Spelling

I can't believe I'm actually going to admit what a nerd I am, but tonight after many many rounds of BANANAGRAMS, I am swept up in the rush of it and feel compelled to share...  

I am a total "word freak". 

I seriously LOVE anything that has to do with words...hence the blog.  I LOVE spelling, reading, writing, journaling, editing...pretty much the whole English language (and I've only limited myself to English because that's the only language I know, although I did minor in Latin in college.)  

Spell Girl and I share that love of words (which is delightful for me, because in every other way, she's just like her dad.  It's nice to be able to take credit for something.)  She won the Spelling Bee two years in a row at her school.  She's going to this year's UIL Spelling competition next weekend. 

Spelling Bee Champion 2009 with the Grs

She reads the dictionary in her spare time, and faithfully picks a "WORD of the WEEK" when school is in session.  And for fun, in church, she likes to write random letters on the top of a piece of paper, and then write down every word she hears that starts with those letters.  By the end of the hour, she's usually filled the entire page.  There are several volumes of spiral notebooks FILLED with words!  

So the game we got Spell Girl for Christmas happens to be a perfect fit for her AND FOR ME!  

We finally had a chance to play tonight with the whole family.  We lost Daughter #1 after a brief conflict about the rules.  My husband stayed through three or four rounds and then got distracted by a bowl game.  The two younger kids played through all the rounds, but really Spell Girl was my ultimate competition.  

Spell Girl wins Round 1

I won Round 2

With most things in my life, I wouldn't say I'm typically competitive (although I can already hear some people rolling on the floor laughing at that right now). But some things...like spelling...bring out that normally subdued competitive drive in me.  Maybe it's because Spell Girl is so darn good at this game!  Even after the rest of the family was clearly tired and ready to move on to another activity...Spell Girl and I were still going strong!  Totally fun!!  Near the end, she was coming up with bigger words than mine, in HALF THE TIME!

There really is nothing more exciting than watching your kids discover their talents and bask in their successes.   As they get older, I am thoroughly enjoying seeing their greatness emerge.