And the Winner Is...

When it was announced at school three weeks ago that the talent show was coming up, Kaia shrugged it off when I asked her if she was going to enter. A day later, after mentioning Kaia's hesitation to the teacher in charge, that teacher approached Kaia. Kaia's response to "We need your original act and skills in the talent show," was "sure." Gee, I wish it was that easy for me, but you know how it goes when it's someone other than the parent asking....

Anyhow, that teacher was right! Kaia's act was a refreshing break from all the singing performances. She ended up sharing first place with a group who did a great job synchronizing and harmonizing to the cup song.  Although I think they should have been second.

Kaia choreographed her own routine. It was fun to see her perform in front of her peers, a part of her that most had never seen/known before. Even in front of this crowd, she did not get nervous. This girl has nerves of steel when it comes to her and tumbling! And it was fun seeing her beam with pride as her classmates complimented her. This sport has really been good for her focus and self-confidence. Now on to state in two more weeks.

And the Notariety Continues...

Back in November, Jaelyn spent a few hours with a reporter from Klipsun, a publication by students at Western Washington University. Somehow they learned about Jaelyn from previous media, and reached out to us. They print an actual magazine, as well as have an online presence. Their articles go more in depth about their subjects than a typical news piece. The reporter asked lots of questions of Jaelyn, did a photo shoot in our front yard, then came and watched her soccer game.

Following a phone call by an editor for some fact checking, we knew it would be awhile before the article was published. They told us it would probably be after the New Year. Every once in awhile I would check, but I never found the article. Today was one of those days, and after coming up empty handed, I decided to search the author's name. Bingo; found it!

Now there are a couple errors, like the caption under the main photo that says Kaia is older than Jaelyn, which may cause some tension in our house, and that we brought Jaelyn home in 2003 (funny, she was born in 2004), but overall it is nicely written, and represents our Jaelyn well.

What I do love though, is the opening photo she used. You can read the entire article here. Isn't this just the sweetest photo....