City-County Chess Tournament for Jack

Jack qualified for the City-County chess tournament.  He did great, but came up short.  He won 3 out of his 4 matches, and beat kids that placed higher than him.  They only give awards to the top 5 and Jack was number 8.  He thought he got ripped off and was very confused as to why he didn't place when kids that he beat did.

Jack's chess teacher went up and inquired about it after the awards ceremony.  They said there are different ways to score a chess tournament and that it's at the chess tournament director's discretion on which way they score it.  This certain tournament was set up so that each match you won, they would put you against stiffer competition.  Jack won his first three matches so his forth one came against the top guy.  So, the moral to this story, is that if you are going to lose, lost your first game so that your competition is less?????  I don't know, I don't understand chess.....but I do know Jack LOVES it, so I guess I better start trying to understand it a little bit.  Either way, the little dude is super good at it and it's kind of amazing to me!

Here are all the STP kids that qualified for the tournament.......

3rd Grade Field Trip

I chaperoned Jack's class on a field trip to Operation Food Search.  This is a food bank, not pantry, to help serve the hungry people in St. Louis.  It was actually pretty amazing.  It's like a true grocery store.  The way they store everything and the logistics to it all were pretty amazing.  Jack's Faith In Action population this year is the hungry, so it was neat for them to see where some of the things they have collected and donated have went and who they help.

Last year in my mid-30's.....

And just like that, I turned 35!  UGH!
It was such an exciting birthing agenda:
a dentist appointment, swim lessons for Maddie, tennis practice for Jack, soccer practice for Jack, and a CYC board meeting for me!!!
I did, however, receive a nice card and gift card int he mail from Dennis and Ilene, flowers from Jeanne, and some lovely homemade cards from the kids.  See.....it got better than the dentist!!!

Last weekend of basketball......

Peyton played her last weekend of basketball a few weeks ago for the winter season.  They will be playing this spring too, but they finished their CNR league and got to play in the champions game.  They had great season and Peyton is definitely loving basketball!!

Maddie and Andrew

Maddie and Andrew's school schedules don't really cooperate to allow them to spend much time together any more.  Andrew did have a day off school a couple weeks back and we took advantage of it.  We picked him up, took him to lunch, and then he came over so they could play.  They had a great day!!!  Maddie was SO excited the night before he was coming!!!......she has missed her little buddy!

A LOOOOONG tennis tournament....

This particular tennis tournament took forever.  The girls came out of it full of snacks and full of electronic time, and Jack came out of it as the tournament champion!

The girls were there long enough that they kicked their shoes off and got comfy......

Mulching away....

Well, we've had all these nice 70 degree days and our flowers are already coming up, that Mike and Maddie decided to go ahead and get the fish pond opened up and get some mulch laid.  Our mulch was so bare, that the dogs were constantly coming in with MUDDY paws.....so, it was time.  Maddie loved getting her little shovel and helping!!!  The big kids helped when they were made to help, Maddie helped the entire time!!!

Meanwhile, Jack is inside doing homework and bellied up to the goldfish canister........

Couldn't resist...

I couldn't resist taking a this picture of Jack and Karim the other day.  We showed up to Jack's tennis lesson and he and Karim were dressed identical, down to the blue shoes.  Pretty funny!

Gus goes to the vet

Oh man, wrangling Gus AND Maddie (the child that wants to take care of Gus and meet every dog in the waiting room) at the vet was a huge task.  Gus got lots of shots and looked healthy, other than an ear infection.  Never even crossed my mind that dogs could get ear infections.....but we came home with some eardrops for Mr. Gus.
Maddie loved having him in the car, he's a much different car rider than Annie.  Annie prefers shotgun and Gus prefers the back seat.  Now he wants to go in the car EVERY time we leave the house!!!  After the vet he got to go with us to school to pick up the big kids.  He got out of the car a greeted all the kids coming out of school.  He thought that was great fun and wants to go in the car ALL the time now!!!  The second picture was Gus jumping back in the car later that day when he saw the passenger side door open, he was ready to go again!

Peyton's (and Mike's) last CYC game

Mike coached Peyton's CYC basketball team this year, and the two of them did MUCH better together than I thought!  I also wasn't quite sure Mike was cut out for CYC coaching.  And what I mean by that is: everyone gets equal playing time, winning is not the priority....everyone having fun is, etc......But, he pulled it off nicely and was well complimented by his parents.

It was a fun little season for these St. Peter 4th grade girls.....

Maddie's First Goal!!!

Maddie scored her first soccer goal in her game on President's Day.  They had a game in the middle of the day, so Mike didn't get to go, as he was at work.  He told her if she scored a goal he'd have some ice-cream for her.  She pulled her weight and so did he.....

THE KNIGHTS

The Knights season is coming to an end....and what a season it has been!!  With a new coach (Renee) an some new teammates, this year has been super refreshing.  Peyton has had a blast with her new teammates and her new coach.  She has told Mike and I both that she wants to quit other sports and just start playing a TON of basketball.  We will see if the opinion changes as we start switching seasons into other sports.

They will continue to play spring ball as well and they are planning on making an appearance at the Show-Me-Games in July as well......these girls have tons of fun together and they are incredibly fun to watch on the court too.  They've come a long way in just one season together and it's gonna be fun to watch them grow together.

On the night of their last regular season game we had the team and their families over for pizza.  The girls (and adults) had a great time playing and hanging out with each other off the court.

A CYC loss against summertime friends

Peyton's CYC team only lost one game this season and it was to two of Peyton's summertime friends.  She sees these girls daily in the summer and plays tennis, golf, and swim team with them.  They pounded around on each other on the court and then smiled pretty together after the game.  COME ON SUMMER TIME!!!!

Addison actually plays on the Knights with Peyton this year too, so she's been getting to spend lots of time with her this winter, and I don't think she'd complain about that!!

A Day Off School

A half day of school and the temperatures were in the upper 70's....that calls for some Chick-fil-e on the deck!!!  We could really start getting use to this weather!!!!