February 17, 2013 - Sleepover & Ashlyn's 10th Birthday Party

Ashlyn's friend slept over, which she had been begging for awhile.  They were so excited!  In the morning, they had donuts, which is our traditional sleep over breakfast.  Then Ashlyn opened her present from her friend.  Later we went to Makoto's Japanese restaurant where we had Ashlyn's 10th birthday party per her request.  We had 19 kids, and Jason and I.  The kids really enjoyed it I think.  All of them took leftovers home along with a goodie bag.

February 16, 2013 - Introducing Girls to Engineering Workshop

The GEMS took the 4th and 5th graders to the IGEW again this year.  I taught the workshop Reverse Engineering a yo-yo.  It was a light up yo-yo that had a simple circuit in it.  The kids learned about simple circuits and got to take a yo-yo apart and learn about the parts of the circuit.  They seemed to really enjoy this!  I got to see Kaylyn at lunch and during the break, and her and the girls seemed to really be enjoying their workshops which is awesome.

February 12, 2013 Kaylyn's 6th Basketball Game

So, for some reason, this is the 2nd game in a row that coach used Kaylyn as a "sub".  In doing this, she only played about 7 minutes in the last game and I counted 4 1/2 minutes in this game (1 1/2 minutes in the first half and 3 minutes in the 2nd half).  She was not happy, nor was I.  We were told she was not being put in as much because she asks to go in.  Really...this is an instructional league of 5th/6th graders...she's 10 years old!  They're supposed to get equal amount of playing time.  Punishing her for wanting to play by not allowing her to play has hurt her, and she doesn't want to play anymore.  She feels that the team does not like her!  I told her that she needs to play the "game" from now on and not talk to the coach unless he's speaking to her.  I'm not sure what else to do???  Anyway, here are some pictures from her playing in the last game.  They're not that great, as I had to use my phone again.

February 5 & 9, 2013 - Basketball Games

Kaylyn's 4th basketball game was on February 5th.  I can see some real improvements on the team.  The team as a whole is getting more aggressive and some of the players are actually trying for baskets now, especially the taller girls.

Kaylyn's 5th basketball game was on February 9th.  She didn't play much and I'm not sure why, but when she was finally put in, she scored a basket.  This was her 3rd basket scored in the games.  I was so proud of her.  It was one of those swoosh kind of baskets too because it didn't even touch the rim.  Amazing!  I'm so proud of how she's improving on all the sports this year!  Pictures didn't come out that great since they were done on my phone.

February 2, 2013 - Kaylyn's 3rd Basketball Game & Fort Wilderness

Kaylyn's 3rd basketball was today.  They won like 16-8.  Kaylyn scored another basket and we got it on video.  I just need to download the video, so hopefully I can do that this weekend.  After her basketball game, we headed over to Fort Wilderness Campground to spend the rest of the day/evening with my boss and his wife at their R.V.  We went to the dog park with their dog Abby and then ate a nice grilled dinner that Bryan cooked up.  Then we went over to Chip 'N Dale's Campfire Singalong and made some s'mores.  After this, we took the golf cart down to the beach to watch the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom.  It was an awesome day!