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.

mardi gras

Mardi Gras, in case you somehow weren't aware, is a pretty big deal here in Louisiana.  We have parades almost every weekend for four weeks and people come from across the nation to see them.  We had our own visitors for the festivities this year...Gaga and Grandpa!

This year we went to the Krewe of Gemini parade on Valentine's Day!  It was so much fun to see how excited the kids were about the parade and all the festivities.  They remembered the fun from the year before and were so excited to be able to watch the parade again.

We set up a spot along the parade route with our neighbors and work friends.  Then we hung out and tailgated all afternoon until the parade came by!

We were further down the route this year which meant we got to see the parade at night.  The kids loved waving at the people on the floats, dancing to all the music, and catching beads!  While we had a blast, the kids were SO tired by the time it finished!

If you want to see the parades next year come visit!!!
.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.

georgia weekend

We never do things last minute....and especially not trips!!!  Except we did...we decided on Thursday that for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend we would to Georgia to see my grandparents, parents, and some extended family!  It was WONDERFUL!  

We were spoiled by getting to spend time with so many family members!  We spent time playing outside, went to a flee market, playing music, doing puzzles, and watching the play-off games.

We were thrown a baby shower by my Dad's sisters!  They gave us so many great things for the baby, Bryce, and Zoey!

It was a great relaxing trip and we enjoyed getting to spend the weekend with such special people and great to get away for a few days!
.katherine.