Theodore Roosevelt

Trent has been working on a project for Social Studies called, "Living Museum." Basically they are given an important historical person and they are to dress up like them, give a speech and make up a backboard.  Trent was given Theodore Roosevelt.  We spent several hours working on his speech; between looking up facts, writing it and memorizing it.  Paul and I debated about what he should wear and sadly the backboard was the easiest thing about the project.



For those of you who do not remember Teddy had red hair. 



The day of Trent was VERY nervous.  The school had all of the 5th grade class put their backboards in the hallway and grades 3,4 and 6th were split into groups and walked around to everyone and listened to the 5th graders give there presentation.  So not only were they giving their speech to parents/teachers but also there peers.

It took half a can of Aquanet and gel to get Trents hair to look like that.  This boy needs a hair cut!

Teddy mustash may have been straight but it didn't have nearly as much personality as Trent's!  His outfit is based off of when Roosevelt was in office.

Trent did so well that he was given an A+ on this project!

!!!The Science Fair Results are In!!!

Mr. Kendall, Trent's teacher, is announcing the 5th grader winners.

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE

See that red ribbon on his board....that is a second place ribbon!  Yes, you saw it SECOND place for his category and grade.

Trent's Birthday

Oh My Gosh my baby boy is 11!!!  No stinkin way!  I feel so old saying this but time sure does fly.  He is turning into such a young man.

His birthday was pretty low key because he had talked his dad into letting him play SOCKs so nothing else mattered.  I would ask him what kind of decorations, cake or balloons he wanted and his response was always the same, "I don't care, we are playing SOCKs."

He had a great turn out and everyone really seemed to like the game.  It was a successful birthday!

UPWARDS HAS STARTED

This is Trent's first year playing basketball, he is super excited to play!  He isn't sure how to control his body or his energy so it can be very funny to watch.  They had their first game on Saturday and they won!

It took some elbow bending but we got Sydnee to sigh up for something.  We didn't care what she did (between basketball or cheer leading) but she was going to do something, she picked cheer leading.  She was being a stinker and when people where talking to her about it she would say "My Mommy made me do it."  We are now 2 weeks into and she is LOVING IT!

Our First Science Experiment gone Ar ye

Trent has been working very hard in school and he has been really focusing on 2 BIG projects that are due within a week of each other.  The 1st on was his science experiment; him and his dad decided to do a fluoride test on eggs.  Trent has been a journal daily, taking pictures and doing all kinds of school "paperwork" for this project.

There is a point in the project where one set of the eggs are suppose to get soft shell's and because they are eggs they stink.  There was no way I was going to have them in my house, Paul thought I was being a little ridiculous and they should be able to sit on the kitchen counter for 2 weeks.  Needless to say I won that conversation and they ended up in the garage.  Now when I was in my self fish state of not wanting to smell them I did not think of how cold it was in the garage.....

FAST FORWARD

( 2 weeks )

One set of eggs are white and very firm....

One set of eggs are brown and very firm....WHAT?!?!?! Wait a minute they are not suppose to be firm!

Apparently my garage is like a refridgerater and messed the experiment up.  Hopefully this will not effect his grade, we did try to play it off in the documentation as to why there was an error.  Will keep you posted.

The Joys of Life at the Age of 10

Trent has gone through a lot of changes over the last 6 months, new school, new church, new friends and new activities.  He has always handled things like such a big kid.  I have asked him how he is doing with all of these changes and I get a short answer, "I am fine Mom."  Now, I am a woman so I probably over think things just a little (don't tell Paul I admitted to that!) but in my head there is no way he is fine...

Last night I went into his room to check on him and this is what I found.  A happy young man in cozy Pj pants, in the middle of his bed, playing his DS and snuggling with HIS dog.  When he realized I was in there, after standing at the foot of his bed for 5 minutes, he said "I love it here." Yup maybe I need to leave the boy alone.....

Report Card Day

I am going to show everyone my humble side here.....I HAVE THE BEST KIDS EVER!

Both kids have been working very hard this school year and it has been a challenge going from one school district to another.  Plus when Paul and I moved we made it a priority to move into the best school district in this area but what that means is they have every high standards.

After about 5 minutes this was the best picture I could get.  His friends were waiting outside for him to go "Riding."

Language Arts                    91% (A)

       Mathematics                87%      (B)             

Characteristics of a Successful Learner     ALL SATISFACTORY

Science         95%  (A)

Social Studies           92% (A)

Mr. Kendall has also upgrade Trent's AR (this is the reading program that this school district uses) level.  He started the year with a range of 4.0  - 4.7, this means that he was reading beginning year 4th grade books, to 4.7 - 5.6.  He was very excited because this means he is at grade level!  Trent has made the Honor Roll at his school and despite that look in the picture he is on cloud 9 about it.

Language Arts          P

Mathematics           P

Characteristics of a Successful Learner  ALL SATISFACTORY

Science        P

Social Studies         P

For those of you who do not remember from my previous post P means proficient at grade level.  Sydnee is also reading AR books and her level is 0.8 - 1.4.  This means that she is reading low level 1st grade books.

A Real Snow Storm

       Paul and I crawled out of bed at 6:00 this morning to check outside and to our surprise everything was white.  Shortly after we found out that the kids were actually getting a full snow day!  The kids were so excited and at 7:00 this morning they wanted to build a snow fort.  I was able to hold them off until 10; it may sound stupid but I was thinking it would be warmer by then, it wasn't.

All of us were socked to see that we actually have several inches of snow on the ground when we opened the garage.











     



Stella was NOT happy about being put outside, apparently she prefers 90 degree weather.

Even while playing in the snow she has to be girlie!

Heaven forbid my boys dress weather appropriate!  We are lucky the young one is in boots and a winter coat.

       No one had there eyes open because it was snowing so hard.  I took this picture 4 times but with all the snow flakes coming down and the wind we were destine to take a bad picture.

      We were going to play outside but after 10 minutes of having the snow blown into our faces we were all frozen solid.  We decided that a Star Wars marathon and hot chocolate was better suited for the day.

Decorating the House Prt 1

Yes you looked at that right.... it says part 1.  One may think that it is because we have so many decorations or even that our place is that big.....neither are correct.  We are so busy that we have to do it in parts, inside first than the outside.  Outside is Paul's least favorite part so that always take some time....

We were lucky enough to have some friends who had an extra tree that we could use this year.  To be honest it is the best fake tree I have seen in a long time.  Trent is great at fluffing.....

The best part of the tree.....

Sydnee wanted to put the angle on the tree.  I am pretty sure she wanted to do it because she felt that Trent had more stuff to put on the tree.  (Each kid gets to put on their own items.) When Paul tried to explain to Sydnee that it was because Trent was older she didn't find that an acceptable argument....

The Allen family tree is not one that you would find at Pier One or Dillard's.  We have colored lights because the kids love all the color and nothing matches.  A third of the ornaments are handmade from the kids and they are allowed to put them on the tree where they want.  All of this equals the Allen family tree.  The kids are always excited to see the tree complete.  I am very happy this year because I was actually able to put out all of my decorations.  We are all looking forward to seeing what the front of the house will look like.  Will post more later........

Jet Tub Night....

     The bath tub in our apartment in Oregon was the size of a match box.  We move to New Mexico and BAM we have a jet tub! Sunday night is called Jet Tub night, both kids love Jet Tub night.  Sydnee enjoys it because she feels like she is swimming and loves the jets because they are like waves.  Trent enjoys it because he has a room all to himself where he can blast his music and zone out.  Mom and Dad love it because we do not have to actually buy bubbles.  All that form is from shampoo!

Progress Report Day

Today was progress report day at the Allen house.  Needless to say Paul and I are very PROUD parents.  Sydnee is NP on; Language Arts, Math and Science.  If anyone was like me and has no idea what NP means I will save you the embarrassment of asking, it means Near Proficient.  I learned after having an awkward conversation with Sydnee's teacher; Mrs. Davids,  NP means that Sydnee is right where she should be and I should not worry.  (My kids have now been to 4 different school between preschool and private/public school and let me tell you---EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO TO THE SAME GRADING SYSTEM!  Just saying...this Momma gets confused.)  She is P in Social Studies, which means Proficient, just in case you didn't caught that. (I didn't.)  The comment that Sydnee got was that she is doing great!







Trent has always had a love/hate relationship with school.  He loves recess, PE, math and lunch.  You know all of the important things.  He has always worked very hard for his C's.  This year it really feels like everything is coming together for him.

Lang Arts:  89.85% (B+)

Math: 89.15% (B+)

Science: 95% (A)

Social Studies: 91.67% (A-)

This I understand!!  Trent is doing awesome,  he is very proud of himself and all of his hard work is paying off!