WW: Spelling Bee {Linky}

Mica found out he was going to be in a Spelling Bee at school. He got his 120 word list just before Thanksgiving. Just to give you an idea on how hard they were I had to look up the meaning of some of the words. Some were: obstinate, omnivorous, bureaucracy, furlough, idiom and more...

Mica studied flashcards with meanings on one side and the words on the other, just looking off the list, us saying the words and him writing them down, and us saying the words and him spelling them out loud.

He missed many words in the beginning, but ended up knowing them all. The only word he struggled with was, "bureaucracy". Of course that was one word they asked him. We were crossing our fingers that he didn't miss it. He got it right.

Mica's number 2.

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5 to Round 14:

Mica was left with one of his best friends. His friend kept saying, "Mica you can mess up now!" Mica said, "Not today!" 

The teachers took a long pause. They had to discuss what to do. It was obvious that these 2 kid knew the whole list of 120 words. They decided to ask them 2 words that were on the District List. 

Mica got the word, "Irrigate" and the other boy got, "Bankruptcy". We were hoping Mica didn't spell it with one "r". He didn't. The other boy spelled, "Bankruptsy". It was so close! If it were the other way around I think the other boy would have won for sure. 

He now moves up to the District Spelling Bee in February! We'll see how it goes. We as parents are going to have to do our research on how to help him study. I have to say that I sucked with spelling as a kid. I don't know how he has this talent. He must get it from Dad.

When he got that last word this song came into my head, and wouldn't leave:

Dance Recital

Last night I went to my first dance recital. It's a fact that I've never been to one in my life.

I have 2 sisters, and none of us were in dance. Most of us had boys, with the exception of one niece and they weren't in dance. I thought at one point in time that I'd put Mica in dance, but never did. I think we chose jujitsu instead. Time wise and financially kids just can't do it all.

When things come up for special needs kids, my sister signs my nephew Emerson up. Some things have been great for him, while others were flops. 

Water Therapy for example was horrible on many days. Later my sister found out from a speaker at a Trisomy Convention that warm water in particular is horrible for kids with Trisomy 18. The speaker has partial Trisomy 18, and he felt like warm water was shocking him. Emerson now had cold baths, and does alright with that.

Fusion Dance Studio that took in kids with special needs to have some dance classes. Volunteers helped the kids. So many of them love to dance! 

I was undecided if I'd be able to go. The studio was pretty far from my house, I have a mountain of things to do, and Isaak had a birthday party he was at that got over when Emerson's recital started.

My sister couldn't decide if Emerson was well enough to dance. Then my aunt mentioned that if he wasn't well enough he could just go in his wheelchair. He didn't end up going in his chair.

Time rolled around, and I was done with one of my main tasks. I hurried over to see my nephew dance.

He didn't look like his happy little self. He was more the stare off into space Emerson. I know he hasn't been sleeping well, he's having seizures, so he's on a new medicine for that, he's still cutting his molars, and there may be more wrong with him that we're unaware of at this point.

When the music started Emerson did seem to want to dance though. He loves to bob up and down. The other kids really got into their routine, so it was fun to watch.

I kind of forgot that Emerson didn't have his hearing aid on. He probably couldn't hear the music, nor could he hear anyone say, "Emerson smile!" or "Emerson look." If his hearing aid falls off it makes a dial up internet sound.

He looked super sharp in his sequin vest!

Here's a photo with my sister and him afterwards:

You can tell that she was super proud to be his mom. I was a pretty proud aunt.

Do you have anyone in your family that likes to dance? 

Great Kids Snacks Box Review

I'm super glad to get another box from Great Kids Snack Box to review. My kids love their snacks. What's great is that if there is one thing that they don't like there's more things that they can try. They send out monthly boxes that are loaded with individually wrapped snacks.

I hear all the time, "I'm hungry!" I love how protein bars help satisfy my kid's hunger. Mica seems to enjoy protein bars more than Isaak, but there's other things in the box that I can eat.

The boys went for Justin's Peanut Butter Cups right away. Thankfully there were 2 inside the wrapper.

They have all kinds of after school snacks tucked into one box.

The boys thing they are too old for applesauce type foods in pouches. I pour them out into a small bowl, and mixed them up with homemade applesauce. They went for them right away then.

These two snacks interested me a lot:

I love nuts and the lemon flavor is one of my favorites.

Dried Fruit is something we have every morning just about with breakfast. I divided the Fruit Crips up for all of us to split.

I really love oatmeal, but I haven't tried this yet. The Coconut Almond flavor sounds wonderful. It's handy that it's in it's own container, which makes it easy to take on the go.

Isaak had this PowerIce after his basketball game.

What do we love about Great Kids Snack Box:

• It's filled up! There's no waist in this box.
• Everything is individually wrapped. If Isaak doesn't like something, then Mica will eat it. Isaak I know already doesn't like dried fruit, so Mica will snack that down.
• The snacks are healthy for the most part. One could argue that anything prepackaged isn't healthy. Compared to all other prepackaged things these are very healthy snacks!
• Perfect for a wide age range. These snacks will work for my 8 year old, but my 11 year can equally enjoy them. 
• It has a wide variety of things in it. 
• There's free shipping. 
• Cost wise it's fairly inexpensive: $39.95. It may seem like a lot, but there's a lot in the box.
• I'm not sure if the snacks are just for kids. They seem like they are for everyone in the family.

What I wish Great Kids Snack Box had:

• I wish they'd have a survey section to get to know their audience before parents order from them. If someone has toddlers maybe the snacks would be different than older kids. Some kids may love protein bars, while others do not. Then the boxes could be tailored to each family. This is really the only change I'd make. 

Do you like getting monthly boxes?

Disclaimer: I received this product to help with this review. I was not influenced in any way when writing this review.