Saturday, January 31, 2009
Olympic Champions
Our family attended an Open House at a local gymnastics business, which happens to be owned by the coach who trained the 2004 and 2008 Olympic All-Around Champions Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin. Aside from enjoying the beautiful facility, it was fun getting a chance to briefly meet these amazing gymnasts.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Reflections Contest
Sierra and Caleb kept busy during the month of October tapping into their artistic abilities for the national Reflections contest. They ended up having lots of fun, and both were thrilled to receive some awards for their efforts.
Sierra wrote several very silly stories that had me suppressing my laughter as she dictated them to me, and she won an Award of Merit (second level of recognition) and an Honorable Mention (third level of recognition) at our elementary school for two of them.
Caleb had an advantage this year being the oldest grade in the K-2nd contest level. He entered every category of art except dance choreography and proved to be quite the Renaissance Man. His short film won an Award of Merit and he won Awards of Excellence (top level of recognition) for his photography, musical composition, writing, and two drawings at the elementary school. These entries advanced to regional judging, where he received an Honorable Mention for musical composition, Award of Merit for photography, and Award of Excellence for writing.
His story "The Come-to-Life Origami Paper" will now advance to the state level! It will be a couple months before we hear the results from the state competition. I'm sure it will be hard to place there, but it's always fun to wait and dream. We attended an awards ceremony for the regional contest at the elementary school today, and it was comical to see the second grade buzz louder and louder every time Caleb went on stage. He was pretty calm about the whole thing, but I think he's proud and excited.
I told both kids that what makes me happiest isn't the awards but enjoying their art. Since their stories are the easiest thing to post, I thought I'd include a sample of their efforts below. Enjoy!
Chapter 1
One day Mike was riding to Hobby Lobby. He was going to buy some origami paper. He found a box that said ‘Weston origami paper. Will bring your origami to life!’ “Wow!” said Mike, “This must be the only box of origami paper in the whole store!” Indeed, it was. He had looked through every nook and cranny of the store, but had not even found a single piece of origami paper in the entire store! He went to the checkout counter, bought the paper, rushed out of the store, and hopped onto his bike to pedal home and go make some origami. He climbed the stairs to his room and decided to make a goldfish. He folded it, snipped it, and opened it out into a goldfish. As he stood back to admire his work, he thought he saw the tail move. He looked again. Yep, he definitely saw it move. He looked away from it. Then heard a voice scream, “Get me some water! Noooooow!” Mike jumped up, opened the door, ran downstairs, got a bowl, filled it with water, ran upstairs, shut the door, and put the goldfish into the bowl, all in 5 seconds! “What’s going on?” he asked the goldfish.
Chapter 2
“Well, look at that box,” said the goldfish. “Can’t you read?’ W-I-L-L. That spells will. B-R-I-N”… “Ok, I get it,” said Mike, “But how did this happen?” “No idea!” said the goldfish. “But I can tell you something!” “What?” asked Mike. “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON!” bellowed the goldfish. “Er, yeh, I already knew that,” said Mike. “Can’t you tell me anything else?” “No!” said the goldfish. “Well, I’m underwater…” “Looks like there isn’t anything you can tell me. Guess I’ll have to live with that.” He paused. “Well then,” he said “So, mind if I make you a friend?” “No, not at all!” said the goldfish. “The more the better!” So he folded, snipped, and opened the paper up into a goldfish. Its tail twitched. It twitched again. “Get me some water! Noooooow!”
Chapter 3
Mike plopped him into the bowl. “Hello, good friend!” said the first fish. “Hello good friend!” said the second fish. Mike put the bowl in the closet. Then he headed downstairs. That night, Mike heard a sound from his closet. “Can I have a glass of water?” “No,” said Mike, “You already have lots of water. Now go to sleep!” The next morning, Mike went to school. At the classroom, the teacher, Miss Airbag, was introducing a new kid. “Class, this is Bulligan. His favorite animal is a cow. He says he likes male cows best. Another word for a male cow is a bull. And his favorite truck is a bulldozer.” Mike soon found out why. He was a bull-y.
Chapter 4
Bulligan tripped him on the sidewalk so he got loads of scratches. He stole his lunch money. In fact, Bulligan was probably bullying him more than he was bullying anybody else! Finally he had a plan. The next morning, he made a dragon and eight cranes out of the magic origami paper. Just as he expected, they came to life. He whispered orders to them, and he got the goldfish out of the closet and whispered orders to them. He got some foil and wrapped it around the bowl so the water didn’t fall out, and stuffed the animals into his backpack. When he went into the classroom, he still had his backpack on. He opened it up, and the cranes and dragon flew out. Everybody stared, especially at the dragon, since they had never seen one before. The cranes picked up Bulligan and swung him around. The dragon swooped up and just hung there, since Mike wanted to teach Bulligan a lesson and just made the dragon to scare him. Then, before he could give the signal for the fish to splash water at him, Bulligan yelled “OK, I give up!” The cranes dropped him, and the dragon swooped down. “You have used your magic wisely,” said a voice from the shadows.
Chapter 5
A figure stepped from the shadows. “It is I,” said the person. He had white, long hair that almost touched the floor. He had a cape, and warm brown eyes. “I am Wizard Horus.” His eyes twinkled. “My last name is Weston.” Weston… It rung something in Mike’s memory, but he couldn’t tell what. “Yes, I am the maker of the origami paper,” Horus said, as if he had read Mike’s mind. “It was hard work. I worked on it day and night. Why did I do it? I thought I could make a difference in the world.” “And I did,” he finished, looking at Mike. There was a silence. Then Bulligan spoke up. “Do you think it was a good idea to bruise my hands?” he said, pointing to the scratches on his hands the cranes had made. “Oh, I can fix that,” said Horus. He waved a wand he had conjured out of thin air, and the scratches vanished. Then he stepped back into the shadows and he too vanished. After that, Mike and Bulligan, (who now called himself Friendigan) were the best of friends. Horus visited them often enough, and they all lived happily ever after.
Sierra wrote several very silly stories that had me suppressing my laughter as she dictated them to me, and she won an Award of Merit (second level of recognition) and an Honorable Mention (third level of recognition) at our elementary school for two of them.
Caleb had an advantage this year being the oldest grade in the K-2nd contest level. He entered every category of art except dance choreography and proved to be quite the Renaissance Man. His short film won an Award of Merit and he won Awards of Excellence (top level of recognition) for his photography, musical composition, writing, and two drawings at the elementary school. These entries advanced to regional judging, where he received an Honorable Mention for musical composition, Award of Merit for photography, and Award of Excellence for writing.
His story "The Come-to-Life Origami Paper" will now advance to the state level! It will be a couple months before we hear the results from the state competition. I'm sure it will be hard to place there, but it's always fun to wait and dream. We attended an awards ceremony for the regional contest at the elementary school today, and it was comical to see the second grade buzz louder and louder every time Caleb went on stage. He was pretty calm about the whole thing, but I think he's proud and excited.
I told both kids that what makes me happiest isn't the awards but enjoying their art. Since their stories are the easiest thing to post, I thought I'd include a sample of their efforts below. Enjoy!
The Silly Elephant by Sierra Biddulph
Once upon a time there was a silly elephant. He did many tricks. On his tail he could balance a birthday cake, on his belly he could balance a rocking chair, on his eyes he could balance diamond rings and necklaces, on his ears he could balance sunscreen, and on his trunk he could balance a bed.
There was one girl named Sarah who didn’t like his tricks even a teeny tiny bit. He saw her face and thought, “Maybe I can make my tricks even sillier, like jumping through a hoop!” When he jumped through the hoop, he accidentally fell over. That made the girl even less into his tricks. The elephant was very, very sad. The elephant thought, “I don’t even know if this will work, but I will just try.” He picked the girl up and spun her around for everyone. Then he said, “Good day, ma’am.”
The little girl said, “Wow! That elephant must be a really famous elephant, even more than the President of the United States of America. No elephant can speak, and he was just born the other day! How can he learn to speak so fastly?”
After that, the elephant and Sarah became best friends, and she visited him every day at the zoo.
Once upon a time there was a silly elephant. He did many tricks. On his tail he could balance a birthday cake, on his belly he could balance a rocking chair, on his eyes he could balance diamond rings and necklaces, on his ears he could balance sunscreen, and on his trunk he could balance a bed.
There was one girl named Sarah who didn’t like his tricks even a teeny tiny bit. He saw her face and thought, “Maybe I can make my tricks even sillier, like jumping through a hoop!” When he jumped through the hoop, he accidentally fell over. That made the girl even less into his tricks. The elephant was very, very sad. The elephant thought, “I don’t even know if this will work, but I will just try.” He picked the girl up and spun her around for everyone. Then he said, “Good day, ma’am.”
The little girl said, “Wow! That elephant must be a really famous elephant, even more than the President of the United States of America. No elephant can speak, and he was just born the other day! How can he learn to speak so fastly?”
After that, the elephant and Sarah became best friends, and she visited him every day at the zoo.
The Come-to-life Origami Paper by Caleb Biddulph
Chapter 1
One day Mike was riding to Hobby Lobby. He was going to buy some origami paper. He found a box that said ‘Weston origami paper. Will bring your origami to life!’ “Wow!” said Mike, “This must be the only box of origami paper in the whole store!” Indeed, it was. He had looked through every nook and cranny of the store, but had not even found a single piece of origami paper in the entire store! He went to the checkout counter, bought the paper, rushed out of the store, and hopped onto his bike to pedal home and go make some origami. He climbed the stairs to his room and decided to make a goldfish. He folded it, snipped it, and opened it out into a goldfish. As he stood back to admire his work, he thought he saw the tail move. He looked again. Yep, he definitely saw it move. He looked away from it. Then heard a voice scream, “Get me some water! Noooooow!” Mike jumped up, opened the door, ran downstairs, got a bowl, filled it with water, ran upstairs, shut the door, and put the goldfish into the bowl, all in 5 seconds! “What’s going on?” he asked the goldfish.
Chapter 2
“Well, look at that box,” said the goldfish. “Can’t you read?’ W-I-L-L. That spells will. B-R-I-N”… “Ok, I get it,” said Mike, “But how did this happen?” “No idea!” said the goldfish. “But I can tell you something!” “What?” asked Mike. “I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON!” bellowed the goldfish. “Er, yeh, I already knew that,” said Mike. “Can’t you tell me anything else?” “No!” said the goldfish. “Well, I’m underwater…” “Looks like there isn’t anything you can tell me. Guess I’ll have to live with that.” He paused. “Well then,” he said “So, mind if I make you a friend?” “No, not at all!” said the goldfish. “The more the better!” So he folded, snipped, and opened the paper up into a goldfish. Its tail twitched. It twitched again. “Get me some water! Noooooow!”
Chapter 3
Mike plopped him into the bowl. “Hello, good friend!” said the first fish. “Hello good friend!” said the second fish. Mike put the bowl in the closet. Then he headed downstairs. That night, Mike heard a sound from his closet. “Can I have a glass of water?” “No,” said Mike, “You already have lots of water. Now go to sleep!” The next morning, Mike went to school. At the classroom, the teacher, Miss Airbag, was introducing a new kid. “Class, this is Bulligan. His favorite animal is a cow. He says he likes male cows best. Another word for a male cow is a bull. And his favorite truck is a bulldozer.” Mike soon found out why. He was a bull-y.
Chapter 4
Bulligan tripped him on the sidewalk so he got loads of scratches. He stole his lunch money. In fact, Bulligan was probably bullying him more than he was bullying anybody else! Finally he had a plan. The next morning, he made a dragon and eight cranes out of the magic origami paper. Just as he expected, they came to life. He whispered orders to them, and he got the goldfish out of the closet and whispered orders to them. He got some foil and wrapped it around the bowl so the water didn’t fall out, and stuffed the animals into his backpack. When he went into the classroom, he still had his backpack on. He opened it up, and the cranes and dragon flew out. Everybody stared, especially at the dragon, since they had never seen one before. The cranes picked up Bulligan and swung him around. The dragon swooped up and just hung there, since Mike wanted to teach Bulligan a lesson and just made the dragon to scare him. Then, before he could give the signal for the fish to splash water at him, Bulligan yelled “OK, I give up!” The cranes dropped him, and the dragon swooped down. “You have used your magic wisely,” said a voice from the shadows.
Chapter 5
A figure stepped from the shadows. “It is I,” said the person. He had white, long hair that almost touched the floor. He had a cape, and warm brown eyes. “I am Wizard Horus.” His eyes twinkled. “My last name is Weston.” Weston… It rung something in Mike’s memory, but he couldn’t tell what. “Yes, I am the maker of the origami paper,” Horus said, as if he had read Mike’s mind. “It was hard work. I worked on it day and night. Why did I do it? I thought I could make a difference in the world.” “And I did,” he finished, looking at Mike. There was a silence. Then Bulligan spoke up. “Do you think it was a good idea to bruise my hands?” he said, pointing to the scratches on his hands the cranes had made. “Oh, I can fix that,” said Horus. He waved a wand he had conjured out of thin air, and the scratches vanished. Then he stepped back into the shadows and he too vanished. After that, Mike and Bulligan, (who now called himself Friendigan) were the best of friends. Horus visited them often enough, and they all lived happily ever after.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Happy One Third Century
I was having a catch up day at home earlier this week when I was surprised to hear the doorbell. When I looked outside, I saw a single pink rose in a vase on my doormat with a card propped beside it that read "Happy 1/3 Century!" I looked down the street where I saw Ted had parked his car just past our home. He walked toward me with a sheepish smile and lunch in tow. Ted explained to me that I was 33 years and 4 months old, and therefore I was a third of a century. And to think I'd almost completely missed such an important occasion! Beyond the pleasure of a delicious lunch and fun break in the day, I was really touched that Ted had gone through the effort to do something special for me just because. Such a simple gesture has had an impact on my morale all week. Thank you, Ted!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
California Getaway
Ted had two whole weeks off work, and since we were so far West we worked in a 5 day getaway to San Diego and Anaheim with Caleb and Sierra, leaving Madeline in Tucson with my parents. When we first arrived it was so cold that I wanted to go straight back to Tucson. We did have our days of sunshine though, and the kids were daring enough to go into the ocean near the Coronado Hotel one sunny morning. At first it was just their feet, but by the time we left they were soaked. We enjoyed the science museum, street performers, Japanese gardens, organ concert, and people watching at Balboa Park. We especially enjoyed sampling the foods from around the world at the international houses, with a heavy concentration on pastries from Scandinavia. Downtown we watched the ships and ate lunch on the bay.
We even fit in a day at Disneyland. Not wanting to change hotels and feeling daring without Madeline, we opted for an extremely long day. We left San Diego for Anaheim at 5am to be the first ones there when the gates opened at 8am and left the park at 10pm, returning to our San Diego hotel just before midnight. The four of us ran through the park the first couple hours like we were on the Amazing Race--you can't do Disneyland entirely in one day, but we came close, skipping only character greetings with the princesses and the invention exhibition. I'd spent hours studying strategies for getting around the busy lines, and despite the crowds we had only one wait past 15 minutes. Sierra surprised us going on all the roller coasters, including Space Mountain (Caleb's favorite of the day), although she merely tolerated them. Her favorite was the Winnie the Pooh ride, which we rode three times to pay her back for coming on all the stomach lurching rides with the rest of us. One of the best parts of the day was relaxing at a holiday show with very few crowds. Santa and Mrs. Claus both took their time visiting with the kids, Sierra won a game that gave her the chance to feed Pluto a bone, and a magician spent some one-on-one time with Caleb showing him all his amazing tricks.
Coronado Beach
Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland
Santa and Mrs. Claus
Sierra feeds Pluto
Sierra and Caleb with Dale
The one glitch in my planning was trying to hit Small World after a parade. We waited for 45 minutes only to see no line at all when we finished our ride. I was kicking myself for making such a silly mistake after strategizing so well, but at least the lights were pretty.
Downtown San Diego
Sea Lions in La JollaChristmas in Tucson
Our family had a fantastic trip to Tucson. I was nervous about the 15 hour car ride, but we got a 4 am start each direction and the kids were very patient in the car. My three siblings were there, so my parents' house was full indeed. We had lots of sunny weather, and the kids spent much of their time in the backyard gardening, climbing, and Madeline even spread out a few towels for sunbathing. Highlights include seeing the six cousins play together for the first time in two years, attending a Western-style melodrama performance at Gaslight theater with an amazing live pianist, spending time at a neighbor's horse and chicken farm, delivering homemade cards and caroling to hospice patients, hiking to the top of a local mountain for the sunset and stargazing, reconnecting with the only friend I've known since kindergarten and haven't seen in twelve years (gotta love Facebook), delicious Mexican food and desserts, and long walks in the desert along my parents' road. Thanks mom and dad for all your hard work hosting us, Danny for sharing your talent as a photographer, and everyone for a memorable holiday!
The Cannon Family--2 grandparents, 4 siblings, 3 in-laws, and 6 grandkids
The Arizona skies are truly breathtaking
Christmas Eve Dinner
Our family singing "The Orchestra" with my sisters for Christmas Eve program
Caleb and Sierra playing in a stagecoach with their cousins Katie and Grace
Sierra petting the neighbor's horse
The Cannon Family--2 grandparents, 4 siblings, 3 in-laws, and 6 grandkids
The Arizona skies are truly breathtaking
Christmas Eve Dinner
Our family singing "The Orchestra" with my sisters for Christmas Eve program
Caleb and Sierra playing in a stagecoach with their cousins Katie and Grace
Sierra petting the neighbor's horse
A Crazy Preschool Christmas
Since I haven't blogged in over a month, I have a lot to catch up on. I tried really hard to keep Christmas as simple as possible this year, limiting presents for our entire family of 5 and my extended family to what could fit in one suitcase and opting to forgo sending Christmas cards. However, as early as Thanksgiving I was already feeling snowballed with the amount of shopping and things to do in order to prepare for the holiday and our family's trip to Arizona and California over the break. It was my preschool class duties that almost put me over. On top of the usual bustle of the Christmas performance and party, our pre-K team decided to have each child make a handprint calendar for their parents. It turned out to be an over-the-top project with 195 total calendar pages involving several handprints per page. Rather than teaching, my days were spent handprinting one student at a time, and afterwards there were hours of gluing and assembling. The photo below represents one day's handprinting work, a small portion of the total project. The calendars turned out really cute, but I laugh when I think that a preschool project nearly put me over in the month of December.
My preschool class before going on stage to perform their Christmas program
The now legendary handprinting project
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgiving Weekend
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. While I am indeed thankful to have Ted and the children to spend the day with, I've come to the conclusion that Thanksgiving just isn't the same without additional family or friends to add to the excitement. It seems like too much effort making a huge meal for just five people, so if anyone ever needs a place to go, give us a call.
This year, I am pleased to report that our full-sized turkey turned out much better than last year's attempt at a turkey breast. Many thanks to my mom for giving me the courage and know-how to take on the project, Oprah's cooking show, the turkey advice online, Sierra for accompanying me to purchase the turkey, and Ted for removing the giblet bag. This was no small emotional obstacle for a vegetarian to overcome, so I needed a lot of help getting through the process. It didn't help when Sierra was cradling the little frozen cornish hens and singing them lullabies in the grocery store. (She wants a baby chick so badly after holding one at a friend's birthday party, so I think this was the next best thing to having a pet of her own.)
After spending Tuesday and Wednesday making four pies and the side dishes mostly from scratch, I have vowed to make things easier and lighter next year. I've had a stomachache for a couple weeks, and we normally don't eat rich food, so I felt like I was forcing myself to eat what we had spent so long making. I do think the kids enjoyed the holiday, watching the Macy's Day Parade and sampling all the new dishes. Sierra was extremely dainty dabbing her mouth with her cloth napkin, and Caleb tied his napkin around his neck and dug into a huge helping of turkey and cranberry sauce. Madeline loved the pumpkin pie so much she inhaled four pieces without swallowing.
I've always wondered what Black Friday is all about, but have never dared venture out. This year Caleb promised to go with me, so I spent a couple hours looking through the online ads and seeing what was available. Caleb wanted to leave at 4:30 am, but I talked him into waiting until a more decent hour. We started at Wal-Mart just as the sun was coming up on a very dreary morning, and we couldn't find a single item from our list still in stock! We headed over to Target and found everything we were looking for, and then went to the mall and Costco. I don't think we got any fantastic deals, but at least we now know what it's all about.
This year, I am pleased to report that our full-sized turkey turned out much better than last year's attempt at a turkey breast. Many thanks to my mom for giving me the courage and know-how to take on the project, Oprah's cooking show, the turkey advice online, Sierra for accompanying me to purchase the turkey, and Ted for removing the giblet bag. This was no small emotional obstacle for a vegetarian to overcome, so I needed a lot of help getting through the process. It didn't help when Sierra was cradling the little frozen cornish hens and singing them lullabies in the grocery store. (She wants a baby chick so badly after holding one at a friend's birthday party, so I think this was the next best thing to having a pet of her own.)
After spending Tuesday and Wednesday making four pies and the side dishes mostly from scratch, I have vowed to make things easier and lighter next year. I've had a stomachache for a couple weeks, and we normally don't eat rich food, so I felt like I was forcing myself to eat what we had spent so long making. I do think the kids enjoyed the holiday, watching the Macy's Day Parade and sampling all the new dishes. Sierra was extremely dainty dabbing her mouth with her cloth napkin, and Caleb tied his napkin around his neck and dug into a huge helping of turkey and cranberry sauce. Madeline loved the pumpkin pie so much she inhaled four pieces without swallowing.
I've always wondered what Black Friday is all about, but have never dared venture out. This year Caleb promised to go with me, so I spent a couple hours looking through the online ads and seeing what was available. Caleb wanted to leave at 4:30 am, but I talked him into waiting until a more decent hour. We started at Wal-Mart just as the sun was coming up on a very dreary morning, and we couldn't find a single item from our list still in stock! We headed over to Target and found everything we were looking for, and then went to the mall and Costco. I don't think we got any fantastic deals, but at least we now know what it's all about.
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