Memorandum and other news

Last week Eli nonchalantly mentioned that he'd won his class's spelling bee. We were adequately congratulatory, but he was so blase about it. Then Sunday night I got our "Weekend Update from the Principal" and it mentioned that the school wide spelling bee was on Monday and that the class winners would all be competing. As luck would have it, I needed to be at work early and also had to be there several hours later than usual, which justified taking a three hour lunch in the middle of the day. I called C on my way to let him know that I was surprising Eli by going, and he laughed and said he was in the car to do the same thing. So Averson, C, and I got to cheer Eli on and he wasn't expecting it and had gotten in trouble the night before and it was awesome.

Waiting to surprise her brother. Her selfie game is super extra. Also, I feel like that's an unfortunate shadow but also maybe it's been a little while since I visited my threader...

Dude. Spelling bees are super nerve-wracking. I had to work really hard to be a "respectful, silent audience" per the principal's instructions to the hundreds of kids in the gym. But Eli ROCKED it. And the words were NOT easy. I'm a good speller and pretty well-read, and I spell checked some of his answers. Linoleum? Sophomore? INSTANTANEOUS?!?! That one brought the most adorable collective gasp and then sigh of relief when the judge raised the green card.

I love this picture so much. Eli's hands on his head. The kids in the back looking equally distressed. The sea of heads.

Finally it was just Eli and one other kid. During each round, I was judging the words they were given on how likely it was that they would have seen them before. When Eli was given "Memorandum" I was pretty sure he'd never seen that one in his life. I write them, which is the only reason I know how to spell it. 

He came in second in a good contest. As soon as the pictures were taken and everyone was congratulated (including Eli's whole class, who rushed the stage to high five him), he ran over to the judges to find out how to spell "memorandum." I'm pretty sure he'll never forget it. 

In other news, I'm still doing Orangetheory and I kind of love it in a masochistic way. I go SUPER early in the morning, so it's torture on a few lovely levels. And I'm pretty sure it's been an endurance day every day for the last two weeks. But my rowing is getting SO much better and I get ridiculously excited anytime we have TRX work. My push and my all outs are getting faster and now I'm the person who gets ready for work at the gym. Plus I heart my charts oh so very much. I'm basically one step from putting them on the refrigerator. I *may* have e-mailed them to C, and maybe my boss, a couple times... I'm also still doing Weightwatchers and trying to embrace the system even though I've stalled out a little. One of the leaders gave me a pep talk and explained that the "baked on stuff" is the hardest to get rid of. It makes sense, since this is where I always seem to get stuck, so I'm trying to remain optimistic. 

I wanted to put a "sweaty selfie" here, but then I put it in and chickened out because I looked super gross. So new goal: Awesome gym selfie.

My Christmas shopping is almost completely done, meaning I may be able to get stuff in the mail in a reasonable amount of time. I didn't go super crazy with the kids, and C and I really aren't buying for each other this year (except for stockings because they're my favorite. And I've maybe bought myself a few things in the process.) I basically stuck to the Want/Need/Wear/Read system and only fudged a little in Eli's case because his "Want" is a big one. I'm still looking for a family game from Santa. THe kids are getting into board games, but all the ones we own are too young for Eli (Candyland) or too old for Averson. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love them! We play Moose Caboose and it is super fun, and the kids love Mousetrap and dominoes. I have Monopoly PTSD but other than that we're pretty open. 

Once the game issue is solved, I can move my holiday energy to planning our holiday menu and trying to figure out if I want to make (and count points for) cinnamon rolls. Christmas dinner will probably be tri-tip chili again. I always make chili and it's honestly the best Christmas dinner. Warm, cozy, and it just sits on the stove waiting to be eaten so no one's stuck in the kitchen. We often eat while we're snuggled on the couch watching a movie.