In other happy news,

My older son Dino is going to be skipping two grades of math next year to take algebra 1 in 7th grade, and geometry in 8th.  That means he'll take Algebra 2 as a freshman, Statistics as a sophomore, and Calculus as a junior, and a college course paid for by the school district as a senior.  (On a nationally normed math test designed for eighth graders, he scored in the 99th percentile.) 

The gifted coordinator says it's important to challenge Dino *now*, so that he learns the coping skills of what to do when he's confused or stuck.  Many gifted kids flunk out of college because they don't know what to do when school isn't absurdly easy, and they have to work for something.  Dino plays around with numbers for fun, so he's pretty psyched for this.

Irish got an All-Star award at school, a citizenship award for showing all the character traits of a good student and person all year.  He has a shiny medal on a ribbon.  I'm very proud that he got recognized for being the sweet, kind boy that he is.