Farewell to Chaz

Uncle Charlie is headed to South Korea for 10 months. He will be working for EODT at Camp Casey and will return sometime around the end of the year. We had a nice dinner at our favorite Japanese steakhouse.

We will miss him and wish him the best on his new adventure.

Regional Science Fair Day at SFC

Today was the Regional Science Fair in Alachua County, held at Santa Fe College in Gainesville. From all the schools, 218 students were selected to represent their schools at this event....and because of that, the event organizer said they were all winners! AJ was one of six 6th graders to attend from his school and that is an honor for a first year participant.

We do not know any results of the judging and will update when we do. The awards ceremony is tomorrow evening.

UPDATE: AJ is grateful for a wonderful 1st time experience and will look forward to working on new projects in the future!

Fit Kids Marathon 2009 - Five Points of Life - Gainesville FL

AJ ran 1.2 miles this morning to complete his marathon. The first 25 miles were ran in increments since October 2008. This is his third year (started with the first one offered in Gainesville in 2007) and he enjoys it very much. They run a course on the University of Florida campus and they have a health expo set up at the Shands/UF Ortho Center at Hull RD/SW 34th ST.

This year, Coach Smith joined them to cheer them on and we all stayed to cheer her at the end of the 5K.

Do you know what the five points of life are?

So how is this for LOVE!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The wonderful love we have in our lives make us grateful everyday
......AJ and Speckles....

In Memory of.....

Officer Scott Baird....of the Gainesville Police Department...who died eight years ago today in the line of duty......He is missed!

Just a D.O.G.....

Please click on imagine to read - wonderful!

AJ with Grandparents

AJ with Grandpa Everitt, summer 2008 in Crystal River FL ...

















AJ with Grammie and Grampie Jensen at a family wedding in Clearwater FL in October 2008....

AJ's 12th BD

AJ turned 12 and we held his party at Adventure Landing in Jacksonville.....all the boys had a great time!

AJ's Science Fair Project

Last fall, AJ being in gifted/advanced science, was required to complete a science project. The students were given two months of step-by-step to turn in until all completed and due in November 2008. It was optional to particpate in the science fair. I captured some photos of the trail of experimentation (above).

AJ decided he would participate for the experience since science is one of his favorite subjects. He received an "excellent" from the judges and was one of two selected for "2nd place"...which meant he was going to Regionals. Needless to say, he was pleasantly surprised. The dates for regionals is Feb 24-26, 2009, held at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, FL. He is very excited but also knows that this will help him with future projects more than winning now. We both look forward to receiving his "Official Abstract and Certification" for his project, from the judging committee.

Additional links for information:

http://tlc.sbac.edu/scifair/ - Alachua Regional Science Fair

http://www.floridassef.net/index.htm - State

http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/about/index.asp - National

Bird Seed Wreaths

For the holidays, AJ and I made bird seed wreaths. They were easy and fun to make.

The first batch recipe:

1 1/2 cups boiling water

3 tbsp cold water

7 1/2 cups of bird seed

4 packs of knox gelatin

The second batch, I decided to use agar agar that I got from the Asian store, that I use in bath melts. It is widely used in food products for providing a stiff gel. I thought this would work better than the knox and be more cost effective. After calculating the ratio of agar agar to use, I made the next batch which turned out much better. Had fewer loose seeds and easier to manage. The unwrapped wreaths in the photo above are from the second batch. And yes, it was much more cost effective.