F.O.U.R.T.E.E.N.

I can't fathom the fact that I have a fourteen year old today.

Nick is turning fourteen and it's hard for me to swallow. Only 4 more years and that kid is an adult. Not cool. But I will tell you what is cool. Nick. And here are 14 reasons why...

1. You'd be hard pressed to find a person who deeply cares for animals the way Nick does.
2. He will give me a hug anywhere, anytime. Even in the middle of the Zumiez store yesterday... Not many teens would do that!
3. He can kick higher than his head.
4. He loves mixing food to come up with strange concoctions... case in point- egg nog and chocolate sauce. (that particular experiment was a success in his eyes)
5. He is a stellar big brother!
6. He is very coordinated and can learn how to do things at a drop of a hat. (Don't let all of the urgent care visits fool you.)
7. He's got the coolest hair evah! Ladies always stop me to comment on his reddish wavy locks.
8. He can launch himself over hurdles without any trouble and that's no easy feat at his height.
9. He can cook up a mean batch of top ramen.
10. He's a smart cookie.
11. If the world's population had just a smidgen of his caring and thoughtful ways the world would be a much better place.
12. He LOVES little kids, and is so kind and in tune with their wants and needs. They gravitate to him.
13. He is an artist. An amazing artist.
14. He's becoming quite the practical joker lately... and we all know I love a good practical joke!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest 14 year old walking the planet! Hope your day is filled with laughs, more snow flurries, and lots of chocolate! I love you kiddo!

Happy Halloween... (better late than never)

Happy Halloween 2010

This Halloween was a little bitter sweet for me.

Nick has outgrown trick or treating and I don't like it. He was perfectly happy with just staying at home inside the warm house to help pass out candy to the current wave of trick-or-treaters. He changed his tune a little after he saw the haul Nolan came home with... Nolan's pillow case was HEAVY and practically draggin' on the ground. Luckily, I was able to remedy Nick's disappointment by offering him all of the leftover candy we didn't hand out.


Here's old man Nolan.
People constantly asked if he was Einstein or the professor from Back to the Future. :)
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We also attended a fun Halloween party at my sister-in-law's home that weekend.
Costumes were mandatory and a good time was had by all!



This is my niece, Jessica. AKA Sue Sylvester from Glee. I voted for her to win the costume contest...I thought she was a great Sue because she kept calling everyone losers all night!

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Check out Shannon's spider web eyes. CREEPY, yet very cool.

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Claude the scary dude on the left and our pal Gary the zombie killer on the right.

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Here we have two storm troopers... Ben on the left and Jay on the right.


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Oh boy. This is what I like to call "baby's got back". This get-up that I borrowed from my dear friend, Brenda, helped me win first prize in the costume contest. Oh yeah!!!

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Yup, that's the love of my life right there.
Connor dressed up like a taekwon-hobo. It's not cheap to have two kids in taekwondo, especially at belt test time...so it seemed rather appropriate!
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Isn't halloween fun? Life can be too serious too often, so I say celebrate!

Second Degree Black Belts Under Their Belts

This past 4 weeks is a blurr... Very busy around these parts, so much so, that I have neglected blogging about life lately. Still busy, but I'm feeling the need to share what's been going on 'round our homestead.

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First off, Nick and Nolan have reached another milestone on the taekwondo front. They've worked hard and earned their 2nd degree black belts! Let me hear a "woot woot"!

Then (2004)

(Look how cute! Nolan is even sporting his bowl hair cut... I loved that hair cut.)

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Now

October 2010

(no more bowl cut... just a nice wrist brace to support the injury he sustained merely 24 hours before during P.E. class...)

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Poor gimpy, had to sit out during the self defense portion of the test. Hard to protect yourself when you can't grab the intruder attacking you.
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Nick's attacker was this lady, and he seemed to have absolutely no problem taking her down.

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Nolan should be extra proud of his ability to break through 5 different boards because he had to use his left hand for two of the boards and kicked the other three. I was amazed! Way to go Nolan!

(We have video of them breaking their boards, but for some reason I can't upload onto this blog...you'll have to check it out on facebook when I get the chance to load it there. It's pretty darned cool!)

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Each student was required to write an oral report to present in class. Second degree testers had to write about "respect" and first degree testers talked about "How taekwondo has affected their lives". I think this was my favorite part of the whole test. Nick and Nolan did a wonderful job and some of the other students had very touching things to say. I have no doubt the instructors really liked this part of the test too, it was so nice to hear how the students appreciated their teachers' dedication and hard work.

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I'm proud of my kids for working so hard towards this goal. They have spent countless hours in the dojo learning new skills and mastering old ones. I wish I had a fraction of the coordination, balance, and strength they have from learning taekwondo over the past 6 years. Way to go boys! You rock! Be proud of yourselves, not many people can say they've got a 2nd degree black belt...it's quite an honor.