Go, Matthew!

Today we are spending some of our time watching the Spelling Bee on ESPN--tonight it will be on ABC. One of the boys who is still in the competition is Matthew Evans from Albuquerque. He is a homeschooler, and he spoke at the convention in April. His speech was great, so mature and composed and sweet. This is his 5th and final year to compete in the national spelling bee. Go, Matthew!!

UPDATE: Matthew was knocked out of the bee before the ABC coverage. The whole crowd gave him a standing ovation. He was crushed.

We continued to watch all the day's coverage. Brishen sat on the couch with our big dictionary, choosing words to ask Jon or me to spell. I think that watching the national spelling bee has turned him off of ever wanting to be in a bee himself. He cannot fathom how much easier the words are in a local bee.

I am just starting to understand that Brishen really doesn't love academic or athletic competition. He loves to learn but has no desire to be in math or spelling competitions. He loves basketball, but all the little competitions in basketball camp turned him off of camp forever (or so it seems this summer). I guess he is more into cooperative endeavors.