Just Getting Here?

Then you're too late. The home page of K*Bot World has already changed.

You gotta be fast to keep up with some people!

Getting Famous

Sam is getting famous! Read the first paragraph on the home page of K*Bot World. He's off to a great start at the World Championships.

The Results

Holiday Family Fun Night was a great success!

Tamales, cheese and chili.....delicious
Tamales, shredded pork.....yummy
Tamales, beef.....ask Mike
bunuelos.....not what I expected, but still very good
brownies.....TO DIE FOR!!
atole.....not so much
horchata.....pretty good
punch (apple cinnamon with fruit chunks).....tasty
diet Coke.....whatever
popcorn, freshly popped.....good
chicharrones.....didn't try them


We sampled most of the available fare. Drew the line at chicharrones. I didn't know what they were but they were fried and the kids couldn't get enough of them served with hot sauce. I thought they might be fried pork rinds, and they are. Never did find a churro. They must have been too hard (or expensive) to come by.

The tamales were all homemade by the moms from the school. They were so good we bought some to bring home. At a dollar each, it was a steal! The bunuelos turned out to be deep-fried tortillas with cinnamon sugar on them. Also good enough to bring some home.

Sam had a great time hangin' out at school and our money was well spent. We had a really good time.

Holiday Family Fun Night

Thursday evening is Holiday Family Fun Night at Sam's school.

Since the school is in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood,

the food is usually great!!

This week it's tamales, horchata, atole, bunuelos and churros.

I can't wait!

Easter Eggs

Although my kids are 10 and 13, they still

enjoy coloring Easter Eggs. We don't hide

and hunt.

What the Relatives Do While Vacationing in Las Vegas

Sleep in my backyard
Enjoy the "view" from their time share condo.
Swim at the time share pool 9 miles
from where they are staying.


Take photos of Sam's damaged nose.

His hurdling skills aren't what they needed to be.
Hang out at the Clark County Museum
Wind up in jail

A Sad Day for Ana

Based solely on genetics, I've known for many years that there would come a point where Sam would be taller than Ana. Sam's birthfather was 6 feet tall and was only 16 years old when Sam was born, so who knows how much taller he grew. Alas, Ana's birthfather was 5'9" tall and well into his 20's at the time of Ana's birth.

Today, that day arrived.

She is quite forlorn that her 10 year old brother is now 3/8" taller and she is more than 3 years older.

All I can say is - they're BOTH still shorter than me! I'm sure that won't last much longer either. But I've been expecting it so it won't bother me.

The Boys

This is what the boys in our house do with a three day weekend. Mike has been spending time creating things with a 3-D animator. It recommened taking pictures of your puppy and uploading them to work with. He thought a Lego figure would stand still better than our chihuahua, Gizmo.

And, so, Sam got out the camera and began taking photos of his Bionicles.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Sam and his friends at Sky Mania for his 10th birthday party.

The presents!

For those astute observers among you, you'll realize that Sam's birthday was a little more than 3 months ago. It has taken me this long to get around to doing his party. He told me it was worth the wait. He had a great time! Whew!

By Request

By special request...

The grandparents really did visit. For some reason, the camera spent much of its time put away and not snapping photos. These photos were taken at dinner by Sam.

Mad Scientist

Sam earned a Third Place ribbon in his school Science Fair today. He did a really fun experiment to see if he could blow up a balloon using a decaying banana. Nice work, Sam.

More Benefits of Homeschooling

P.E. and Reading all at the same time!

This is my new recumbent bike that Mike and Sam assembled for me last night. No more excuses for why I can't exercise!!!

people i like - in no particular order

Now that I've done things I like - it's time for people I like. Again, in no particular order. It's just how I manage to upload the photos.


My dearest - husband, Mike





My Oldest - daughter Ana, 13





My youngest - son Sam, 10



Debbie, freshly back from the Dominican Republic, where her hair was braided into corn rows. Before she left, while they were in, the girls taking them out and after.




Debbie with our friend Denise. I was so busy getting
pictures of Debbie's braids, I never got Denise alone!

My favorite blonde family: Di holding Audrey, the beautiful princess Audrey and Matt, looking every bit the pirate next to Grant and Sam in the chair.

Most of my favorite young people:
Brendon, Ana, Sam Grant, Dana, Sera and Ethan.

Merry Christmas 2006

The annual Christmas morning photo! We also took pictures
with the pets, but all three would not cooperate at the same
time so they didn't make the final cut.

Sam with his favorite toy: Bionicle!

Ana's still not too old to enjoy getting STUFF!

Christmas Eve

Sam had 3 Advent calendars and made the most of them!

The family tradition from Mike's family is to open one gift
on Christmas Eve. It must be a gift that arrived in the mail.

Survivor

Aunt JoAnn and Ana sporting new hairstyles.
One of many fun challenges from the game Survivor.

Sam and Delaney in their new "clothes". Again,
created by other tribe members in a Survivor challenge.

Jingle Jog

Cousin Delaney (on left) was still in school during
our Christmas vacation so Ana & Sam joined her
at school for her Jingle Jog. It was a 2 mile fun
run (doesn't sound fun to me!) and the kids had
a great time. They were treated to popsicles
after the race. Seems to me hot chocolate would
have been a better choice. It wasn't exactly warm.

Happy 10th Birthday, Sam!

Sam is a whole decade old today. For his birthday dinner, we went out to The Elephant Bar at the District at Green Valley Ranch. The trees are all lit and it is a lovely place to take a stroll. Sadly, no one would stroll with me because it was a little chilly (by Southern Nevada standards) and the only one wearing a sweater was ME! Poor, dear child. His (loser) mother forgot to make his birthday cake. We came home and opened presents and THEN I made the cake. We ate it on Saturday after dinner. Happy Birthday, Sam. We all now have double digit ages. It will be 57 years until that is not the case in our family - when Mike turns 100!!

Boo!

After school today Sam carved his pumpkin.



Our first stop prior to Trick-or-Treating was
to go to the church carnival with our friends.
Sam did quite a number on poor Tweety. Look
closely in the background at his poor head still
hanging from a string waiting to be bashed yet
again! Poor bird didn't stand a chance!!



Kids in costumes

Danny Gans Run for Children's Charities

The beginning of the race. Sam is in blue sweat pants just behind the girl in green
Midway thru the race (out in front of his group). This was as close as I could get cutting across the middle of the course before he ran away!
After the race...Sam collapsed in the grass with his yellow popsicle stick which he later traded for a medal. Medals were awarded to the top 10 finishers in each grade, Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. Great Job, Sam!!!

After the race, the festivities included bounce houses, a giant slide (above), free food and drinks, raffle prizes (didn't win a thing!) and the Champions Run for Life.

The weather was Southern Nevada perfect (around 70 degrees) and Sam and I had a good time. Ana was scheduled to run but her bed (7:30am start) and a play date (do you call it that when they're 13?) with a friend won out in the end.

One of the charities which benefited from the proceeds was the John C. Vanderburg Rainforest Biosphere. This is the school the kids used to attend.