McCann Olympics

Hey y'all,

I know it's been a while since I last posted.  I can't promise that this is the start of posting on a regular basis again, but this was just too good not to blog!  Today, we had the McCann Olympics.  It... was... AWESOME!!!  The kids had a blast.  It's been pretty hot lately and the kids haven't wanted to play outside.  (We took a 30 minute walk the other day and you would have thought I was torturing them!!) The Olympics not only got them outside for a while, but they enjoyed it!  We weren't out too long because it IS hot, but our games kept us busy and active inside as well, instead of bored and vegging in front of the TV all day!  

I made this sign to get the kids excited and curious.  I didn't tell them what we were going to do, I just started humming the Olympics song and making this sign.  Oh, and I do realize these aren't the "real" colors.  These are our favorite colors, after all, it was our Olympics.  

This is a list of our events.  We actually modified it a little.  There were a total of 13 events.  We had two races.  One was a sprint, one was a distance race.  

Bed Making was really an excuse to get our sheets changed.  (Score one for Mom!)  I have been meaning to teach the kids how to put sheets on the bed though.  They've helped for a while by taking sheets off for me, but this was the first time that both of them put sheets on all by themselves.  They did great!!

Colin struggled a bit, but he came through.

Molly is proud.  She won Silver in this event.  (I won Gold.  After all, I have trained in this event much longer!  Come on, I had to give myself a few "freebies" so I wouldn't be a complete loser!!)

Colin won bronze.  He had a small deduction because his sheet is showing on the side. 

We had three Gold medalists in the school event.  I got Gold for teaching.  Molly took gold in 2nd Grade.

Colin easily got Gold in Kindergarten.  

The next event was a shout out to Gymnastics.  We all did cartwheels.  Molly got Silver.  (We all rated each other on a scale from 1-5.) 

Colin got Bronze.  He actually does a pretty mean cartwheel!

And here, is the most unattractive, Gold medal cartwheel I have ever seen!!!  But, I am pretty proud that I can still do a cartwheel!!

Here is the Sprint.  Molly took Gold.  Colin got Silver.  Mom didn't qualify for this race.  ;)

There were no pictures taken during the distance race.  Molly got the Gold.  Colin came in second.  Mom got the Bronze.  (Only because no one else was racing!  It was pitiful!!)

For the High Jump, we had to be a bit creative.  I sat down and counted bricks for how high they jumped.  Molly counted my bricks.  I only jumped two bricks high!!  Molly and Colin both jumped 5 bricks high. 

They tied and both received Gold.

Long Jump took us all by surprise.  

Colin jumped the farthest and got Gold.  Molly got Silver.  I got Bronze.  

The Tennis Ball Throw was another "freebie" for mom.  (Tee-hee!)  I was pretty sure I could throw farther than both Molly and Colin.  

The killer was that Molly's throw wasn't all that far behind mine!!  I got Gold.  Molly got another Silver.  Colin ended up with another Bronze.  

We had a Dance Off next.  The scoring was a bit subjective, but in the end, we all agreed that Colin surprised us with his fancy footwork.  

Colin = Gold

Molly = Silver

Mom = Bronze

Because Mom was making the events... We had a round of The Quiet Game.  I am sure you can guess how this one turned out... Oh yes, I won Gold in less than two minutes!!  Molly held out a bit longer than Colin to receive Silver.  Of course, Chatty Colin was "out" fast and took the Bronze.

Next up was Balloon Ping Pong.  

This was a tournament.  After the first round, we were all tied with one win apiece.  Then, Colin beat both Molly and me to secure the Gold.  Molly and I had to duke it out for Silver.  By skill luck, I edged past Molly to get Silver.  Molly got her first Bronze of the day.  

For some reason, our photographer dropped the ball during the next event.  (I guess I shouldn't fire her. Yeah, I will give her another chance.  Heh, heh...) Our last event was the Puzzle Challenge.  To make things a bit more fair, we threw in handicaps.  Colin completed a 24 piece puzzle.  Molly put together a 60 piece puzzle.  I had to build a 100 piece puzzle.  We timed each person to see who was the fastest.  Colin won Gold with a time of 7:05.  Molly won Silver with a time of 8:46.  I took the Bronze with a time of 9:51.  

Here is a tally of all of our medals.  

There was a chance to win one last Gold medal.  Before the games began, we talked about Sportsmanship.  I told them that I would be looking for the person that showed the best sportsmanship throughout the games and they would win the Gold.  Molly won!  Colin got the Silver.  I was proud of both of them.  

The ceremony will come later this evening.  We are currently making an Olympic cake to have for dessert tonight to celebrate our accomplishment.  Not sure what else we will do.  I wish I had planned ahead more and had actual medals to give them!  

We had so much fun!  Molly already asked if we could do it again tomorrow!!  

Until next time...

Springtime Fun

Hey y'all,

Just thought I would post a few recent pictures for you.  The kids recently got new bikes.  They seem huge to me, but according to the people we talked to, these are right for them.  They are enjoying them, that's for sure.  We are looking forward to going to a local park soon to ride.  Also, we got out the sprinkler for the first time this week.  They loved that!  Good times...

Colin still wanted training wheels, so we had a hard time finding a bike for him.  This one seems to be working out well.

Molly is an old pro.  I really thought she would struggle jumping to such a large bike, but she had proved me wrong!

Sprinklers make the heat so much more bearable.  

We are looking forward to what the summer holds.  It seems we are off to a great start!

Until next time...

Smorgasbord

Hey y'all,

This is a bunch of random events.  I thought I would try to give you a very quick overview of the last month or two.  Enjoy

1.  Colin's Birthday

Colin asked for a Monster Truck cake.  We came up with this, a monster truck, on a ramp, ready to jump cars and a flaming 5.  

Blowing out the candle.  I think Molly was getting ready to help!!

2.  Trip to the Birmingham Zoo

We went to the zoo with some friends.  The weather was nice and we had fun.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Jones for the birthday gift of a zoo membership this year!

3.  Easter

You've seen the pics I took at the Botanical gardens, but we also had an egg hunt.  

Molly was really searching.  We still have 7 missing eggs out there somewhere!  Michael is sure all his were found, but then, so am I... ;)

4.  Molly's Birthday

Molly asked for a piano cake this year.  I really love what we came up with!!  

Pretty 7 year old!

Molly picked the swirly candles this year.  She wanted to blow them out one by one.  :)

5.  Build A Bear

We took Molly to Build A Bear for a mini party.  Our friends, the Biddy's, met us there and we all made animals.  Molly was thrilled!!  

6.  Pintrest Success -- Should that be called a "Pintress?"  

The kids love glow sticks and they love baths.  So, when I saw the idea of throwing glow sticks in the bath, I knew we had to try it.  It was pretty cool. 

We waited until it started to get pretty dark and then each of the kids took a bath with the lights off!!

They both really enjoyed it.  It was a fun change up to our normal bathing routines.

7.  A Scavenger Hunt/ Field Trip 

A group from our cover school met at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for a scavenger hunt.  One of the goals was for the kids to use all over their senses while exploring the gardens.  Molly was in charge of smelling.

They gave us little magnifying glasses to use.  The boys LOVED them!

Our first scheduled date got rained out, so our group shrunk a little.  But, we still had fun!

This was a really cool tree.  Of course our little poser had to do her thang!

This is one silly boy!  He has recently discovered that he can cross his eyes.  Or, as he says, "make things look blurry."

Our neighbor is thinking of homeschooling, so we invited her and her two kiddos.  This is Selah.  I think they had fun.  

8.  Daddy's Birthday

Daddy's first present was from Molly.  She made him a book and wrote him a poem. 

Molly also decorated the house for him.

I didn't make a cake this year because I heard of this bakery that makes excellent Petit Fours.  Michael loves petit fours.  It was a great surprise and treat.

Michael hit the jackpot this year on gifts. :)

We have been and will be busy, so posts may end up being more like this rather than the daily I had hoped to do.  I hope you enjoy playing catch up.  

Until next time...