Month: December 2008

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HOPE for the New Year

HOPE is a four letter word but not one people use enough.  HOPE is the one thing we all have when we have nothing else.  HOPE gives us all a reason to keep trying.  HOPE give us all a reason to keep reaching for more.  HOPE is something you will have when you have nothing else left and yet HOPE is one four letter word that people don’t seem to believe in anymore.

I have so much HOPE for the new year.  I have so much HOPE for the world and my little part of it.  All I can do is try to make my little part of this big old world a better place and with that HOPE, just maybe it will spread.  When the white man first came to this country, Indians were looked upon as savages.  We all were peace loving people and willing to fight to keep what was ours.  That’s nothing more than the white people are guilty of too but we learned to live together and the world is a far better place for it.

My HOPE for the new year is that the world, or at least America, will still keep learning that we are all God’s creatures and all want the same basic things.  Those things are respect, honor, and to be able to take care of our families.  These are simple things in all reality and should not be so hard to obtain.  Through the great wisdom of God and our own people (meaning Americans) we can again find peace and prosperity.  This is my HOPE for the new year for not only Americans, but for the world.

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One of our traditions at Christmas

One of our favorite traditions at Christmas has always been to adopt a Native American family for the holidays.  The tribal counsel has requests for assistance through the holidays from young and old Native Americans in our area.  They don’t even have to be from the same tribe as we are and they can still be placed on our list.

This year there was a young couple that had just moved to this area.  They are of the Apache tribe.  They have two children ages 3 and 5 which are both boys and are only asking assistance with food.  That’s typical of Native American families.  We are a proud people and only ask for what is absolutely needed.  It’s hard to ask at all if the truth be known.

Well food is what they will get but the children will also have one of the best Christmas’s they have ever had too.  First of all, I want the family to feel welcome in our community.  I don’t want them to feel like outsiders like I know they already do.  We are all of one people now and must band together to help each other through these tough times.

My family went out on the 23rd and bought bicycles for the boys, clothes for them, and anything else my family wanted to buy for them.  With them being younger, it was fun to buy Legos, board games and hand held electronic games for them too.  We bought the family a DVD/VCR because we weren’t sure they had one and got several DVDs for the kids to watch.

As for the food, we purchased a $200 gift card at a local grocery store for them.  That should feed them for a few weeks.  Usually we do not get to meet the families we help but this one asked to meet us so the tribal counsel called today and wanted to know if it was okay with us to let them know who we are.  They came over last night and I am so glad that we met.  The kids were great and the family was so very thankful to us.  We now have new family members to celebrate life with.  That’s the miracle of Christmas for we are all Gods creatures.

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Lego Christmas Party

All of us coaches and mentors decided to get together and have a Christmas party for our Lego team.  It’s a Lego Christmas party and what a party it was too.  We all chipped in together and got each of the kids a nice Lego set like the ‘Indiana Jones’ sets or the shark attack set.  I can’t remember what the proper name is for the sets but the kids loved them.

We have set up to meet once a month all year long until the announce what the next challenge will be for next years competition.  They we will dive in head first into the project and hopefully do better next year.  Each of us adults involved is trying to drum up mentors, money to help with projects, and even food donated for our meetings.  I figure if Dominoes will give us pizza once a month then Pizza hut will another month.  Can’t let the competition beat you out on doing something good for kids education, ya know.

Well I feel so much of the Christmas spirit this year that I know in my heart it will be full of love and joy.  Those are far more important than any present you can give.

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For the kids on my team

I wanted to get the kids on my First Lego League team something special for Christmas.  They worked so hard that I feel they need to be rewarded for their efforts and to let them know I care and appreciate how hard they worked.  If I was a wealthy man, I would get each of them a Lego Mindstorm NXT of their own but I’m not.

You know, there were several people that helped with the team and 3 of us coaches.  I just might call each of them and see if maybe they could help get each of the kids one of their own.  That’s not a bad idea.  In fact, I’m going to get on the phone right now and see if I can make it happen.  I could afford to buy one and maybe even two.  If the rest could afford to give the money for at least half of what one costs, we just might be able to pull it off.

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What to get my wife for Christmas

I really made a bad mistake yesterday.  I asked my wife what she wanted for Christmas.  I thought I was all finished with the Christmas lists we used to get from the children…………..who am I kidding?  I should have said I’m used to getting Christmas lists from the children but this year, my wife handed me a list of what she wanted.

It started out simple enough, she wanted a gift card to go buy her some new clothes.  That sounded easy enough until I noticed that it said $500 should just about cover it.  Next was a new necklace.  I thought “I can do that” until i noticed off to the side that it should have at least 1 carat worth of diamonds in it or just a 1 carat diamond would work.

I was afraid to read any farther after that but I am a curious sort of guy and I just couldn’t resist.  The next item was to totally redo the bathroom in our bedroom.  HUH?  She wants a new Jacuzzi tub, new fixtures, new vanity, new mirror, new everything in there.  Of course after that came that we would have to redo our bedroom to match the new bathroom because the two rooms have to FLOW, as she put it.  FLOW!!!!  OKAY!!

She said if I wanted to really make her happy, I would redo the kitchen with stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, tile floor, new cabinets, new sink, new fixtures and a totally new kitchen in other words.  My thought then was “Who does she all of a sudden think she’s married to?  Bill Gates or Donald Trump?”

While I’m sitting there reading this unbelievable list of what she wants, she comes into the room and just stands there and looks at me.  I looked at her with total disbelief when she busted out laughing.  She said she only wanted for us to go on a cruise somewhere, just the two of us and have a second honeymoon.  That wasn’t on the list and then it hit me.  Yeah, she got me but good!!!!!  The list was a fake.  I have a great wife!!!!  Cruises are really cheap now so I’m cruise shopping.

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First Lego League State Tournament

Well the State Tournament was today, ALL DAY LONG.  I had no idea what to expect but the kids were real pros because all of them had been in at least one competition before this one.  In fact, the team, or what was left of it from last year, won the best teamwork trophy the year before.  What an honor for them.

You have to remember these kids are 9 to 15 years old.  They’re learning how to do research because they had to do a presentation on something they learned about possibly solving or helping stop global warming.  They’re learning how to work together as a team.  They’re learning problem solving.  They’re learning to be cool under pressure and how to present an idea they have developed.  A lot of adults don’t have those skills and yet they are all very important skills to succeed in the world today.

They’re programing a robot that they themselves built usually from their own design.  That’s engineering. They’re not just ‘playing with Legos’, they’re building skills that will follow them through the rest of their lives and help them excel in what ever it is they decide to do. I learned so much from these kids, far more than they learned from me.  One main thing I learned is that I have to do more research into being a good coach because I really want these kids to do far better than they did this year.

This was a tough year for them.  They first of all lost their sponsor which was a local college and also meant they lost a place to practice.  The professor that started the team with the backing of the college, chose to pay himself so the team could go on.  They lost 5 team members, a coach and 3 mentors which had been the fathers of some of the kids that quit.  Then a local church donated a place for the kids to practice, and three mothers stepped up to coach the kids.  I came in as a mentor but only the last few weeks before the competition.

I wish I could have known about the team earlier.  The mother that coached these kids did a great job and we are all planning a much better year with meetings once a month, field trips for the kids, and anything else we can come up with to keep them interested and excited about what they do.  One mother is looking into food sponsors for the meetings.  If she can get one pizza place to donate pizza one month, I bet their competition will donate another one.  Pretty smart, huh?  I’ll let you know what we’re up to next.