They get it from MY side!

Naturally, the person you marry will have many wonderful traits that you hope will be passed on to your children. In our family, I love to see many good things in my children that I can attribute to their daddy.  Dawna's intelligence, Lawrence's good looks, and Naomi's grit and determination, to name a few.

But tonight... Tonight I celebrate one great trait that I take all the credit for giving to my kids: my way with words (although those of you reading my blog are like, Wat??)

Tonight, all of my awesome academic kids were also award-winning articulate and artistic young authors!

 In the kindergarten age group, Xochitl took home first place for her story, "In a Pickle," in which one small jar journeys through fear and uncertainty, but finally finds her place and purpose.

 In the second grade category, Lawrence scored second place for his story, "Xavior Explores the Moon," in which one young earthling teaches moon aliens about what it means to be friends.

 And in the fourth grade category, Dawna raced passed the competition with her story, "The 5k," which tells of a grueling distance race run by a young girl (if that story sounds familiar, you may be having a Deja-Vu moment from this post from last Thanksgiving).

 Yeah, it was make-your-mama-proud time tonight! Not only because of the winning (which is always nice) but also because of the great effort all my kids put into their books. They were careful and meticulous, paying great attention to detail in the wording and in the illustrations. Many extra weekend and vacation hours were put into these books. I highly recommend them; particularly if you can get a live reading from the author :)

You can find autographed copies of all these books at the Lincoln Elementary School library, or at the Newark Branch of the Alameda County Library (cool, right?? Now three of my kids have made it into the library before me... perfect!!).