Ya backpack rat!

Today is a big day for Emmett. He's on a team of fifth and sixth graders traveling to a reading competition. Since January, they've had a list of 40 books to read, and today they compete with teams from other schools in answering questions about the books' content. Emmett has made Janet and me extremely proud by reading 31 of the books. The team will be back on the bus soon, and we'll hear all about how it went.

Emmett's been counting down the hours to the competition. This morning, he was up early, and he and I went over what he needed: jacket, water, dinner money. He put the money in his backpack. Since he'd have the pack with him on a long bus ride, I asked if there was anything he could take out.

"No, I just cleaned it last week."

"Oh? What's this?" I pulled out a clump of papers and books.

"I need this and this and this." He plucked out a few books and papers.

"But not the rest?"

"Well ... I guess not."

Here's a picture of what he didn't need:



All together—two-and-a-half pounds of paper. Emmett, Ya Goof!