Brag Alert-The following blog has a ton of bragging!

I have left a lot of stuff out the past couple of weeks because I really don't want this blog to be all about my kids, as it has been for almost a year now :)). But really, nothing too interesting happens to me or Jon. Let's see....Jon is still working and going TDY quite a bit...nothing new there....I am still at home, taking care of Owen and volunteering at the school about 3-5 times a month....boring right? So now I am not going to feel bad and write about all the great stuff my boys have been doing the last few weeks so log off if you don't like the bragging :))

First we will start with Justin. Here is what we received in the mail about 3 weeks ago:

(double click to read)

Now, even though it says he was nominated by his teacher, Ms. Sonya Campbell is actually the Principal of the school. She nominated Justin along with 5 other students. To know more about the program, it states that "the National Young Scholars Program was created to identify students with a history of academic achievement and exceptional leadership potential and to stimulate and invigorate their natural curiosity to learn and discover. The Program will recognize and honor the most mature and independent individuals possible in the 4th and 5th grades, and nominations are extended to high-achieving scholars only. Educational advisers are asked to nominate only those scholars who can meet the challenge of our advanced academic curriculum and who merit the distinction of a nomination."----We were of course floored. They go to Illinois for 6 days---without their parents---and stay in a dorm with 2 other roommates. Then they have daily classes on subjects they like and I could go on and on. Now the bad part---it cost $300.00.....A DAY!! There was no way we could afford it so we are turning it down. But we were so proud that he was nominated anyways!

Then in November he earned this:

He is the first 4th grader to EVER reach 1 million words read in a school year! Justin took only 3 months to do it. As of January, he has 1 million 350+ thousand. For Christmas, he received the last Harry Potter book. It has 750 pages in it. He read it in 3 days!

Nathan has not had the opportunities as of yet to accomplish the things that Justin has being he is only in 2nd grade. But he is doing so well in school! We just got his report card and he has all A's again. In fact, he has never had a B so far. On the teacher remarks, she wrote, "Nathan has such a creative mind. He is coming out of his shell and is able to contribute interesting tidbits to our classroom discussions!" He is well above his grade level in reading and is recognized for his artistic abilities! I see him going down the same path as Justin!

Now we can't forget about my sweet baby Owen! He has gotten all A's so far....just kidding! He finally started walking on December 30th~~about 2 days after turning 13 months! He can say Papa, heis (German for hot), licht (German for light), raus (German for out) he uses sign language and can sign for the words milk, all done, eat, fan, night-night, hi and bye. He knows where his nose and hair is if asked. Here is a clip of him walking (just a short one though):

There....I got it all out of my system!

HAPPY 2008!

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Happy Birthday....

....to me. Here is a *beautiful* picture of me just crawling out of bed and looking at the beautiful garden stones my boys made for me!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! It was a nice morning. The boys were instructed they were NOT allowed to come up before 6 am but I could hear them talking and whispering at 5:45 so I rang some jingle bells and all was quiet again until they ran upstairs! They had a great time opening presents and Owen had fun too. However, what morning would be complete without a trip the the ER? Jon took Owen down there at 8:30 am because he was acting like he was in pain so we were convinced he had an ear infection, which of course, he didn't. The rest of the morning was calm and we had a nice day after that!

Tracking Santa on Norad Christmas Eve

In the Paper

Here is a picture of Nathan (orange shirt) in the local paper when he sang at the radio station (see December 6 blog)!

Christmas in Branson

Branson is a beautiful city with lots to do. We spent some time down there visiting a few sights. I got to open my Christmas present early from Jon--a Canon Powershot SD750--to use!~ I love it! Unfortunately, all 3 boys had BAD coughs and congestion...can you say pneumonia?? Scroll down to see the slide!

Elfis and the Sleighriders!

Nathan had a Christmas performance yesterday! "Elfis and the Sleighriders" it was called. He had one of the lead roles playing Santa Claus! They were invited to the PX to sing in front of the crowds and then had a performance at school later that evening. He had a little solo part that I tried to grab at the last minute so the footage is horrible...but it gives you an idea of how cute he sounded. I recorded the whole thing later on my camcorder but I don't know how to download just sections.....I will try so you can watch better footage, but in the meantime, the video below gives you an idea...

Nathan the Radio Star

Nathan was selected among his peers along with 4 others in his class (plus 5 selected from the other 2nd grade class) to sing Christmas songs at 2 local radio stations! They did their first round yesterday and I heard them again this morning! They sung 3 songs total and sounded so great!*double click to read it better*

MY BABY IS ONE!!!

I canNOT believe that Owen is 1 year old today!! I am so happy and sad at the same time! Happy in that the newborn/baby stage is gone and now he has this little personality and you can see him learning new things everyday! He LOVES his books, so much so that we have to actually hide them because otherwise he wants you to read them to him all of the time! He loves to give hugs and kisses and his favorite thing is playing with Justin and Nathan. Owen loves being outside and "playing" with our pets. I am sad because he is our last and the first year went by way too fast...just like I knew it would. It went too fast with our older 2 and is still going too fast. I am trying to enjoy everyday because one day, they will be out of our house and starting families of their own! Enjoy the slide below on Owen's first year!!!

I Love Fall

A Weekend Away

Jon had earned a free hotel room from all of his traveling (in fact, he is gone again) so we spent Sunday and Monday in Springfield. We first went to the zoo and then to the Discovery Zone. Everyone had a great time and it was good to get away from the area!

Nathan was our tour guide.

What kind of dogs are these?

Hair-raising!!

Here the boys are riding a special bike that balances itself on a high wire 100 feet off the ground!

Owen was impressed with them!

Results

The spelling bee was gut-wrenching! Justin went all the way to the 4th round and missed on a word he knows because he was saying the letters so fast (harmonica)! Anyways, he did really well and placed 4th in the fourth through fith grade Bee. The top 3 go on to compete in the district spelling bee and the 4th place winner goes also as the alternate in case one of the top 3 get sick and then he would then replace them.

Here is a picture of Justin getting his certificate: (the teacher in the pink top is his teacher Mrs. Campbell)

Here is a picture of all the winners going to the District Spelling Bee. The top row are the winners from the 6th grade bee ( going from right to left is 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions) and the bottom row is the 4th-5th grade winners ( also going from right to left ). 4th grade had the most winners winning the 1st, 2nd and 4th place slots and 3rd place was a 5th grader.

One more pic of my proud boy and his group:

Spelling Bee

Next up...the spelling bee. This list is like 1000 words and a lot of them, I have no idea what they mean or how to spell them myself! Justin was 1 of 3 students chosen...we will have to see what happens! (you can double-click on it to read it better).