Belt Ceremony

This past Saturday was the belt ceremony for tae kwon do. I had to share the picture that is below. I took it right after the Black Belt had tied Katie's new 1st degree red belt around her waist and Katie turned to where Rick was standing. I was fortunate enough to click the shutter just at that moment and got a great picture.

Testing and Puking

This past Saturday Katie tested to advance to 1st degree red belt in tae kwon do. She did pretty good on her form and one steps, but her kicks seemed a little off. After testing, we went to McDonald's for a celebratory lunch, which has become a tradition. You may be thinking, big whoop, McDonald's but we make a concerted effort to make dining at McDonald's an exception and not a rule. I did not grow up with fast food restaurants and have never gotten the hang of it, fortunately. Anyway, Katie considers it a treat especially when she gets to romp in the germ area . . . er . . . play area. Later that afternoon while Katie and I were straightening up Katie's room, Katie complained about not feeling well. A ploy to get out of cleaning? Perhaps, but she had been keeping her room pretty clean for the last seven months or so. I kept on going and Katie laid down on her floor and fell asleep. Then out of the blue, she stood up went into the hallway and puked. After I got her to the guest bathroom to finish, got her snuggled in bed and cleaned the carpet,  Katie informed me, "I am never eating McDonald's again." Well, guess we'll have to find a new after-tae-kwon-do-belt-testing tradition.

 Katie this past Saturday before testing. Not the best pose or picture. Her leg is bent and I gave her a toe-ectomy with my camera.

Back in the beginning when she was a white belt, the first belt, with one itty-bitty strip. Katie is in the middle of the picture.

Katie, three years old, and a white belt with Mr. Ben. Katie appears to be saying, "Huh?"

Bringing You Up To Date

This post is composed of pictures that highlight moments from the last three months.

Rick, Katie and I drove over to Rick's parents in Florida to spend Christmas and New Year's. (Actually Rick drove and we rode.) We wanted to do a road trip just because we usually fly.

 Christmas Eve. Katie putting a smile on Rick's face.

Rick and Katie Christmas Eve

Katie's Christmas portrait

Katie and her Auntie Linda Christmas morning. Whatever they were talking about must have been fascinating.

Katie and her big Christmas present, a trampoline. Do you think she was excited?

One day, my mother-in-law Carol, Katie and I drove down to Weeki Wachee Springs to enjoy the state park. There were a so many peacocks running around the park.

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park is known for their mermaids. There is an underground theater where the mermaids put on a show about Ariel. It was such a cult classic, 1950's.

During the mermaid show, this big, ol' manatee came floating along.

Katie and her Great Aunt Naomi playing Yahtzee. Katie is unbelievably lucky in dice. She has no problem throwing straights, six-of-a-kinds, full houses.

On the drive home we stopped at Battleship Park in Mobile, Alabama. In the harbor they have the USS Alabama which was in service in the Pacific during WWII. It is now a museum of sorts. You can tour the battleship at your leisure. I took oodles of pictures, but I won't overtax you with those. Rick commented that it reminded him of the missile base, and it really did to me also. Apparently our armed forces only have a few paint colors from which to choose and all branches have the same interior decorator.

Katie at one of the front gun positions. As a side note, the men that manned the gun posts did not sit on metal, folding chairs. They were there because earlier a ceremony took place on the battleship. Did you know that the main deck is a popular wedding spot? Also, I was surprised how many Japanese and Japanese-Americans were touring the battleship.

Also at Battleship Park, there is a submarine, the USS Drum. We were also able to tour the inside of the sub, but I didn't take any pictures of the inside. I was too busy gawking.

This scrape on Katie's arm is not like any other scrape. It is the first of many injuries that she received while riding her bike without training wheels. Rick had been working with Katie on riding her bike without the little white wheels, and it seemed to be slow going. Then one day he hung onto her shirt as she pedaled up the driveway. By the time they got to the gate, she was pedaling and staying up by herself. On her trip back down to the house, she was flying. Typical Katie. You cannot get Katie to do anything new until she thinks she's ready, be it potty training, learning the alphabet, or riding a two-wheeled bike. And when she is ready, she takes to it like she has been doing it her whole life.

The plastic bubbles on Katie's head are the type that you make yourself by smushing some plastic liquid on the end of a straw and blowing. As for the ladder that is the one that goes up to her loft bed. Other than that, I cannot explain this picture

Katie making a cake.

There's the short, pictorial version of the last three months. Now let's see if I can keep up on this blog.

More Baby Steps

We have had some progress with Hobo. Katie has been able to pet Hobo on a somewhat regular basis, but he still shies away from adults. Last night I did an experiment to test a theory. I sat down in the grass, he would try to approach me. When I stood up, he left the front yard. He doesn't like people lording over him and that explains why Katie has been able to pet him. More baby steps, but he is getting there.

Two Wheels and a New Belt

This weekend Rick took the training wheels off of Katie's bike. She pedaled up to the gate and back, but Rick had to keep his hand on her shoulders so she won't keel over. She has not ridden her bike since, but she is waiting for Rick to come home. Apparently she doesn't trust me to keep her upright.

Off we go!

Katie received her High Blue Belt at the Belt Ceremony on Monday. She is back to making progress in tae kwon do. During the school year getting Katie to go to tae kwon do was a bear. She usually didn't want to go basically because she was exhausted from the seven hour school days. Now that it is summer vacation, she is roaring to go to class and during class she is enthusiastic and strong. I hope it lasts once school begins.

Removing her Blue Belt before she received her High-Blue Belt.

Other than the above two Katie items, there are quite a few other exciting things going on which I will save for another post. So I'll leave you in suspense with that cliff hanger like they did when J.R. was shot on Dallas.

Better Than I Thought

Today was the last day of basketball camp. I wanted to get some pictures of Katie playing, so I left the house a 1/2 hour early. I am glad I did because certificates were awarded for participation in the camp, as well as for first, second and third place in three categories. I am very proud to announce that Katie got 2nd place in Jump Shots and 2nd place in Lay-Ups for her age group. Rankings were determined by the number of baskets that the player made during the week in the noted category. I guess she is better than I thought. Because of the awards ceremony I did not get any action shots of Katie, but I did get a few non-action shots.

This is the only shot that I got. Shortly after I took this, the coach called the players to center court for the awards ceremony.

Katie showing me her participation certificate.

Her certificates.

The Board Breaker, The Star and Super Girl

This past Saturday Katie tested for her high-blue belt in tae kwon do. She did pretty good especially when it came to breaking the board with an axe kick. They have the kids practice on a kicking bag first and once the kids are spot on and hyped up, the kid is instructed to move to the person holding the board. Katie made such a fast transition from the bag to the board that instructor holding the board barely had time to get it in position. You can kind of see it in this video.

This week Katie is attending basketball camp at Anson Middle School. She has never touched a basketball before and it showed on her first day. Monday, I watched the last few minutes of the session and all I could think was "she ain't like Mike." When I asked her if she had fun, she didn't seem that enthusiastic. Turns out that she was dead tired from running around for three hours. Anyhoodle, after camp we journeyed to Wal-Mart to purchase a basketball and after dinner we practiced outside on the missile silo. We were practicing on the sidewalk by the house, but Katie said she needed more room and said, "Let's go to the missile silo." (I don't know why hearing her say "missile silo" or "missile base" cracks me up. I guess because she is the only 5-year old that can say that.) While playing on top of the silo, I realized that she is actually a lot better than I previously viewed. 

Anyone who knows Katie knows that she adores being the center of attention, which explains why she wants to dance on stage in front of a full audience all by herself. One of her often spoken phrases is "Watch me." A few days ago I walked into the living room and found this.

Since Rick and I were busy, Katie created for herself an adoring audience that got to watch her dance and sing. Her song of choice was Total Eclipse of the Heart which is her current favorite.

The next two pictures show Katie's purchase from Wal-Mart. Katie received some money from my parents and sister for "graduating" from kindergarten. (Thanks Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Maryel!) One item she choose was a cap and mask set. Here she is modeling her Super Girl outfit which she has actually worn out in public. I got to tell you that the sight of her running through the house with the cape flowing behind her makes me laugh.

Last item of interest is from the same shopping trip to Wal-Mart. Katie wanted to get two items with her graduation money. The first item she picked out was the cape and mask set and the second was a little Barbie mermaid doll. When we passed the book aisle, Katie found a book that she wanted. She only had money for two of the items so I told her that she had to make a choice. She thought long and hard then finally said, "Reading is more important than playing with toys." and put the mermaid back. That made me happy. Ciao.

Making Space on the Camera

I have had so much going on; a camera full of pictures to match and a crazy long blog post.

First off Katie's ballet recital was this past weekend. It took me 1 1/2 hours to do her hair and make up, but not because they were complicated but because Katie gets bored and wiggly. Have you ever tried to put mascara on a wiggly child? For the recital she was a Woodland Fairy and danced to a slow song as opposed to a cutesy song. She really is elegant and more expressive in the slower dances. Dress rehearsal was Friday night and the audience attended Saturday night. I may be subjective, but Katie did a great job. During rehearsal we can take pictures, but not during the real performance, so the following photos are from Friday night. Excuse the blur, but in the dark theater my flash is a little useless.

Such a serious ballerina.

This picture makes me laugh. None of the ballerinas are doing the same thing. However, what is hilarious are the 3-4 year old ballerinas.They have no qualms about yelling directions to the other dancers on the stage. One little girl cracked me up because she was very concerned about staying on her marked spot. Most of the time she was bent over, looking at the floor and trying to find her dot.

Two out of four is not bad.

The following photos are from performance night.

Posing before the show. Kate is in the tunnel that leads to the stage. The tunnel is actually underneath the left side of the audience.

Still in the tunnel but this time doing a leap. She got some pretty good air.

Curtain call.

 Outside the Paramount with the bouquet of flowers that Rick and I gave her. I was trying to keep the flowers a secret, but Kate saw them in the frig. So naturally I lied to her and said they were for Rick. She bought it.

 Posing after the performance. This picture shows how beautifully she does the classic ballerina hand position.

 A rare thing, Kate and I in a picture together.

 Daddy's Li'l Doodlebug.

 Doodlebug kissing her daddy.

One more pose and we are done.

Monday I had a MOPS brunch to attend. It is when we say good-bye to steering team and table leaders who are leaving and welcoming the steering team for the next year. I wasn't looking forward to the brunch. I didn't want to cry and was fearful that I would blubber. The was pretty sure I was going to cry during the blessing. The blessing is when you stand in front of the room with a Mentor and they read a personalized blessing that they wrote for you. The only thing that saved me is that the mentor that I am closest to did not deliver the blessing. It was actually a new Mentor so I didn't feel the same connection. After the ceremony, I stopped to talk to my favorite Mentor and I cried. I high-tailed it out of there before I got to the point of uncontrollable tears. Leaving MOPS is bittersweet. I truly feel that I have outgrown MOPS especially since I am no longer a mother of a preschooler. However, I am very sad to lose the regular contact with other moms. When it comes down to it, MOPS was the only place that I got to talk with other women. What am I going to do now?

Yesterday was Field Day at Kate's school. During Field Day the kids participate in contests like tug-of-war, transporting an egg in a spoon, etc. At one point it started to rain, but it stopped as soon as I got to my car to retrieve my umbrella. Kate wasn't in the best mood. She was very weepy and cried, cried, cried about not winning her heat in the foot race. Rick likes that Kate takes winning seriously; however, we are concerned about how she gives up if she is not winning. No one got a trophy or ribbon for winning a contest, but the recognition from the crowd was a reward that Katie craved. Here's Field Day.

Field Day. Katie looking a less than excited.

Another contest. Flipping a little bean bag on a Frisbee.

Hula-hooping. The little boy in the foreground had told Katie, "Don't cry. Watch me." The little boy's grandma also encouraged Katie to pick up her hula-hoop when it hit the ground and to try again. They were supposed to sit down once the hula hoop went down. I wasn't too happy about the grandma "ok-ing" Katie to cheat.

Tug of War

More tugging.

The egg in the spoon transport. The fun was taken out of the game because the kids had to carry wooden eggs. But I can understand not wanting to deal with the egg mess.

Foot race.

I have been taking pictures of my outdoor flowers. Last year I did not clean all of my planters out and lo and behold some of my petunias came back. One pot of last year's petunias looks better than the fresh petunias that I bought this year.

I had bought Katie a first grade workbook that she can do throughout the summer. One of the instructions said to draw a box around the word "the". I had to look at it for awhile before I understood.

 See instruction #3

Katie's boxes around the word "the" in the third line. They are cardboard boxes with the flaps open. Bless her little heart.

Hobo is still trying to conquer his fears. I noticed that when my in-laws were here he went into hiding more often than usual. He doesn't welcome new faces. This past weekend, Kate and I were outside tending to my flowers when Hobo walked up to us and let Kate pet him. I had to hold jealous Cody by the collar otherwise he would have driven off Hobo. Here's Hobo.

 

 The hanging basket of flowers that my mother-in-law bought me and Cody eating grasshoppers. ("Oh, crunchy Scooby snack.")

One last picture before I go.

Katie and I before dipping in the pool.

And that's all she wrote. Ciao.