The Mushroom

Nathan loves gymnastics.  He is always doing forward rolls, dives, handstands, you-name-it, all over our house.  We recently bought him a mat so he could at least do it with a little more safety.  But without equipment like he uses in the gym, it's hard for him to really practice his skills.  We looked into buying him a mushroom for at home use.  Wow!  Talk about expensive!  We gave up on that.  But one day while doing a little research on the computer, I came across a website where a man had built his own mushroom.  It turns out many others have also built their own to use for practice at home.  So my very handy husband went to Home Depot last night and wandered the aisles, formulating ideas in his mind on how he was going to construct one.  He purchased some supplies and I picked up the padding and fabric covering this morning and in one afternoon/evening, he and Nathan constructed a really awesome mushroom.  Nathan has been practicing on it ever since - while watching Olympics coverage of the Men's Gymnastics.  Doesn't get any better! 

 

Another Successful Belt Test

Alex had another promotion test a couple of weeks ago.  He was so nervous because he was going to have to break the board by punching through it with his fist.  In the end, he did a fantastic job on the entire test, and even broke the board on his first attempt.  I think he was the happiest he's ever been after a belt test.  Great job, Alex!!!

I love the serious expression on his face... or is it pain? ;)

Master Kim giving Alex his new belt in class

Congratulations, Alex!  On your way to Black Belt!!!

Peter Pan 2012

This year Amy's ballet studio put on a musical production of Peter Pan.  I was so impressed by the talent of all the performers, especially those in the main roles.  The whole show was such a joy to watch, and if you include the rehearsals, I got to watch it FOUR times!  Amy performed in both the Saturday and Sunday performances because of her musical theater class.  I was worried how she would do with two dress rehearsals and two performances all in one weekend.  What is so amazing is that she ended up sick on Friday night with fever and stomach issues that lasted through the weekend, and yet she still made it through her performances.  She didn't want to miss any of it!  I'm so proud of my little girl!!!

Ballet/Tap Costume

Musical Theater Costume

Friday Night Rehearsal

Peter Pan Flying!

Amy's Tap (Wildcat) Dance

She's the one standing over the two fighting kitties on the left

Musical Theater (Creatures of Neverland); Amy is second on the right of Peter Pan

Amy's Ballet (Catfish) Dance; she's front, left

After Saturday's real performance and feeling better!

Cub Scout Bridging 2012

On the same night as Amy's ballet awards, the boys had their cub scout bridging ceremony.  I now have two Webelos!!!  And in less than a year, Alex will be a Boy Scout.  So hard to believe!  Congratulations, Alex and Nathan! 

As predicted...

Amy lost her other tooth.  Not even 10 hours after she lost the first one!  So now we will have her photo from musical theater missing one tooth (taken today), and her photo for ballet missing both her front teeth (to be taken the day after tomorrow). Nice.  At least we'll have it on record.  And doesn't she look cute?  :)

Lego Success!

Alex has been wanting this Lego set for a long time.  He got it for his birthday and finally completed it today.  Really cool! 

Just in Time

We knew it was coming.  It was just a matter of time.  And today, during lunch, Amy lost one of her two front teeth.  Just in time for pictures today and her upcoming ballet performance.  Her other front tooth is also loose.  It may make it in time, too.  This seems to be the look for many of the girls in her ballet class, so she'll fit right in now.  :)

Awards Ceremony

Amy's dance studio holds a fancy awards ceremony every year where all of the students are recognized for their achievements.  Amy received two medals for completing another level of ballet/tap and her first year of musical theater.  Unfortunately, my camera doesn't take clear pictures from far, so those taken at the event are a little blurry.

Great job, Amy!!!

Nathan's New Bike

Nathan loves to be outside and he especially loves to ride his bike.  He rode his bike so much he finally wore it out.  The chain is always coming off and after a recent fall he went to riding a very old, way too small bike that we've had in the garage.  So yesterday we agreed to pay half on a new bike.  He and Bill went and picked one out last night and boy was he excited to bring it home.  And today he is one happy boy!

While outside, however, he made a discovery...  Have you ever gone out to find one of these lying in your driveway?

The kids are fascinated, but I say "Ewwww!"

Back Again

It's amazing how much time passes before I get around to posting.  I'm starting to sound like a broken record! 

On Mother's Day my mom mentioned how long it's been since I posted to my blog.  Then today Bill told me how he went to look at the blog and enjoyed going back and seeing all of the pictures.  I feel so convicted!  So I logged into Blogger, though not easily; it took awhile since I could no longer remember my password!  Once finally logged on I discovered that I had two posts in draft form that I never posted.  One, the baseball post regarding LAST YEAR'S season, I went ahead and posted.  The other...  well, there was no point in posting it.  It was an update that no longer was valid.  This post will replace that one. 

So let's see....  Here we are, over a year since my last post.  We are almost finished with another year of homeschooling.  Alex is finishing up his fourth grade year, Nathan his third grade year, and my little Amy is finishing first grade.  Amazing.   Alex is now a red belt in taekwondo and is still loving it.  Nathan is now in the gold class for boys gymnastics and is ever driven by his desire to make the boy's competitive team.  Amy is about to finish her 4th year of ballet and 1st year of musical theater and has her end of the year performance coming up in a couple of weeks.  They are doing Peter Pan this year, and for once I'm going to watch from the audience (I've been a backstage mom every other year). 

We are also about to finish up spring baseball. Amy opted out this year.  Maybe she didn't like being the only girl on her team last year. ;-)  We didn't return to our regular league though.  This year we participated in the homeschool baseball league.  So different!  For one thing, they don't make up games.  If you miss for some reason or the games get canceled due to rain, then that game just didn't happen.  Games and practices are also only on Saturdays, so we've actually missed quite a bit of baseball for one reason or another.  In essence, it barely feels like we had a baseball season this year!  But of course, it was way less stressful than previous years and didn't take over our entire spring.  And the kids (and I) enjoyed seeing friends and people we knew at the games.  It made the experience more enjoyable.  Still, part of me missed the excitement and craze of the other league...  a very small, part of me. Next year, who knows.  If the boys want to continue with the homeschool league, then we sure won't argue.  But if they want to go back to the old league...  well, we'll see.

This past year both boys participated in drama classes taught by some amazing actors.  They both learned a lot and surprised us in their ability to perform on stage, something that always terrified me.  Alex had quite a lot of homework in his class and is not too interested in repeating the experience.  But Nathan says he wants to continue.  Hopefully he doesn't change his mind if they give him homework. ;)

There is a lot more I could write about since quite a bit happens in a year, but I think I've said enough.  I'd rather update with pictures now. :)  So here we are, over a year in pictures:

Alex turned 9

Bill bought a boat

Pumpkin Patch 2011

Halloween 2011

Amy turned 6 and spent her birthday at the Texas Renaissance Festival again

Nathan turned 8

Nutcracker 2011

I got a piano for Christmas!!!



Bill bought a new truck

Nathan won 2 trophies in the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby race

Alex won 3 trophies in the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby race, including fastest car in the Pack!

Bill took Amy to the ballet Father/Daughter Valentine Dance

Ginger grew

Nathan participated in the 2012 Gymfest for gymnastics

Alex turned 10

With the cub scout bridging ceremony, Amy's ballet awards ceremony, Amy's Peter Pan performance, basketball camp, VBS, and Twilight Camp all just around the corner, there should be plenty to post about.  Let's just hope I do!