Belt testing

Last Saturday was a big day in Austin's world. He has been waiting since November to be able to test again! He is loving karate and tries very hard to do his best. This Saturday was no exception. He even got the video to practice with. He listens to the instructor's and follows what they say.

Here he shows off his kicking skills. I don't know if I explained this last time but belt testing is not a pass or fail thing. It is a confidence builder in your ability to do what you have been taught. So these younger guys practice and test in groups. The leaders or black belt instructors evaluate each student during learning sessions to see if they are ready to test.

These are some moves to protect yourself from someone trying to attack you. I must say that as the mom of a boy I am pro "get away if you can but fight ONLY if you have no other choice". Of coarse with a father that believes that if someone looks at you cross eyed you should beat them to a pulp we are having difficulty trying to decide the best parenting at the moment. Austin's teaching master has explained to Austin that he should try to get away, not to strike first but if someone hurts you where to strike. (hmm, was mom right???)

This was the first time Austin got to break a board. Let me tell you, you have never seen a guy so excited and so proud of himself! It is done with a palm strike or what us uneducated people call the heel of you hand. Some what brutal! I guess it's a boy thing and Mom's just don't understand!

Austin, glowing with pride, was awarded the yellow belt and all the responsibilities that come with it, including continued practice, self control and respect. He was glowing!

This is Austin and 'Grand Master'. He is the top teacher and owner of the school. He is also a 7th level black belt! OMG! A truly wonderful man and teacher! He signed Austin's board and gave him lots of encouragement to keep practicing and we went home with a boy that kept saying "Mom, can you believe it, can you believe it??" What a day!

Ashlyn's first black eye

Sorry, I've had the flu for over a week and am trying to get my pictures together. this is going to be a short post on what happens when a 20 month old jumps on the bed. She was happily playing with Alyssa in Alyssa's room. I could hear some rough housing and then the big "BANG". Oh, the screaming!

Oh, the agony!

Until Dad walked in the door then she was fine and ready to pose for pictures!

I even got a 'cheese' out of her!

Please ignore the messy face! She had just eaten dinner! I think! Who knows, it could have been lunch that I forgot to scrub off! I'm bad about that!!

galveston

My computer has been sick, so it's been a while! I have soo many pictures to share and exciting things to show. This is my favorite for the moment so I will share part of this day.

Over the Christmas holiday the kids and I took many trips to Moody Gardens. On this trip Shawn got to go with us. We had lunch and tried to see things in Moody Gardens. Unfortunately, the one thing the kids wanted to see was closed. That was the gift shop! They wanted to spend their Christmas money there! Go figure! We appeased them with the aquarium and then we finally got to go on the paddle boat. I loved what part of the ride I could enjoy. Ashlyn wanted to run around so I had to restraint her kicking and screaming. A few times I let her sit by herself with her sister.
After that we went for a drive. The kids have been so mad at me because they wanted to see the beach and touch the water. They just don't understand about cold water! Well, they found out. Shawn took us over to San Luis pass and I wish I could have gotten pictures of the road. It was just gone! Nothing! The kids though it was cool to see but they thought it was suppose to be that way. Finally, they talked dad into stopping along the beach just so they could see what it was like.

The wind was whipping and it was COLD. Did it stop my two punks from playing in the water??? NO!!! Alyssa only got knee deep! She knows cold when she feels it! She still chased the waves and searched for shells and laughed her head off but she knew it was cold!

Austin is a different story! I got this shot right before he body slammed a wave. I don't think he felt the cold until it was time to load up and he had to strip right there on the beach with 20mph wind whipping across him! He loved every minute of it. I guess I know what I'm doing this summer!

I know it's hard to tell but Austin is SOAKED!!!! Shawn hated this part, he hates sand and all that. He was pouring water from our water bottles on the kids just to get the sand off and complaining about the sand they would get in the truck! They had fun though and that's all that mattered!

Now that my computer is fixed I will update you more and soon!

Alyssa'a first date

Yes, Alyssa had a date last night! She was asked on this special date last week and has been excited every since. Monday evening she and I went dress shopping, since no girl can go out without a new dress. Oh what fun we had. We went to the big city store (J.C. Penny's) and started the hunt. We tried on dress after dress and each one she wanted to think about. None of the dresses were a no. They all went on the maybe list! Of course when it came to picking them out she was very mindful of what Dad would approve of. No spaghetti straps and nothing too short. So the perfect dress emerges, but still she's not sure. So we do the enie-menie-miny-moe thing to help decide! I kept telling her to pick her favorite, so now we have 2 on the list. She picked the one she thought her dad would like the best, which was my favorite too! All week she has been so excited she could hardly contain herself. Is the day here? Time yet?? So yesterday she gets home and I tell her jump in the bath your big day is here!
Our Friend Ms. Kelly came over to help with the "gettin' purdy" process. Kelly and I tried to do something with her hair for almost an hour! We finally picked a style and tried to make it stay. Kelly made Alyssa feel super special by applying just the right amount of make-up. Alyssa felt sooo special. She knew this was big, make-up and a special hair style! Oh, what a day!
And the hair spray! We all needed gas masks! All this to look pretty! I forgot what a chore it is for a girl to get all dressed up to go out! Maybe that's why I don't do it any more! But she got beautiful! And then got dressed!
I almost wanted to cry! It's like prom! She was all dressed up and ready and looking like such a big girl not a seven year old. Her excitement was just...oh you could feel it, how excited and nervous she was.
I know I'm partial an all, but, really, have you ever seen a more beautiful girl in all your life??? There is just not a girl more beautiful on this earth (her mom comes in a close second!).

And her date was there and ready! You didn't know this was her date?? I didn't tell you it was her Dad that asked her out?? Oh, shame on me! I thought I told you she had a special dinner date with her dad to go to his company Christmas party at River Oaks Country Club. Sorry! Guess you assumed we had lost our minds letting a 7 year old go on a date with a boy! Well, part of our sanity is intact because she and her dad have an understanding! He is the only one she can go out with until she's somewhere in her LATE 30's! And for now she doesn't complain about that. Boys are still kinda gross and that's cool with me!

From the little I got this morning, they both had a great time last night. They didn't get home until after 11pm. ON A SCHOOL NIGHT! So this morning was difficult! But they had fun and that's all that matters!

Moody Garden's

Ok, so it's been awhile since I last updated, but I have an excuse, a real good excuse! I have three kids! Ha! So there! Beat that one! We have been keeping up with the usual schedule of karate, scouts, and life, and in between all that I have been fighting a cold. Well, Ashlyn had the cold and gave it to me and apparently it liked her alot more than it likes me. While she's running around and getting into things I can barely move. I think I may be on the downside of it though and hopefully I will be getting better by the end of the week!

Last weekend I decided to take the kids to Moody Garden's. My friend Shawna and I loaded up and went (after a long day of girl scouts and birthday parties!) .

We did most of the park. Spongebob was a big hit. Both here and at the festival of lights. They were so excited to hug and talk to him (or her, Austin swears he saw a face through the eye of spongebob!) Do you notice Alyssa's hair? Yes I straightened it! (Took an HOUR!!!) But that is how she wanted it. Good thing I only agree to it once a month or so!!Then We went to the aquarium. This is by far their favorite part. They get to touch and watch real ocean creatures at play. This trip they even got to smell them! UUGGHHHH! It was very fishy smelling but I think that is because of the renovations from Ike.The seals are a favorite!


Touching sea urchins and star fish. Alyssa was pretty creeped out but she did it after 10 minutes of grossing out but the boys jumped right in!Then we went in this huge room that was all glass and the fish and sharks and sea turtles swam all around you. LOVED IT! This is john and the sea turtle!

The kids were so excited. Unfortunately I have to give a shorter version of what happened here on this blog, but to put it in a short story, Mom had too many things in her hands to take a lot of pictures but the ones I got I love and I am sad about the ones I didn't. Galveston is still showing signs of Ike, with huge sail boats on the side of the road and houses barely standing. This said, after seeing the news immediately afterwards and knowing what it did look like I'm sure this is a great improvement. Anyone that knows me knows I love the beach, even Galveston with the icky water and sometimes stinky smells, but all the landmarks I remember are mostly gone or under construction. It's sad really. The ferry is still there, but don't act like your lost because then you have to go through a line where they check your car to make sure you are no threat to national security. How do I know?? I asked to many questions! Bolivar is run on generator and at the end of the ferry landing is just a line of busted up cars that Ike so thoughtfully detailed but left in undrivable conditions. The ferry ride at 11 at night was nice though and was a great end to or night. It was relaxing (except for the screams from the back of the truck about our ferry sinking, and being sea sick, and vampires and ..well, if you know my kids you can imagine the rest of the idea's that their little brains thought up!) All this said I really enjoyed the trip and I think the kids did too and and I hope we can go back before the end of the holidays!

When is it too cold to camp??

This past weekend my husband decided to take the family camping. Unfortunately he wanted to camp on the COLDEST WEEKEND EVER! Listen to my advice, don't go camping if the temperature is to go below 60! For me, I don't like to camp if the temperature is to dip below the freezing 70's, but, that's just me! So here's our weekend! Stay warm while you read, I wasn't warm while I took the pictures!
We started out Saturday afternoon ready to camp. As you can see, the kids were already camping in the back seat, since watching mom and dad pack the truck was so exhausting! Yes, we even took the dog! We were loaded with tons of blankets and jackets, clothes upon clothes, we were set. Or so we thought! When we got there the wind was whipping so hard it bit through your clothes and you couldn't put on enough layers to stay warm. This issue only worsened as the sun went down. Luckily, the wind went down but so did the temps!
The kids were bundled up tight to keep out the chill, Pooter decided that is was much warmer in the truck where she could watch movies. That is where she spent the majority of her time. No, I'm not a bad mom, that is where she wanted to be! Can't blame her!
We build a BIG fire for the big kids and adults and didn't get far from it for 3 days! Can you see them shivering, wondering whose wonderful idea it was to camp in this weather?? Actually, they loved it, until Alyssa got cold and started whining so we put her in the truck too and she and her sister sucked up the heat in the truck watching movies. Austin is too tough for that! He slept in the tent in 20 something degree temps, bundled in jackets pants and shoes in a sleeping bag. He never admitted to being cold.

The girls and I spent the night in the back of my truck where we could run the heat if we needed. The girls sweated while i froze! Shawn joined us the 2nd night and he slept in the front seat and ran the heat. I don't think he could admit he picked a bad weekend to go!

The kids braved to elements to go fishing. Austin couldn't stand being that close to the water and not getting a hook wet. He back lashed the fishing pole 3 times and gave up. But, he got a hook wet and got fishing out of his system and all was right with the world again! We came home Monday and are still trying to get rid of the stuffy noses and frostbitten toeses! I think we will wait until late spring to try this camping thing again, or at least get a hotel room that has good heat!

He did it!!

For those of you who don't know Austin in is Karate. Scratch that, it's not karate it's tae kwan do, not that I can spell that either! This class is very structured and they demand manners and trying your best. Austin has been doing this for about 2 months and is loving every minute of it.

He works very hard to remember the moves and to mind his manners. The weekend before last Austin had belt testing. When you first start out you are a white belt and as your skills and confidence increase so does your rank. The belt colors are white, yellow, red, blue, brown, and black. Before getting the next belt color you get a stripe on your belt. So Austin tested for the yellow stripe. I think I was more nervous than him. He was confident and paid attention to what the instructors asked. The younger guys were tested in small groups for time purposes and so they wouldn't be so nervous. Here they were tested on some combat skills. All these months I've tried to tell him to keep his hands to himself, down the drain! It gets some energy out though! Each boy took a turn.
At the end is a special ceremony where the Grand Master recognizes them and their accomplishments, they turn from him and a Master places the stripe or new belt on them. It is very exciting to watch since Austin was so pleased with himself and I am very proud of him.
Here is Austin with the Grand Master. He is a great guy who gives the kids and adults such great encouragement! He told Austin what a great job he did and too keep trying, keep practicing, and to always do his best!