Balancing Tricks

Leo's been learning all about balancing this week. He came home bragging that he could balance a pencil on its tip. I said 'show me'. So he built this contraption in about 5 minutes. Apparently they also balance a piece of paper on its tip using two clothes pins.

If you can't see this, go to

http://youtu.be/8_c02Qy0qnY

Martin Luther King Assembly at school

Leo's school had a big assembly at school for Martin Luther King Day. It was mostly the 5th graders putting on a show, but the Kindergarteners and 1st graders had a nice song, shown below. It's hard to see Leo as he's not in the front row, but he's the black silk shirt with white cuffs.

Leo's class singing This Little Light of Mine:

If you can't see this, go to http://youtu.be/x93IPp2UQZw

The most inappropriate one yet

At school, the kids are supposed to write stories. A lot of Leo's stories are, shall we say, plagiarized? Anyway, this book is titled, "Sir Galahad. Monty Python. The Most Inappropriate One Yet" While I don't think Leo knows why the Sir Galahad skit is inappropriate for him to watch, it seems that I made enough of a fuss about it that he remembers that there is something inappropriate about it!

Ski lessons

This post is probably just for the grandparents or diehard ski fans.

Leo's in ski lessons every Sunday. The teacher took a video of the kids coming down the slope last week. First day with poles. Leo's the third of these four kids coming down the mountain - he has neon orange tape on his helmet and a blue jacket.

If you can't see this, go to

http://youtu.be/6k-jAMuCwZM

Eating millipedes

So, Leo likes to eat weird stuff. His latest thing is bugs. Aunt Vicki got him some 'larvettes' and a cricket lollipop that he's loving. So today he went to Isa's for a playdate and they ate dead millipedes that they found in the backyard.

I'm trying to explain why you want to eat food that is alive, and that you kill yourself. This is really hard to explain...

Leo Learns About Feedback

I showed Leo how to dial our cell phones. Then I made the mistake of showing him what happens when you bring the two phones together. He loves it.

If you can't see this, go to

http://youtu.be/S-l7W5vXRKA

#1 school in Colorado!

Wow, when I bought this house in 1999, I knew I wanted a good school district even though it took me years to have a kid to send to the local schools. Yesterday when Leo and I were walking to school, we had to pass the 9 News van and the crowd around it. I figured the 5th graders were doing something cool again.

But lo and behold, Bear Creek Elementary got the highest ratings for an elementary school in Colorado!

http://www.9news.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=1389002380001&odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE%7Cfeatured

When the wind blows, it gusts, because Leo's teacher Ray Neiman also was announced yesterday as the winner of the Impact Award from the Impact on Education. The web hasn't updated to show the actual winner but this is the announcement when he was announced as a finalist:

http://impactoneducation.org/in-the-spotlight/impact-award-finalists-announced

Anyway, we're very excited. We love Mr Neiman and find him to be amazingly creative and a tech geek as well.

Short version of video of Leo at 6

We're finally sending out Christmas cards and along with that, the short version of the annual video of Leo at 6:

If you can't see this, go to http://youtu.be/P-pQ8h4OKp4