playing for the championship. The girls played terrific and had a good time. After the tournament, most of the team went to Gattiland to burn off the remaining ounces of energy the girls had left. Em was amazing.
Em tried out for the select soccer team since Dad's knees won't let him coach anymore. We found out yesterday that Em made the team. There were 30 girls trying out, and they are wanting 16 for the team. Em and another girl from our team, Breyanna, both made it. Em is super excited about playing select.
E - E is finishing up her year, finally. She participated in the band solo/ensemble competition and received 1's (highest marks). She got a first place ribbon for her solo. She just had the end of year concert with her band and they sounded really good. We have National Junior Honor Society and the 7th grade awards and E is finished for the year. E is looking forward to swimming and sleeping late this summer.
Melinda - Mel finally got through the TAKS tests and now it's wait and see. She worked really had to help all the kids pass...let's hope they did! Because Melinda doesn't have enough on her plate, she is going to be the cheerleader sponsor at Travis Middle School next year. I'm not sure when she is going to find the time, but she is looking forward to being around E and the other cheerleaders. Now the school will actually have someone that knows what they're doing. Mel goes on her escape weekend with Moni & Kim next week. I know she will have fun and definitely needs the R&R. The girls & I plan to load up on candy and find things to break.
We will have another installment in a couple of weeks to end the school year...YEA!!!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Home Stretch
We are getting down to the home stretch with school. TAKS tests are next week for Emily, Elizabeth, and Melinda. As usual, Eric's company has decided to have a meeting next week during TAKS testing. The week might be filled with a little more stress for Melinda.
Erin - I am happy to report that Erin has reached her goal of 150 AR points (Yea!!!!). We have set a goal of 200 points by the end of the year to keep her going. With the way she has been reading, she can probably do it. Erin and Dad are going on her class field trip to the zoo on May 12th. We did this last year and had a lot of fun (Dad might remember the camera this time). Erin is really excited about her upcoming dance recital. She is still pretty hush-hush about it...she may have a future with the CIA.
Emily - Em has been busy every morning with RedBird reader. She still really enjoys being part of the program. Em has been very busy with her GT (gifted & talented) class. They have been learning Latin all year. She has a Latin vocabulary test Monday...we just finished studying. Em has been talking about taking Latin as one of her electives through high school. We finished our soccer season and had fun. Em finished as our team's leading scorer. We finished in 3rd place. We will find out this week if we get to go to the playoffs. Depends on how many teams come from Austin...we may get to send 2, 3, or 4 teams to playoffs. Em has been practicing with some of the select team coaches on Sunday afternoon (gives the kids some exposure to the select team coaches and vice-a-versa). Em has done well and enjoys it. Em got asked to join the team that won our league for a 3 on 3 tournament next month. The coached is taking a couple of the kids from his team and asked if Em would play with them. Em knows almost everyone on their team, so she was pretty excited to get to go. We also signed Em up for the University of Texas soccer camp. Em has joked she was going to let the UT coach she will be playing for him in 8 years and wanted him to know her name (I was cracking up!).
Elizabeth - E has been really busy and still has more to go. She competed in the UIL band competition for her school. They did very well (1's and a 2). They beat all of the other schools in Temple. E participated in the UIL math competition in number sense - they didn't announce the results at school and she has been too busy to remember to ask how she did. We attended the Travis athletic awards. Very interesting evening....E received an award that night. She was voted Most Improved Player. The coach has some very nice things to say about E and how hard she always worked & got to be a good player. We were very proud of her. During the awards, some boys received an award for not flunking during any 6 weeks. Completely through me for a loop...an award for what you should be doing. No wonder we have problems in our schools. FYI - this was not an award with the girls.
E made the top 5% of her class this year (top 10 students). We went to an award breakfast honoring the top 5% kids. Needless to say, we couldn't be any prouder of Elizabeth. E had cotillion last night. It was their formal dance. E looked great and had fun!
Melinda - TAKS time is almost over. The testing takes place this week. We can't wait for it to be over for Melinda. She has been killing herself with the tutoring and extra work she does to get all of the kids prepared to do well. She is planning a girls weekend with friends (Monika and Kim) and it couldn't come soon enough. She needs the R&R.
Wish them all luck during the TAKS test and we'll update soon....
Erin - I am happy to report that Erin has reached her goal of 150 AR points (Yea!!!!). We have set a goal of 200 points by the end of the year to keep her going. With the way she has been reading, she can probably do it. Erin and Dad are going on her class field trip to the zoo on May 12th. We did this last year and had a lot of fun (Dad might remember the camera this time). Erin is really excited about her upcoming dance recital. She is still pretty hush-hush about it...she may have a future with the CIA.
Emily - Em has been busy every morning with RedBird reader. She still really enjoys being part of the program. Em has been very busy with her GT (gifted & talented) class. They have been learning Latin all year. She has a Latin vocabulary test Monday...we just finished studying. Em has been talking about taking Latin as one of her electives through high school. We finished our soccer season and had fun. Em finished as our team's leading scorer. We finished in 3rd place. We will find out this week if we get to go to the playoffs. Depends on how many teams come from Austin...we may get to send 2, 3, or 4 teams to playoffs. Em has been practicing with some of the select team coaches on Sunday afternoon (gives the kids some exposure to the select team coaches and vice-a-versa). Em has done well and enjoys it. Em got asked to join the team that won our league for a 3 on 3 tournament next month. The coached is taking a couple of the kids from his team and asked if Em would play with them. Em knows almost everyone on their team, so she was pretty excited to get to go. We also signed Em up for the University of Texas soccer camp. Em has joked she was going to let the UT coach she will be playing for him in 8 years and wanted him to know her name (I was cracking up!).
Elizabeth - E has been really busy and still has more to go. She competed in the UIL band competition for her school. They did very well (1's and a 2). They beat all of the other schools in Temple. E participated in the UIL math competition in number sense - they didn't announce the results at school and she has been too busy to remember to ask how she did. We attended the Travis athletic awards. Very interesting evening....E received an award that night. She was voted Most Improved Player. The coach has some very nice things to say about E and how hard she always worked & got to be a good player. We were very proud of her. During the awards, some boys received an award for not flunking during any 6 weeks. Completely through me for a loop...an award for what you should be doing. No wonder we have problems in our schools. FYI - this was not an award with the girls.
E made the top 5% of her class this year (top 10 students). We went to an award breakfast honoring the top 5% kids. Needless to say, we couldn't be any prouder of Elizabeth. E had cotillion last night. It was their formal dance. E looked great and had fun!
Melinda - TAKS time is almost over. The testing takes place this week. We can't wait for it to be over for Melinda. She has been killing herself with the tutoring and extra work she does to get all of the kids prepared to do well. She is planning a girls weekend with friends (Monika and Kim) and it couldn't come soon enough. She needs the R&R.
Wish them all luck during the TAKS test and we'll update soon....
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Happy Easter
Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. We really enjoyed the time. We went to Nana and Papa's for a little Easter egg hunt. Thought we might have the appearance of a hockey game, but everyone was civilized while searching for eggs. Dad tried to bump Emily, but she knocked him over! So much for sneaking some of her candy! We have some pictures of the girls with their cousins...incredible how quickly everyone seems to grow up.
Erin - she has already passed the reading level she should be at by the end of the year and then some. She is on pace to get the AR trophy and she is soooo excited about it. She is getting ready for her dance recital in a month or so. She is not discussing what they are learning....it's supposed to be a surprise. Erin has been doing really well with gymnastics...she has her round-off looking really good.
Emily - she has been very busy with her Redbird reader job. She goes to school early every morning, except Mondays. She and Beth, Melinda's team teacher, leave our house around 6:30am. Em has some long days. She is doing great at soccer. We won our last game 9-1. Em had 5 goals...she would have had more, but Dad tried to give the other team a break.
Elizabeth - she has UIL band competition on Thursday this week. She has a research paper she has been working on that is due Wednesday. She also has gymnastics and a science fair project due soon. It's exhausting just listing everything she has going on...going to feel really good next week when her projects are over.
Melinda - getting down to "crunch time" for Melinda and the other teachers with the TAKS test coming soon. Mel seems to be running ragged getting everyone prepared and her own class as well. After this year, we are going to evaluate whether we want to stay in the Temple school system or not. We are going to check out a couple of other options in the next few weeks. We'll keep everyone posted...
Erin - she has already passed the reading level she should be at by the end of the year and then some. She is on pace to get the AR trophy and she is soooo excited about it. She is getting ready for her dance recital in a month or so. She is not discussing what they are learning....it's supposed to be a surprise. Erin has been doing really well with gymnastics...she has her round-off looking really good.
Emily - she has been very busy with her Redbird reader job. She goes to school early every morning, except Mondays. She and Beth, Melinda's team teacher, leave our house around 6:30am. Em has some long days. She is doing great at soccer. We won our last game 9-1. Em had 5 goals...she would have had more, but Dad tried to give the other team a break.
Elizabeth - she has UIL band competition on Thursday this week. She has a research paper she has been working on that is due Wednesday. She also has gymnastics and a science fair project due soon. It's exhausting just listing everything she has going on...going to feel really good next week when her projects are over.
Melinda - getting down to "crunch time" for Melinda and the other teachers with the TAKS test coming soon. Mel seems to be running ragged getting everyone prepared and her own class as well. After this year, we are going to evaluate whether we want to stay in the Temple school system or not. We are going to check out a couple of other options in the next few weeks. We'll keep everyone posted...
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Spring Break!
We are in the middle of Spring Break and having so much fun. Emily had her 10th birthday on Wednesday. We celebrated by going to Sea World in San Antonio. We had some friends meet use there. It had been about 7 years since we had been there. Erin had never been. Everyone had a good time despite how crowded the park was. We are going to Melinda's parents, Nana & Papa, for Easter. The girls are really looking forward to seeing everyone and hunting for eggs. Elizabeth has gotten old enough she isn't sure if she wants to do the Easter egg thing or not. Where does the time go? We'll have more in a few days. Happy Easter!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
March is here!
Can't believe how quickly time is going by this year. We made it to Spring Break! It's been a busy couple of weeks since the last post. Here are the updates:
Erin - she reached her first goal of 100 AR points! Yeah! She got the T-shirt given to any student at the school that reaches 100. She has been talking about wanting the trophy (150 AR points). With the way she has been reading, she can get there in a month. Erin had a program at school about physical education. She was on the red team and got to dribble a basketball. She had her pink Chuck Taylor's on and looked cute. She had fun with the program.
Emily - she has enjoyed being in the Redbird reader program. She has a 1st grader she works with on reading. Em has been doing very well in soccer. She scored again in our last game. We start the real season March 29th. After this season, we have to decide if she is going to try and play select soccer or keep playing recreation. Em had a birthday party on March 14th. We went to Hank's Town (games and fun) and then a sleepover. We only had 7 girls sleep over this time...we couldn't handle the 17 that slept over last year. Everybody had a lot of fun playing games and going nuts. Believe it or not, the girls started to calm down around 12:00am. I passed out around 11:30pm. Melinda got them to go to sleep around 1:00am (lotta help Eric was). The girls watched the Nancy Drew movie during their sleepover.
Elizabeth - she was almost as ready for Spring Break as Melinda. She had a very busy last week. Aside from all of the school work, she had cheerleader tryouts and UIL band prep. E worked for a couple of weeks learning the routine and getting ready. During the time at school, the 7th graders helped the 6th graders learn the routine. E got to teach and learn at the same time. She really enjoyed it. E made cheerleader again. She will be an 8th grade cheerleader. She really worked hard to be ready...she enjoys cheering so much & is really good at it! After cheerleader tryouts, she had to rush to the high school to participate in the UIL band prep. They ran them through the scenario they will see when they compete for UIL. It was a VERY long day for E, but she was pretty happy with the way everything went.
Melinda - Spring Break came at the perfect time. Mel needed some time to recharge and we hope this will do it. We are going to Sea World in San Antonio tomorrow & then shopping our way back home Thursday. I don't think it will take too much prodding to get Melinda to get a massage while they're off. Like most vacations, this week will be over before we know it.
Look for Sea World updates later in the week....
Erin - she reached her first goal of 100 AR points! Yeah! She got the T-shirt given to any student at the school that reaches 100. She has been talking about wanting the trophy (150 AR points). With the way she has been reading, she can get there in a month. Erin had a program at school about physical education. She was on the red team and got to dribble a basketball. She had her pink Chuck Taylor's on and looked cute. She had fun with the program.
Emily - she has enjoyed being in the Redbird reader program. She has a 1st grader she works with on reading. Em has been doing very well in soccer. She scored again in our last game. We start the real season March 29th. After this season, we have to decide if she is going to try and play select soccer or keep playing recreation. Em had a birthday party on March 14th. We went to Hank's Town (games and fun) and then a sleepover. We only had 7 girls sleep over this time...we couldn't handle the 17 that slept over last year. Everybody had a lot of fun playing games and going nuts. Believe it or not, the girls started to calm down around 12:00am. I passed out around 11:30pm. Melinda got them to go to sleep around 1:00am (lotta help Eric was). The girls watched the Nancy Drew movie during their sleepover.
Elizabeth - she was almost as ready for Spring Break as Melinda. She had a very busy last week. Aside from all of the school work, she had cheerleader tryouts and UIL band prep. E worked for a couple of weeks learning the routine and getting ready. During the time at school, the 7th graders helped the 6th graders learn the routine. E got to teach and learn at the same time. She really enjoyed it. E made cheerleader again. She will be an 8th grade cheerleader. She really worked hard to be ready...she enjoys cheering so much & is really good at it! After cheerleader tryouts, she had to rush to the high school to participate in the UIL band prep. They ran them through the scenario they will see when they compete for UIL. It was a VERY long day for E, but she was pretty happy with the way everything went.
Melinda - Spring Break came at the perfect time. Mel needed some time to recharge and we hope this will do it. We are going to Sea World in San Antonio tomorrow & then shopping our way back home Thursday. I don't think it will take too much prodding to get Melinda to get a massage while they're off. Like most vacations, this week will be over before we know it.
Look for Sea World updates later in the week....
Friday, March 7, 2008
Back to Busy!
We have started our activities back up and in full force. We have been busy, busy, busy. The girls are really enjoying everything, so it makes it fun. We are going to scout out other schools in the area. We are not thrilled with the way things are going at Travis. Although Elizabeth is doing very well, she could be in a better environment. We are going to spend some time this month and check out other options.
Here's the latest for each:
Erin: she is doing such a great job with her reading. She now has 85 AR points. Her goal is 150 points now (she was going to hit 100 without really trying). At 150 points, she will get a trophy. Erin is about the trophy. Erin is still enjoying her dance class. She won't show us what she is learning...we have to wait for the recital. All of the girls started taking gymnastics again. They love our old instructor, so we went back to her (Ms. Colleen).
Erin had the best time this morning. We got a little bit of snow last night (about an inch). Erin got dressed faster than I have ever seen her so she could go outside and mess with the snow before it was time to go to school. She got to eat some snow and chunk a snowball @ Dad (Life is good!).
Emily: started her Redbird reader and is enjoying it so far. She just took the writing portion of the TAKS test. We will have the results in a couple of months. She feels like she did really well. She is as strong in writing as she is in math. Em competed in the science fair and won 1st place. Her project was on force and got to involve soccer. Em started taking gymnastics again (not the team this time). I think she missed doing all of the round-offs and backhandsprings. We have started our soccer season off and Em hasn't missed a beat. We had our first game last Saturday and won 3-0. Em had a hat-trick (3 goals). She wasn't used to all of the running she does in a game, but loved being back on the field. Before the season, Em got to select a couple of shirts and shorts for practice. We found an Italian soccer player's jersey (Totti)and shorts she likes, so she wears that to practice all the time.
Elizabeth: she took the TAKS test this week and felt really good about it as well. E is trying out for cheerleader again, and is working with Ms. Colleen to get ready. She is doing some gymnastics when not preparing for the tryouts. Amazing that she can almost do a backhandspring. E had the junior cotillion 2 weeks ago. It was western night, so she got to wear boots and jeans. She looked great and had a good time (except for the Dad she had to dance with that had bad breath). E is trying to decide what her science fair project will be this year. She'll have to do something good to match last year (1st place).
Melinda: still working on the math curriculum for the school district. Her mentoring is going alright. The teacher she is working with is so new and struggles to get comfortable. Melinda makes teaching look so easy. Mel has really enjoyed having Em in her class and working with her partner, Beth.
Here's the latest for each:
Erin: she is doing such a great job with her reading. She now has 85 AR points. Her goal is 150 points now (she was going to hit 100 without really trying). At 150 points, she will get a trophy. Erin is about the trophy. Erin is still enjoying her dance class. She won't show us what she is learning...we have to wait for the recital. All of the girls started taking gymnastics again. They love our old instructor, so we went back to her (Ms. Colleen).
Erin had the best time this morning. We got a little bit of snow last night (about an inch). Erin got dressed faster than I have ever seen her so she could go outside and mess with the snow before it was time to go to school. She got to eat some snow and chunk a snowball @ Dad (Life is good!).
Emily: started her Redbird reader and is enjoying it so far. She just took the writing portion of the TAKS test. We will have the results in a couple of months. She feels like she did really well. She is as strong in writing as she is in math. Em competed in the science fair and won 1st place. Her project was on force and got to involve soccer. Em started taking gymnastics again (not the team this time). I think she missed doing all of the round-offs and backhandsprings. We have started our soccer season off and Em hasn't missed a beat. We had our first game last Saturday and won 3-0. Em had a hat-trick (3 goals). She wasn't used to all of the running she does in a game, but loved being back on the field. Before the season, Em got to select a couple of shirts and shorts for practice. We found an Italian soccer player's jersey (Totti)and shorts she likes, so she wears that to practice all the time.
Elizabeth: she took the TAKS test this week and felt really good about it as well. E is trying out for cheerleader again, and is working with Ms. Colleen to get ready. She is doing some gymnastics when not preparing for the tryouts. Amazing that she can almost do a backhandspring. E had the junior cotillion 2 weeks ago. It was western night, so she got to wear boots and jeans. She looked great and had a good time (except for the Dad she had to dance with that had bad breath). E is trying to decide what her science fair project will be this year. She'll have to do something good to match last year (1st place).
Melinda: still working on the math curriculum for the school district. Her mentoring is going alright. The teacher she is working with is so new and struggles to get comfortable. Melinda makes teaching look so easy. Mel has really enjoyed having Em in her class and working with her partner, Beth.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Back in the thick of it!!
We have been back at school for about 2 months and I am just now getting to updating the blog. Getting harder to find time to sit down nowadays. The girls are pretty active and Melinda is involved in a few projects with school.
Erin: she is doing great at school. Her reading has come so far since the beginning of school. She reads to Mom and Dad every night. We try and get in at least 2 books, but some days are better than others. She is having a very easy time with math so far (think Mom may have something to do with that). She is really enjoying the year. She has almost 65 AR points. Her goal by the end of the year is 100. At 100 points, she gets an AR t-shirt (very exciting stuff). It helps that Emily already has her t-shirt, so Erin wants to be like Emily. Erin is still enjoying her dance class. We can't watch the class practice now. They are preparing for the recital around May. Erin decided she wanted to play soccer, but registration was already complete. She has been kicking the ball in the backyard with Dad and doing very well. She wants to practice with Emily's team, so we'll see how that goes. Erin also wants to take karate...watch out Papa!
Emily: Em is having a lot of fun being in Melinda's class. She has 125 AR points so far. Her goal is to get at least 200 points. At 200 points, you also get a trophy at the end of year awards. Em has been very busy with her GT work (they have read "The girl from Yamhill" and are still learning Latin). They had a party, Lupercalia, with the other GT students and had to greet and speak in latin. Em said it was kind of boring, but it was ok. Emily was our tv star this month. About a week ago, Melinda's class had a reading marathon. Some local celebrities came to read to the class including Bill Jones - mayor, Diane White Delisi - congresswoman, and Kelly Barr/John - KCEN TV. They had some video they showed of them reading to the kids and Emily was front and center - TWICE! I think you can still log onto KCENTV.com and see. The anchors thanked Melinda and Beth (teaching partner) at the end of the segment. Pretty cool watching the Chavez girls dominate the news! Em starts soccer practice this week and her first game is next Saturday. She is ready to be back on the field. Em was selected to be a RedBird Reader. Pretty cool program...any kid interested submits an application and then goes through an interview (why they want to do this, etc.). There are only 10 kids taken through the whole school, and Em was one of them. The kids that particpate are strong readers that help kids having problems with reading before school. They are spending the next week and a half finding out how to help and then they are off. Em is very excited about this.
Elizabeth: E is still doing well despite all of the activities she has been doing. She had straight A's through the first semester, and still has those grades now. If she continues, she will be in the National Junior Honor Society for the second year in a row. E has been very busy the last 2 months. Her basketball team won the district championship. This was the first time they had done so in about 20 years. This was the first year E had ever played basketball. She was pretty tough by the end of the year. The coach did a great job bringing her along. She was pretty aggressive on the court. They got championsip t-shirts to celebrate their achievement. E is participating in the Duke University talent search. Kids were identified based on their scores from the state testing. Part of the talent search was having the kids take the SATs. E took the SAT @ Temple High School about 3 weeks ago. We are waiting to hear the results. We didn't let E study for the test - thought it would be a better barometer if she hadn't studied. If her score is high enough, she can participate in some classes offered through the Duke program during the summer (I think they have a nature course in TX, somewhere). I don't know if she would want to give up any of her summer. We are preparing for round 2 of Junior Cotillion - the Western dance. E got new boots and a shirt to get ready - looks very cute. Mom may go again to take pictures - not sure yet. E opted not to do track and field. She is in off-season. I think they are doing the same workouts with the track team, just no meets. E has been 2nd chair in band since last semester - they haven't been competing since then. She still thinks she can beat the 8th grader that is 1st chair when they get to compete again.
Melinda: Mel has been incredibly busy. She tutors on Tuesday and Thursday after school until 5pm or so. She is on the committee deciding which textbook/curriculum to be used for the next 10 years. She is still doing the math instructional specialist for our elementary school - working teachers to teach math effectively. She is also mentoring a new 2nd grade teacher. There never seems to be enough time in the day, but she manages to keep it all floating.
Stay tuned over the next few weeks for more pictures and info....
Erin: she is doing great at school. Her reading has come so far since the beginning of school. She reads to Mom and Dad every night. We try and get in at least 2 books, but some days are better than others. She is having a very easy time with math so far (think Mom may have something to do with that). She is really enjoying the year. She has almost 65 AR points. Her goal by the end of the year is 100. At 100 points, she gets an AR t-shirt (very exciting stuff). It helps that Emily already has her t-shirt, so Erin wants to be like Emily. Erin is still enjoying her dance class. We can't watch the class practice now. They are preparing for the recital around May. Erin decided she wanted to play soccer, but registration was already complete. She has been kicking the ball in the backyard with Dad and doing very well. She wants to practice with Emily's team, so we'll see how that goes. Erin also wants to take karate...watch out Papa!
Emily: Em is having a lot of fun being in Melinda's class. She has 125 AR points so far. Her goal is to get at least 200 points. At 200 points, you also get a trophy at the end of year awards. Em has been very busy with her GT work (they have read "The girl from Yamhill" and are still learning Latin). They had a party, Lupercalia, with the other GT students and had to greet and speak in latin. Em said it was kind of boring, but it was ok. Emily was our tv star this month. About a week ago, Melinda's class had a reading marathon. Some local celebrities came to read to the class including Bill Jones - mayor, Diane White Delisi - congresswoman, and Kelly Barr/John - KCEN TV. They had some video they showed of them reading to the kids and Emily was front and center - TWICE! I think you can still log onto KCENTV.com and see. The anchors thanked Melinda and Beth (teaching partner) at the end of the segment. Pretty cool watching the Chavez girls dominate the news! Em starts soccer practice this week and her first game is next Saturday. She is ready to be back on the field. Em was selected to be a RedBird Reader. Pretty cool program...any kid interested submits an application and then goes through an interview (why they want to do this, etc.). There are only 10 kids taken through the whole school, and Em was one of them. The kids that particpate are strong readers that help kids having problems with reading before school. They are spending the next week and a half finding out how to help and then they are off. Em is very excited about this.
Elizabeth: E is still doing well despite all of the activities she has been doing. She had straight A's through the first semester, and still has those grades now. If she continues, she will be in the National Junior Honor Society for the second year in a row. E has been very busy the last 2 months. Her basketball team won the district championship. This was the first time they had done so in about 20 years. This was the first year E had ever played basketball. She was pretty tough by the end of the year. The coach did a great job bringing her along. She was pretty aggressive on the court. They got championsip t-shirts to celebrate their achievement. E is participating in the Duke University talent search. Kids were identified based on their scores from the state testing. Part of the talent search was having the kids take the SATs. E took the SAT @ Temple High School about 3 weeks ago. We are waiting to hear the results. We didn't let E study for the test - thought it would be a better barometer if she hadn't studied. If her score is high enough, she can participate in some classes offered through the Duke program during the summer (I think they have a nature course in TX, somewhere). I don't know if she would want to give up any of her summer. We are preparing for round 2 of Junior Cotillion - the Western dance. E got new boots and a shirt to get ready - looks very cute. Mom may go again to take pictures - not sure yet. E opted not to do track and field. She is in off-season. I think they are doing the same workouts with the track team, just no meets. E has been 2nd chair in band since last semester - they haven't been competing since then. She still thinks she can beat the 8th grader that is 1st chair when they get to compete again.
Melinda: Mel has been incredibly busy. She tutors on Tuesday and Thursday after school until 5pm or so. She is on the committee deciding which textbook/curriculum to be used for the next 10 years. She is still doing the math instructional specialist for our elementary school - working teachers to teach math effectively. She is also mentoring a new 2nd grade teacher. There never seems to be enough time in the day, but she manages to keep it all floating.
Stay tuned over the next few weeks for more pictures and info....
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Happy New Year!!
Hope everyone had a happy and safe new year's celebration. We certainly did! We are quite the party family...we stayed up all the way to 10:30pm. I know, I know...how did you do it? Vacation time, so we stayed up late. We got to spend a week in San Francisco visiting family. We got to be there for the 1st birthday party for Max & Julia. The weather was cold but we got the chance to wear our new beanies, sweaters, & coats. The Chavez girls looked great!
I asked what the girls enjoyed most about their trip to California. Elizabeth & Emily said they enjoyed everything (including all the shopping they got to do @ A&F and Hollister). Melinda enjoyed the time with the babies, Max & Julia. Eric enjoyed the babies and the Ghiradelli milkshake. Erin enjoyed seeing the seagulls and sea lions (Oh Yea! and the babies). We have a lot of pictures from the trip.
The girls were anxious to get home and see Riley, but are ready to plan our next trip to California.
Erin is still beating everyone in bowling on the Wii (still can't figure out how that is happening). We are trying to get prepared to go back to work and school. The time off with the kids and family was great.
We hope everyone has a blessed new year!
I asked what the girls enjoyed most about their trip to California. Elizabeth & Emily said they enjoyed everything (including all the shopping they got to do @ A&F and Hollister). Melinda enjoyed the time with the babies, Max & Julia. Eric enjoyed the babies and the Ghiradelli milkshake. Erin enjoyed seeing the seagulls and sea lions (Oh Yea! and the babies). We have a lot of pictures from the trip.
The girls were anxious to get home and see Riley, but are ready to plan our next trip to California.
Erin is still beating everyone in bowling on the Wii (still can't figure out how that is happening). We are trying to get prepared to go back to work and school. The time off with the kids and family was great.
We hope everyone has a blessed new year!
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