Emma Graduates from Speech Therapy

Posted on 5/9/2012 by James

Back in September of 2005, we first learned that Emma had some special challenges ahead of her. Diagnosed as hypotonic, she needed physical therapy to help her learn to crawl and then to walk. We really didn’t know how much she would be able to obtain and many times is was so frustrating to see her struggle. Speech therapy started the following year and we started to see improvement right away.

Over the past six years, we’ve had a few different therapist for Emma and they’ve been great. Each week Emma has worked hard on learning the new skills that she needed to pronounce words correctly. When I say that Emma “worked hard”, that’s really an understatement. Emma was just a wonderful treat in how she would focus on saying things correctly, catching herself and making adjustments. She was so sweet with each of the therapist and developed a friendship with each of them.

Today is her last speech therapy session. After all these years, she’s mastered the skills necessary to continue learning on her own. I’m so proud of my little girl. She’s come such a long way.

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Ultra Small Raspberry Pi

Posted on 5/6/2012 by James

The Raspberry Pi was orginally designed to be a ultra small and ultra cheap computer for kids. Not necessary for them to use for word processing (although a good thing), but for them to learn programming (and product development). Of course just like Legos, they’ve captured the imagination of a lot of adults as well.

At $35, you get a lot for your money. With a couple extras, you have a working linux based computer. It has an HDMI output, uses an SD card for a hard drive, has 2 USB ports and a LAN port for network connectivity. The OS is free (Linux) and should be a nice basis for any open source project. It’s powered by a micro USB port (same connector that charges many phones), so a phone charger (or TV USB port) can be used to power it.

The device only has 256MB of RAM on it, so don’t expect it to run Windows (although it can boot a graphic Linux front-end). From the FAQ:

Why doesn’t the Raspberry Pi include <insert name> piece of hardware or <insert name> sort of port?

Our main function is a charitable one – we’re trying to build the cheapest possible computer that provides a certain basic level of functionality, and keeping the price low means we’ve had to make hard decisions about what hardware and interfaces to include.

And that is sort of the guiding principle, make a low cost device that will function as a computer so that students at all levels can tinker and learn to program. That’s pretty cool in my opinion.

Update: I have mine on pre-order, but i’m not sure when I’ll actually get it. Of course when I do you, then will hear about it.

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Maggie Completes Kindergarten

Posted on 5/1/2012 by James

It’s the end of the beginning for Maggie and her formal education. It’s also the last of the kindergarten graduations for us. Bitter sweet I suppose, although we weren’t really asked if that is what we wanted. They all used the same blue robe and mortar board, so it can now be retired to the Callahan Education Hall of Fame.

Gayle and Stan made the trip up and spent the afternoon with us. First for lunch and then for gifts and cake. The graduation ceremony itself was a lot of fun. Actually, it was about as entertaining as one of Maggie’s soccer games this past summer. Maggie did an excellent job memorizing her bible verses. The group verse caused the first outbreak as a couple boys felt the need to correct everyone about the verse citation being one verse off. One in particular jumped up and started pointing fingers. Of course with them all being wiggle worms, they just couldn’t keep there hat on or their bottoms on their seats. On the individual memory verse, Maggie got up and did awesome. Overall, it was cute.

Congratulations to my baby girl. You’ve learned to read, count and so many other things. You join your brothers and sister on the road of education. It’s one that you will hopefully not stop travelling any time soon.

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Photo Trip to Fort Pickens

Posted on 4/23/2012 by James

This past weekend our family made a quick trip over to Pensacola to see Josie (the newest edition to the McReynold family). While there my brother in law Clarence and I made an early morning trip to Fort Pickens and the Gulf Islands National Seashore. We were both armed with cameras hoping to capture some great shots. It was overcast, yet the temperature was wonderful and we managed to get in a full morning of pictures before the rain started. We had several hours to walk the beach around the point and traverse the entire fort area.

Fort Pickens was originally built in 1834 and was one of four forts built to protect the Pensacola Bay. It was used until 1947, but saw it first conflict during the Civil War when it fought a battle with Fort McRee and Fort Barrancas. The Union forces maintained control of the fort during the war although the troops suffered due to the harsh environment and lack of adequate food. Walking through the fort and around the area, you could see how it would have been a horrible place to be stationed for any significant amount of time.

I’ve included here a small sampling of the photos that I took that morning. Most of them are of the fort itself, but some of the surrounding area. I tried to keep the lighting of interior photos to be the same as what I saw with my eyes. During the 1800′s, lighting would have been somewhat limited and I can imagine there being many shadows.

For me it was a great morning walking down the beach. It’s always too hot during Summer days and the morning and evening times are perfect. Very thankful for the chance I had to relax and take some photos. That… was very relaxing.

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LTC Bible Reading Challenge

Posted on 4/15/2012 by James

We haven’t been “all in” for LTC (Leadership Training for Christ), but one thing that Quinn and Hayden did take part in was the Bible reading challenge. This isn’t personal Bible reading (which they do also), but it is public Bible reading. They have read passages of the Bible at our small group and several Wednesday night services, but the most challenging have been those in front on the congregation (of close to 500).

Standing in front of such a group can take your breath away (unsurprisingly making it difficult to speak). This has always been something of a personal battle for me, so naturally I transfer that onto how I think they feel. Thankfully, they have a talent for public reading and do an awesome job of it. This morning they shared the reading of the 23rd Psalms. A couple weeks ago, they had a more difficult reading from Judges. They did a fantastic job! I’m really proud of their willingness to step up and contribute. It’s enjoyable watching them as they grow physically as well as spiritually.

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