January 16 -31, 2006

Below are two pics of Sophia snow sledding at the backyard of Tee's house:



We finally got a new digital camera, the Cannon Powershot SD800,so the quality of the pics appearing in our blog will substantially improve in the future.

Here is a pic of our kitchen:


Kostas was inaugurated as President of his 4th grade class in his school. Here is the President's throne:

The people/parents mass for the spectacle:

The officers:

The swearing in:

Pic from the back showing the masses/parents in awe of the honorees:-)


Ok, here is a pic of all the birds that gather daily at the corner of Carpenter and Packard. Every time we pass the street there is a whole bunch of them here ALWAYS, I just always liked this view!


Hee, Lee's brother, visited from New York and, not like we needed an excuse, we conveniently gathered at Seoul Garden for dinner:



Kostas continues his soccer games at High Velocity Sports in Canton. Won one 11-2 and then played, to all of our surprise, a very good team which proceeded to beat the crap out of our team 7-3. The kids were shocked that they would lose...that's allright, it's better to play against good teams instead of beating up on the weak ones. The pic just did not come out that good, still learning how to use the camera.


Kostas is here at the Kumon Center and Mr. Ajay looking over his homework...Sophia is also continuing her Kumon Reading now and she likes it!


All the kids in the Greek School with teacher Ioanna:

3rd Grade:

Dadtook both kids at the EMU basketball game and we all enjoyed it. Here is Sophia with Swoop:

Sophia getting autographs from the Dance Team:

Kostas received his 2nd semester Report Card. Again, he is doing outstanding. I will spare all the details...his report is full of A, A+ and +.

Reading A+
Writing A+
Math A+
Science A+
Social Studies A+
Art A
Music A
Physical Education A
Technology A
Drama A

Some notables from his report card:

In Listening: "Focuses on what is being said" improved from C- (the only black mark of the 1st semester) to A!
In Listening: "Responds Appropriately" improved from Meeting Expectations to + (Above Expectations) and
In Work Habits: "Listens and Follows Directions" improved from Meeting Expectations to Above Expectations

We really made a point on the listening part and he sure responded! Of course he was awarded several hours of Computer game time for his accomplishments!

The Ann Arbor area was rocked by Pfizer's announcement that is leaving Ann Arbor and taking down 2,100 jobs here and another 60 in Plymouth. If you add all the contract positions (800 to 1,000) and the loss of business in local retail and restaurants...it is just a devastating loss. Pfizer (the former Park Davis) is the biggest private taxpayer in Ann Arbor and its involvement in the local non profit scene has always been very high. A lot of the workers will be offered to keep their jobs in other locations. Which means that the depressed local real estate market is nowhere from hitting bottom...We are looking for another house but we are in no rush now, time is on our side.

Here is a video of Kostas being sworn in as President of his class in his school: