May 2012

It's been a while! Here is a quick synopsis of what we did in May:

Syd tested for a passed her brown belt test in Tae Kwon Do. This is her with the board she BROKE WITH HER FEET! My kids is so cool!

Bowing in to her instructor (she calls him Master) before the test.

Going in for the kill. They get to chose from a number of different moves to break the boards. She chose a side kick. I have seen kids break boards with their elbows too. Pretty cool stuff.

Foot going through the boards! Do you ever have those moments as a parent when you just want to shout "That is MY KID!!!" I had one of those moments here. I was so proud of her! This technique was by fat the part oft he test she was most stressed about. They can have several attempts if they need them to actually break the boards. Syd broke her boards on the first try.

They also spar with another member of the class. Here is Syd sparring with her friend Owen. They have been in class together for years and have worked up through the belt testing together. It's fun to watch them because they are not afraid to go after each other.

Syd getting in a good kick here.

Bowing to each other after sparring. One thing I love about TKD is the respect. Yes, they fight with each other, and at moments even get irritated with their opponent but afterwards they always show respect and bow to each other. Everyone is good friends and very supportive of each other.

Part of the testing is called Forms. Syd has to show she had basic skills and understanding of certain movements called Forms. These are fun to watch, kind of like a dance.
We are so proud of Syd and all the hard work she has put into TKD! That, and it's nice to know your girl can handle herself! :)

Shawn and I ran the Health Days 5K together. We finished just under 30 minutes, which was our goal. It was fun to run together. Shawn said he had to work at it to keep up with me going up the canyon, and he definitely pushed me going back down, so I guess that means we made a good team!

Syd took part in a history fair at school. She did her report on Stonewall Jackson. We had a good time putting together a costume for her. The best part was making my 5th grader look like she had a 5 o'clock shadow.

Brynn had her annual ballet recital. She did great as always. She had two performances. The first was jazz.

The second was ballet. I loved the ballet number. They did some really fun stuff with their fans. Good job, Brynny!

Here are the girls on the last day of school for 2012. They had a great year with fun teachers and friends.

April 2012

April was a very busy month for us. We had lots of things go on, so prepare for picture overload.

Claire turned 4! Hooray! We were just going to have a little family party for her but she proceeded to invite all of her little friends to a party. Smart, sneaky girl. So we had a party with her friends. So at our party we had Milly, Lily, Ellie, and Claire. Hee, hee. That's didn't get confusing at all.

We had lots of fun decorating cupcakes. Those little girls really got into the sprinkles. We also played with Play-Dough, had a little lunch at a princess table, and opened presents. It was a very fun time. I was seriously worn out by the time we were done.

Bobbi also had a birthday this month. She is 7 years old now. That has to be some kind of record for me and cats. Growing up cats were the disposable pet. I bet we had no fewer than 20 different cats when I was a kid. Bobbi has just stuck around. I think the older she gets the smarter she gets. She doesn't wander very far from home any more. We sure love our kitty cat!

We had lots of fun with family over Easter weekend. Here is Grandma Julie with all the grand kids minus our Alaska group. (We miss you Savannah and Gabe!) Aren't those two babies that Grandma is holding cute?!

Claire and Jolie had lots of fun on an Easter Egg hunt in Grandma's yard. These two get along so well. It is fun to have them play together.

All the cousins having a ride in the hammock. It looks like Brynn is thinking "Hey, how did I get roped into being the one that has to push?"

Coloring Easter eggs. Grandma boiled 8 dozen(!) eggs so there were plenty to go around. The kids got to color as many eggs as they wanted.

Claire and Mommy getting in on the coloring fun.

Derek making beautiful creations.

Hi Ashley! :)

Jon, being......Jon.

Aunt Becca having a good time. Bec, what are you doing here? I don't even know. :)

Babies love to eat eggs. Last year Jolie chomped down on an eggs, shell and all. This year it was Miles' turn. Yum, yum.

Katie coloring her egg.

Brynn and Syd getting in on the action.

We had a small family party for Claire on her birthday. (it happened to fall on Easter this year.) She did a great job blowing out her candles.

Of course she had a Hello Kitty cake.

She got a Hello Kitty umbrella and a HK dress. Funny story about the umbrella: I bought it 6 weeks before her birthday. I was so proud of my find, and I hid it in the sewing room closet the minute I got home. The very next day Claire comes running into my room carrying the umbrella yelling "Look what I found, Mommy, a present for me!" Darn kid! So I told her it was a secret for her birthday and we put it back in the closet. About once a week she would tell me that she knew a secret about her birthday but she wouldn't tell anyone...and she didn't. She even acted surprised when she opened the umbrella. Good job, Claire! I may have let her play with it one time before her birthday.

She got a HK mug form Grandma and Grandpa to eat her cereal in. 

Opening more presents.

We all went to church together on Easter day. Afterwards we took some pictures of everyone. Here they are. I am going to state the obvious. This is me and Shawn.

Our little family. Look at my cute girls and handsome husband!

Syd; I love her freckles and red hair.

Claire: She loved a lamby button we found so I sewed it on her dress. So cute!

Brynn, Love her smile.

Cute girls.

The Anderson family that was all in town. Don't we look so nice and respectable?

This pic is much more accurate to what we are in real life. I loved this pic: prepping for pictures.

I took this picture of all the grown-ups taking pictures of the kids. it is like the paparazzi. Silly grown-ups.

I hope you all had a great April, now that it is almost June. Bring on summer!

March 2012

It is now May and I am posting about March. Sigh. Oh well, here we go. Get ready for lots of pictures.

 Some foot drawing done on an early morning by Sydney and Dad. Nobody even got kicked. I have really ticklish feet. Don't ask me to explain. It is a Shawn and Syd humor thing. Sometimes those two are on their own planet.

 Claire doing a one-footed trick. Very cool.

 Syd got buried in the sand at the park. I am pretty sure it was her idea. I'm not surprised. Can I just say how much I LOVE my girls' friends. They are such good kids.

 Up to her neck. Silly girl.

 Brynn did thes drawing of her and me a while ago. It had been hanging on my bedroom door but was getting pretty tattered. So we took a picture of it before we sent it on it's way. Very cute.

 A drawing from Claire. 

 Another drawing from Brynn. This one is not so sweet as the other one. I think she was getting out some pent-up aggression here.

 Our chickies learned how to get out of their little home. They love to perch on the edge and watch us go about our business. They also love to poop on my floor. Time to move them out the shed.

 We got some awesome shirts for St. Patrick's Day. Hooray for CrossFit.  I dare anyone to pinch these girls. While Claire and Brynn were not sure what was quite so funny about these shirts, Syd could not stop giggling. Hee Hee!

We ran in the local Shamrock Shuffle with all out mates from CrossFit. Shawn did the 1 mile with the girls and I did the 5K. Syd get 2nd place in her age division. Shawn got 3rd place in his age division (while pushing a stroller), and Brynn got 5th place in her age division. I was so proud of all of them! Go Team Anderson!

I didn't get a ribbon like everyone else, but I have this awesome picture instead. I am grace and beauty when I run.  Right.

Stretch started acting really strange this month. We thought she might be egg-bound so we gave her a steam bath...in a cooler....in our bathtub. Come to find out she is not egg bound but broody, meaning she wants to sit on, and hatch some eggs. So she got the spend the night inside in a sauna for nothing. It was probably good for her skin. Don't her eyes looked refreshed? It sure made my house smell like a barn.

We hope you all had a great March also, even if it was a while ago. :)