Tulare County Spelling Bee

Yesterday our girls participated in the Tulare County Spelling Bee Championship at the Visalia Convention Center. There were 212 students competing and about 500-600 spectators. The students were called individually to the microphone to spell a word orally in front of the crowd. Kaitlyn was the 125th student to compete and Sarana was the 190th. The competition goes in “rounds” where all students have to spell a word individually before they can proceed to the next round and if they do not spell it correctly they are eliminated.
Sarana was eliminated during the 3rd round on the word vogue. She placed 63 out of 207. The frustrating part was that she knew the word and immediately caught her mistake when she put the u in front of the g. However, for the sake of time students cannot back and fix the word. Sarana’s other words that she spelled correctly were kidney and forsythia.
Kaitlyn was eliminated during the 5th round. Prior to being eliminated she correctly spelled jewel, filibuster, linseed, and molè. Kaitlyn was finally eliminated on the word roodebok. After researching it when we got home we discovered the origin of the word is Dutch, a synonym for the word is pallah, and it is the official name for a South African antelope. Sure, we all knew that! Kaitlyn actually claimed 16th place. 4th grade is the first year students can compete and she was 16 out of 207! If you’d like to try some of the words that students were given today try: voortrekker, muishond, schadenfruede, pfeffernuss, pickelhaube, gesundheit, philhellenism, or hoomalimali. Can you see why students have studied for months and parents get ulcers?
Anyway, as you can see we are very proud of our daughters and their efforts on becoming better spellers. I know in the process Steve and I certainly learned some new words as well. I am almost thankful the girls were eliminated since I was not sure how much more suspense Steve and my mom could have taken! Steve says he would rather preach General Conference than sit through watching our daughters do that again. Although, Kaitlyn has her sights on winning county next year and moving on to the National Spelling Bee in Washington , D.C. so Steve might just have to suffer some more.

Birthday Fun

This weekend we had the privilege of celebrating Sarana and Kaitlyn's birthdays with a lot of family and friends. The fun started off at the church with about 60 people joining us for cake, ice cream, and presents. After that seven girls came to the house for a slumber party. I never knew that seven young ladies could polish off 2 pizzas within 10 minutes at midnight!

After getting the girls up and having breakfast of pancakes and sausage we headed off to Build-A-Bear in Visalia to finish off the day. For a couple of the girls it was the first time they had been there which was really fun. All the girls had a blast making their new friends. We certainly enjoyed the time we spent with the seven fine young ladies. Thanks to all our friends and family who celebrated with us in anyway.

Ms. McDaniel Strikes Again!

Kaitlyn will be representing Jefferson Elementary in two county competitions this spring. Not only she is one of the two team members of the spelling bee team (Sarana is the other), but she is also representing the student body at the Poetry & Prose event at the Tulare County Office of Education. Kaitlyn fell in love with poetry after recent visit from a poet, Mr. Mike, held an assembly at our school. In just a few short days she had memorized a fairly long poem entitled, "New & Improved." The poem takes all the cliches that sales people use to try and convince you to buy their product. Eventually the sales person only stops when she loses her voice. (Sounds more like a telemarketer to me). Anyway, we are certainly proud of Kaitlyn and wish her the best at the TCOE Spelling Bee.

Happy Birthday Bugs!

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday Ms. Kaitlyn. Happy Birthday to you.
Love from Mom, Dad, & Sis

Our littlest angel turns 10 today (Thursday, 2-19-09). Kaitee isn't necessarily so little anymore, and not always an angel, but she sure is special to Steve and I. Kaitlyn is a great young lady with adult sized dreams and ambitions that certainly makes life fun. With her devious ways and onery schemes there is never a dull moment around the McDaniel house when Kaitlyn is home.

E.J. Simmons

Eric Christopher Simmons, Jr. "E.J." was born to Eric and Jackie (our niece) on 11-1-08. EJ is a lovely little guy that loves to be held and talked to. Tonight, 2-25-09, EJ will be dedicated to God during our evening service. We are thankful for this new little guy, and of course his parents too. Jackie and Eric we pray for God's will and guidance as you dedicate this little sweetheart and pledge to raise him in the house of the Lord.

Valentine's Day

Dear Steve,
Happy Valentine’s Day. I love you more than you could imagine and appreciate the awesome husband, father, friend, and partner that you are. Before getting married I prayed for a man that loved God, desired to be good father, and wouldn’t tire of my mischievous ways. The Lord certainly answered my prayers when He blessed me with you. I am so proud of you and your accomplishments. I know you will breeze through this MA program, and keep everything go smoothly, just like you’ve always done. The girls and I are so blessed to you. Thanks for being you (and putting up with me!)
I love you mucho,
K