Black Belt Graduation

They did it! After 18 months of classes three times each week (plus a few bonus training sessions, private lessons, and several tournaments), our crew earned their black belts! It was special to have both Aunt L's and Uncle C and Grandma J all in attendance for their big day. 

We were proud of B for continuing with his form, despite getting mixed up in the middle of it. The instructors recognized that he kept trying, he didn't give up, and performed his second form with even more intensity. He pulled more than a couple tears from Grandma and Mom, and possibly Dad, but we all cheered plenty loud when they called him up to be black-belted :) (I made up that verb).

The instructors invited parents out to tie on the black belts for the first time; we thought this was neat, and appreciated Grandma snapping pictures so we could remember. Uncle C provided a video, which is awesomesauce!

It was a looooong day . . . we started with breakfast and birthday, we zooed (I made up that verb too :) with Uncle C, Aunt L x 2, and Grandma, then we had cake and gifts at home, and then after all that, they had graduation. Whew!

And the next day, there was a party to look forward to!

Party Time

I've posted these elsewhere, so I'm sort of skipping through the details (because we have a kitchen to reassemble and all . . . grrr). Here are some moments from our busy open house!

Mr. Truman

We finally finished the puzzle we picked up at the Harry Truman Presidential Library, and in school we're almost to his presidency. G has been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to add Mr. T's portrait to the line-up of presidential faces adorning our classroom walls. Almost there buddy! :)

Game On!

Our friends invited the boys to be part of a city baseball team this year--they have loved every minute of it! They know a couple kids from karate and a couple from church. Today was their first game (and Grandma J and Auntie Z were two of the biggest cheerleaders in the crowd!) B yelled and yelled, Aunt J would be proud :) Very encouraging and very excited, that one!

Because they've never played before, the coaches thought it would be a good idea to outfield them to give them a sense of how the game works, batting order etc. G was right, B was center. Not a lot of action out in the grass, but they were able to keep an eye on how things progress during game play.

G got walked and eventually scored a run! B only got one at bat (games close after 90 minutes and there are rules about only 5 runs per inning etc.--all new things for me to learn :) He didn't seem to mind.

Both boys recognized the catcher from the other team; he goes to karate with them. B yelled out, "Hey, Tommy! Is that you?!" Tommy confirmed, and they all hollered like old friends :) Then when G went up to bat, he said, "Hi, Tommy!" and all the moms giggled at how cute it was--because--there's so little competition at this age, and we all LOVE that! They're little boys, having fun, learning a game they can enjoy for the rest of their lives. Super rad!

Tournament on the Tundra

Hmmm, maybe that's not an entirely accurate title :) However, it WAS really cold, well at least extremely chilly for our visit to the land of lakes. My brother and his wife graciously hosted our troop of karate kids (and us parents too!) It has taken me more than a week to blog about it because of black belt preparation, baseball practices, spring cleaning . . . well, you get the picture. Add in this lovely head-cold my eldest child decided to share with me (I knew those close range math questions were trouble; I understand now why teachers teach from the front of the room--as far away from the students as possible, lol :)

Tournaments are so much fun with friends!
We're glad we got to hang out waiting for staging.

Our drive was nice; we stopped at my parents' house, got to spend a couple hours with my dad, helped my mom fold about 80 Operation Christmas Child boxes, and we ate NOODLES--oh yummy noodles :) With that fuel, tucked away, we continued our trek--arriving just in time for lasagna at my brother and sister-in-law's (we have excellent timing ;) Buck and C went with G$ to check out the local Costco, and Graysen brought back flowers for his Auntie--awww! He loves buying ladies flowers when they feed us and let us stay at their homes :)

Afterwards, we ate some cookies, the kids played some games, and we enjoyed discussion and fellowship . . . but not too late, because tournaments start early when you have one in the 8 and under crowd :)

As usual, this tournament was a whirlwind! Unfortunately, though the three youngest were in rings forming an "L" shape, Caelan was in another gym entirely. At one point I was on my knees, cheering for Gabby's sparring match, taking pictures of Graysen's awards ceremony, and spun around just in time to catch a picture of B winning his first competition sparring match! I didn't get to see any of C's events, but my brother and sis were able to share their attention with all the crew, and Buck kept track of C's winnings. Once, again, she didn't have anyone her age in her belt rank, but she was able to spar and do her form well, regardless. 

We tried weapons this time too, C chose long staff; the boys chose the bong mahnis (I probably didn't spell that correctly :) G went too long (30 second limit), B went to short (I missed it, Buck said it was blink of the eye type stuff), Gab wasn't interested, and C I guess bounced her staff off the floor, but the judges didn't detract for it.

G$ applying a technique that allows him to score points on his opponent, while his opponent (who is no longer in the ring) cannot score points on him. He was in the championship match, and finished with a second place medal!

Graysen doing his form

G$'s group and his friend S

B gets his first sparring win!!

He, as usual, had a GIANT group! They actually finished after everyone else in our family did, but I'll put his picture in age order :)

Third place in his form! He had to do another form-off to break a tie for potential second.

Gabbers doing her spar kicks! She won the first round, but lost the next two. They don't award a fourth place medals, but that's what she got :)

She's made several friends in this group, and enjoys seeing them at subsequent tournaments.

Buck's pic of Caelan's wee group

Blurry a bit, but the best we've got :)

Bling

I think they had a good time! And that's the goal--make a friend and have fun!

After the tournament, we had this crazy idea to visit the Mall of America--so did everyone else in a 10 state area. There were officers, real officers, directing traffic into the parking structures. The mall itself was shoulder to shoulder. We spent about 15 minutes in the LEGO store bouncing off other lookers, and then we got out of dodge! We instead popped over to IKEA to do a little actual shopping :) There were some updates needed in the kid dishware department. Buck also spotted a fun rug to replace the one that fell apart over the winter months on our deck. Just a few odds and ends, but the wait in line there was no joke! Busy day to be ooot and abooot as they say in the 'Sota ;)

We joined my bro and his bride for dinner at Chevy's--a place we used to enjoy in our Cali days. Then back to their place to chill for the evening. Well, some of us chilled--others did this ...

Slumber parties are super fun :) 

The next morning we attended church with our family members. It was nice to be in a smaller community; ours tops 1,000 each weekend and we don't really feel like we're all that much of a help. In our previous church, we carried some responsibility for the function and outreach--notsomuch currently. We enjoyed our visit, even if we had to "buy" donuts (a rookie mistake on the kids' part "Free-will donation??" :)

After a little yard football/frisbee and a neighbor meet-and-greet, we decided to check out true MN fare and discovered the Juicy Lucy. I didn't get a picture of this former speakeasy food, but it's a hamburger with cheese baked into the middle of it--huge sandwich, very tasty! Buck says he would for sure go back there and eat more of them :) Because I've learned that eating is what makes a vacation a vacation for my man . . . 

We look forward to the next visit and more fun with family, food, and not the mall ;)

Fortress

I'm always amazed at what they decide to build, and then accomplish structurally, when it comes to these giant hand-me-down blocks! As you can see, this creation was very well guarded by a force of superheroes and ballerina Ken dolls ;)

Family Funnies

I've written down a few things I've heard the kids say lately . . . they (as usual) may require a "had to be there" kind of situation, but they just make me giggle, so I thought I'd share anyway :)

When we were touring the downtown area of Oklahoma City, we noticed there was a large population of migrating birds--everywhere! Especially along the waterways . . . as I caught up to Brennen, I heard him saying, "Duck . . . duck . . . duck . . . goose!!" and sure enough, that's what was on the path next to him :)

In school, we were discussing some of the language quirks in the dialogue of our story books. I explained that, like when we were in Texas, people say things differently in different regions of the country--for instance, *Ya'll* instead of *you all.* The kids then tried to come up with other terms that are different by region. I mentioned that in many areas people say "soda" instead of "pop." Brennen thought about that for a minute and then asked, "Well, then when we're cooking, why don't we say *baking pop?*" (instead of baking soda :)

The other day, G$ was working on an assignment. He was frustrated that he couldn't find the answer. I heard him say, as he ran up the stairs to find his sister, "If the computer doesn't know, I'll just go ask Gabby!" He has noticed his sister's impressive ability to retain information, so why waste his time with a computer? His sister knows more ;)

Buck brought home a lemon/blueberry pound/bundt cake as an Easter dessert. It took us more than a week to eat through it. Ever-mindful of portions, G$ asked Buck, "Dad, can you cut me a sizable piece of cake?" Lol! He meant, "Can you cut me a piece of cake that is an approved size for me to eat?" Or did he . . . ;)

Finally, we were doing a little weekend schoolwork . . . sort of . . .  by watching John Wayne's version of "The Alamo!" Did you know it is nearly 3 hours long, whew! We had to start it, stop it, eat dinner, go to baseball practice, and then finish it when we got home again. I think this has to be the version they showed us parts of in history class during elementary school. I distinctly remember watching a movie about the Alamo in school, and I was so worried my parents didn't know about it--I mean, it was school, and I was like G$'s age, and there was fighting and IT WAS DURING SCHOOL! :)


So today, we were discussing things about movies that are different than in real life--such as Davy Crockett was married, and though nothing happens with the leading lady in the film, he shouldn't have been flirting with her. I told them, "Sometimes they change parts of the story to make it more interesting, so this might not be 100 percent historically accurate." 

G$ said, "Well, do you think they'll change it so they win this time?" 

Can't.stop.laughing. Unfortunately no, they did not :)