Mountain Festival 2014

   Hi Sidra,

Today is the end of the Sandy Mountain Festival for 2014.  The conclusion is the same for you as it was last year.  You won the Bike Derby for your age group and Talent Show for your age group.  This is the second year in a row that you scored that double.  

The bike derby seemed like it was meant to be.  We didn't practice for it, really, but used the same strategy as we did last year. You started in lane 2 and by the time you got to the corner were in the lead.  You stayed on the inside lane around the corner and no one could catch you.  "No one else in the picture" is how I titled the post last year when you won.  It was the same this year.  As I said, we didn't practice on the track at all, but you remembered the strategy and performed it to perfection, again.

Today was the talent show where you performed 'Let it Go' from the movie Frozen.  We've known for months that you would perform that song so we had plenty of time to prepare.  It was quite a process.  I had the song without vocals on my phone so you could practice.  Your mom ordered you a dress and a wig.  The wig was being shipped from China and we were unable to track it.  So we had some contingency plans in place in the event that it didn't come in time.  We bought a CD with all the instrumental versions of the songs because we thought that was the format we would need.  Ultimately the sound engineer had the music on his phone.  We bought shoes and some snowflakes for you to throw around.  Your mom brought the microphone and amplifier home from the Community Center so you could practice on that. 

We gave you the tools but on the stage you were a master craftswoman.  You step up without a shred of fear and immediately own the audience.  You are absolutely in your element when you perform.  You'll see in the video(link) that I became a little overwhelmed and lost you from the viewfinder.  I was so awed by the performance that I lost my concentration a couple of times.  

Your mom and I had a couple of similar observations.  First, while your rehearsals were good you turned it up a notch when you got on stage.  You're a gamer.  Second, there was a moment in the show where you underscored your cool.  You began standing at the mic, then threw off your cape and took the mic in your hand.  As you took the mic off the stand you glanced down and noticed that the cord was wrapped on the stand and would pull the stand down if you stepped away.  Without hesitation you passed the mic around the front of the stand so it wouldn't tangle.  Like a pro! Like you'd been doing it for years.  

I didn't include the video of the bike derby because it wasn't very good.  It was too shaky. 

You had a very good week.  You also passed a level in swimming.  

More next time,

Love, Aba

Quarterback

Hi Sidra,

You might think a better title for this post would be Millions of Cats.  But it’s Quarterback and I’ll tell you why.

Last night you were the star of a local production of a children’s play called Millions of Cats (link to video on You Tube, about 8 minutes).  You were the narrator, which means that you had 95% of the spoken part of the play.  More so, you gave direction and cues to the other actors as the play unfolded.  They responded to your verbal cues and hand signals.  You were in complete control of yourself and the cast. 

It reminded me of how I felt (on a few good days) playing Quarterback when I was growing up.  In those days as the Quarterback you got to call the plays, the other players made moves off your cues, you were in charge.  It was a great feeling. 

As your uncle Ben says I was ‘blown away’ by your confident performance.  You didn’t stumble over anything and were in complete command of the performance from start to finish.  You showed not one hint of nervousness.  You did this after a long morning of doing the kiddie run and 5k run at Noah’s Quest.  What a day for you.  I’m beyond proud.

Love, Aba

Winter's Play

Wristbanding with sleepover guests

Standing up to sing along with Frozen

Snowboarding at Timberline

New Desk for your Birthday

Birthday Gift-Sewing Kit

Your love note to Garrett?

High Green Belt winner with Master Kim

Hi Sidra,

Since the last post you've been pretty busy.  You turned 7, some teeth grew in, you had a boyfriend, ice skated, roller skated, snowboarded, learned a new bike technique, spelled a lot of words, learned more piano, passed a Tae Kwan Do belt test and more. 

First, the saucy news.  A boyfriend.  Well, sort of.  You were giving a lot of attention to one of the boys in your class, Garrett.  We found the drawing shown above that was part of that attention.  It turns out that the poor kid was a little overwhelmed by your advances and your teacher had to ask you to refrain.  Probably the way a lot of 7 year old romances come to an end.  Anyway, that was a few months ago and everyone involved was able to move on without incident.

On our Sunriver trip during winter break you got to do some snowboarding and ice skating.  You really enjoyed the skating and after the first session really didn't hang on the wall too much.  You can be seen in the video doing a bit of a twirl, sort of trying to be a figure skater. On the mountain you had fun, but were still only turning to one side then. On our recent trip to Timberline last Sunday you were getting pretty good at making a toe side turn.  Your mom did a good job of coaching you that day and it paid off.  However, I didn't get any decent video of you doing that.

Another activity you took part in at Sunriver was the climbing wall at the sports club.  It was not your first time but you did very well as can be seen in the video. 

It was also your 7th birthday while we were in Sunriver.  You are opening a sewing kit gift in one of the photos here.  You have a stuffed doll kit that could be finished if we get a sewing machine.  We meant to but haven't done so yet.

Your friend Esa got you interested in a weekly rollerskating class.  It's at Gresham Skate World.  You get to have a lesson for about 45 minutes then skate for about an hour before the general skate session starts.  It's nice because you get to skate for a couple hours and parents can skate free then too.  So I've been correcting papers while you're having your lesson and then I can skate with you after that and the rink is not crowded.

You have recently begun to sleep without a pullup.  Some readers may think that isn't a big deal but I was a bed wetter until about age 14 so I am so psyched that you conquered that at half the age it took me.  It's most certainly because of me that you had to deal with it this long.

That was a major hurdle to get over in order for you to enjoy sleepovers.  You are still entertaining one of your overnight guests from last night as I write this.  It has been the big thing for you this spring break.  We didn't have a trip of any kind during the week so the sleepover is the highlight.  Lily and Melia were the guests and you watched Frozen, sang the soundtrack, and had waffles for breakfast- your favorite.  You were the only one who stood up to sing along with the movie, though. 

Recently you had a belt test in Tae Kwan Do.  I was able to make it time to see it, which is unusual because of how far I have to come from work.  But this day I was in Portland for a conference and was able to get there sooner.  I was very impressed with how sharp your form was and you were one of the only testers to break a board on the first try.

At your new desk is where you practice your math and spelling.  You've been having spelling tests for the whole school year and I think that you may have missed only two words so far on all your spelling tests.  We are pretty proud of that.  Each week since Winter break you've had a math facts test.  Each week has been a focus on adding a certain digit and then eventually adding 10.  This week you have a mix up of addition. So you can't simply apply a specific strategy to complete each exercise.  It is really bogging you down.  You were able to complete the focused sheets in a few minutes.  On the mixed review it is taking you over a half hour to finish.

Expressing yourself in song is one of your favorite things.  You love to sing and are anxiously waiting until your piano teacher will give you voice lessons.  She thinks you need to be a little older before she can train  you.  You've performed at couple of your mom's open mic nights. I wanted to include the video of you singing Katy Perry's "Roar" on the blog but I've had trouble so I will try to make it available another way.  I also have a video of you on the I pad singing "Let it Go" from Frozen.   You're planning to sing that in costume at the talent show at this summer's mountain festival.  I've suggested a couple of other songs and you like singing them, too.  Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" is one you like and a newer one is "Demons" by Imagine Dragons.

I have been left behind in piano playing.  You have gone way ahead of me.  You can now play chords and are working on more sophisticated version of "Driedel" for your next recital.  It sounds really good and I will have to do a lot of practice to tag along with you.  Even though you're ahead of me I enjoy asking you about how to read the harder music and how you play it.

Finally, you've done some practice on a cool bike move.  In cyclocross you have to dismount your bike and carry it over barriers or up 'run ups.'  Done properly, the cyclist swings one leg over to the same side as the other and slips the free leg in between the pedal and saddle.  Then you step off the other pedal and onto the ground with the free leg.  It should be done without  completely slowing down.  That's what  you are doing in the bike video. 

Until next time,

Love, Aba