Achieving Orange

Erin had tryouts for Strikers soccer on Friday.  She was told she would know about her placement at some point today.  The unbearable waiting was made a bit easier by a super-busy day:

*We went to church

*It was Day in Our Village

*There was an afternoon soccer game

*There was an outdoor party at a neighbor's house

*There was cheering for the Black Hawks in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup

Partway thru the first period of the hockey game, Erin got "the call."  She's made the Orange Team for Strikers U14 girls team.  I'm so proud of her for all her hard work in soccer this year, and I'm thrilled that it's paid off in placement on the Orange Team.

All Dressed Up

I've always thought Erin was a beautiful child, but lately it seems like I catch her being drop-dead gorgeous more and more. She doesn't often show this softer side, so when she does it just takes my breath away.
For example, she can go from tough-girl-on-the-soccer-field to this:

The occasion was the Bat Mitzvah of two of her friends.

4.0

Today I finally got to see Erin's report card.  It's not that she's been hiding it, it's that she has such a busy social life.  I kissed her goodbye yesterday morning as she went off for her last hour of school, and I didn't see her again until midday today.  When she made her appearance at the house, she had in hand a mighty impressive report card.

Erin has always been a conscientious, hard-working student.  She does whatever it takes to get the best grades possible.  Erin attended early morning study sessions in two subjects to maintain her good grades this year.  Her hard work paid off:  she earned a 4.0 for third trimester, and a 3.96 overall.

Congratulations, Erin!  You earned it!

Last Day of School Traditions - Part 2

I've mentioned before about Mr. Sak's head-shaving ritual on the last day of school.  Even tho Mr. Sak gave up his classroom for the Student Support Specialist position, he still shaved heads today.  "Mr. Gray's Barber Shop" was set up with four stations:  two for initial hair removal and two for the actual shave.  Since several of the boys (including a kindergartner) were getting shaved and there was limited time, Mr. Sak called in reinforcements in the form of his brother, who also keeps his head shaved, and Mr. Gray.  Mr. Sak did both hair removal and shave, switching between two stations.  Mr. Gray manned the other hair removal station, and Mr. Sak's brother manned the other shaving station.

Last Day of School Traditions - Part 1

Ever since Mr. Hodge took over as principal, the Irving School teachers have kicked off the last day of school with a dance.  It's such a fun tradition, and it truly sets the tone for a celebratory day.  The teachers have always danced to the Electric Slide, but this year they changed their tune, moving and grooving to I've Got a Feeling.

You can watch the full Youtube video here

Indoor Outing

The third graders were supposed to spend all day at Rehm Park today, having a picnic and enjoying outdoor games.  Instead there was enough rain and mud to cancel the trip to the park.  The students instead played indoor games until the weather broke.  Drew and several of his classmates played Apples to Apples...

...and I initiated a scrabble game.  I think there were nine students who, at some point, contributed to the words on the board.  Here's what our board looked like at the end:

I was especially impressed with how "uncap" became "suncapped."

The Perfect Score

We at the 5 Ring Circus are just a bit competitive.  We take our Wii scores very seriously, and it's a big deal when someone gets bumped off of the #1 spot.  Awhile back I bumped Erin off the #1 spot on Wii Fit's soccer heading game.  After I named it the best thing that happened to me that day, Erin spent over an hour trying to top me.  She did - she managed a perfect score.  I had been unable to beat that for months.  In fact, I hadn't even been able to crack the current top 10 scores in all this time.  It was driving me crazy.  So today I finally got it - a perfect score!  And just to prove it wasn't a fluke, I did it a second time!

Here's the thing about the Wii top scores.  If there's a tie, for example, if two people both get perfect scores, the person who got the top score most recently is the one who gets top billing.  So while Erin accomplished a perfect score first, I have top billing in the standings.

If you've ever wondered where my kids get their competitive nature from, it should be obvious.