God's Girlz two-team TBQ Premier

 Both God's Girlz teams about to compete for REAL for the first time.

 The most amazing bunch of girlz!

Family shot.

Hannah had her first TBQ match yesterday. Not only did God's Girlz debut in the "A" league but there are now TWO God's Girlz teams. Not to confuse anyone but we now have God's Girlz/Grace Keepers and God's Girlz/Kingdom Seekers. Hannah is on the Grace Keepers team. Last year's team had 4 girls & one girl would always "sub" waiting for a girl at the table to quiz out so she could enter the game. They were a powerhouse team but adding 2 more girls would mean 3 girls had to sit out & wait for a turn at the table. That's how the two teams were formed. Everyone is at the table & we have no subs. Got it?

Sooooooo, personally, the biggest news from yesterday is that Hannah was the #1 individual scorer. She earned 1070 points! Her team scored a total of 1945 points. They were the first place team yesterday overall. But there are no awards at each meet. That happens at the end. If she keeps up this pace, she'll be a top scorer, I'm sure. She also quizzed out in each of the 8 rounds. That means she answered 5 questions correctly, earned 20 bonus points, and had to leave the table. That's a good thing! They were 7-1 for the day. They lost their first match of the day but won all the rest.

Her sister team had a record of 5 wins & 3 losses and came in 3rd place for the day BUT the difference between 2nd & 3rd place was only 5 points. Very close. Five of the six girls had multiple quiz outs. 

After getting home around 4pm, Hannah had a short rest before going to her friends' house for a celebratory slumber party. Not much slumber happened so she's napping now. She & her friends deserved it!

Here's a picture I stole from their coach. I had to be an official so I only got to see her quiz when she came through my room. There would be more pictures if I had been following her!

State Fair 2013

 Hannah's Hobbit House cake. Picture was taken at home before the cake got old looking at the Fair. She got 1st place (and $5).

 Joshua's minion cupcakes. I can't remember now if these took 2nd or 3rd....

 Hannah's melted crayon art.

 Hannah's "experimental" minion art. The Minion is made with shaving cream,glue, & food coloring so it's a little puffy.

 Joshua and his minion art.

 Joshua and his melted crayon art. These were fun to make.

 Joshua's excellent mixed media art. Too bad the judges must be bitter Coyotes fans as it didn't place. Seriously? Look at how awesome the Blackhawk is drawn!

 Joshua's recycled art (Hannah made one too but without the paint splatter). The "tree" is made of brown paper bags for the trunk & cut up toilet paper tubes for the leaves.

 Joshua's watercolor giraffes.

The State Fair was pretty successful in terms of ribbons & prize money. We found all their student art (free to enter but lots of competition from public schools AND no prize money),home art/crafts ($1 per entry,less competition because of the fee, & prize money if they place), and culinary arts items (also $1 per entry & prize money if they place). 

Let's just say they entered a lot more stuff than the pictures show. Between them they earned 28 ribbons and $70. Not too shabby!

JBQ Meet #1 for Compass Kidz

 The 2013-14 JBQ Team!!!!!

 A picture at the buzzers.

 Silly faces (above)

 Cupcake break (above)

 3 of the top 10 high scorers.

 Joshua earned 2nd place in high individual points (435 on the day).

Joshua and his team, Compass Kidz, had their first meet yesterday. They had 6 rounds of quizzing and won each round! They went undefeated & had 3 kids in the top 10 of high point scorers for the day in their league. They are in the "B" league-meaning they are first time quizzers. Hannah was in the "A" league when she started because 3 of the girls on her team had already been in JBQ.

The kids were a little nervous. At least Joshua had the "experience" of knowing what to expect from watching Hannah's meets. He has one teammate who knew what to expect because he has sisters on TBQ with Hannah. But four of the kids had no clue what was going to happen. They did amazing. I actually felt a little guilty at how badly they beat some of their opponents. But their hard work paid off. As long as they don't assume they'll always win & don't become prideful, then I hope they can always strive to do their best even when they make mistakes (which they did).

Here's how the rounds went down:

1. Compass Kidz 205 points to -25 (this one I felt REALLY bad about)

2. 230 points to 100 points

3. Ended in a tie at 80 points so we had an overtime tie breaker. After 3 OT questions, Compass Kidz won with 100 points to 90 points.

4. 225 points to 40 points

5. 240 points to 20 points

6. 160 points to 80 points (this was against another team who had not lost a match yet)

So we're pretty proud of Joshua for his accomplishment. It's more than the facts/scriptures he has memorized (although that's important). The fact that he wanted to do this after saying "no" and that he buzzes in/answers the questions is huge for this shy kid. There was a time he wouldn't go up on a stage in front of a 100+ people to retrieve a ribbon. He went up there with no problem. It's a breakthrough!

He seems to be enjoying practices and being friendly with his team mates. His next meet is in November. Hannah's first TBQ meet is in a couple weeks. She'll be quizzed over 1st & 2nd Thessalonians. 

Joshua taking 2nd place in high scoring at JBQ meet #1