Spelling Bee Slide Show

Spelling Bee Champion!

On November 17, 2009, Delaney was able to participate in her school spelling bee for grades 3-6. They had a list of 275 words, which she had about 9 days to study. After 17 rounds, Delaney became the first 3rd grader to win the school championship! She did such an awesome job, so poised and confident. And she was so surprised and excited to win!
Here are some of the words she had to spell: Celebration, commentary, miraculous, burdensome, theory, lobbyist, pandemic, elevator, unsentimental, curfew, eclipse, candelabra, musquitoey, pilgramage, scalpel, and oncologist. I think I missed a couple of words, but that gives you a general idea.

She is now eligible for the Sac Bee Spelling Bee, which is the stepping stone for the National Spelling Bee. So now we are studying over 1100 words, the defintions, the roots and origions, and all kinds of rules to get ready for that. It is pretty interesting.

And, on this past Tuesday, Dec 1, Delaney celebrated her 9th birtday! She just finished her first set of piano books, which she started in Mid September. She is doing a great job learning to play. And she has really stepped up with studying her quizzing, doing quite a bit of it on her own. Her grades at school are great: straight A's! We always receive glowing reports from her teachers about how helpful she is and what a great learner she is. Now if we could only get her to keep her room clean and to stop fighting with her siblings! lol Really,we are so proud of our princess, and so glad God blessed us with such an amazing oldest daughter. And I'll brag on my other kids for their b-day, but this post is just hers! lol Darilyn's post will be coming up on just a few weeks as her b-day is at the end of Dec!

Update in a Slideshow

Southwest Regional Tournament Results

1st place - Sac 1 (Delaney and Ranier)

3rd place - Sac 3 (Darilyn, Kayla, and Bethel)

All tournament team
Delaney - 1st, Oriana - 2nd, Darilyn - 3rd, Billy - 4th, and Kayla - 5th

This past weekend we had a Bible Quizzing tournament here in Sacramento, and boy did our beginners do a good job!! Our Sacramento Rock Church Beginner teams took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place with a competative team from Rialto taking home the 4th place trophy. Sacramento quizzers took 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th on the all tournament team. Of course, I am especially proud of my two quizzers. Delaney and Darilyn did a great job on their teams. Delaney and Ranier (Sac 1) took 1st and Darilyn, Kayla, and Bethel (Sac 3) took 3rd. Delaney was the highest scoring quizzer of the beginner tournament with a 131 point average. Four of her 6 quizzes were perfect quizzes, meaning she hit 6 questions and got all 6 right, earning 10 extra points for quizzing out (the max # of questions a beginner can get right is 6, at which point they "quiz out" earning 10 extra points and recognition for the acheivement). In each of those four quizzes Delaney hit 4 twenty pt questions and 2 thirty point questions (her Dad's game plan) and earned 150 points for her team. Darilyn was 3rd highest scorer of the tournament, with her teammate Kayla taking 5th. They are a good team, very well matched. We go into each game with the job of each girl getting 3 ten pointers, 2 twenty pointers, and 1 thirty pointer. They work their hardest to do this and come pretty close most of the time. Darilyn had a one quiz where she scored 100 points for her team. All in all they did an excellent job and we are very, very proud of them. Sorry if it seems like too much bragging, but as this blog was initially for the benefit of the Grandparents, others will just have to understand! lol

Quiz Results

All tournament team (Delaney-1st, Kayla-2nd, Darilyn-3rd

Delaney and Rainer - 1st place team

Darilyn and Bethel - 2nd place team

Singing and stuff

Just wanted to post a couple of pics of Delaney singing a solo with the kids choir. She did a great job and we are proud of her. I wish I had a video clip to post, but I don't. I know the pictures are dark but you get the idea. The firs pic is a zoom in on Delaney and the second is a picture showing more of the choir in the loft and the chorale holding mics.

And of course, I have to add some pics of my 'baby' who will be 3 soon. She really does love the camera and enjoys making lots of faces.

Dr. Newheart's Christmas Cure

On December 14, Delaney and Darilyn participated in our church's children's Christmas production. They practiced every week since early November and it turned out wonderful. Delaney had a solo and also another part she sang with another girl. Darilyn was part of a sign language group and signed a solo. Both girls did fabulous. Sis. Tishauna Jones, who heads up the Music is for Kids program every year does a great job of using as many children in special roles as possible and then coaching them to their best performance. I am really glad to have been able to help out with the signing and as a chaperone in practices. I helped Kim a little with the costume stuff and although I didn't do much I was just glad to be a part. lol Seriously thought, it was great fun. I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids. Can't wait for the next one!!!

A New Story

Delaney recently wrote a story and wanted to post it on my blog. Hope you enjoy!

A Butterfly's Wish

By Delaney Reighard

Once upon a time, a little butterfly larva was eating food. Then a big butterfly flew by her. The little larva said to the big butterfly, "I want to be like you, a big butterfly."

"Well," said the butterfly, "You have to do a lot of eating, turn into a pupa, and then form a hard case around your body, which is called a chrysalis or a cacoon. When you emerge you're a beautiful butterfly!"

"Like you," cried the larva.

"Yes, like me," said the butterfly. On and on the butterfly flew to find nectar.

The larva obeyed the butterfly. She ate and ate and ate until she was ready to be a pupa. When she was a pupa, she formed a hard case. Then when it was time, she emerged as a beautiful butterfly.

Now she will tell her children what she did and tell them to tell their children what will happen in their life.

Can you tell she was studying the life cycle of a butterfly in school?

She also illustrated her story, but I wasn't able to post those pictures.

First Day of School

For those of you who do not know, my girls are in year round school, track D. Their track, as well as tracks B and C, started back to school on July 21, two weeks ago. So, they are already hard at work in school, even though summer's only half over. And for those who might feel bad for them, we actually like it, especially when October and February get here and we get 3 and 4 weeks off. Anyways, this year Delaney is in 2nd grade and Darilyn is in first. Darilyn has her same teacher from her 1st/kindy combo class last year, Ms. Askins. We really like her, so I know Darilyn will do well this year. And Delaney has Ms. Gaskins. She really likes her so far this year too, especially since Ms. Gaskins gives her students 'smart sticks' aka red licorice, for being smart and doing well. I think Delaney has gotten at least one everyday for things such as asking if stories can be past down 'from generation to generation' to coming up with 24 ideas for a story during a brain storming session (the page only had 14 lines, so she turned the page over and continued writing on the back) So far both of the girls have brought home great work, but as Delaney told Darilyn, "This is all review from last year, so it should be easy!" I think they are doing more than just review, but I am very happy with their work so far. And as to how Dallas and Denae are doing without the girls, well that is stuff for another post. In fact, a few more posts, probably!

Finally - BQ Finals Post

Okay, I finally sat down and did it. I made a slideshow of the pics I took at Finals 2 weeks ago. Wow, I am really slow! Anyways, finals was a lot of fun. Friday night we went to John's Incredible Pizza with everyone after orientation. We had a blast. I don't have any pics of that on my slide show because the pics all turned out too dark. But, the beginner girls all had matching outfits from Children's Place (Thank you Sis Horton for picking those up for us!) Everywhere I looked it was pink shirts and headbands! Then after a late night of partying (and even later night of Denae crying because it was very hot in our room and she was over exhausted), we got up for a big day of quizzing. Our church junior and beginner quizzers all wore navy, white, and yellow this year. Everyone looked really nice. After a long day of great quizzing by all of the quizzers, Delaney and Darilyn took 2nd in the beginner division. First place went to another Sacramento team, Karly, Oriana, Katrina, and Kayla. They were a tough team and quizzed very well. Delaney was highest scorer on the all tournament team with 99 pts per quiz. Darilyn was 5th. And this tournament, the juniors and beginners were able to participate in the Ultamate Challenge competition, normally just a senior thing. Delaney and Darilyn both did really well in this too. In the charting competition (locate as many 1 time words as your can correctly in 30 seconds) Delaney was 2nd and Darilyn was 4th. In the quoting competion (horizontal quote as many vs 1's as you can in 30 seconds -horizontal is quoting all of the same vs numbers through the material Gal 1:1, Gal 4:1, Gal 5:1, Gal 6:1, Eph 2:1, Eph 4:1, Eph 5:1, and Eph 6:1) Delaney took 1st and Darilyn took 3rd. Delaney actually quoted all 8 of the beginner verse 1's in 30 seconds. Juniors and Seniors, of course, have more verse 1's to quote. But, if I can brag a little more, according to Danny Barba, our Ultimate Challenge coordinator, Delaney did the best of all the divisions! And, Bro and Sis Horton, our beginner program directors, received coach of the year! In the junior division, my nephews Christian and Austin, took first place, with Austin being 1st on the all tournament team and Christian being 5th (that looks familiar). Faith and Caleb, our 'adopted' niece and nephew took 2nd, and Faith was the junior Quizzer of the Year. And Carlos and Denise, received Junior Coach of the Year. Everyone did such a great job and worked very hard. Of course, juniors and seniors are still working hard getting ready for Nationals just 2 weeks away, but Delaney and Darilyn are done for the year and this Mom is ready for the break. Kevin is working dillegently from the official side of things making sure everything will be ready for the National tournament and tonight is actually at Kathy and Craigs helping Christian and Austin study. So for all those still working hard, rememeber EVED (every verse every day!)

Now that's what I call quoting

Kevin made a deal with the girls this week that if they can quote all 184 verses in 40 minutes or less, they will get $5. 30 min or less earns them another $5 (or a total of $10) and 25 min or less gets them a total of $20. Well, Delaney's first try was 32 min. She tried again today and did her verses in 27 1/2 min (that's all 184 verses with NO mistakes!!) She is now stoked to get an extra $10 out of her dad tomorrow by quoting in less than 25 min. I think she can do it, but it will take some serious speed. Darilyn's first try was about 47 min, but she wasn't really motivated at the time. Today, we timed her on half of the verses (92) and she clocked in at 14 1/2 minutes with only 1 mistake (and that was just due to quoting so fast)! This put her on a good track to finish everything in about 30 min, but we weren't able to finish her session due to a mishap which I will post about later. So, tomorrow morning Darilyn will get to try again for her $10, and let me tell you, she can speed through them when she gets to going! Let's see how much money they can get from their dad this week! I think I hear the mall calling me (I mean THEM haha!)

Kids say the cutest things!

Dallas about why he was so excited about the Family Fun Night hosted by Bible Quizzing; "Oh, yeah, and God is going to be there too!"

Denae's version of what a kitty cat says: "Memow."

Darilyn's main concerning when finding out my mom was in the hospital again: "Does Grandma's antibotics (her word) taste like bubble gum?"

Dallas on why he wants to quiz next year: "So I can get first place!"

Denae, after mommy told her to tell daddy 'I'm cute': "Mommy cute!"

Delaney's obeservation regarding losing some quizzes and then taking first at the last BQ tourney: "I guess Jesus was trying to show us that even if we lose some quizzes, we can still win." (This comment struck me as kind of funny, but true, too. Even if we lose some, whether it be in a game or any part of life, including our spiritual life, if we keep playing, living, or doing our best, we can (and WILL) still win in the end. Even kids can have profound thoughts sometimes!)

All Done!

The girls finished learning all of their verses on Saturday. Yea! Now we just have to get them down enough to reference. They can reference 164 verses. The last 20, from Eph 6, they haven't started referencing yet, although they can quote them in backwards order, from verse 20 to verse 1. Tomorrow we'll mix that chapter up seperatley and by the end of the week, the last chapter will be in our reference stack with all the other verses. They enjoyed learning this chapter, especially about the armor of God.

Summer Bible Quizzing Tournament

Last weekend the Rock Church hosted the Summer Tournament for Apostolic Bible Quizzing. We had a great time and saw some awesome quizzing. I kept score for Beginners most of the time, so I didn't get to see much of the Juniors or Seniors, but my goodness, those little quizzers can quiz up a storm! They started the morning with a warm-up game similar to Musical Chairs involving all of the quizzers. It was a lot of fun and the quizzers really seemed to enjoy it. While we watched the quizzers march around the table, I looked down and Denae was marching around the judges table all by herself. Monkey see, monkey do hehe!

I was really proud of Darilyn this tournement. She, for the first time in her 2 years of quizzing, was on the All Tournament Team. She was 5th highest scorer and received her "very own" trophy. She has worked so hard at memorizing her verses and has really improved in her quizzing this year. But, since she is one of the youngest quizzers, it can be hard to compete with the older ones. Against other quizzers her age, around 5 and 6, she can hold her own, but when she's put against the 8, almost 9, year olds, she gets a bit intimidated. So, for her to get a trophy is a real accomplishment and we are very proud of how well she is doing. Delaney was 2nd highest scorer, with Karlee beating her out for 1st again. Karlee sure keeps Delaney on her toes! The girls ended up with 1st place, after losing to two of the teams in the Round Robin. They came back in the championship round to win all their quizzes, all though there were some close calls.

I just want to say, I am very proud of how well ALL of the quizzers are doing. What they say is true: Everyone in Bible Quizzing is a winner. When you think about what all it takes for a child to take the time to memorize 184 verses in just a few months, it really is amazing. And for those who maybe get behind and haven't quiet memorized them all, well, even half the number of verses is more than most adults take the time to learn. Way to go, Quizzers! Just one more tournament for our Beginners! You can do it! (Check out the side bar under quizzing to see the girls progress in memorization)

On a side note, Christian and Austin and their team captian Audie took first in Juniors, with Chrirstian geting 4th on the All Tournament Team and Austin tying for 1st. Great Job, guys!

Check back after July 19th to see how Sacramento does at the Regional Finals!

Snaggle Tooth

Delaney lost another tooth. Now she doesn't have her two front teeth. Of course, she'll get them in way before Christmas, so I guess she won't be singing that song come December.

Bible Quizzing Progress

Wow! Have you checked the girls' progress on Bible Quizzing lately? It is on the sidebar with the cute picture of them wearing quiz shirts when they were 2 and 3. We are already gearing up for the Finals Warm-ups tournament to be held here at the Rock Church June 6 & 7. The girls are in the home stretch of learning all their verses this year. They have 9 more verses to learn to qualify for this next tournament, so we will finish up Tuesday I think. But looking at the bigger picture, they are 40 verses away from having memorized all their material for this year! And they can reference it all, too. We are so proud of how hard they are working.


We also started doing one time words with them. The Beginners will start having questions about that this next tournament. Questions like "Abba. Quote the verse of study that contains this word." Or the question might ask them to locate the verse instead. Last night I played a game with them for the one time words. We used Monopoly money and they got $10 when they got one right, or they paid me $5 if they missed it. Then the other player would have the chance to earn $1 if they could answer it. That's what they are playing in the above picture. Darilyn was concentrating on locating a one time word. Delaney won by a little bit, but both of the girls had over $300 in Monopoly money by the time we were done with one page of our one time words.

They also did very well at practice on Wednesday night. Kevin has told them that whoever quizzes out or scores over 100 pts for the night can pick out ice cream to bring home after practice. And if one of them does both, then that one gets to pick out any of the "frozen novelties" in the ice cream department. (Dallas and Denae love this arrangement, too. lol) Well, Wed night, both girls got to bring home something special. Delaney played in 3 quizzes and scored 420 total pts and quizzed out 3 times that night. And Darilyn played in 5 quizzes, scoring 500 total pts and quizzing out 3 times. I guess they had to start subbing her in at the middle of the quiz. Of course it was only practice, but it was really good for Darilyn to realize that she really does know the answers.

Anyways, the girls have worked hard and are excited about Grandma and Poppa being here for the next tournament to watch them quiz. I am too!

Spring School Pictures

Okay, help me out here. I can curl my daughters' hair on Sat night for Sunday church and have curls that make it through two services, naps, school on Monday (including recess) and the various hairdos involved with these multiple activities. However, on school picture day, I curl the girls' hair the night before and fix it so cute for the pics and the curl doesn't even last until pic time. Of course, on this day they had to run laps for PE time before the pics. Hello! Does anyone understand this mystery? Oh well, the pics still turned out cute, but the cute curly hairdo was loong gone!

No Limits

I haven't posted for a few days, but I did want to add a bit about No Limits. The services were wonderful! I don't have time to post a lot of details, but suffice it to say that once again God met with His people in an awesome way! Many ministers were ordained on Friday night through Reach World Wide Inc. And on Thursday night I lost count of how many people pledged support to local ministers in Africa. It was one of those nights that touches the heart in a way that will not soon be forgotten.

These are a couple of pics of the kids at the service the last night of No Limits. The girls all match in the dresses we made. Dallas was being onery and wanted to pose silly in all of the pics I took of him. I finally gave up getting the "perfect" picture. With him, you get what you get! By the way, he is holding a "gold nugget" he received in Children's Church. He was very proud of that!

Flower Girls

Delaney and Darilyn were in their first wedding this past weekend. They were flower girls along with another little friend of theirs. Excitement ran hight this week as we finished up the dresses and got ready for the "big day." They really had fun and did a good job too. And they looked just beautiful in their dresses and head pieces.

Waiting to take pictures.

Darilyn, Scarlet, Delaney, and Isabelle

Beautiful Flower Girls

It's over!

Pictures of the Girls at School and Other Things

I went to the girls' class today to take some pictures for scrapbooking. The girls love to scrapbook, so for Christmas we are making their teacher some scrapbook pages of the class. Of course, we will have to make double the pages so the girls can put them in their own scrapbooks. And for those wondering, yes, my kindergartner and first grader have the same teacher. She teaches a kindy-1st combo class. I took Darilyn's pic with the kindys and Delaney's with the 1st graders. The other teacher is an aide in the class for one of the boys. I thought I would share those with my blogging friends and family.


When I got home, I took some pictures of Dallas and Denae. I made Denae's bow this morning (Thanks for the ribbon, Mom!) and she wanted to show it off for Grandma. Then we had to have more pictures of Dallas, and Denae wanted in those too. My kids are not camera shy at all!

In the above picture Denae is saying and signing please. I told Dallas to say Candy for the picture, and Denae said, "Please." That is her way of saying yes she would like some.