yellow belts

In July both Matt and Bryce started taekwando!  They both have been having a great time taking classes twice a week and I love watching the classes - they are both learning so much and enjoying it.

In the middle of August they tested for their first belt.  Everyone starts as a white belt, meaning "purity".  They both tested for their yellow belt, meaning "the seed of knowledge".  Bryce tested for his intermediate yellow belt and Matt his solid yellow belt, the youth have an extra step for their belts so they are in the same color for three steps and adults for two steps.

The tests were neat to watch - the families were allowed into the studio to watch and photograph the testing.

Bryce's test was adorable - he did his punches, blocks, a kick, followed new steps, and answered questions.  He knew the information and did the right steps but he chose to switch directions when it wasn't necessary.  He did great during his test and was so proud of himself.  

Matt's test was inspirational, older teenagers and adults were testing for every rank from white to black belt!  The knowledge these people held and were able to give during their tests was amazing!  They did patterns, one steps, sparing, and recited knowledge.  

It was also the first time we watched board breaking.  Board breaking is required for further belt testing but not white and yellow belts, however, Matt also had the opportunity to break a board, something he had not planned on.  He broke the board, and although he tried to contain his excitement, couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.

A week later both Bryce and Matt had their belt ceremonies to receive their new yellow belts.  Their dojo did a great job at awarding the new belts with ceremonies and putting on the new belts.

Now they are onto learning new steps and patterns!
.katherine.

  

fourth of july shirts

I hope everyone has been having a great summer!  Ours has been very busy and full of excitement, as you have probably gathered from our last post.  This month we have been enjoying the warm weather, pool time, and relaxing a bit.  We have really enjoyed not having a full schedule but that will soon pick back up in August!

This year for Independence Day, Bryce and Zoey made their own shirts (and I made one for Oliver)!  They loved every second of being able to make something they would wear.  We started with this tutorial from pinterest: http://cutesycrafts.com/2014/06/diy-eraser-stamped-4th-july-shirt.html  and white shirts/bodysuit, freezer paper, fabric paint, and our hands!

Like in the tutorial, I cut the freezer paper into stars and ironed it onto the shirts shiny side down (I got a simple star image from google images).  The freezer paper is very easy to peal off later but stays on very well to make the negative space of the star.  I also placed cardboard in the shirt so the paint didn't bleed through but it also made it easier for the kids to "dot" on.

The tutorial recommended using pencil erasers, however we didn't have any and we like a little mess with our projects.  To get the dots, the kids used their pinky fingers!  They enjoyed dotting around the front of the shirts and around the star.  It was just messy enough for them to have a lot of fun!

We let the shirts dry for the time recommended on the paint (ours said three hours) then pealed the freezer paper off.  

After taking the paper off, we left them to dry overnight to ensure all the paint was completely dry before wearing them.

The last step was to wear them and look adorable.

These were such an easy and fun project to do with the kids, they took less than thirty minutes and were quick to clean up.  These could easily be done with any shape and colors for a fun project.  Bryce and Zoey loved wearing the shirts and showing them off at the party we went to!

Enjoy making shirts with your little ones!!!
.katherine.

making valentines

A holiday in our house is really just an excuse to make more projects and the kids had a blast making their valentines.  While they usually have some direction for projects, this year I just gave them a big pile of supplies and let them choose how to do their hearts.  They had paper hearts, heart doilies, stickers, foam heart stickers, twine, crayons, and glue sticks!

They had so much fun deciding what would go on each heart and how to decorate them.  While they worked on the hearts we talked about who we would send them to and what valentines were for...they were adorable telling me who we needed to send the valentines to!

They had so much fun and I think the hearts turned out wonderful!

.katherine.

making ornaments

Bryce and Zoey's favorite part of decorating for Christmas is helping with the tree.  They are able to get on Daddy's shoulders to put on the top piece of the tree and the star, they help fluff the branches, they watch with excitement as the lights turn on, and they help decorate with the (unbreakable) ornaments.  This year they were thrilled to see the ornaments we have made in past years.  Each one was carefully examined and discussed, it was so neat to see them excited that we still have these treasured pieces.  Every year we have made a special ornament for our tree and the grandparent's tree - handprints and footprints for the first Christmas, their first paintings, and thumb print string of lights.  It has become something we all look forward to, so this year was no different!

We actually made two sets of ornaments this year - Snow Globes and Ruldoph hand prints.  The kids enjoyed both of them but these two love a good project!

I was inspired by my friend's snow globes last year and wanted to make our own.  Abbey keeps an awesome blog at There's a Dino in the Dryer with great ideas for projects with toddlers and home schooling activities.  She did the globes with her boys last December and after seeing them I was excited to try them this year.  We decided to do four, one for each of us, and put something in them that represented each of us from this year.  To make them we needed clear fillable plastic ball ornaments, fake snow, and our items - we used small toys and a pendant.

I glued the items inside the globe using hot glue while Bryce and Zoey helped hold the ornament.

Then the kids filled them with fake snow.  They loved being able to put the snow in the ornaments and it was a great way to get them to calm down after a crazy morning.  They only put in about five pieces at a time but they were so intent on doing it without help from mom.

To finish them I put a dot of hot glue on the seam at both the top and bottom, snapped the pieces together, and put a ribbon on the top.  The kids were so proud of them and love seeing their toys on the tree.  The only thing I would change if I did them again is to be more aware of how the seam will effect the way you see the toy but overall we enjoyed making them!  It is a great project for little ones to help with and document their interests for the year.

The second ornament we made were Rudolph handprints!  I saw many examples on pinterest and the internet so I took elements from several of them and figured out what supplies we already had to make ours.  For this ornament we needed clear glass ball ornaments, paint markers, brown paint (I used acrylic but any that will stay on glass will work), a paint brush (a paint sponge would also work), googly eyes, pom poms, hot glue, and a filler for the ornament.

 

I started by painting each kids hand, minus the thumb, with the brown paint.

Then they held the ornament so the paint transferred the hand print on it.  It took some focus to make sure we didn't smear the prints but I think they did a great job.

After we were all cleaned up and the paint was dry (you can use a hair dryer to assist with this step) the kids picked which eyes and noses they wanted to use and placed them on the dots of hot glue I put on the ornament.

We could have been finished at this step, they looked adorable.

Even though they looked great, I wanted to make the Rudolph pop a little more and make sure the names I would write on the back didn't distract from the Rudolph so I stuffed each ornament with poly-fil stuffing, although if you had extra "snow" from the globe ornaments that would also work really well.

I finished them by writing each kid's name on the back along with the year.  These were such a great way to document the kid's hand size this year.  I love how they turned out and I hope the grandparents will enjoy them just as much!

Enjoy making your own ornaments this year and let me know how yours turn out! 

.katherine.