Field Day

 Each spring since 1st grade, our boys have participated in an elementary school Field Day, competing against other area Lutheran schools. This year they were old enough to attend the more competitive middle school Field Day, also for area Lutheran schools. Both boys were very excited about competing.

The students chose to participate in various track events as well as academic tests. Cody took part in 6 events-- 2 academic tests (Bible Knowledge and Math) and 4 track/field events (high jump, 100M, soccer kick, and 400M relay). Cody didn't have much prior experience doing high jump, but he did quite well! Aside from what it appears in these first photos, Cody truly did learn the correct form for high jump. Ha! This jump was his last-ditch effort after failing to clear the bar on his prior jump. He saw a friend jumping this way and thought he'd give it a try. Needless to say, it wasn't successful, but it sure made for a cool photo!

Here are some of Cody's other jumps. He ended up placing 3rd with a jump of 3'8".

For the soccer kick, Cody had to kick the ball into a ring. He was awarded points for how close to the center of the ring the ball stopped. Cody got 5th place for this event.

Cody won 1st place for his heat in the 100M race, so he qualified for finals in this event. Woo-hoo, Cody!

Jaden also participated in 6 events-- 3 academic tests (Spelling, Math, and Bible Knowledge) and 3 track/field events (100M, 400M relay, and tug-of-war). The tug-of-war was actually a fluke thing for Jaden, as he wasn't signed up for this event. We just happened to be walking by when the Salem 5th grade team was getting ready to compete, and they were missing a teammate. They begged Jaden to stand in for the other teammate, and he (somewhat hesitantly) agreed. The team competed three times in the little bracket and won a third place ribbon. Jaden ended up saying this event was one of his favorites! The team definitely fought hard!

Jaden also ran the 100M but ran in a different heat than Cody. He also won 1st place for his heat and qualified for the finals. Yay, Jaden!!

The 100M finals took place later that morning. Four boys total from Salem ended up qualifiying for finals--what a fast class they are! The 100M finals was a very close race.

Jaden and Cody crossed the finish line at a very similar time, but Cody just barely eked out 3rd place, and Jaden was awarded 4th. They ran well!

The boys' last event was the 400M relay with two of their 5th grade buddies. I didn't get a video of the race since I was down on the field near the finish line, but their team won an easy 1st place!

Cody ran the first leg of the race, so I got a few photos of him starting off. Jaden ran third and maintained his team's strong lead.

In addition to their track/field ribbons, the boys also placed in their academic events. Cody got 2nd place in Bible knowledge and 6th in math. Jaden got 1st in spelling, 4th in math, and another 4th in Bible knowledge. Both boys sure competed well! Most of all, even though it was a boiling HOT day, the boys enjoyed the day off normal classwork and liked hanging out with their friends. What a fun event!

April Misc

 School Happenings

All three kindergarten classes led the school chapel service in April. Adley knew her parts well and spoke/sang out confidently. Each class took turns reciting lines and Bible verses together.

The classes sang two songs-- "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man" and "Pearly Gates," a traditional kindergarten song.

We are thankful for these godly, experienced teachers! Adley's class did a great job!

On the same chapel day, the school recognized the track team since their season had recently wrapped up. I was glad I was there to get a photo of Cody and this team.

A couple other photos we received from Adley's teacher this month included a cute art project...

and simply a cute photo opp!

Adley & Eva Playdate

Adley and her friend Eva had been asking for a playdate together for quite some time, so we were happy it finally worked out to have Eva over. At school, these girls had come up with an entire playdate agenda, planning and dreaming about details for how they'd spend time together. Needless to say, they were very excited! Their playdate activities included having a tea party,

acting out a play,

(the play included roasting hot dogs on their handmade fire!),

and a snack plus playtime at our neighborhood playground. These two girls have such a sweet friendship!

Wolf Visit

Just after Easter, we had a special visit from some old friends. Matt and Allison Wolf were the first couple that Jason and I started hanging out with socially after we moved to Michigan just after getting married. We fondly call them "our first friends!" Ha! Back in the day (almost 20 years ago!), the four of us spent most of our time together playing games of Euchre. We even developed a traveling trophy that we'd pass back and forth to whichever couple won our card games for the evening.

This month, the Wolfs were visiting our area because their son was playing in a baseball tournament. They asked if they could see us and squeeze in some games of Euchre. We ended up hosting them for a few days surrounding their son's games. Even after not seeing each other for 16 years, we were able to jump comfortably back into conversation. It was fun catching up, touring our area a bit, and of course, playing some games of Euchre too! 

State PSIA

At the end of April, I took Cody and Jaden up to Ft Worth for the State PSIA competition. Cody had won 1st place in his Listening Skills test at district, so this qualified him for State. Jaden wanted to come along for the ride since the boys' cousins were going to be at State too.

Cody and Ryan both participated in the same Listening Skills test. The competition was held on the campus of Texas Christian University-- a beautiful place!

All three of the Schleicher boys that competed (Ryan, Ian, and Cody) ended up getting medals in their competitions. Cody won third place in Listening Skills! He was thrilled that the story read for the test was all about college football. He excitedly told us that he knew some of the answers for the test without even having to look back at his notes.

When they weren't testing, these boys spent all day playing outside. Jaden, Ryan, Cody and Nathan played football nearly all day with other kids from Trinity.

That evening, we went out to a nice dinner at Red Lobster. Cody and Jaden thoroughly enjoyed their first experience at this seafood restaurant. Back at the hotel, the boys liked swimming and playing video games.

We were so proud of Cody's achievement!

Stingrays Soccer

 This spring, Adley played on her second-ever soccer team. She played up a level so that she could play with one of her school friends. Even so, Adley was able to keep up with these girls just fine. We could tell that she had improved on her fundamentals and overall knowledge of the game since last year. We loved watching our little Stingray soccer player!

Olivia, Coach Bry
Lorelei, Adley, Mabel, Madison, Ava, Livvy

Seeing her kindergarten buddy Madison was a definite highlight of the weekly games and practices for Adley!

Even though this age level didn't technically have a goalie position, Adley's favorite spot in game play was defending the goal. She was a heads-up player near the goal and blocked quite a few shots from scoring throughout the season.

Here are a couple of her defense moves in action!

And one of her goal kicks...

Adley improved in her dribbling this year, and she was able to direct her power kicks a little more accurately too. Adley scored one goal during the season and had several other very close shots too!

While she didn't make sweeping runs down the field with the ball, she did jump into the action more often this season. Adley definitely demonstrated that she had a mind for where the ball needed to go. Most often, we'd see Adley run into the fray, kick the ball down field, and then either return to her position or follow the ball at a distance.

At the end of the season, Adley's coach said that Adley was a very kind teammate. We regularly saw her give high fives to her teammates and even stop her game play at times to help a fallen player stand up. What a loving heart she has! She was very proud to get a trophy with her teammates at the last game.

Adley worked hard at her games and learned a lot this season. We were sure proud of our #5!!