Fly high, Grandpa!

OK - here is Grandpa Martin/Dad on his last day, looking much more relaxed than in the other picture. See - we didn't work him too hard!

We had a great visit though. Thanks, Dad, for all the hard work. There is still more to do though, so come back anytime you want/can.

Easter Picture

Meant to post this earlier. Children all dressed up to go to Vida and Bennie's for Easter. They don't get dressed up often, and they don't stand still for long either...

Snaggletooth

Callum's tooth finally fell out, and the tooth fairy came last night. Current going rate seems to be $2.00.

Actually, the top tooth was the first one loose, and it is still there. Sort of wiggly, but nowhere near falling out.

Dad and I are still decorating. We have about finished the bathroom - just clear up to do now. It took longer than we thought - matching that pattern was hard! We got some of the deck done, then it rained. Maybe it will dry out over the weekend, and we can finish it on Sunday.

Also went to see The Wild tonight (Dad stayed and did a last piece of paper). Pretty good - better story than Madagascar, although somewhat similar.

Wallpapering

Wallpapering is hard work! This corner in particular killed us. We had to take this piece all the way down and start again. Matching patterns is no fun. And we are not even half done yet.

Tomorrow we are going to stain the deck.

It might rain later in the week, so we'll finish the papering then. Unless it finishes us.

Oh yeah - that is me in that picture. My best side?

Grandpa Martin

Grandpa Martin got in late last night. Here he is from this morning, looking tired! Lexie had kept all of us most of the night, so we were all tired!

When he has rested up a bit, we will start working...

The rap was a hit!

Quick update. Pennie presented the video of the kid's rap at the Gala dinner last night. It was a hit! It was certainly the only presentation of the night that got not just one standing ovation, but two!!

Bike Riding

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO!!!

It is in a 3gp format, which opened on my PC in real player after it automatically downloaded an update. We'll see... Remember, this if from my phone, so it is very small and low quality. But who was it who said "the best camera is the one you have with you"?

Callum did come a cropper on Saturday (this video was from Friday). He hit some pea gravel around a climing frame and went flying. Got a nasty scrape and bruise on his elbow. He got back on and rode home and was OK again by Sunday. He'll live. But - elbow pads next time!

Another week

Hmmm - lets see. What happened this week?

Had some bad weather today and a couple of days ago. We had to get in the hall closet when there was a tornado warning for our street. We were OK, but that was the day 27 people died in the MidWest. 10 people killed near Nashville today I think. There was going to be a picnic at the kids school today, but it was cancelled due to the inclement weather. The storms blow over so fast though - strong winds and heavy rain one minute, then calm and bright sunshine again the next.

Callum has ridden his bike a few more times and is getting quite good now! We had a short ride tonight and I caught a little of it on video on my cells phone's camera. The quality will probably be awful, but hopefully that means I'll be able to host it without having to shrink it! Trouble is, the data cable to get stuff off my camera is at work, so it'll have to wait til next week.

We also called Grahamwood this week, and it looks like Callum has got in. Hurray! We were also told (not by the school) that if he is reading at 3rd grade level, he has a chance to get into the CLUE program, which is an invitation only club.They are taken out of the optional program for a few hours a week for extra "enrichment". The cream of the cream. Anyway, he is currently reading grade 2 books with no problem. Grade 3 have harder words, but he can get some of them already. With a little bit of practice, he should be able to read them. No pressure now - no pressure! Actually, we are really proud of him, whever he gets into CLUE or not.

Isabelle dropped out of her Gymnastics, Ballet and Tap class. She wasn't really very interested in the dancing, so we switched her to just gymnastics. She loves the gymnastics!

Lexie is just as cute as can be, of course.

Pennie is getting ready for the Sickle Cell conference. The video of her rap song will premiere at the Gala dinner at the Peabody Hotel on our anniversary night - and she will get to introduce it. I'm proud of you, Pennie!

As to my grant - the Director of the whole thing for St Jude is trying to get the National Cancer Institute (NCI, part of the NIH) to reverse its decision. Apparently, it is not set in stone yet and there is still a hope. Probably a very very faint one, but a hope nonetheless. Of course, it seems crazy of them to pull the plug on this funding: the whole point was to get industry to work on "orphan" diseases (diseases with a patient population too small for them to normally bother). We have spent a year getting these companies to commit to giving matching dollars, now the whole thing is dead. We are talking start-up biotech firms, not big pharma, so these guys don't have the money to pay for all of it themselves (the profits in these types of diseases/drugs are too small for big pharma to be interested in). Trouble is, it is a new program, so last in first out in a funding crisis. Bitter, me? I'll get over it. We are trying to figure out other ways to do it. We still need the drugs, after all.

Callum's Bike

Forgot to mention that Callum started to ride his bike without his stabilizers/training wheels yesterday! He is so big. Video at eleven (or at least when he doen't need me to run along side him).

This week...

So, what happened this week? Pennie has a copy of her music video - it looks great! (Too big to host right now though.) I think I am going to get some bad news re: my grant - looks like the NIH won't get enough money this year to fund any of these AP4s. So back to the drawing board on that one.

The girls are, of course, princesses. This picture makes us smile: Lexie is pulling a funny face and Belle is running! Callum is still waiting to hear from Grahamwood.

Allergy season is on us in Memphis. The trees are full of pollen and the grass needs cutting. Ahhh - I love spring!

The list of jobs for Dad is getting longer too. Can he stay a month? We are looking forward to him coming. Oh yeah - and seeing him too!