A Graduation, and End of the Year Honors

M outside the school, on graduation day

Graduation Day
He finally did it - M completed eighth grade on Friday! There was a ceremony in the gym with all the students, and it was a packed house with parents, grandparents, and quite a few siblings who had taken the morning off school to see their brother or sister.

We were proud to watch M receive honors for being one of the top science students in the grade. He also was recognized as one of the 31 students who received all A's for every quarter from sixth through eighth grade. Last but not least, he was nominated for the "Golden Bear" award - two boys and two girls are named "Golden Bears" for being all-around great students, citizens, helpers, and just plain good people. They are nominated by teachers, and each teacher gets to vote for the winners. As they say at the Oscars, it's an honor just to be nominated, and the fact that M's teachers felt highly enough of him to nominate and vote for him makes his parents extremely proud.

During his three years at Slauson, M played soccer, volleyball, and tennis. He was a member of the Science Olympiad team for two years, the second of which saw him get a medal at the State competition. He was one of five students who made the morning announcements each day during the past year. He is going to do some volunteer work this summer at Safety Town, a class for preschoolers who will be in Kindergarten next year. He will also be going to band camp in August.

He has made a fine impression on his teachers and classmates in middle school, and we know he'll do the same next year at Pioneer High.

Great job, M!



M plays a sax solo with the Slauson Middle School Jazz Band before the graduation ceremony.

Math Olympiad Wrap-Up
On Saturday, another (long) year of Math Olympiad ended with a ceremony and lunch celebrating the hard work that all the students exhibited in the name of math education. This ended K's second year in the Math Olympiad program, and his second year of receiving a medal for being the top student in his class. His "top" status was determined by test scores, attendance, participation in class, homework, and other factors.

K has a special talent for math that he is going to continue to grow in the years to come. He was taking seventh-grade math this year as a sixth-grader, and next year will take eighth-grade math. In eighth grade, he will likely go to Pioneer High for first-hour math, then go back to middle school to take his other classes.

Congratulations to K on his high level of achievement in Math Olympiad!


K (third from left in the front row) has two medals - the one with the yellow lanyard is for being the top student in the class


K outside Tappan Middle School, where the Math Olympiad classes were held every Saturday morning during the school year.

Piano Recital

One of the few who know the words. Unfortunately, his nickname is Silent Eddie.

Recital
The boys played two pieces each at their annual piano recital. It was at a new location this year, and they played really well. Grandma and Grandpa Bruey and Grandma and Grandpa Smith all trekked to southeastern Michigan to enjoy the music and good company of their progeny.


K mugs in front of the piano. He played two pieces by Schumann.


M rolled up his sleeves and got to work at the recital. He played two pieces by Vandall, one of his favorite composers.

After the recital, we went to Qdoba, to which I had never been, and then around the corner to Orange Leaf, a frozen yogurt, mix-your-own-concoction place. They had soft-serve machines with different flavors, and toppings like fruit, M&Ms, cookie crumbles, and waffle cone bits. You combine whatever you want in the bowl and pay by the pound. Easy and delicious. We'll probably be back soon.

The end of school is right around the corner, as is Memorial Day. We're looking forward to some warm weather, some picnic fun, and definitely some lazy naps on lounge chairs. I hope the hummingbirds keep it down so I can get some rest.

---

Jazz Soloing for Eighth-Graders

---


M jams along with the Slauson Middle School band

Jammin'
We knew he had a solo in the concert (he told us at dinner right beforehand), but we didn't realize that M and three of his bandmates were going to be featured soloists, at the front of the stage, during a jazz number. M and the other three players improvised solos, accompanied by the rest of the band. The song itself was an original composition by all the band members, and was called "In Jeopardy".

Congratulations on your solo, M!

Links
I really like this line of watches.

Olympic curling like you've never seen it before.

Collin describes how to use breadboards and perfboards.

Volleyball Out, Tennis In, Spring Is Here, Let's Begin!

---


M serves up a winner at the last volleyball match of the season. (Thanks for the great picture, Laurie!)

Volleyball Endeth, Tennis Starteth
Both boys played volleyball for their respective grades this year. The sixth-graders played two all-city tournaments (six schools total), and the eighth-graders played each other school twice. The kids got plenty of exercise and lots of bruises on their knees because the boys are too cool to wear knee pads like the girls do.

Spring tennis is starting for K - he is playing one day a week with fellow students after school, and will do Rec & Ed tennis again. The latter means one practice a week and a match roughly every other week. He and I went to Pioneer High to play some tennis a few weeks back when he was off school for spring break and I was on vacation. We'll do lots more of it this summer.

Links
I wonder if the photographer put the snail in those places, or if he spent years following it around?

If I worked at home more, I'd get one of these desks.

For no particular reason, a stack of toads for your consideration. The caption for this picture, which had no photo credit, said that the photographer stacked them for fun to see what would happen, and they let him.

---

Happy 100th Birthday to Grandma Nuernberg!

---





We went to Pittsburgh this weekend to see J's Grandma Nuernberg, the family's matriarch and lone centenarian. She does not at all look like someone who has lived that long, she has a spring in her step and a quick wit.

Happy Birthday to the youngest 100-year old we know!

---


K has been playing volleyball with a lot of other sixth-graders. Here is a picture from their recent city-wide tournament, in which teams from all five public middle schools play each other. K is in the back row, almost under the basketball hoop.



M shows that he can relax better than anyone on the ride home from Pittsburgh.

---

Mechanical motion - similar to poetry in motion.

My next house will either have a workshop in the basement or a train in the yard.

Nice watch.

The Detroit Tigers' schedule for 2014. Go Tigers!

March Links

---

Somewhere near Detroit

Links
Not much new going on here, but I do have some links saved up.

You probably shouldn't go to this college.

Move over, Segway. This is cooler.

This winter has got me thinking about getting a pair of these for my car.

This is a good idea, I'm going to get a few and throw them in the trunk.

Feeling a little dissatisfied with your current yacht? It’s probably because it doesn’t have a garage door.

So many projects, so little time.

Ever see the TV show about the company that builds giant shredders? There is actually such a show, called Mega Shredders.

Here’s a giant shredder in action.

Slush, Slush Everywhere

Billy Joel tickles the ivories at The Palace of Auburn Hills Saturday night.

---

The entire street, neighborhood, city, and county are under three inches of slush today. It will get interesting when it all freezes in a few days. The roads are going to be icy, bumpy, and impassable, and I'm already regretting the decision to sell my hovercraft on eBay.

---
Headline: Billy Joel Still Able to Play Piano, Sing at Same Time

The four of us went to Brighton and grabbed Laurie, then zipped over to the Palace to see Billy Joel last weekend. J and I have seen him before. I'm not sure how many times - five or six or eleven or something. He can still pack the Palace and put on a good show. J got these great pictures.


Instead of a giant screen behind the stage, there were long strips of screens that showed various scenes from the stage, and/or pictures of cityscapes or bright colors to go along with the songs.


M and K weren't the youngest people at the show, but there were not many people their age. Here they are standing near the entrance to our section, with Piston Chauncy Billups on the billboard overhead.

---
Sleddin'

A few weeks ago, M and K (and three of their friends) piled into the van and we headed to Vets Park for some sledding. I'm not crazy enough to go down the hill with all of its ramps and bumps. I bruise like a grape, as Daffy Duck would say.


M, right, and a couple of neighbor friends show off their sledding gear.

---
Birthday Extravaganza
We trekked in what was very pleasant weather to Jackson to visit mom and dad and celebrate all of our family's January and February birthdays. Mary, Jeff, and Daniel were there, and we were able to Skype with John, who was in Australia or New Zealand or the South Pole or somewhere like that.

Happy Birthday, Everyone!


Daniel, K, and M laugh it up with John on Skype.

---