Ivan is now faster than me after a few blocks. I need to do more jogging and Ivan’s got some speed.

What third grade looks like from home. It was beach clothing spirit day hence the sunglasses and Charlie’s scuba mask.

Ivan did a great job despite his performance anxieties. For the kid who tried to hide under his chair during preschool music performance, he’s come a long way. He took on a turn at the microphone memorizing a line to deliver. So proud of him.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner Bacon Glitter team did amazing! While we did not “win” our first two rounds – that was mostly because we were up against great teams – all older than us 4th and 5th grade. Our team answered correctly 10 of 12 questions asked of them in the first two rounds and 11 of 12 in the final to tie a team of 5th graders (they stole a question from them too!). I was impressed with their focus during competition and the reading they did and recall. They also worked together and whispered to confirm their answers which was great to see. Ivan read all 12 of the books kids were quizzed on (some multiple times) and definitely qualified as MVP on his team.

What was it like coaching Winner Winner Chicken Dinner Bacon Glitter? I think these photos speak to that. Fun, whacky, and high energy!

Thanks to Grandpa Mark and Aunt Amy for helping write questions to prepare the team. Thanks to Eric for t-shirt design and production and generally all the things.

Ivan has made dozens and dozens of little paper yoda finger puppets. I’ve had to corral them in a box. I find them in his bed, backpack, tucked in books, on his chess board. He made green ones to give out as Valentine’s cards at school. In the photo he has one of his first origami yodas. He learned to make them from instructions in the books in Origami Yoda series by Angleberger.