Tennis and Softball

This summer I told the kids they could try a new sport if they wanted.  Nell and Chet wanted to try tennis, just like mom and Katie choose softball.  Luckily for mom they were offering tennis and softball at the same park at the same time!  Nell and Chet did a great job with tennis.  Nell's coach thinks she has some potential and should continue.  With her gymnastics schedule this isn't going to happen, but maybe she can be like her mom and do gymnastics till high school and then switch to tennis.  I was also very impressed with Chet, he has a nice swing and he is always prepared to return any ball (most of the other kids just stood and watched the ball bounce past them).   Katie, I a mean Katherine (that is what she told her coaches to call her) is great at softball.  She can hit any ball that is pitched to her and has quite an arm when it comes to throwing.

  

  

Tae Kwon Do Tournament

Last Saturday the Kirby family skipped soccer and headed to Bloomington, IL for a Tae Kwon Do Tournament.  Chet and Katie had been practicing hard for the tournament ever since their instructor mentioned that they might be ready to compete.  Katie was a little nervous and unsure about competing, she doesn't like to fail at anything.  Her instructor was very good as easing her mind and preparing her, so when the day came she was confident and ready knowing that we everyone only expected two things from her 1) To do her best and 2) To have fun.  Well Katie did just that and she took 1st place!  She was so excited/happy/proud it was great to joy she was feeling when she realized she had won.  Chet also did his best and had fun taking 3rd place, missing second by only a tenth of a point.  Both Katie and Chet had a great day and are looking forward to competing again next year.

Happy Birthday Chet!

Chet turned 10 back in April.  Things were a bit hectic then, I was still working full time, my folks came for a visit and various other activities kept me from posting.  We celebrated his day with a family party at our house.  In attendance was both sets of grandparents plus Rob's brother and his family.  Grandpa O made some delicious ribs for everyone, and Chet choose an ice cream cake from Marble Slab.  Then a few weeks latter, we had a friends party.  For his friends party Chet choose a Dr. Who theme, and we played laser tag in the backyard.  It was a really laid back party with minimal work, but everyone had a good time. 

Chet helping Grandpa with the ribs.

Family Tree

Chet's class at school has been working on a project called "Voices from the Past".  As a part of the project children had to put together a family tree.  This is something that can be difficult for an adopted child, but Chet handled it so well.  He decided he wanted to include everyone, his birth family, foster family, adoptive family, sisters birth family, foster family and half sister and half brother.  The amazing thing is how he came up with a way to include everyone, by having different branches come off of a 3 dimensional tree, with leaves that included extended family members, such as cousins.  Chet continues to amaze me with his creativity.

Lego Build Off!

My work hosted a Lego Build Off.  All the children were given a new tub of Lego's and one hour to create what ever they wanted out of their Lego's, then prizes were awarded for the best creations. Chet created a mechanic shop for spy boats.  He won 2nd place, no I didn't do the judging otherwise he would have won 1st.

Just Another Typical Saturday

This past Saturday was another typical Saturday in the Kirby household, with way too many things going on.  The girls had their last ballet class (no more Saturday classes from now on), then we went right to Chet and Katie's Tae Kwon Do test.  Katie is really doing a great job, we had lots of parents come up and compliment her after her test.  Both Katie and Chet moved up a belt.  Chet moved up to a striped belt, on his next move he has to break two boards at once!  I really want him to move up because he will get a new black uniform, his white one is getting too small and isn't so white anymore.  After the test we had lunch then headed home for a little while.  Then it was time to go to a friends house for dinner, yummy homemade Korean food.  After which we headed over to the University for the girls piano concert.  It was well past their bedtime by the time they got to preform, but they did their best although rehearsal went much better.  I am still having trouble posting video so check back latter and it may be here.

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was another busy one in the Kirby household.  We got double booked on Sunday, when the University moved their gymnastic exhibition because of an NCAA volleyball tournament.  We made it work and everyone had fun.  Nell and I went to the gymnastics exhibition while Rob, Katie and Chet headed over to church for the greening of the church.  Nell and I were able to enjoy the entire exhibition, get a picture with her favorite gymnast for the third year in a row and even get autographs from all the gymnasts and still made it in time for dinner at church and then the pageant.  The kids did an excellent job in the pageant this year, but Katie really stole the show.  She knew her line the best out of everyone and delivered them with lots of emotion.  Katie and Nell also sang a duet together, it wasn't outstanding, but they did a good job. (I am having trouble posting the video so check back latter)  It was a very fun night for everyone, but we were tiered and ready for bed when it was all over.

Halloween

I have to admit I really didn't get into Halloween this year.  I was just too busy planning Trick or Treat Street and a Haunted house for our towns Halloween festivities that my kids got the short end of things this year.  The kids did get to carve pumpkins, which they grew themselves, although I failed to get any pictures of the finished products.  On Halloween the kids went trick or treating with Rob, then headed over to the Recreation Center.  This year Nell was an cheerleader, Katie was Pikachu and Chet was Ash (Pikachu's trainer).  A big thank you to Grandma O'Neil for her help with Chet and Katie's costumes.    I think the kids had a good time, I know they got more candy than they have ever seen.  

Soccer Update and More!

We have had two more soccer games since my last post.  A make up game on Thursday and our regular game Saturday morning.  We won both by a landslide.  During the Thursday game Chet scored a goal!!!  Of course I missed it because I was running Katie and Nel around to their activities.  Today Chet didn't score, but he did play hard, he was forward for half the game.  They have two boys on the team that are really good and they tend to be the ones who score the goals, but everyone is good about passing and working together.

In other news this week.  On Thursday while Chet was at his soccer game, Katie tried out the advanced beginning Irish Dance class and was asked to join.  Nel is also doing really well at gymnastics and finally got all the way down in her split.  She is continuing to excel on bars and is getting close to having her back handspring.  Now if only she would grow a little so she could get enough weight to get a spring out of the springboard on vault. 

Soccer

Chet is playing soccer this fall on a recreational team through the Park District.  His team is called the Black Arsenals.  They had their first game this past Saturday.  Last Saturday was to be his first, but the fields were too wet.  Luckily his game was early, 8 am as it began to rain  around 11:30 am although it was rough getting up early on a Saturday.  Chet's team tried their best. In fact the first half they did great, but I think they used up all their energy because the second half they were dragging.  Chet had a good time though and the girls had fun chasing bugs.  They found a huge praying mantis which really drew a crowd of kids. I didn't get a picture of it though because I was too busy watching the game.

First Day of School

Yesterday was the start of a new school year.  Chet started 4th grade and Katie and Nel started 1st.  The girls were excited about school starting because this year they get "desks that open up" and homework.  Chet wasn't as excited, but he did set his alarm and got up and ready before I came out of my bedroom.  Everyone enjoyed seeing their friends again and brining in all their new school supplies.  We weighed their backpacks with all their supplies and Chet's came in at 13# and Katie and Nel's at 11#.  That's a lot of school supplies.  We celebrated the first day of school with our traditional letter shaped pancakes and picture on the fireplace.

The Wedding

Last night was our baby sitters wedding.  We had gotten very close to her, she even worked for me at the Recreation Center and then for Rob as a student minister in addition to being our sitter.  The girls were asked to be flower girls, their friend was asked to be the ring bearer, Rob was the minister and Chet got to be my date.  It was a very fun night.  The kids all had a blast dancing the night away.  Chet caught the garter, Nel tried to catch the bouquet and missed, but was given the flowers latter.  The the girl who caught the flowers boyfriend wasn't too excited about her catching them.  Katie loved dancing and unfortunately is already taking after her mom and downing her her drinks.  Nel and the ring bearer danced every slow dance together.  I think we may be in for some rough years when she is a teenager.  It was cute to watch them though, on their first dance they were about 3 feet apart, but as the night progressed they got closer and closer together.  The kids were exhausted, but didn't want to leave and but their parents were tired too and made them go home, after they begged for just one more dance.

British Soccer Camp

The kids just finished a week at British Challenger Soccer Camp.  This was their second year doing the camp and they had been looking forward to it all year.  I am happy to report that this year was just as much fun as last year, maybe even more, because this year we hosted one of the coaches.  Hosting was a lot of fun, I only wish we hadn't been so busy this week with other activities so we could have done more with him.  Our coach was from Brighton, England.  He was a very nice and intelligent young man and  great with the kids. I am learning that being a mom and working full time is proving to be harder to juggle than I anticipated, hopefully it will get easier now that camps are over and the kids will be back in school.  

Talent Show

Today was the annual Talent Show at camp. Chet revised his magic show for the forth year. Nel did the level 1 gymnastics floor routine and Katie put together an Irish dance. All three of them practiced really hard yesterday and they did an awesome job today at the show. Here are some video clips from the show. Katie's is actually from after the show as I had technical difficulties, because of this you don't get the full effect of everyone clapping along with her dance.

Chocolate Covered Kids

A few weeks ago while at the library Katie saw another kids cookbook.  In it she found lots of recipes she wanted to try.  The other kids weren't as enthusiastic but they agreed the frozen chocolate covered bananas looked good.  Yesterday I picked up the bananas and chocolate to make them to have after dinner, only everyone was too busy playing with the neighbors to make them.  We ended up making them after dinner so they will be ready to enjoy tonight.  The kids had a lot of fun, especially after we were done making them.  I set the timer on the oven and gave them 3 minuets to have at the chocolate.  They devoured all the chocolate and were coated up to their elbows in it.  Needless to say no one argued with me about a shower last night.

Poetry Cafe

Yesterday Chet's class put on a Poetry Cafe.  The Moms and Dads provided snacks and the kids provided the entertainment by reading their poems.  Some of their poems where quite good and a lot of them sounded the same as they had to write them using examples and themes as a model.  Everyone had to write a poem about "I am from" talking about the things that make them who they are, here is Chet's.

Crazy

by: Chet Kirby

I am from Mars, from NASA and a volcano.

I am from the tan house.

I am from Poison Ivy and sand.

I am from Thai New Years and vacations.

From Rob and Darcie Kirby

I am from bike riding and eating ice cream.

From "Be quiet" and "Go to sleep".

I am from God.

I am from Thailand and pad thai and thai omelets.

From the time I got my sisters

And the time I cut my toe.

From the time I came home from Thailand.

Happy Birthday Chet!

Today is Chet's 9th Birthday! We celebrated yesterday with a Harry Potter Party. We meet at Rob's church and started in the great hall with a sorting ceremony, where the kids were divided into houses. Then we played a Harry Potter trivia game, a guess the flavor of the Bertie's Bots Every Flavor Beans and then outside for a game of Quidditch. After all the games we headed to the churches movie theater and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, after which we had cake and ice cream. I think everyone had a nice time, I know Chet did. Once the party was over and everything cleaned up we headed over to Famous Dave's with Grandma and Grandpa Kirby for a birthday dinner.