Christmas Float on Steroids

A small group of us, as part of the Silver Lake Elementary School Dad's Club, worked hard on construction of a float for the Grapevine, TX Parade of Lights Christmas Parade. On a tight budget, with some donated and low-cost supplies with re-use of materials from last year, we were able to construct one killer float for the parade. Float features include letter blocks with lights that synchronized with the music, mechanized toy soldier arms, mechanized rocking horse, a candy cane forest, and a 12 foot tall jack-in-the-box. Creativity and safety were kept in mind because we not only tried to create a great exhibit, but we also had to safely transport 70+ kids on this float. With a series of cables, a generator, drill, car starter gear, car flywheel, creative welding and wiring, and lots and lots of lights and labor, we were able to piece together a nice low budget float.

To our surprise, the float turned out great and we won first place in the float competition which comes with a $1000 prize from the chamber of commerce. The prize was great to receive because it covered all costs of float production (sub-$600) with some funds left over for future Dad's Club projects and events.

Below is a video of the mechanics at work during our test run in the assembly warehouse.

Thanksgiving Vacation 2011

We had the pleasure of serenity, solitude, and escape from the stresses of daily life over Thanksgiving. As a family, we drove up to Dixon, NM and spent the week at a vacation rental home while enjoying the sites of northern NM. We visited Taos for a much needed playground/park stop to expel some energy then completed the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway loop, making a trip out to the Rio Grande Gorge bridge. This was a true test of Tracy's fear of high bridges.

We made a trip up into Santa Fe on Claire's birthday to have a blast at the Santa Fe Children's Museum. It was so much fun watching the girls interacting with the exhibits. Afterwards we headed out to eat at the Santa Fe Baking Company and Cafe, a trendy little cafe not too far from the sporting coliseum style NM state capital building.

We spent some time out hiking, including a challenging hike in Bandelier National Monument, visiting the Tsankawi cavate and pueblo site which contains many cavate sites as well as remains of a 275 room village pueblo. This loop hike has exposed cliff walls, stick built ladders, and heights that kept Tracy and I on our toes. The girls did amazingly well with the physical challenges and overcame some of their fears. You'll see us standing in what look like trenches in the rock. These are paths worn out in the rock over hundreds of years of human travel across the "tuff" rock, formed from settled volcanic ash. This lower density rock is present throughout the area and made for an ideal material to carve out cave shelters that were occupied by Native Americans long before Colombus made his trip across the ocean blue. The preserved history was amazing to experience, from being able to enter the caves to reading about the food sources and later trade routes to looking at the Ancient Pueblo petroglyphs.

To vary our ecological and historical experience, we also took a trip out to the Rio Grande Gorge Rift Valley Trail, hiking out to a great lookout point down into the gorge. It was a fun experience with great views of the Sangre de Christo mountain range as well as intimate interaction and discussions about the high desert flora.

We were joined mid-week by Dan, Lisa, Hannah, and Noah who arrived in time for a leisure evening and then a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. You can view Dan and Lisa's pictures of the trip here if you have their site password. Thanksgiving day was filled with food, games, good conversation, and great companionship shared by our two families. It was a wonderful to see everyone get along so well and truly enjoy themselves.

As a large group, both families headed out on Friday to the main Bandelier National Monument developed site and hiked the Main Loop and Upper Falls trails. The morning started out gray and raining, but we planned our visit perfectly. We arrived in the park just as the rain had ceased but before flocks of people arrived from the nearby urban areas. We were able to take our time and examine the sites, read about the history of the area, and have a great relaxing day outdoors. For having such little legs, Claire and Evie did so well considering the miles traveled but didn't last more than five minutes in the car until they passed out on the trip back to the rental home.

The trip had a grande finale of spectacular service and food at Graham's Grille in Taos. We arrived without reservations for a group of eight people to a full restaurant. The host, whom we later found was the spouse of the owner, arranged a couple of tables to seat the eight of us inside the open format kitchen. The main chef, Lesley B. Fay, personally tended to our needs in collaboration with the server staff. It was an experience that was truly unforgettable and was a wonderful way of capping off the week. The service was amazing and the food was enjoyed by all. It was great watching the artful flow of the food preparation process, the dance of services provided, and the pleasure of an amazingly personalized experience.

This was a great trip that will be remembered and revisited in our dreams for quite some time. Hopefully we can make all future family vacations this perfect.

Have a great Christmas everyone!

Congratulations Lisa!!!!

Congratulations Lisa on demonstrating excellence in education, earning a prestigious Milken Educator award (not to mention the $25,000 tied to the award). Criteria for the award include exceptional educational talent as evidenced by effective instructional practices and student learning results in the classroom and school, exemplary educational accomplishments beyond the classroom that provide models of excellence for the profession, individuals whose contributions to education are largely unheralded yet worthy of the spotlight, early- to mid-career educators who offer strong long-range potential for professional and policy leadership, and engaging and inspiring presence that motivates and impacts students, colleagues and the community. You rock!!!!

Pool Party!!!

Claire and Genevieve celebrated their 4th and 6th birthdays with a great group of friends. We all had a blast and truly thank everyone for the gift of their presence. We also greatly thank you all for your gifts for G.R.A.C.E. We all can make a significant difference in someone else's life with even the smallest gesture. Thank you all!

School Starts..... and Catching Grandma J at the Airport

Numbers, Numbers. They're Everywhere

Claire and Tracy went out on a discovery mission to see where we use numbers and what they mean in different settings.  In the process, Claire was able to help develop her camera skills as well as discuss how we use numbers in everyday life.  It was a fun, meaningful, easy lesson for the family.  Enjoy Claire's gallery!

After several weeks of above 100F temperatures, we were greeted by a spectacular handful of days with cool mornings and mild afternoons. To take advantage of the weather, we took some time out as a family to visit the Dallas butterfly and discovery gardens at Fair Park. We are continually surprised at the quality of services available at Fair Park with great under-utilization by the public. This hidden jewel was a nice respite from the city.

Summertime Lessons

Summer has been great fun, but lately we've been limited on outdoor activities because of our streak of 100+F days of afternoon heat.  Here is a short clip on Claire and Evie's progress towards two wheeled independence.

Take care!

Bing Maps

I am a huge fan of many google products, but at this moment I think bing maps has the clearest pictures of many rural places. Enter your address at www.bing.com/maps and see what your home looks like. Have fun in the internet time vacuum ;)

Kindergarten Round-up

Today was the big day to finally register Claire for kindergarten. It was a big event where we were moved like cattle through a mountain of forms which all required the same stuff to be written down. Why on earth do I need to give the school my name, address, phone numbers, child's name, child's birthdate, child's SSN, etc.... in the exact same manner on six different forms? Ridiculous, annoying, and a waste of paper.

The school in our area is an exemplary rated school per the state of Texas. Numerous public forum sites also rate the school very highly. I was quite pleased with the courteous staff and the general physical property.

The buzz kill of the entire event didn't happen until I arrived home. Here I sit, looking at the parent information, where I discover that my child needs to be ready to learn her "colors, numbers, shapes and letters". My greatest fears about the public school system are on the horizon and may be creeping up to my doorstep.

Dear Lord, grant me the ability to have the utmost patience and understanding with acceptance that I am financially forced to place my child into the failing lock-step public school model. Grant me the ability to try to resolve my feeling that parents of children who do not already know these basic concepts when entering kindergarten are failures. Grant me the wisdom to continue to intellectually stimulate my child outside of the classroom environment as the institution attempts to teach her curriculum that she mastered more than two years ago.

Will Claire develop behavior problems related to a poorly stimulated educational environment? Will she loose the passion to learn? Will the school help her succeed?

We have a couple of options which will present to us this summer. Claire will attempt to test out of kindergarten in July. We have also applied for a zone variance to get her into a dual language immersion (DLI) environment at a neighboring elementary school. Here's the kicker though: If she tests out of kindergarten, the school we're trying to get Claire into may not be able to let her enter first grade. They have been rather cautious about our ability to enter the DLI at the first grade level unless an existing resident child moves away to open up a slot. So, do we put Claire in a bilingual kindergarten or an English first grade? Risk losing the second language and advance to first grade or maintain the second language but have an absolutely bored child in kindergarten.

I'm truly trying to remain optimistic and hope that mechanisms exist to pull Claire out of the mainstream environment, allowing her to perform at her level. Alas, the no child left behind act as well as local politics have unfortunately tied the wallets of schools forcing them to ensure all children are brought up to the minimum average, eliminating many effective programs which allow the top performers to continue to succeed at learning.

Our options are not clear at this time, but I foresee many sleepless nights this summer worrying about the demise of an individual's talents as she is forced to fit into a room surrounded by intellectual limitations.

Easter Sunday - From Christianity to Bunny Worship?

We had a good morning celebrating Easter Sunday, but were presented with a very logical question. Where did the bunny come from and what does it have to do with Christianity? Off on the hunt....



I checked out a few places, and came up with the following answer paraphrased, maybe pirated, from unnamed sources. It came from the internet, so it must be true:

The customs of Easter Sunday, as with many holiday traditions, have evolved over time. Our Easter origins actually start before Christianity, represented in many religions that celebrate a rebirth and the new life found at the beginning of spring. Easter is celebrated according to beliefs of differing religious denominations. Christians commemorate Good Friday as the day that Jesus Christ died and Easter Sunday as the day of resurrection. The concept of an Easter sunrise service, celebrated by many Catholics, was actually brought to the US from Protestant settlers.

The word "Easter" actually comes from the name Eastre, who was the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. Her existence was celebrated at the vernal equinox of each spring.

So, how does the bunny work into this holiday?

As with my children, many eager young children wake up on Easter Sunday to find baskets of treats. Lucky children will spend time burning off the day's wasted empty calories hunting for hidden eggs.

The Easter Bunny originated as a representative symbol of fertility, with the knowledge that rabbits have frequent, multiple births. Rabbits often nest in small dens on grassy knolls. History supports a childhood belief that hares laid eggs in the grass in order to reproduce, a misconception imaginatively held when a child would come across a rabbit den filled with tiny newborn rabbits. Romans held the belief that all life comes from an egg, while Christians hold the egg as a symbol of the seed of life. I wonder how many children felt the rabbits found in the ground mimicked a bird's nest.

This strong symbolic representation of the bunny as a fertile spirit, accompanied by the belief that eggs are the new birth, may be how our traditional associations of the Easter Bunny and the resurrection of Jesus Christ actually make sense.

Camping April 2011

We took time out to hug some trees.... and burn a couple to cook some great food.  It was nice to escape to the land of rustling leaves and song birds.