Workin' At The Car Wash

Today Ian's robotics club held a car wash to help raise money for their trip to Anaheim in 2 weeks. The whole club showed up to help even with it being spring break. It was nice to see all the kids and adults there working as a team.

They raised close to $500 for the 4 hours of work. Way to go Towson Terminators! On to Anaheim and the trip to The World Robotics Competition.

The Breakfast of Champions

A few weeks ago I received a letter from Ian's high school. My first thought was uh-oh, what class is Ian failing. Much to my surprise, it was an invitation to Towson High Schools Breakfast of Champions which was yesterday morning.

Ian's high school honored over 300 students for their accomplishments from academic performance, vocal and musical accomplishments, sports accolades and various other honors.

In November, Ian's robotics team won the championship for the robotic competition. This qualified them for a slot in the World Vex Championship in Anaheim, California held in April. Ian and the 3 other members of his team were honored for their accomplishment.

Ian's team has been preparing to make the trip to Anaheim. They have had a donation solicitation drive seeking sponsors for their team in order to fund the trip. So far they have the cost of the hotel, food and transportation expenses covered. The only expense left which we will cover is the airfare.

Ian and his team mates are really excited to attend the World Championship. I am excited for him too...

Until next time...

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Here in Baltimore in the spring there are 2 sports....baseball and lacrosse. Depending on what your father grew up playing, usually determines what the sports the sons would play. When my hubby grew up, he played baseball. So it was a natural thing for his sons to do...



Ian only plays rec council baseball, which is much different than what his brother Josh played. Don't get me wrong, Josh "had" to play rec council ball too, but he hated every second of it. He would much rather have just played travel ball and high school ball, where the level of play is just a little more serious and the skill level a little more refined. Anyway, back to Ian. Ian is my kid who likes to do lots of things...he isn't too obsessed with baseball the way Josh was, but he still likes to play.


As a young teenage girl, I was sort of a tomboy. I played softball as that's all that girls were allowed to play back then. I was much like Josh...frustrated with the level of skill. I was a pretty good player and made a hand picked allstar team two years in a row. My favorite positions were third base and I would also pitch.


Ian likes to play third base. Josh also use to play third base but went on to become an awesome catcher in his travel league as well as high school. So far Ian's team isn't doing that bad this year. He is being coached again by Mr. Glenn, for the third year and he has already hit one home run in his first game. So most Monday and Thursday nights you will find me on the baseball diamond, cheering on Ian and his team. Go Cardinals!

Until next time....

Bowling Social

Today I took Sean and Ian to a bowling social that Sean's supportive employment agency sponsored. This was their first one and if the turnout was an indication it was a complete success.



Sean giving Ian a high five after making a spare. The boys really support one another, even though at times, they fight like cats and dogs. Sean bowled on a non competitive bowling league while in high school. There you bowled against your own average and not others...that way there was lots of room for self improvement.



Ian was so thrilled with me taking his picture while waiting to bowl! NOT!



Ian watching his ball roll as he made his spare. My hubby and I were big time bowlers before we had kids and when Sean was little. As we added more kids to our family it became impossible to keep up with the sport both my hubby and I so enjoyed.



The scoreboard from the boys second game...Ian did a great job that game.




There was a incident while bowling that was very disturbing to me. Some of the participants had disabilities. One was an older women, who I guess was in her 40's. She had a caretaker from the agency with her. Her caretaker stepped away for a moment and Christine asked me my name. I told her and shook her hand. She then asked me if I had a dog, which I answered no to. Her caretaker starting admonishing her about asking personal questions. I thought what the heck? We are in a social setting and she is just trying to get to know a little about me. I realize that people with disabilities may have their quirks and maybe asking "personal" questions is Christine, but I thought hey this is one situation where her questions are absolutely appropriate.


So basically after she was scolded by her caretaker, Christine didn't ask anymore questions nor did she attempt conversation. There are better ways to handle issues and this certainly wasn't one of them. How is Christine ever suppose to learn to be socially appropriate if when she attempts social interaction, she is shut down by her caretaker? Her question to me wasn't offensive and was socially appropriate in my opinion. Maybe Christine was trying to see if there was something that we had in common, I don't know. I just wish the caregiver would have taken a step back and realize that maybe she was the one stepping over the line.

We also had a pleasant surprise when we got to the bowling alley. We wound up bowling next to Delene. She and Sean went to school together since 6th grade. Sean and Delene went to their prom together. They were voted prom king and queen by their peers that year. Delene left school that year, in 2005 and went to other programs that are available for disabled youths. Sean stayed in school til he turned 21. Anyway, it was nice to see Delene and catch up with her family as to what was going on in their lives.

The boys seemed to enjoy their time bowling...it was only their mom being a "mom" that was a little stressed out...I just can't help it!

Robotics Competition...Sometimes the best laid plans

Go awry. How you are asking, well that will be explained as this post unfolds. Ian, my youngest is my gadget kid. He likes seeing "how" things work. Just knowing isn't good enough for him. He is the kind of kid that is always asking questions...sometimes it drives me crazy, but his father will patiently explain things...especially when it comes to "how" things work. That all is not my forte`.

Anyway, Ian goes to robotics club after school 2 days a week. His challenge: to work collaboratively with his peers to design a robot that will be able to compete in the local school systems robotics challenge. Each year the course is a little different so the robots need to be redesigned.



After attending 3 of Ian's last 4 robotics challenges, I have figured out the one part. The alliance forming. The teams compete with one other team in the first round to gain points and ranking. The top 8 teams then get to form alliances picking 2 other teams to work with them to score points in the elimination rounds with the winner of 2 out 3 matches advancing on.


Ian's robot comes to the competition with an original design, but somewhere or should I say sometime in the course of the day it has a metamorphosis into a modified version of itself. Ian's late afternoon tweak resulted in a defensive robot, yes one that will hopefully keep his opponents from scoring, into what he called "The Great Wall of China".


As you can see from the top picture to the fourth picture Ian's robot, transformed by acquiring another shield. If one is good, two has got to be better, right?


Well not necessarily so! sometimes things go awry. What looks like should work just doesn't. Sometimes the robots refuse to move in competition, whether it is faulty radio communication, poor design or sometimes even a unattached power wire.

The competition is a fun filled day for all the future inventors, designers and engineers of the future. And hopefully they learn a little along the way...that sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes go awry!

Til next time...

Play Ball!

It's spring and baseball time in Baltimore. Our family has always been a baseball family. It's kinda funny how that happens but I guess it goes back to what the dad grew up playing....kinda determines what sports the kids gravitate towards.




We've been doing baseball for as long as I can remember. Sean, our oldest started playing when he was 6, and that was 18 years ago! Boy does time fly when you get older! Now we are down to our youngest, Ian playing baseball. Of course having older brothers that have played the sport helps. You learn the fundamentals quicker, because afterall you grew up absorbing like a sponge all that your older brothers did. Hopefully this inside information will make you a better player.



My middle son, Josh was the child who came out of the womb playing baseball. He learned how to walk hitting "my first baseball"....completely forgot that he was standing and took off after the ball he just hit! Boy, was that a funny sight, when he realized he had walked...sat right down and crawled back to the tee! As Josh got older he played travel ball and we spent many weekends at baseball tournaments. When he went to high school he made the JV and then Varsity team as their catcher. Joshua basically lived, eat and breathed baseball....



Ian's inspiration isn't quite the same. He enjoys baseball but not to the level that his brother did....but that's ok. We don't spend nearly as much time on the baseball field as we did. Now it's only 2 nights a week....I do kinda miss all the nights and weekends since it was such a big part of our life for many, many years, but I had to find other pursuits to fill the void and I have.





As you can see, one of Ian's biggest challenges on the baseball field is figuring out how to stuff more big league chew into his mouth! He has learned some of the fundamentals of base running, hitting and fielding and still has more to learn but I think he's perfected the gum wad!

So far this year, Ian's team is off to a rocket start. They have won their first 2 games. Ian has been fortunate to have the same coach 3 years in a row, so his coach knows him well. Hopefully they will continue with the same success and have some fun along the way. See you on the baseball diamond!