That's why they call it nature

We saw primarily three different species of centipedes... and they were every where. This was the prettiest.
Sheela hates this one but there is something about her hair that attracts insects.
You think he's cute now... just wait.
It looks like this cat track has toe nails but they aren't lined up on the pads. We were guessing bobcat... the consensus at work is Mountain Lion based on the size of the print.
Snails on bear scat aren't as likely to get picked up as the ones that have finished eating and wandered off.

In honor of GranpaJohn....

we have the mushroom series..... John was playing in a golf tournament rather than hiking with us this trip.
But I always associate the mushroom and tree stump pictures with John.
This is one of my favorite shots... it shows the "Smoky" in Smoky Mountains.
The rhodies were just past their prime and we were walking on carpets of fallen blossoms,

A few pictures from our hiking adventure

Don't we look fine here at the start of our adventuring?
This is one of the only real views we had on the hike.
Ain't he cute?
The three sided shelter really has three stone walls and an open front.
Sunil was refreshed after his night sleeping on the boards and ready to head down the mountain.

A few shots from Mammoth Cave

Mammoth is not really known for its cave formations but it isn't entirely boring.


The cave cricket is one of the few creatures that really lives in the cave.
Sheela managed to complete her Junior Ranger activities the first day we were in the park.
Sunil took a nap the first evening and earned his patch on the second day instead.

A wonderful time was had by all

We are back from our vacation.  We had drama (more about the plight of the minivan later), we had excitement (a closely contested round of putt-putt golf), we had adventure (bobcat tracks and bear scat), we overcame adversity (those tracks weren't near the car), we had family (Neilanses, Underwoods, and Sharmas) and we had fun (we always do)!

 

Movie

The new Harry Potter movie opened today. I can't wait to go see it. The Order of the Phoenix is my favorite of the books so far. I'm torn between ditching the family and going alone and waiting to go see it with Sheela. I guess I don't really have time to go even if I ditch the family. Oh well.. the last book comes out in less than two weeks too.

Yay Benadryl!

We have grown an impressive (and aggressive) crop of mosquitoes this year. The season usually last only a week or two and I feel put out if I get more than a half dozen bites the whole time. This year in a single outing I can acquire more than a dozen before I even remember that I should use bug spray and this has been going on for more than two months. I'm pretty well miserable. I am now sporting two inch welts on both legs and both sides of both ankles. I've scratched myself bloody in a dozen places. Today my friend introduced me to the Benadryl Itch Relief Stick. I don't think I've ever tried it before, but I recognized it when she showed it to me. I love it. Just a dab and I'm no longer scratching. I may even sleep tonight.

Baby Girl

Here I am admiring my friend's first child. Isn't she sweet?!?!

Tree ID

Sunil has been practicing his tree identification skills. He identified the tree in our backyard as a Basswood. They aren't precisely rare but they are uncommon in Texas. It was probably a scrub tree that was left from before the construction rather than a cultivated choice. It provides shade for the hammock and the bird house that's good enough for me.

His identification of the tree in the front yard ended in a tie between a Coastal Live Oak and a Gray Oak but even the guide book says that it can't hlep with hybrids and most Oaks in Texas are hybrids.

The little twig of a tree that we planted when we moved in is now taller than I am and, thankfully, fuller too. He identified it as a specific kind of Maple, but I don't remember the particulars.

The one that we haven't gotten too yet is pictured here....
These pictures are from our walk by the creek but I forgot to show them to him while the guide book was out. Ah well... something for us to do this evening.

Sunil and I spent our one sunny day adventuring by the creek at Allen Station. The dam was built back when the trains still ran down along the creek. The water tower to refill the steam engines has been torn down but the trestle is still there (but not in this picture). This is the first time we've really seen much water coursing over the dam -- last fall it was just the barest trickle. As far as adventures go this one was very tame. There aren't many places you can even get close enough to see the water. It has carved a decent sized canyon. We never did manage to get down to the water's edge. It is possible by the dam but the water was moving so fast that Sunil didn't want to try it.

All grown up and traveling alone

Sheela left Wednesday for her summer vacation. She flew to Knoxville all by herself on a tiny little plan. She has a few days to goof off with the grandparents, followed by a week of golf and rec center camp followed by a week with the whole family.

Last Day

Today was Amy's last day here at work.  On the good news front she is taking some time to try the stay at home mom lifestyle and see if she likes it.  I'm pretty sure that she will love it.

On the bad news front we've been eating lunch together at least a couple of times a week for eleven years.  Even when we took time off to have kids we hauled our infant children to restaurants all over town.  She has been a true friend, a mentor and a confidant.  It just won't be the same come Monday.

 

 

Fireworks

Dr. C brought home a small collection of fireworks for us to set off at the house.... mostly sparklers, two small roman candles and a few black cats. Of course the photos are terrible but I made the effort....

The rental

My car is in the shop for a few days for some repairs so I'm sporting a nice flashy red 2008 Volvo. It is sad to say but I am definitely not a car person these days. I miss my van. This is too much like trying to carry an evening bag instead of a purse... where do you put the bulky necessities?

A casual day

After torrential rains again last night I wasn't sure what today would hold but we woke to warm, humid, cloudy skies but no actual falling rain so Sunil and I went down to the Pacers run. We didn't get there early enough to run the 1 mile and had no plans to run the 3 mile but Sunil did do the Jr Sprint which is a 1K. It is the second time that he has done this run. He placed fourth or fifth out of four or five boys in the 8 and under set. He earned a ribbon for finishing and he had fun. He gets upset when he doesn't win a trophy but he hasn't actually tried training yet. Sheela chose to stay home today. Too bad for her there were only two girls in her bracket... she could have walked and still won a trophy.

We spent the bulk of the day playing Legos and painting. When Sid got back home from his errands I ran out to visit a friend who is a new mother and her tiny, newborn daughter, Jordan Elena. The kids invited friend's over to spend the night and watch the fireworks. We thought they might have to cancel them (the rest of the activities: bounce houses, live music, food booths, Frisbee demos, etc) were all cancelled. The rain held off and we watched the show from the park across the street. The fireworks were nice but the kids were much more entertained with the glow sticks they brought out.

It's midnight now and the girl's are still awake. I'd better go scold them.

Pool Party

Here Sheela and I are soaking up the warm water in the kiddie pool at Alma's pool Party.

Computer Lab

Here is a shot of all three kids working on their computers.

Bummer

I left my camera at home this morning.  I only charge it about once a month and then I routinely forget to put it back in my purse.  I had pictures of our "computer lab" as the kids call the office…. All three of the children are spending a lot of time in there right now.  Sheela is on the family computer, Sid is on his laptop and Sunil is on his toy laptop playing word games like Hangman.  I also had some birthday party photos from a variety of my friend Alma's parties.  We had a happy hour in her honor, took her to lunch and had a surprise pool party.  I hope she feels older… I sure do.

 

Bionic eyes

Once again I've caved and attempted to medicate my way past my spring coughing fits.  Historically this has not gone well.  Cough suppressants don't do anything for me.  Antihistamines don't do anything for me.  Nasal sprays make me worse off after they wear off.  Today I took Mucinex DM.  It is supposed to make the coughing "more productive" and thin out the sinus drainage.  I am not coughing and I'm not suffering from drainage but I feel like my eyes are dilated.  I can focus but it takes a long time and a lot of effort.  My eyes seem to circle in tighter and tighter until they land on the right spot.  The whole time I can hear the "whaaa, whaaa, whaaa" sounds that let you know that Steve Major's bionic eyes were working hard.  It has been suggested that I go back home and nap (an attractive option) but I don't think I want to drive with my bionic eyes.  I'll stay here and design validation protocols until I feel a little bit more like myself.  Tomorrow I'll reread the protocols before I send them around.  I doubt I'll say anything stupid, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Sunil's Room Renovated

Mom and John painted the waves on the walls back at Christmas. Sunil added the "pieces of eight" raining down from above.
The kids and I painted the fish and the seaweed.

Sunil also tiled his own trophy shelf. Not pictured we added a full length mirror and removed an old dresser. The mirror from the dresser is going to be remade into an additional "window".

Happy Father's Day Sid!

The kids made a shirt for Sid. The red letters are velour! The hands prints are their own and the decorations continue around on to the back.

We have an apple pie in the oven for Grandpa, too!

ACCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!

I just found out that one of my very best friends is going to make some major changes in her professional life. This is going to change everything but I guess I shouldn't say more until she informs the powers that be.

Work productivity

It has been a tense few days around the office. But we have completed our annual certification audit with flying colors. It always feels good when they acknowledge the hard work that we've done and remind even when they remind upper management that there are still improvements that need to happen (which of course we've been begging for for some time). The traditional end of the audit is celebrated at a local pub with a few drinks and yesterday was no exception. For a change this year a few of us stayed longer at the bar than we spent at work that day. It made for a very long day but it was worth it. I will even go so far as to say that the work that was accomplished during the course of the evening was invaluable. Conversations that really needed to happen but couldn't be worked in to every one's travel schedules finally have been completed, the team refocused and quite a few misconceptions cleared up. Plus it was a really fun time with a good group.

The trophy shelf is up and the mirror grouted...

Sheela has arranged her trophies by sport class. On the left are gymnastics and dance trophies (one of which turned out to belong to Sunil and had to be returned), soccer is in the center and the far right is for golf.

End of year awards

The t-ball season has come to a close. The last games were held Friday night. The team has progressed from hitting off the tee to coach pitch (more or less), not everyone scores everytime any more either. In one inning we actually made three outs either by tagging the runner or throwing to first. In one inning we tagged all four runners out at home (about 3 seconds apart). At the end of the season party each boy recieved a trophy and an Allen Baseball t-shirt.

We have new neighbors already...

Brenda, et al, moved out on Monday. Terrel, et al, moved in on Tuesday. She and her husband, Lan, have three kids going by the names: Callie (12), Curtis (8) and Berly (7). Berly is short for Kimberly. Callie's name is Eileen. Her mother was suprised by the change but took it in stride.

The final step

Sheela added the grout to her trophy shelf. It was a goopey, gooey mess but a lot of fun. Tonight we plan to hang it up.

To swim or not....

We've finally achieved a few really pretty days over all but we can't seem to get away from the occasional rain cloud or thunder shower. Unfortunately the thunder started right at the beginning of the swim class and we were sent home before a single suit got wet. We'll try again tonight...

Quilt

While I was at work yesterday my friend Barbara snuck by my house and dropped of a quilt that she made just for me. It is beautiful. She chose dark greens, blues and reds against a bright yellow backing. She says it is to lay across my lap when I'm reading (though it is big enough for a twin bed). I was really touched. It was too dark to get a good picture of it but I'll add one when I can.

Yay June!

Once again another May has been survived.  It is one of my favorite times of year but I'm ready for a break.  June has only one soccer tournament, one t-ball game and one round of swim classes (for each kid).  This should let me concentrate on the chaos that is my day job.  Really it isn't that bad but we are gearing up for our annual surveillance audit and we wanted to have more projects completed than we managed to really put to bed.  I still think that we are in pretty good shape.

Party Day

Sunil had four friends over today for a very low key party. They played basketball, ate cake and then went up to the sprayground to cool off.

A dinner out

We concluded Sunil's actual birthday with a dinner at Macaroni Grill. We even indulged in chocolate cake (which I ate with the fudge sundae that came with his kid's meal). At least I did get up and go work out this morning.

Weekend birthday

In keeping with Sunil's birthday tradition we took him to a Frisco Roughriders game. This year we extended the game to be a whole weekend event. It should have started with his Friday night T-ball game but there was some rain.


Saturday we spent the night at the hotel next to the ball park. We spent a few hours in the pool, hot tub and sauna. Then went to a kid-friendly pizza place for dinner, cartoons and arcade games. The folks took the kids back to the hotel while Sid and I went bar hopping (sort of). We really spent our time wandering outside in the cool evening air enjoying the fountains and the ponds up in Frisco. We eventaully stopped for a drink and some live music at an Irish pub before walking back to the Hotel.

Sunday morning we enjoyed a cooked to order breakfast at the hotel, spent some time in the pool, and walked across the street to the game. The rain held off. The weather was perfect for sitting outside and AA baseball is a treat. One of the highlights was the removal of the tarp from the field. When they folded it over it looked like it was raining underneath.

Six years old!!!

Sunil woke up to breakfast in bed today in honor of his birthday. His meal of choice was Grammylyn's cinnamon french toast and chocolate milk. From there we moved in to gift opening: a "Cars" clock and lamp, a Roughriders team t-shirt and a DVD. After that we measured his height on his seahorse. I don't actually translate the marks into an English measurement but he is nearly two inches taller than last year.

The picture is pretty crummy, but it was all I could get this morning.

The transformation begins

Sheela spent six months deciding how to redecorate her room. SHe has decided to paint the walls teal (with help from Grammylyn and GrandpaJohn). She asked her Dad to build her a shelf for her trophies and a frame for her full length mirror. The shelf and the mirror she will adorn with a mosaic in teal, cobalt, orange (really it's red) and white glass tiles and mirror chips. She will paint a faux mosaic around the arched window. Her she is edging the mirror in a bright white. The teal walls were completed later in the day and look beautiful (but I don't have a picture). The furniture is in and the shelves and trophy shelf built. If we get enough rain to cancel practice tonight she can paint the shelf and the mirror frame. Tomorrow she can start to apply the tiles. Then we will tackle the paint around the window.

Kids Club Opens today

This summer they have combined all of the clubs (one from each of the 13 elementary schools) into a single location -- one of the middle schools in the area. Because the groups have been combined the kids will get to play with their friends from other schools (some that they've known since pre-school some from their sports teams and some that are siblings of their siblings sports teams).

I took the kids to visit last night and we were given the grand tour by Miss Maggie. Miss Maggie knows Sunil well as she was a student teacher in his Kindergarten class. The kids also were greeted by name by at least a dozen of the other "teachers". The teachers all appear to be less than 25 years old and super high energy.

The theme of the year is "decades". Each of their different rooms was reminiscent of a different decade (or era). The cafeteria is a 50's diner where they will eat their lunches. There are movies playing in the 70's drive-in movie theater. There is a room with just dinosaurs (and volcanoes). There were rooms with just toy cars, rooms with just Lego building blocks, rooms with just dolls, rooms with just pet shop pets (yuck), rooms with video games, rooms with art projects, music rooms, gym activities, etc.

The school is across the parking lot from the city pool (outdoor) and the kids will get to swim once or twice each week. Today Sunil and the little kids will have access to the bounce house. Sheela and the bigger kids will get their turn on Friday. Each week there will be at least one field trip off campus to go see a movie, go to the park or go to the one of the gymnastic gyms, etc.

Last Day

Today is the last day of school for my kids. The Allen school district, like almost all of the others around here, have already made up their snow days and are ready to set the kids free. The kids, I might add, are equally ready to be free. There is one school district that didn't plan their schedule correctly and still has to call the kids back the Tuesday, after the holiday weekend and high school graduation ceremonies, to get that legally required 180th day on the books.

The Allstar Kickball Team

Sheela was elected to the third grade Allstar team at the end of the annual kickball tournament. Her class team placed first this year. She thought that meant she'd get to play against the teachers but that honor is reserved for the winner of the 5th grade/6th grade championship game. This gives her a nice distance goal towards which to strive.

The home stretch..

May is always our most challenging month. We cram in too much and then follow that up with the school cramming in a little bit extra and quickly we are overwhelmed. But we've almost finished the month and I don't think we've dropped the ball on anything yet. I have Dr's appointment today (the last of my laser treatments!). Tomorrow night I've having MY Girl's Night Out. Thursday the Sharmas leave for NOLA. Thursday is also the last day of school. Friday Sid will stay home with the kids. Friday night Mom and John arrive and Sunil has a t-ball game. Saturday is the Plano Pacers Jr Sprint (we may or may not bother with that). Saturday we will stay at the Embassy Suites by the ballpark. Sunday we will go to the ball game. Monday is a holiday. Monday night is the Kids' club open house (at the middle school.) Tuesday Summer Kids Club begins. Wednesday Sunil turns six. Thursday we hit the end of the month! First one there wins.

Here are a few photographs....

Sunil finally collected his talent show t-shirt. His was initially misplaced and it took a week to track it down. The show was great and I was very proud of all the kids.

The new sleeveless jerseys were a big hit as the temperatures were in the upper 80s... at least until the storm hit.

Kindergarten Spring Sing

Sunil's grade level musical performance will be this evening but first they get to put on a concert for the whole school today as a practice event. The real deal will be tonight.

The end may be near....

but it might be a good thing. Sheela is considering hanging up her cleats. She hasn't made the final decision yet, but she is exploring other activities that she might like to try instead of soccer. The current list includes: piano lessons, art classes, softball and basketball. This week alone we've also been given fliers on Track, swimming, dance, gymnastics, cheerleading, fencing and martial arts. Of course, she still has a small sided tournament this weekend and she wants to play in the second indoor summer season (it will also be small sided games).

DI rides again

Sunil's Destination Imagination team gave a repeat performance of their DI skit (with an added introduction explaining their team challenge and the DI concept) at last night's talent show. It was very well received and I'm pleased to say that the microphones were actually working during their entire skit. Not every group was that lucky. My favorite acts this year (aside from the DI team) were a stand-up comic "What is brown and sticky........ a stick" and a third grader playing the guitar and singing "Folsum Prison" (yes, he wore a black shirt).

The kid is perfect..

TAKS scores came out again. Sheela's math score was perfect just like her reading score. She amazes me.

Soccer Rich weekend

In contrast to last weekend this weekend we have both a tournament and a regular season game. Sheela ended up only playing three of the four scheduled 4 v 4 games today. The last one was delayed due to rain and her teammates had other plans. This worked for me too.

Sid took me out to an elegant dinner at our favorite chop house. Sid's sister and his mom went out too and left Grandpa to sit for all four kids. They seem to have lived.

Soccer-free weekend

We had an honest to goodness "soccer-free weekend". Sheela chose to play in only two of the Spring tournaments and this weekend was the one she skipped. She'll be both pleased and bummed to find that her team won (and by penalty kicks at the end of regular play). She has a fair amount of team pride, but I know she'll be jealous of their trophies.

The next two tournaments are small sided teams. I don't know how the coach will divide the girls up but they will be playing against each other instead of together as a team. The first on is 4 v 4 so it will probably be three teams of five. The second tournament will be 3 v3 so four teams of four.

Sheela went to an ice skating birthday party followed by a sleepover. Sunil had a friend come to stay the night with him. I managed to spend some time reading and to get the laundry done. It's not glamorous but it's us.

Windy

We had some storm last night. I wasn't actually here to appreciate it. I went out for girl's night out with the birthday girls. By the time I got home everyone was sound asleep. I wasn't even out late. Apparently when the power goes out, and stays out, there isn't much to keep them entertained. The drive home was a challenge because the traffic lights were out and there were trees down across some of the roads. A bunch of the newly planted trees down Exchange pulled up, many of the largest pear tree limbs broke off. The pears bloom beautifully in the Spring but they tend to horde water which makes the branches heavy. The wind was too much for them. A few of the tractor trailers parked at the construction sites blew over too.

I missed it all happily tiling my mosaic picture frame and chatting with the girls. We topped the evening off with an excellent dinner at Cantina Laredo.

The last resort

My heart goes out to Rodney and Nanci (friends of mine for more than 25 years) they have come to the realization that their oldest child needs more help/support than they are able to provide. They have found a residential school that looks like it might fit the bill. They live in Michigan and the school is in Utah. He will be there for one to two years. That is a long time to have your child that far away.

Helen

We lost another colleague last night to cancer (of pretty much everything). She was a quiet lady that I didn't know very well. We generally credit her with making the smoking porch a floral oasis in the midst of our Texas desert. She was definitely a smoker but she enjoyed gardening at the same time. She will be missed.

They bloomed briefly...

I'm glad that I snapped this picture when I did (I almost waited until I'd have a chance to get a good one). They bloomed two days before I left for BC and were already done by the time I got back. I think they may have been beaten to death during the storms.

BC.... farther away than I thought

I loved Vancouver. It was very pretty and the people were great. I was impressed by our vendor, particularly the eyes of their quality inspector. I managed to take a ride up a gondola to the top of Grouse Mountain. I walked around in the snow and watched the snowboarders trudge by. Then I went back down to the beaches to sit out rush hour. I got back to my hotel in time to watch the Dallas Stars lose the seventh game to the Vancouver Cannucks. I slunk out of the bar quietly to go back to my room -- but not before polishing off the white fudge brownie sundae.

The flight home turned out to be 10 hours longer than scheduled. We were right on time entering Dallas airspace the first time but we didn't beat the storms. We diverted over to Midland/Odessa to wait it out. They weren't able to get us off of the plane (the gates were all full and we didn't have out own stairs) but they managed to bring in a few pizzas.... 60 slices for 150 people. They did try.

After four hours we went back to Dallas only to find that we were so far back in the pecking order we would run out of fuel so we went to Oklahoma City. This time we were able to get a gate and were allowed to stretch our legs and use the bathrooms. Unfortunately it was after 9PM and ALL of the snack bars/restaurants were already closed. We couldn't get any food or buy any more reading materials (I finished my book long before Odessa). We didn't get back to Dallas until midnight but at least there we had a choice of restaurants when we did get in.

The weekend is shaping up

Tonight we start with Sunil's T-ball game and move directly in to the Spring Fling at the elementary school. This dance is an annual after TAKS-testing celebration. It is a family affair but very few of the fathers seem to show up.

Saturday morning Sheela's soccer game (quarterfinals) has been rescheduled to conflict with Sunil's team picture appointment. Sid will take Sheela and Claire to the game while I help herd around the 14 little Angels.

Theoretically we will meet up for lunch and then I will take the kids downtown to pick up the nieces. Ban is coming to town for a conference and the girls would like to see their grandparents. The grandparents are going out in the evening but I'm just staying home to do laundry so this is actually good for me as it will keep the kids entertained.

Sunday Ban will come back for the girls and we may actually get to visit with her some before she heads back home. Then Sheela has an early afternoon soccer game. I am leaving directly from there to go to the airport. I'm flying to Vancouver for a meeting on Monday. I actually get to travel alone for a change and I'm looking forward to it. The schedules aren't easy between here and there so I'll get to stay an extra night. The meeting shouldn't take more than a few hours after which I'm free to drive around and see British Columbia. I've never been there.

I'll fly back Tuesday arriving in time for what I hope to be the semifinal game between SuperBlue White and SuperBlue Royal.

Golf Outing

Yesterday was my spring outing with the corporate bigwigs. We played the back nine instead of the front nine for the first time which was prettier with a lot more water. It wasn't a stellar performance for me (or for my teammates) but once again a good time was had by all. I did win the Grand Prize in the raffle so all was not lost. We have another hefty gift certificate to Bob's Chop House. I'm figuring it will be my birthday dinner.

Sweethearts

This is the formal portrait from the Rodeo dance last month. I think that it is my new favorite photograph.

Bubba Moose

Sid and I intended to skip out last night late to go to a movie but the choices weren't very inspiring. However I skipped every pizza that was offered to me during the course of the evening and didn't feel like cooking for myself. The kids ate pizza at a birthday party. Sheela actually ate pizza at two different parties. The Sharma's ate pizza at home and Sid fended for himself. I was saving myself for a dinner of popcorn at the movie. By the time we got the kids settled and voted down the movie idea it was late and our favorite restaurants were done serving... so were our less than favorites. We settled on the only local bar that we know... Bubba Moose. Apparently Saturday is (country) karaoke night. We had a few drinks ate some pulled pork and actually stayed out until the wee hours. It was a change from our usual routine.

State Tournament

The kids and I went to watch the State DI tournament at UTD this morning. We saw three different versions of the Round About Courage challenge that Sheela's team did. The first team portrayed a gang kid, his gang friend's, his consience, the class whimp and a basketball coach. The kid had to straighten out his life before he wasted it forever. The syory line was okay, but I loved their props. They used three metal trash cans which they hid in between scenes. Mounted around the edges of the cans they'd hung retractable window shades that they could unroll to show different scenes.

The second skit was about saving the rainforest. They did a ton of research on medicines, animals and the impact of clear cutting. Their primary prop was an outdoor patio umbrella covered in leaves and hung with animals, bugs, snakes and flowers. They were on pullies across the top so that they could raise and lower them at different times.

The third team was the first place time from our region. Their props weren't as elaborate and their story line a little bit like Friends rip-off. But it was very funny. The setting was Paris, the future bride was afraid of heights and her boyfriend was trying to take her to the top of "DI fell" tower in order to propose. They even managed to go skiing.

The only other challenge we saw was an improve skit. The team researched six different countries at three different time periods. Then 30 minutes before show time they drew cards telling them which three countries (Greece, China and Mexico) at which time periods they needed to incorporate in to their skit. They also drew a card indicating an improve "device" to be incorporated (silent improve), which three senses needed to be included and a prop they needed to build (magic wand) based on materials at hand (cardboard, paperbags, tape, twine and feathers). One minute prior to the show they drew another card listing another element (a postcard from friend) to incorporate. They set the scene in a girl's bedroom. She was upset because her friend (from the postcard) was seeing new places and she didn't get to travel. She invented a toy that transformed her other toys in to "portals" to their country of origin. I told you portals are very common for this generation.

White Belt

I've officially achieved the status of a white belt at the gym. That just means that I've earned my 15,000 points. I earn 150-300 points each day that I go. They are awarded for time spent on the cardio equipment, the number of weight stations that I complete and the total amount of weight that I lift. When I logged in I was treated to a video award ceremony complete with fireworks (no sound) to mark the occasion. I also ranked in the top 30 again last week. It helps that most people skip a day in holiday weeks. These aren't huge accomplishments but they do keep me going back which is the real accomplishment.

Back to Turkey

Dad and Eileen have headed back to the boat for what may be their last Summer of sailing Triumph. I can't wait for all of the updates. This year they are visiting Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Cyprus. Sounds good to me.

Spring Pictures

Here are my babies (such as they are to me). Spring is when they sell you the class picture and then take individual portraits at the same time as a courtesy. Then as a further courtesy they print out a $50 packet of the pictures. As an extra inducement they print the pictures on plastic book marks and key chain tags. The whole set comes home with the kids in hopes that you will choose to buy it all rather than return them.

Bead work

For Easter Sheela received a "hair beader". This allows her to adorn her hair with all sorts of beads. It may even help use up some of the thousands of beads that she was given for her third birthday. We still have most of them.

Snow for Easter

Well not real snow, but a few flurries here and there. We managed to have a nice, if chilly, long weekend. The kids had friends stay over on Friday and they went to stay with Jaz on Saturday.

Buds at last

I have two iris buds for the first time. They are both on the same stalk and appear to be either dark purple or blue. They are still tightly furled so it is hard to tell for sure. I'm excited because this will be the first time the plants have bloomed since we've had them here. Mom and John brought them to me after they cleared out Grammy's flower beds in Williamsburg.

I noticed them this morning after the kids and I returned from our walk to the donut shop. The whole way there (and most of the way back) I kept pointing out other people's iris and I was more than a tad jealous. I was thrilled to see the buds when we got back.

First Game

The Angels opened their season against the Yankees last night. Both teams scored every run. T-ball rules are very simple, half the batting order bats every inning. Each batter gets five trys to hit the ball. Every batter gets to run. Every run scores. The fun lasts four innings.

Short of a half million

Well in our first three months of regular attendance at the gym I've managed to lift 440,940 pounds. Not everything gets logged but it's close enough and makes me feel pretty good about myself. We did go ahead and sign up for a full year.

Christmas in April

Sheela found a package of gingerbread cookie dough (already cut in to men and trees) in the fridge. It's been here since Mom's visit in early December. It was slightly past expiration but she wasn't planning to eat them. She and Sunil decorated an army of men today. She plans to turn them in to Easter decorations to start.

Two points

Sunil scored his first basket today (from terra firma instead of standing on Sid's car bumper). Sheela wants credit for coaching him through it. To celebrate his accomplishmnet Sheela made him spend the next hour doing basketball drills. He was pumped enough to enjoy it.