Return of the Droids!!

Well apparently I was wrong when I reported that our sons robotics team didn't make it to the world championships in St Louis! It seems that one of the qualifying teams was not able to go so....The Droids are in!!! unfortunately this meant that the team was behind the power curve in both fundraising and planning. The kids have been franticly planning for the trip and attempting to improve their robot.

Here is the message sent out by their team mentor soliciting donations and more importantly prayers:

Our St. Peter the Rock home school robotics team has earned a spot to compete in the FTC World Championships in St. Louis, MO 24-28 April! We are so excited that we can hardly believe it. We did very well in our regional competition and at the MD state level, but we never expected to do so well that we would earn a chance to compete at the world level. While we are thrilled and excited, we are also burdened with the very real monetary issue of getting a team of 10 students plus chaperones plus the robot and tools to St. Louis in just over a month, and we still need to upgrade our robot to compete at this level. Up until this point the students have worked hard to earn the money they needed to compete. Now we need to ask for donations of any kind to help us raise $5,000 in four weeks.

These students have worked diligently to learn engineering principles and solid business practices. They have grown in inter-personal skills as a team and in their problem solving skills. They have built a solid robot that performs consistently and created a winning team presentation for the judges. They bring enthusiasm to each competition and continue to positively impress the judges and other teams at every level. They are The Droids and wear R2D2 beanies so everyone knows who they are. They are an amazing group of young adults, and are fantastic ambassadors for home schooling.

We have a link on our website, www.ftcteam4081.com, where you can donate any amount by credit card through Paypal to our account, or you can send a check to SPR Robotics Group, Inc to 3206 Blackwalnut Drive, Annapolis, MD 21403.

If you cannot donate money, I'd ask you to please pray for our students as they prepare for this event. Help them to remember to keep the competition in the proper perspective, to use their individual gifts and talents wisely, to humbly help others along the way, and to be good sportsman throughout this journey.

Thank you and we are in your debt,

Mrs H

FTC Team 4081

The Droids

- We ARE the droids you're looking for -

Around the world in 10 Days--Part 2 India

Digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

We're heading out

My sis and her hubby are having a baby, most of you already know that . She is due on the 25th of Jan. We are traveling down to be with them for support and help out for a little while. It seems the baby may have dropped! We are heading out tomorrow morning. Please keep us in prayer as we make the long drive; especially please pray for my sister and baby.

- Mallu Mom

Field Trip with our cousins

We are still here, yes, we haven't blogged in a while, but we've been having fun. Week before last we were able to spend some time with Cruzan Dad's sis and kids. We went on a field trip to the American History Museum.

The kids had fun on the subway...they were trying to maintain their balance

The girls enjoyed some of the hands on exibits

GMAC let her cousin hold her up to see an exibit

Aunt L. treated the girls to some ice cream...yum, yum

-Mallu Mom

Remembering 9/11

We will be offering our Mass and Rosary today for all the victims of 9/11, and their family and friends.

The pictures below are from our visit to the World Trade Center, back in 2007. It was a very emotional experience.

"Thurepe" Therapy

On Father’s day I suggested we play Thurepe( a card game from Kerala.) It is also known as 28. Growing up this is what we all did for fun. I thought it would be enjoyable for old time sakes; it turned out to be therapy for my dad’s recovery. My dad was always good at the game, he usually won. Most of the time while we were there, my dad looked week and tired. It was so cute to see his smile as he was winning; it was really therapy for all of us. The boys and Cruzan Dad caught on to the game quickly, and I am looking forward to many games with the family.

-- Mallu Mom

We played almost every afternoon.

"U" being coached by his grandpa.

The winning smile!

We're Back

We are finally back home after a round trip of almost 4,000 miles. I just want to sleep in my own bed!! I can't really complain about the trip, the kids were really great! We had some really good conversations and saw some beautiful country!
--CrucianDad

The Great Trip -- Pt 2.5 (another pit stop)

Well the next leg of our trip took us through Baton Rouge. And c'mon you don't pass even near Louisiana with out having some Cajun food! We found this nice little place The Jambalaya Shoppe it was tucked away in a strip mall right off the highway. The food was great I loved the seafood "JAM" as they called it. Mullu mom and Rose loved the Gumbo. Inch feasted on the fried catfish and "U" just loved their Crawfish Pie. We like the place so much that we even stopped on our way back up from Texas

--Crucian Dad

Stop on bye if you are going through Baton Rouge!

On our way to full bellies!

The place also had some great atmosphere!

The Great Trip -- Pt 2

After our pit stop at EWTN we kept on moving until we got to Jose's house in Jackson.
Jose treated us to a great dinner of rice and beans. We ate and caught up on old times.

Mystical Rose Trying to go to bed with a belly full of rice and beans

The next morning we went to mass with Jose before we headed off to Houston. It was just like old times, you never realize how much you miss someone until you see them again and then have to leave for the second time.

After Mass G-MAC wanted to give a high-five to the statue of Mother Mary

The family posing with Jose

-- Cruzan Dad

The Great Trip -- Pt 1.5 (the pitstop)

Well for the next leg of our trip we were going to stay with our friend Jose in Jackson Mississippi. We got to know Jose at daily mass (while he lived in Maryland) and through the Cursillo movement.
Mullu Mom realize that halfway between us and his house was Birmingham Alabama. So whats so special in Birmingham you ask? Why the world headquarters of ETWN that's what!!

This is what greets you as you get there

G-MAC enjoyed the stained glass windows of outside chapel

I love Religious with a sense of humor!

We tried to time our arrival to make it in time for the noon mass at Our Lady of Angels chapel. We actually managed to get there early so we spent a little time in the gift shop.

The kids thought that these sports rosarys were really cool

we thought about getting this for the car since Inch will start driving this year

The chapel was BEAUTIFUL. I thought that it was a little funny that this little chapel had a bunch of servo controlled cameras. We were told that the 7 AM service gets televised and the noon mass is mainly to allow the employees there to go to daily mass.

The whole family really like this sign outside of the chapel

This picture does not do the chapel justice. It is truely breathtaking

-- Crucian Dad

Happy Birthday

Pay no attention to the horrible writing on that cake. It tasted great. I just can't write with those jell pens

Well "U" had his birthday earlier this month and his uncle "J" is going to have his really soon Appa ,Mullu Moms Father, wanted to celebrate while we were all here. Mallu made a delicious Tres Leches cake. We put 13 candles for "U" and 8 for his uncle (not a typo my brother in law is 8 years old... life happens). The cake went great with the ribs that were made for lunch..I don't think I will be able to fit into the car for the trip home!!
-- Crucian Dad

We all posed for a nice picture. that's "U" on the right and his uncle "J" in the middle

I think that is the third piece "U"ate

Uncle "J" made sure to keep up

Even G-MAC approved of moms cake

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there!!

This morning I had planned to sleep in but since the room we are in in right above the kitchen I woke up to the lovely smell of BACON. (I think I am going to ask for this little gadget for my birthday) Now it is a known fact that bacon is one of the foods that was created directly by the hands of ANGELS.... the smell is wonderful and the taste is like a little piece of heaven on your tongue ;-) Our amazing young Chef "U" made his famous omelets for everyone. I had cheese bacon and fresh spinach from the garden.

-- Crucian Dad

"U" picking fresh spinach

"U" cooking up another masterpiece

Mallu Moms Father has an amazing green thumb, going in his backyard is like teleporting to the South of India.

Mallu Mom with her brother and their dad

The Great Trip -- Pt 1

Well the first step of our trip was our longest one, we drove to Knoxville Tennessee. Now for the average car ride this only should take you about 8 hours. Making the trip with a one year old nursing baby it will take you around 12 !

This is pretty much what the rest of the family did while Dad drove

The kids were really great about keeping G-MAC entertained on the trip

Mullu Mom's wonderful brother surprised us by booking us a room at the Hilton Homewood Suites with points he earned. Now the entire family gave the place two great thumbs up. The suite was nice and large, the staff was incredibly friendly. But the real kicker is that during the week they serve a complimentary dinner. When I say dinner I don't mean some chintzy sandwiches and crackers, I mean Salisbury steak and potatoes. For those of you that like to indulge a little, they have beer on tap. I am sorry for not taking pictures of the hotel but may I remind you to the 12 hours of driving! After a good meal and a swim in the pool we all went to bed pretty early.

-- Crucian Dad

The great view made the driving a little easier

The Great Trip---Epilogue

Well Mullu Moms father just had surgery so we decided to go see him for Fathers Day. Well the only issue with that is that we live in Maryland and he is in Houston....... as in Texas. I don't know if you all have checked but Airline tickets are a bit pricey especially for a family of 6. So we decided to pack up the clan and make a drive of it. Because G-MAC can't handle too much time in the car we decided to break up the trip into three days. The trip actually was quite enjoyable.

--Crucian Dad