Thanksgiving !

Seeing that stuffing the three kids and us into our van and driving around all weekend seemed like a bit more fun than we could handle, we decided to have a remarkably low key Thanksgiving dinner at our new house. I think everyone in the family enjoyed the lack of stress from the travel. The kids were able to play outside (57 degrees) and enjoy themselves while the adults enjoyed the great meal that Michelle cooked up. Hopefully, more of you can join us next year - or for Christmas day at our house! If you couldn't be here, we've done our best to make it virtually possible for you to experience our Thanksgiving dinner - through the modern technology of underground tubes:

We'll be traveling to Papa Paul's next weekend to help him choose a tree for the season. Acer is ready to cut it down all by himself. Have a wonderful holiday - keep us posted!

Wishing all a happy holiday.

We just recieved a shipment of wooden shoes - straight from Holland. Papa Paul must have had a great timee over there. The shoes made Tilia smile - the combination of wooden shoes and a the sight of Michelle is hard to beat no matter who you are. She sure looks an awful lot like Michelle. That's probably a good thing.

Definitely give us a call on Thanksgiving- Salix will be expecting it.

2 cute, hey?

Tilia Pics

Finally, we have replaced our digital camera. Do I really need to say "digital" before camera anymore? It seems to e that since film cameras are used so infrequently that from now on, they should be referred to with an accompanied adjective (film) and "digital" cameras should now be referred to as simply cameras. Look for more pics soon. I just couldn't continue camera-less...If you need us we'll be out happily snapping the wonderful, yet fleeting moments that children bring.

Chicago Style Gymnastics Meet

Salix's team is all signed up. She is anxious - almost as much as Michelle. Join us in Chicago for a great weekend at Navy Pier. Dates - February 9, 2007 - February 11, 2007. If you've seen Salix lately, you know she's full of flips, spins, and splits-sogymnastics is perfect for her. We'll post more meet schedules when we hear about them. Oh...if you ordered a wreath,they should be in around the 19th.

Back2School Cyclocross - Northfield CX

Whoa...how do you say, difficult? This course had great variety in terrain and skills required. This was only my second race, but definitely the toughest. My favorite part?I caled it the "Nautilus". Riders went into a spiral set up and then out in a spiral - without crossing paths. It was a great place for me to gain time on some very fast riders. My least favorite area was the massive run-up, er...walk-up. This hill was terriblly long and steep. 90% of those in my race walked up the hill. I managed to not kick my wheel in and not crash! Mission accomplished. I'm through racing for the year. Maybe I'll ride my bike a bit in the winter months. We'll see.Anyone thinking of an Xmas/birthday idea for me?

More money to educate urban kids.

I just came across a ridiculous blog post attacking the notion that Urban public schools should receive as many per pupil dollars as they currently receive. Here is the answer:

Student A comes to Kindergarten knowing their name, most of the alphabet, and can do basic addition with their fingers, knows 5 shapes, 10+ colors, and can even write their name.

Student B comes to Kindergatern not knowing their name, knowing none of the alphabet, numbers up to 3, 1 shape(star), and cannot even begin to write their name (which they've just learned on the first day of school). I kid you not that some students in Urban areas are referred to by nicknames up until school begins - I'm not judging this, just stating a fact.

Which student will take longer/more effort to educate to an acceptable Kindergarten standard? Time + Effort = Money. Do the math.