Awards for Ian and Ashlyn's Fails

 Lately, I have been thinking about each of our kids and their good qualities.  I started to realize that most of their good qualities come from their dad: athleticism, coordination, musical abilities, art... I could go on.  Then I started to wonder if any of my "good" qualities (do I have good qualities?) passed on to my children.

And then as I was helping Ian fill out a form for yet another contest the other day, I realized that he gets his drive to win contests and competitions and competitiveness from me... good quality?

Over Harvest Break, Ian's school sent home a contest form for a Reflections Contest.  They had a theme, I don't even remember what it was, something about what the kids hoped to achieve when they grew up or something.  And the form came with a note from the PTA that said if the student participated they could get a piece of candy.  Did Ian want the candy, you bet.  So on the last day of Harvest Break, we sat down together and wrote a pretty cheesy poem.  Dr. Suess would have been proud.  I didn't think about it again and neither did Ian until a note came home a couple of weeks ago claiming that he had won an award in the district! Reflections contest.  It took us a bit to even remember that he had entered that contest and what exactly he had done.  At the time I thought the poem was so cheesy, I didn't even save a copy, so we couldn't even remember what he had written.

Well it turns out he had received a "Merit" award for his poem and was second choice just behind the kid they decided to send to the state completion.  Boy, was Ian ever proud.  After reading the poem again, we all had to admit that it wasn't cheesy after all and instead a masterful poetic creation. 

Here it is:

Things I Can Be When I Grow Up

By Ian Fillmore

When I grow up I'll be a star.

I'll travel to a planet far.

Or maybe I will build a house.

Or be a trainer of a mouse.

In a plane I'll fly real high.

I'll put my hand out and reach the sky.

I can be anything just wait and see.

I'll be the best person I can be.

Poetry Gold!

On another note, Zac gave me a day calendar for Christmas, called "Fails".  It is a compilation of humorous pictures people have taken that consider a certain situation a "failure".  Ashlyn and Tanner have been obsessed with that calendar.  They are finally at an age where jokes are starting to make sense and they are finding humor everywhere.  They will lay on my bed and read through that calendar for an hour or more.

Ashlyn found this "fail" at Ian's award ceremony and wanted to take a picture.

The sign says, "No Food or Drink In the Gym" and right underneath the refreshment tables are set up with cookies and punch!

Ashlyn is really cracking us up lately with her sense of humor.  Here is a joke that she made up and told to me today:

What do you call a bear with no teeth?

A gummy bear!