PT Conference Round 1

Sid and I had our Parent Teacher conference for Sunil yesterday. Sunil is a strong and enthusiastic reader at school. The teacher has to frequently hold him back so that others can read too. I found this gratifying since it is difficult for us to get him to want to read at home. Apparently he loves it at school. He has begun using the accelerated reader program. This program allows him to select books based on the color dot placed on the spine and then perform an independent comprehension assessment on the computer. This helps him control his reading level and advancement rate. Apparently he did not test very well the first time (the intimidation factor). The upside to this I guess is that he gets to start with REALLY easy books. He should be able to get his confidence up pretty quickly.

He is right on track in math, spelling, reading, etc. He tends to write too quickly so that it is illegible. He has already been prepared to get the answers marked as incorrect if they can't be deciphered. This should encourage him to self correct.

The approach to the math is one that I like. They divided all six of the 1st grade classes up based on how quickly a child gets through a lesson and work sheet. So that the class is tailored to the pace of the teacher. This reduces the number of kids left behind or sitting bored at the end. The make up of the classes changes week to week as the kids start to catch on faster or more slowly.

Official photo

Here Sunil is pictured with Mrs. Norris accepting his Shooting Star Award at school. Even better than the picture and the (suitable for framing) certificate is the "bag tag" he earned. Each student earns a collection of plastic dog tags during their elementary career. Perfect attendance, honor roll, Pride Council, etc are all good for a special tag. So that no one is left out they also earn tags for more mundane activities like having a birthday and pledging to live drug free.

Round Two

I launched another biologic product today.  I'm enjoying these new products and their potential benefits to the world at large.  Take a look at a company called Osiris that does adult stem cell products.  There are some amazing products coming in the next few years.  I was particularly interested in the studies for Acute Graft vs. Host Disease.

 

Harry Pumpkin

Sheela has added her finishing touches and is turning Harry in to the judges today.

DI 2008

Sheela has been placed on a Destination Imagination team with five of her classmates.  It is an all girl team this year.  One was on her team last year, one is my favorite of her friends, one is her favorite of her friends and another is a really good friend.  The last girl I've never met, but I really like her mom.  Overall Sheela is very pleased with the team (and so am I). 

 

Sunil unfortunately has not been placed on a team.  No one volunteered to be the team manager for the little kids.  I'm right on the cusp of volunteering myself, but keep pulling back.  It is a ton of work and I don't know if I have the time.  I've been trying to pressure the other parents to come up with at least one other co-manager but so far no luck,

 

Charles River

Here I am standing in front of the Charles almost directly across from MIT. We didn't actually go over but spent a pleasant hour walking around in Boston and along the river park before heading back to the airport for a late night return to Dallas.

Trains

The cub scouts "Go See It" this month was a light rail trip to the Children's Hospital where a very impressive collection of model trains run through hills, mountains, deserts, canyons, cities and towns. Apparently watched over by an equally extensive collection of superheros. Here is a self portrait of our little cub taken on the light rail.

Fall Pictures are back

Hit by a hawk?

After getting in to my car and closing the door at the library today I noticed a hawk swooping down outside my window. He flew down below the level of my window, misjudged the angle and bounced off my front quarter panel. He proceeded to spin around and swoop back down under the window and then up into the shade tree where he paused for a breather. After a minute I got out to get a closer look, he was only ten feet away but behind the leaves. He flew over a couple of trees when I got closer. He was definitely a hawk and didn't appear to be injured.

Boston

I'm leaving for the airport. I'm making a quick trip to Boston. I'll arrive tonight and be back home really late tomorrow. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the thunderstorms and killer winds hold off until I'm out of range.

Srinigar

The in-laws sent a few pictures today. They have been travelling in Kashmir. It is very beautiful. Here is my favorite picture so far.

The hairy Harry wig

Sheela came up with a great use for the nasty Halloween wig that I bought last year. It was too awful for me to wear and yet I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. It has been hanging on the edge of my mirror for a year.Sheela is entering a storybook pumpkin contest. She has chosen to create a Harry Potter pumpkin. But she had to give that wig a severe trim. It looks much better but still not isn't something I'd want to wear. She also had to cut off the nose and eyebrows off of the toy glasses. She still has to paint the face and scar, whittle a wand and create a robe.

Storm Cells

Once again we have been visited by severe weather here in North Texas. The lighting started while Sheela and I were on our walk yesterday evening. The weather was perfect all weekend.. high 60s at night mid 80s during the days with clear blue skies. The storms held off until we were all in bed but they were very dramatic. We do storms well here. Another cell moved in this morning and just sat over the house for an hour or so. The water in the streets overflowed the curbs all the way to the freeway. It has moved on now... it followed me all the way to work and stayed up here for an hour or so too. It has moved on now to make room for the next line of storms to come through.

Grading Period One - Complete

Report cards came home today for the first grading period. Both kids are doing very well. I love report card day, but I'll try to keep the bragging to a minimum. Parent - Teacher conferences are only two weeks away... I love those too.

Gina returned

A month or so ago we took Gina out for flea dipping. This is easily one of her three least favorite pastimes. Unfortunately, her other least favorites include riding in the car and visiting the vet so this was a triple whammy for her. Our bug bombing of the house was only a partial success so we eventually caved and started spraying flea spray on all of the carpets, mattresses, curtains, etc. All of this combined was too much for my timid kitty and she went in to hiding in the laundry room. We rarely saw her but eventually the fleas drove her out of there and back in to the kitchen allowing us to get close enough to check her out. She was pretty well covered in bites and bugs. Sid gave her a flea bath at home which made a big improvement and went over better than I thought it would with her. For the next week she lived in our bathroom away from carpets and still hosting a small contingent of fleas. Last night she received another bath and was finally allowed to rejoin the household. She slept last night (still wet) between Sid and I in our bed. Today she appears to be flea free and quite happy. I'm glad to have her back.

Memory Lane

One of my college roommates sent me a few pictures of us from our Freshman year. Here we are with her mother at Easter in Lafayette, LA.

Shooting for the Stars

Sunil was honored this morning as a Shooting Star at school. This is a citizenship award by his teacher. The official picture and certificate will come home next week. This is a good thing because we had the flash off for this one and no time for a retake.

20th Semi Annual Golf Tournament

Yesterday was another beautiful day for golf here in the Metroplex. The temperatures were in the upper 80's and the skies a beautiful, clear blue. Once again our IT department hosted a scramble followed by a barbecue dinner. This year saw a three team tie for first place (none of which happened to be my team). Best score on a randomly selected hole chose the winning team (it was too dark for a playoff hole). In honor of the 20th IT outing we were all awarded commemorative golf shirts and a special edition of company golf balls.

Big Tex Welcomes you

to the 2007 Texas State Fair. Monday was Fair Day for most of the local school districts. Instead of a full week of Fall Break the new academic schedule only has a quick break. Unfortunately almost every school district chose the same day. Then they give all the kids free fair tickets that are good any weekday after that day off so the only real choice is to go on that day with everybody else. Big Tex is the Fair mascot and the world's largest cowboy. He's 55 years old now. In his younger days he was Santa Claus. Who says you can only have one career?
The food was good as always. This year's winner for the most creative new fried food was "Fried Latte", I think best taste went to "Fried Frito Chili Pie". We stuck with the traditional fried foods: chicken on a stick, corny dogs, etc.
The kids rode only a few rides but made a point of hitting the bubble house, the glass house and the haunted house (all variations of fun houses). Sheela escorted Sunil on a child's airplane ride rather than join Anna and Kristina on the roller coasters. We rode the skyway tram over the Midway for some stellar views of the chaos below. The extra attraction this day was a concert by the boy band "The Jonas Brothers". Two hundred girls had to be treated for heat exhaustion as a result of the humidity, heat and the crush.

Christmas Trip

We bought (or redeemed miles for) plane tickets to fly to New Jersey
for Christmas. I'm excited about this trip we will get to see Sid's
oldest brother, Ravi, and family. We are hoping to spend a day or two
in NYC and then we are going to drive up state to visit Gramma and any
of the NY cousins that we can track down. It's been a couple of years
since Gramma has seen the kids and I've not seen the NY cousins in at
least a decade... or their kids ever.