We have a MO State champion in the house!!!!

Ben and I went to the Missouri State championships yesterday.  Ben won first place overall.

The boys were fantastic and the Level 6 team won State by more than 10 points.

Another bunch of medals to hang on the rack!!!!

The meet had a phone app for the scores, so this is the first time I could keep track of everyone and know where they were in the rankings.  These are Ben's final scores and positions.....

High bar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4CIstI7_uM&list=UUAOWX-wOARFYsMlXtYv82vA
Parallel bars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzsKKLByWfA&list=UUAOWX-wOARFYsMlXtYv82vA
Rings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsRLmW2v-k&list=UUAOWX-wOARFYsMlXtYv82vA
Pommel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI7M7KfP5uI&list=UUAOWX-wOARFYsMlXtYv82vA
Floor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBiOY0KlGTs

Gymnastics-related event

I have had several conversations with parents at the gym about the demise of men's gymnastics.  It is becoming less popular and supported over time.  There are very few gyms that even have men's teams any more, it is definitely geared more towards the girls and probably over 90% of the kids at SLGC are girls.  So, it should come as no shock that Ben shared this with me yesterday.....
In one of his classes, the teacher wanted the kids to share one thing that they take responsibility for.  Ben shared that he got out of bed early for gymnastics class on Saturday mornings.  After class, one of the boys said "oh, you do gymnastics?  Isn't that for girls?"  Ben told me he just told him that it wasn't just for girls and that he didn't care what the other boy thought about it.  Then he just walked away.  I guess it's in the category of dancing or cheer leading.  The stereotype continues and I feel lucky that Ben was able to stand up for himself in the face of that.
You can never accuse our children of fitting the stereotype mould!!!!!

Parent-teacher conferences

We survived another week of parent-teacher conferences.  Ben conducted his own conference this week.  They had practiced going through their work at school and then had to present to parents at the conference.  It was kind-of weird to not do it with the teachers, but was interesting to see what the kids say about what they have been doing.  Maggie is doing pretty well, she is with a teacher who doesn't stand for any nonsense and it's a good fit for her.  I'm signing them both up for Summer School as usual.

Some Videos from Springfield 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGGpyHupFcg&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhtbY7siaT4&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E02Z73pdi_A&feature=youtu.be

33rd Annual SGAC Men’s Invitational

Jan and Julie took Ben to Springfield for his latest gymnastics meet.  It was his 4th win of the season
Floor 10.0  5th
Pommel 10.0  1st
Rings 10.6  1st
Vault 8.6 no place-fell on his butt!!!
Pbars 10.2  1st
High bar 9.5  1st

Jan said she will send pics and video later