Awards

I am so proud of my kids!  This past week Lily and Jeff were each rewarded for different things at school.  Lily was honored with having a "Picnic with the Principal" for being more responsible with her work.  Jeff was honored with the "Leader of the Month" award.  He showed his leadership by putting first things first.  

Also, both of the kids did an entry in the Reflections Contest this year.  The theme was "Diversity Means..."  Jeff entered a drawing for the visual arts category called "Diversity in the Water".  He drew a bunch of different animals that need water to survive.

Lily composed a song for the music composition category.  She had originally made up the song on the bus with her friend, Mily and it was called "Best Friends".  However, she ended up composing it onto the piano, took out the lyrics and changed the title to "Friends of every Nation" to fit the theme better.  Then we went over to our neighbors house, who composes music as a profession and she used his cool equipment to record the song.  It was so cute watching Lily as she worked with him on the song.  She acted as if she was the professional! I don't know how to put the CD onto the blog, but I recorded her playing the melody to at least give you the idea.

I was quite proud of both kids and glad they made an effort.  However, I was even more excited when I received letters stating that BOTH kids were going to receive the "Award of Excellence" for their entries!  Out of 122 entries (several being in the visual arts category) they only selected five from each category for the award, and those five are the ones that move onto the next judging phase!

I decided to keep it a secret and just let them find out at the assembly on Thursday.  As Cedric and I were getting our coats on to go he asked the usual question "where are we going?"  To which I answered "Lily and Jeff's school".  With an excited look on his face he said "am I 5 now!"  He wishes so badly he could go to the big school with them.

When I asked Lily what she thought of winning at first she said she was getting mad because they never recognized her (they went through all the participation awards first).  She didn't even know I was there.  However, it was so fun to see her and Jeff as they went up to get their trophies and awards.

I am so proud of Jefferson and Lily!  Hopefully this month has helped them to be more motivated at school and in trying new things.  To quote Jeff "I'm now a professional artist!"  And when I told Lily their entries move onto the next level, she acted as though she was about to faint.  Way to go kids!
Side note:  With only 12 days left of the pregnancy I'm still here and miserable.  I did finish my last day of preschool, before the new year, on Thursday.  However, when I went to the doctor yesterday he said I haven't progressed at all.  I've been at a 1+ for almost a month!  Hopefully she comes in a week or so.  I've been trying to get over my cold I've had since Thanksgiving.  We are still trying to finish Jeff's new room so we can move Cedric to his room and turn Cedric's room into the nursery.  Also, Tom has a big deal test on Friday that he has to take for work and will be studying for all week.  So with all of that, one more week would be nice.  However, my body is done being pregnant, I'm tired of not getting any sleep, the earlier she comes the further her birthday will be from Christmas and the longer I'll have of maternity leave before I start preschool up again.  So for those reasons I'd like her to come now!  Of course, we can't choose (I can't be induced since I had Lily C-section), so she'll come when she comes.  Only time will tell.