Show and Tell

Sara was so excited to share Squeakers, the gerbil, with her preschool class. 
She was so grown up about the whole thing.  Cute, cute, cute! 

Sara helped everyone use hand sanitizer to wash their hands.  Then she carefully held Squeakers so each member of the class could pet him.

Everyone was just so taken by Squeakers.  It was absolutely adorable to see their excitement!

Rube Goldberg

Inspired by all the Rube Goldberg contraptions at the OM competition, Daniel decided to build his own.  This contraption is designed to put his marbles in their proper place.  He is currently working on another machine that will enable him turn off the bedroom light without getting out of bed.  Pictures of that machine will be posted as soon as he's done with it. 

I really do love to see the imagination and creativity of our children at work.  It's a beautiful thing!

OM State Competition

This is the first year CWE has had a team advance to the state competition and they did 

G R E A T !!!

The judges were most impressed with how the team worked together.  They kept their cool, they never gave up, they did some quick thinking, exercised great communication and really let their teamwork carry them through.

Way to go OM team!!!  

Don't know why Daniel is upset and he can't remember either

 

cake to celebrate Jackson's birthday

the team receiving their award

Daniel with his 5th place ribbon

The CWE OM team and Coach Stanfill

 Here's the story...
The team had created a slide show as part of their set.  Unfortunately, during their set up when they were connecting the cable for the projector a pin bent.  The cable would not connect properly so they had no slide show.  Regardless of the lack of slide show the team forged ahead.  Next when they were setting up their cruise ship prop, they realized they'd forgotten the chairs that held the ship in place.  The team did some quick thinking and precariously propped up the ship.  The ship wasn't quite steady but the team forged ahead.   They did a little ad libbing when the ship fell mid-performance but they stood it back up and kept going.  The circumstances weren't ideal but the team was quick on their feet and really let their true colors shine through.  The performance part of the competition is timed so the team had to work together quickly to solve their technical challenges while doing their best to keep the performance rolling along AND staying within their allotted time.  They did great!

They also did a great job during the spontaneous portion of the competition.  During spontaneous the team is isolated with just the judges, no audience, no parents, no coach.  It's just the team.  They are given a challenge and they have to work together to come up with a solution.  Again this portion is timed and points are given not only for the solution but for the team work, creativity, and effectiveness.

As a mother, I'm really grateful the judges recognized and rewarded the kids for how well they did in the face of their challenges.   More than anything, I'm so proud of each of the team members.  They had great attitudes and really came together as a team.   

They are amazing children!!!

Puppet Show Fun

I love to see our children's imagination at work!

Each of our children have loved playing with this puppet stage. It was a clearance sale item and it's been the source of many hours of fun.   Talk about a great find!!

Dance Recital

Ballet Belles Dance Recital

So excited for the recital to start

 

 

Sara with her dance certificate

Daddy Daughter Date

Brigham Young University Theatre Ballet Presents

Fairy Tales and Fantasy

getting ready to go

Sara patiently waited for her turn to get a picture with one of the dancers but when the time came, Sara wasn't so sure about it after all.  

Bryan said Sara's favorite part of the evening was being invited on stage to 'dance' with all the other little girls from the audience. 

*more pics to come, as soon as I figure out how to get them off Bryan's phone!*

Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet

Daniel made a F A N T A S T I C cake 

for the cub scout blue and gold banquet.  

Not only did it look great but it tasted good too!!  

End of Day 2

The whole process took him 2 long afternoons of work. The cake is modeled after a Pokémon ball (ball used by the Pokémon character Ash Ketchum).

Great Job Daniel!!!

OM regional compettion

The OM team did a F A N T A S T I C job at regionals!! 

They did so great that they are  

G O I N G   T O  S T A T E!!!!!

Y  A  H  O  O  !!!!

The team waiting for the spontaneous portion of the competition.

Daniel aka Harry Potter with Coach Stanfill

Daniel aka Harry Potter

Daniel and Stevie with their 2nd place trophy!

Bryan and Daniel

OM Dress Rehearsal

Tomorrow's the big day!  The kids have worked their little hearts out.  They've been mentored, they've studied, they've built, they've scripted, they've practiced and now 

 I T ' S   S H O W T I M E!!

Dress Rehearsal in the school library.  Prepping for intro.

double checking the set up

Harry Potter signed up for Peter Pan's Tour

Harry Potter & Santa Claus paying Peter Pan at the close of the tour

GOOD LUCK CWE OM TEAM!!!

**To learn more about Odyssey of the Mind and this year's competition visit http://www.azodyssey.org/

Arizona Odyssey of the Mind Association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote critical thinking and creative problem solving skills for students from kindergarten through college in a competitive setting.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

To celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday we enjoyed a yummy dinner of green eggs & ham and truffula fruit (aka mangos & pears).

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!