Jake's Karate Graduation

Not sure I can write this without shedding a tear.  3 months ago Brian had the brilliant idea to sign Jake up for karate.  I was not sold on karate and the idea of spending 45 minutes 4 days a week at the studio was not appealing.  Sure enough little by little he has improved and earned stripes on his belt.  They asked him to join black belt training and he got a new uniform with patches.  Saturday he had a graduation.  He found out he was getting a new belt (white with an orange stripe).  He was beyond excited!  

So we show up and they line the kids up and do drills.  The bigger kids show off their moves and it is really fun.  The instructor told me they would be breaking boards but honestly in my mind I was thinking the plastic things they play with sometimes.  Oh no.  Every single student would be breaking an actual piece of wood.  I really thought there was no way Jake would do this.  They didn't practice it or even tell them about it in class.

   

Finally it was Jake's turn and he walked right up there.  Kicked once and didn't do it.  Then he stepped back and broke that board.  It was amazing!  I am pretty sure Brian and I were the proudest parents in the room.  And I got it all on 7 seconds of video!

Awesome job Jake!

Grace is Walking

Grace is officially mobile.  It's taken her over a month to really get going but now she walks about 75% of the time.  The other 25% she crawls...she knows crawling is a much quicker way to get away from Julianna. She also thinks the ball popper is hilarious.  She throws her arms up every time it starts.  So cute!

Easter

Easter was kind of overshadowed this year by Grace's 1st birthday.  But the Easter Bunny managed to visit and leave the kids some goodies and hid even more eggs.  Just what we needed...more candy!  So after church Jake and Julianna scoured the yard for hidden eggs.  

On a side note: in typical Julianna fashion she had on pants that were too big (so they kept falling down) and her Cinderella glass slippers.  I can still hear my mom laughing hysterically every time she bent to pick up and egg and her rear end stuck out.  Memories.

In spite of being under the weather Brian made a delicious lunch for us.  It was such a fun weekend...but now I need a vacation!

Grace is 1!!!

Our sweet Grace turned 1 on Saturday.  How fast the year has gone.  She is such a precious little baby...or I guess she is really a toddler now.  She has started walking a few steps here and there.  I can't wait for her to walk...at 24 pounds she is quite a load to carry!  Lately she has been under the weather.  A week ago her eye was goopy so I took her to the doctor for what I thought was pink eye.  Not so much.  Double ear infections, a cold and her sinuses were so clogged she got an eye infection.  My poor baby!  But after passing the eye infection to her sister (guess that will teach her to keep her hands to herself) she was on the road to recovery.  Until the day after her birthday she started getting spots.  By Monday covered head to toe!  Evidently an allergic reaction to the antibiotic.  Just can't catch a break!  But through it all she always had a smile on that darling face!

Luckily, on her birthday she was well and we had quite a celebration!  Grandma, Poppy and Aunt Lyndsay came for the weekend.  Saturday we were up bright and early opening presents and eating donuts.  Jake had a t-ball game and Nana and Papa Chuck came to watch as well.  Jake said he did awesome.  We quickly went home to nap for the big event.

Since it was Easter weekend, of course, we had an egg hunt.  So all the kids ran all over the place hunting eggs so carefully hidden I think we may be finding them for years to come!  Grace just sat in the yard much more interested in the orange grass in her basket than the eggs.  Whatever floats your boat birthday girl!

Finally it was time for cake.  She wasn't sure about it at first but after a little taste she was hooked.  She licked those fingers and smashed that cake.  Icing was all over her sweet face and she loved it!

What a wonderful day it was.  We truly appreciate all of our family and friends who joined as we celebrated this special gift from God.  I can't tell you how she has blessed our lives with her smiles and laughter.  So thank you to everyone and Happy Birthday Grace!