Proud: P-R-O-U-D, proud.

She did it! Even though she was very nervous, Katey competed in her first school-wide spelling bee and she did GREAT!

This shot is just before the bee started.

There were 21 students competing from the 3rd-5th grades and Katey was the last 3rd grader standing!! She made it to round 4 and correctly spelled the words "holiday" and "applause". There was one more word she got correct but none of us can remember what it was! Katey was eliminated on the word "significant" and it was heartbreaking. She started off with "s-i-n-g" then stopped and asked the judges if she could start over. Unfortunately, that is against the rules, so she had to continue the word knowing that she misspelled it. We were so proud of her for finishing the word and keeping her head held high!

Getting ready to spell her 2nd word

When I walked Katey back to her class, she opened the door and all of her classmates whooped and cheered for her!! That was an extra special moment and brought a big smile to both of our faces!

For the record, Mike and I asked Katey afterward how she would have spelled her word if she could have started over. Signifacant. We told her that competing in the spelling bee was a significant event and we love her and are so P-R-O-U-D!