Conferences

Ericka's conference was today and she is doing good. She is on the honor roll and got a certificate for perfect attendance. She will be tested for the Highly Capable program after the Christmas break. They don't do an actual IQ test but they do several different tests to see how they perceive written language, how they comprehend difficult social concepts and a bunch of other things. I'm really curious to see how she does. Her teacher, like most of the others say she has one heck of a stubborn streak and likes to do things "her way". NO... REALLY? Like I haven't figured that out by now. She's definitely opinionated and no one is spared, she tells it how it is and oh well if you disagree, she reminds me of her father. Her teacher gets a kick out of her and says that Ericka makes her work harder but in a good way. They have a person who comes in and "coaches" Ericka on how to work on more difficult types of assignments. Like Nate, if she isn't busy she just gets in a funk so they are doing what they can to keep her busy and motivated to keep improving. So far it seems like this is probably the best school she has been in. It's too bad that she only has this year left before going to middle school. Now that will be a trip!

Thanksgiving, A Trip To Seattle etc

Ericka had a busy holiday weekend. We went to Grandma Cindy's for Thanksgiving and celebrated with GIGI and Grandpa Bob too. The kids helped peel potatoes and Ericka helped set the table, so she did her part. We ate some good food and just hung out watching football. We woke up Friday and headed off to Seattle for our marathon. We spent some of Friday visiting with our friends in Fedaral Way. Ericka got to play with her friend K and enjoyed seeing her new house. On Saturday we ran in the marathon and Ericka ran pretty much the whole mile. She got stuck behind some slower people but we didn't want her more than arms distance, considering the crowd. She said the marathon was fun but thinks it was a one time kind of thing, she says she'll stick with skating meets instead. I think I agree with her. After the marathon we took the kids to the Pacific Science Center. Ericka had a lot of fun looking at all the dinosaur fossils and space exhibits. She had a good time but we were all ready to get on the road and go home. We got back to Grandma's last night and stayed another night, then drove home this morning for practice. Ericka hadn't been out on the floor two minutes and fell. One of the other kids skated by and accidently clicked her skate so she went down. She is fine but her knee is a bit sore. She is tired and was really cranky so we didn't end up staying for session today, she came home and was out cold within minutes. She got up just long enough to eat some dinner and was back in bed. We have conferences this week so we will find out when she will be getting tested for the gifted program.

OUR YOUNG AUTHOR

Just a quick update, we are pretty busy right now. I will have to write more later but had to let everyone know that Ericka won the essay contest for our region. She had to write about a non-fiction topic with 250 words or less. She chose to write about what it's like to have a brother with Aspergers. She is happy, she worked very hard on this. They announced it over the school intercom, she had her picture taken with her principle, and will be in her school paper and maybe the local paper too (The Spokane Review). This is her first essay she has written and she says she is going to keep writing. She will now be entering a poetry contest with the help of her teachers. I will try and figure out how to post her essay so you can read it, but it might be awhile, be patient!

ERICKA'S VIDEO AT REGIONALS ELEMENTARY 2 MIX RELAY

One of our team people video taped this for us. The first video is of Ericka's relay heat. She is the one with the white helmet cover that is in 3rd during the heat. Top 3 qualify for the Final. The second is of the Final where they placed 5th(top 4 qualify for Nationals). There were 11 relay teams to start with and 6 made it to the final race. The video stops right before J crosses the finish. Considering half of the kids were a year or more older than her she did really well. She was 9 and her relay partner was 12, so that gives you the age range for this event. I will have to get some new video of her now, she's gotten a lot faster since then!!!!!