I am really enjoying what little of the NBA Finals I get to watch. I got to see much of Game 1 and the end of Game 3. I'm learning about a lot of young players that I didn't know anything about. I'm curious to see who will be playing basketball for Team USA later this summer.
I'm also curious to see some of the other events since my girls have been having fun at gymnastics classes in thier first year. Claire has also done a number of running events at school. It will be nice to have something we both like to watch. They naturally don't watch sports with me, so I end up watching shows like Barbie Fairytopia with them.
Showing posts with label children dad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children dad. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Happy Father's Day
God bless all the dads reading this and the dads of all the readers reading this.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Claire's Run
When my daughter Claire came home from first grade with a gym report card this winter, I learned that her class was involved in the President's Challenge. The President's Challenge has national benchmarks for each age group for each event. If you score at the 50th percentile or better you meet the national standard. If you score in the top 15%, you meet the Presidential benchmark for that event. The events include a quarter mile run, a shuttle run, a stretch, sit-ups, and pull-ups.
Claire didn't meet any Presidential standards this winter, but met a lot of national benchmarks. So we replaced our Pittsburgh Plan blast-off exercises with variations of these exercises to see how she'd do at the end of the year. She got the Presidential standard in the quarter-mile run with a time of 1:58!
You can check out the different age group scores at https://www.presidentschallenge.org/challenge/physical/benchmarks.shtml or http://www.adultfitnesstest.org for adult scores. If you take the adult test, be careful how you interpret your results. I am not certain that the percentiles they give you are really for all adults and not just the adults that enter the data into the system. I envision that the kind of person that enters data into the system is more physically fit than the typical person since they are on a fitness site.
Claire didn't meet any Presidential standards this winter, but met a lot of national benchmarks. So we replaced our Pittsburgh Plan blast-off exercises with variations of these exercises to see how she'd do at the end of the year. She got the Presidential standard in the quarter-mile run with a time of 1:58!
You can check out the different age group scores at https://www.presidentschallenge.org/challenge/physical/benchmarks.shtml or http://www.adultfitnesstest.org for adult scores. If you take the adult test, be careful how you interpret your results. I am not certain that the percentiles they give you are really for all adults and not just the adults that enter the data into the system. I envision that the kind of person that enters data into the system is more physically fit than the typical person since they are on a fitness site.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
PA GOP
I realize that not every reader is from PA, but this problem is reflective of the problem nationally.
www.reformPAGOP.com
The problem nationally is that the parties are not united. The social conservative party was generally the Republican Party because the Democratic leaders were pro-choice. A few Democrats were pro-life. Those Democrats won in swing states like Pennsylvania because Pennsylvania is not so liberal that the majority feel that a baby's life is less important than a voter's convenience. The majority of Pennsylvanian's believe in protecting those that cannot protect themselves.
That problem is not as apparent nationally as the divide in the Republican's party is. The obvious differences between Romney and Santorum highlight that the leaders of the Republican Party value money more than family values. However, a significant number of disenfranchised Republicans, who may not have money, but still have family values, support candidates like Santorum. This is quietly coming to a head in the upcoming Senate race where the Republican endorsed candidate, Welch, is a rich, Democratic convert instead of the more conservative Morris, who doesn't have much money. The reason seems to be because Welch can self-finance his campaign and the state Republican committee can devote money towards other races like the Auditor General or Attorney General that could cause problems for the sitting Republican Governor.
The Governor is going to have a difficult time running for reelection as it is . That's because he's cut so much from education that teachers and programs are being cut from K-12 schools and college students aren't getting the money they used to for college. To pay for the raises he gave to himself and staff above the previous Democratic administration, and keep education funding the same, taxes would have to be raised $225 a person. That doesn't seem like a lot to most people, especially if that amount was reduced by his administration's raises and if students got to continue in the programs they love.
It's more difficult to be an informed voter because the side with the money can get the message out more than the side that I support once I learn about them. Nevertheless, I'm going to keep doing what I can as a voter that's in my family's best interest. I imagine if you are the kind of person that reads this, you'll be doing the same if you aren't already.
www.reformPAGOP.com
The problem nationally is that the parties are not united. The social conservative party was generally the Republican Party because the Democratic leaders were pro-choice. A few Democrats were pro-life. Those Democrats won in swing states like Pennsylvania because Pennsylvania is not so liberal that the majority feel that a baby's life is less important than a voter's convenience. The majority of Pennsylvanian's believe in protecting those that cannot protect themselves.
That problem is not as apparent nationally as the divide in the Republican's party is. The obvious differences between Romney and Santorum highlight that the leaders of the Republican Party value money more than family values. However, a significant number of disenfranchised Republicans, who may not have money, but still have family values, support candidates like Santorum. This is quietly coming to a head in the upcoming Senate race where the Republican endorsed candidate, Welch, is a rich, Democratic convert instead of the more conservative Morris, who doesn't have much money. The reason seems to be because Welch can self-finance his campaign and the state Republican committee can devote money towards other races like the Auditor General or Attorney General that could cause problems for the sitting Republican Governor.
The Governor is going to have a difficult time running for reelection as it is . That's because he's cut so much from education that teachers and programs are being cut from K-12 schools and college students aren't getting the money they used to for college. To pay for the raises he gave to himself and staff above the previous Democratic administration, and keep education funding the same, taxes would have to be raised $225 a person. That doesn't seem like a lot to most people, especially if that amount was reduced by his administration's raises and if students got to continue in the programs they love.
It's more difficult to be an informed voter because the side with the money can get the message out more than the side that I support once I learn about them. Nevertheless, I'm going to keep doing what I can as a voter that's in my family's best interest. I imagine if you are the kind of person that reads this, you'll be doing the same if you aren't already.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Starfish
My daughter Claire had a feeling, the same feeling she had last month, that she would be selected as a Starfish this month. It's the student of month based on how nice they are. She wasn't the Starfish last month, but she was right this month. I'm proud. I've been making a conscious effort to help her academically, but I'm even more glad she's getting recognition for being one of the nicest kids.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Hay Day
I don't know how common Hay Day is in other parts of the country, and it's even a bit of a misnomer around here since there's no hay involved. It's just a day to go out to a country setting where there's lot of games and food for families to enjoy. I wish there was a way to measure the fun we have because I have to give up my usual time to write to go have fun. But I can write any time, like 4 o'clock in the morning, and Hay Day comes but once a year, so I know I'm making the right decision when I see the smiles on my family's faces.
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