Testing for Yellow Belt!

We've been in TaiKwanDo for nearly a year and today we tested for our third belt.  We all really love learning this and doing it as a family (L has to wait a few more years till she is big enough to join us).  Although, we won't know for sure till Monday, I think we all passed and will get our yellow belts Monday night at class.  Here are some pictures of testing.  (LOTS of pictures!)

We get there early to stretch and run thru things a couple times.

L ready to watch the show.

During opening warm ups, we all do some punches, kicks and blocks in unison (like in the movies -HA!)  This is G.

In the center is A, doing his warm ups

After warming up, everyone is called up in groups of up to 6.  Only like belts are called together.  Here G is ready to start

M standing at attention.

Here A is doing his form...

and M doing his.

And G.  they also have require kicks to demonstrate

The judges pair them off for self defense

and sparring

get 'em G!

The king does his form.

And I do mine.

Then we pair up for self defense and sparring.
He totally kicked my butt while sparring- I am not overly happy about that.  

Today was hair day!

Today was the day to redo L's hair.  I try to get a style to stretch over 2 weeks and sometimes it makes it even longer.  I took out her previous style yesterday, washed and conditioned her hair.  Put it in big braids to stretch the curls and then did this style this afternoon.  It took about an hour and she was not happy by the end (note to self: right before nap is not hair time).  It is one continual two-stranded rope twist starting just above her left ear and looping all around her head into a little bun.  It is great protection for her hair and makes getting her swim cap on very easy.  I can add a flower for decoration!  I'm hoping to make this one last till next friday!  We'll see.

I clearly need to finish my yard work.  Oops!  HA!

She wouldn't look at me and smile.  But she liked sitting in front of our pretty purple flowers!

Strawberry Time! Strawberry Time!

Well, now that its June and we are out of school, I think it is safe to say it is officially summer.  We've been to the pool, we've swam in the pond (I haven't yet I guess), and yesterday the kids played slip n slide at a friends house.

For me, though, one of the biggest "steps" to it actually being summer is strawberry season.  I love strawberry season.  And so do the kids.  They don't even complain about the picking part.  HA!  And we enjoy the "fruits" of labor all year long.  Well, as long as it lasts.  

The kids helped pick these 2 flats of berries at our local strawberry patch.  And they are still smiling.

 There aren't more pictures of us picking (although I wanted them) because the kids are the "slacker police" and will call you out on it-loudly.  One year my dad came with us and ran into someone he knew (which isn't hard) and the kids STILL get on to him about what a terrible berry picker he is cause he runs his mouth too much.  :)

2 flats = 26.5 lbs of berries.  Nom nom nom.

First batch of strawberry jam!  I love the color when you make strawberry jam!

Berries in the dehydrator....you can not fathom how good this makes the house smell...but it doesn't yield much so I don't plan to do it again but I'm glad I tried it!

Some of what all those berries yielded.  On the left-jam, on the right-sliced berries in syrup, and in the center dehydrated berries.  (yes they are sitting on my floor-it is less cluttered than my kitchen counter-don't judge)

From all the berries we picked, we yielded 10 pints of jam, 1 pint of dehydrated berries, and 6 pints of sliced berries in syrup.  Plus plenty to eat fresh and bake with for a while.  On my list for next year, a raised strawberry bed.  It is gonna happen!

The way to win a girl's heart (whether she be 3 or 33) :)

My mom (known as nanny) stopped by this morning as she was heading out and this conversation happened....

L: Nanny, go wif you.
Nanny:  "No honey. I have too many stops today.  I'll buy you some mac n cheese"
L:  I LOVE YOU TOO, NAN.


Mac n cheese is clearly the answer to all our problems.  :)

Mini Vacation #1

This year instead of one big long vacation, we are doing several little mini vacations....and we had a chance to do the first one a few weeks ago.

We took all the kids to Medieval Times.  We also stayed in a hotel with a pool.  What more does a family need for a little get away?  Oh yeah, hotel also had a really nice hot breakfast.  :)

Everyone had such a great great time!  The food was phenomenal and our serf was totally great with the kids   "dragonblood soup for you sir"  or "Here's your baby dragon....it tastes a lot like chicken."  The boys loved eating with their hands.  I wasn't sure L was going to eat cause she LOVED the horses.  LOVED them.  It was a perfect mini vacation.  I didn't get many pictures (cause I was eating with my hands too).  But I got a couple.

Ready to head in.

waiting for them to unlock the gates

So excited!  yay

All the kids got swords and shields....I tried to get L to get a princess hat but she wanted a sword and shield like her brothers.  I have a feeling she is going to be a tomboy  ;)

Announcing the start of the games.

bring on the horses

bring on the knights

bring on the food

We wear green crowns because we are in the section of the green knight...

presentation of the knights....and time to put the camera away.  :)

Our family is growing......

Meet Betty and Lois.  (l-r).  Our newest "kids"....they are so cute and fun and friendly....and LOUD!  :)  These are a dairy breed so hopefully by next spring we'll have more babies and fresh milk.  I'm sure goat milk will take some adjustment but I'm excited about it.  :)

And "Bacon"....he is also friendly and the kids love chatting with him cause he always snorts back.  But they also know his name determines his destiny....I am sure some people think that is cruel or mean but so many have no awareness of where our food comes from.  Unless a person is 100% vegetarian then everyone eats animals that started out as cute little babies...and many times not in the 5 star lifestyle our animals grow in.  ;)   

And our ducks....One is Donald and another is Aflack but I don't know which ones...the rest are probably named too but I don't know what.  We are looking forward to seeing how many males and females we got here and trying duck eggs....and then hopefully having duck babies....we will not be butchering these cause duck meat is icky....and I'm sure it's similar to butchering chickens which is a job I loathe.... :)

The kids were bummed when they figured out this kiddie pool wasn't for them.
But the ducks LOVE it!  And the kids literally sit out there and watch them play.  Who needs tv?
HA

We also got our garden in.  And they helped a little.  :)

I love spring.  It is such a time of possibilities.  I am always excited to garden and I pray this year that the garden is successful.  I've planted zucchini, cukes, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, brussel sprouts, green beans, peas, cantelope and watermelon.  Fingers crossed.

Back to work I go!  :D  Happy spring to everyone!

SPRING!

Its Spring....kinda.  We had to have the heat on the last couple nights.  But the temp is above freezing.

With the seasonal change has come a WHIRLWIND of activities.  I can just barely keep my eyes from not spinning.  This means that I have sadly neglected this blog and those who read it.   I am going to try to tell some stories from the last few months in the next week.

But today I found a blog post that struck a chord with me....so read this one since I've dropped the ball in my little corner of the blogosphere.  It is called simply "I am a birth mother."  I still cannot fathom the strength of a birth mother.  Sure, there are times simply being a mother is hard.  But to be a mother from afar seems unfathomable to me.

For the record, in our home we do not use the words birth mother because L's first mom did much more than give birth to her.  We use the phrase "first mom."  I think it is more fitting for our situation.  :)