Latrobe

Hannah and Andrew had another Taekwondo tournament on the 14th of November. Natalie decided not to go because the youth temple trip was the same weekend. Jim had to work so I drove all by myself. I hate driving to places I have never been. It's very stressful and I'm already so stressed for the kids that I'm sure this would max me out. But I did it and it worked out just great.

Hannah and Andrew did not do as well as they had hoped. In fact, they were very disappointed but when I pointed out that the new group they are competing in is a more difficult group Hannah and Andrew felt much better.
 Most tournament groups consist of 2 belt levels. The group they are in now has 5 belt level; brown, brown & black, Red, Red & black, and red decided ( which is black strip on top). Andrew and Hannah are starting at the bottom with just turned brown belts. Some of these kids have been in Taekwondo a whole year longer.
 A year makes a big difference.

But it was a huge learning experience for them and learning how to compete against kids with different sparing moves.

Hannah did place second in weapons. She wasn't going to do weapons but Master K. convinced her to try it one more time. Yeah, she did great! I'm glad she did it.

Smart, But not smart enough

My childo's remind me of a cat I grew up with, Esmeralda or Ezzy. Boy was she a great cat. She will forever be the coolest cat in my eyes. But I remember her asking for food when her bowl still had the science diet pellets in it. No she didn't want to eat the "old food" but wanted the "new food" from the bag. I would refill her bowl and she would start eating the new pellets,

My kids are like Ezzy.
They want  "new food".

The kids come home starving. No matter how big a lunch I pack, they still come home hungry. When they arrive the conversation goes something like this.

"Hello (name of child). How was your day?"

"Good, What can we have for snack?"

"The same options you have everyday."

"Can I have two snacks? How much is one snack?
Why can't we have ice cream for a snack?
What if I have two vegetables, then can I have ice cream?"

The sweeties are constantly trying to get larger helpings or trying to convince me that I need to have a wider range of snack options. They find every loop whole, penetrate the bureaucracy and can bring up red herrings faster then a major league pitcher can spit. I'ts amazing how fast their minds can fly from one thing to another. In fact it is exhausting.

Lots of times my children can get the best of me but not time. This time I was able to catch the little guy red handed.

Blueberry bagel. Seems like a harmless snack....

Do you see something funny about this blueberry bagel? Look close...
Something has been pushed into the bagel.

Yep
.
Smarties.

Totally caught and now, thanks to my blog, documented.



The finny thing about the kids wanting three or four snacks when they get home is that when the kids pack their lunch the next day, it's full of left over snacks (seems to be the carrots and pretzels) from yesterday's lunch.

Really?

I don't get it?
But Ezzy would...

Fall, Fall, Fall

    Fall in the East is beautiful! From the couple of falls I have lived out here my best guess is that around October the 18-25 is the best time to come and visit.

 Our apartment building sits on the edge of a small valley. The bottom is wide enough to have a road and a small stream. The opposite side of the valley raises taller then where we sit and it is covered in trees. It is fun to watch the leafs slowly turn colors. The yellow's turn up first then the orange and the reds.

It's beautiful.

(These pictures were taken at the beginning of the fall. I don't have pictures when the trees were at their most beautiful. Sorry, but I'm doing the best I can and I wanted to make sure I blogged even though things are not perfect. FYI)

My favorite trees are the multi colored ones. Thy leaves are yellow but the tips are bright red. It makes me feel smart to say, "Oh, look at that tree with the red blush." It's how they describe apples. And apples come from trees... that have leaves...

Not only have the leaves looked beautiful this fall, but we have had some lovely, lovely fall days. I'm happy to say that we took advantage of some of these days and took walks out among these beauty's.

Today most of the leaves are gone and on the hillsides I can spot all the pine trees. Now is the times when they get a chance to "shine".

Halloween 2015

I have done things... things I told myself I would never do as a parent... and then I forgot/did them anyways.

Children have a way of messing up your parenting ideals because they are smart, very smart. They come out of the womb that way. As parents we do not have a text book or even a pamphlet on how best to raise each particular child. My mother often said that she would be more then willing to go through labor just to get a "How To" book on each of her children. BUT somehow the child gets a book on how to make parenting a true learning lesson... mostly on patience.

I think that kids have a trump card, a magical power of sorts. I'm not talking about those chubby cheeks or the large tear fulled eyes (though those have some mighty sway) and the funny way a young child runs with their large heads and short chubby arms.

 I am talking about love. You know how in books they write about love at first sight? It's not the true form of love. In English love has a wide range of meaning. I love pizza and ice cream. I love sunsets on the beach. I love God.  I'm sure this attraction between two individuals is strong and you will go through great lengths to get to know each other but it is "true love"? No, but there is such a thing as love at fist sight.

I felt it each time I had a baby. One look... and that child was mine. I would move mountains, kill lions, spend the rest of my life caring and loving this person no matter what- even if that person wanted nothing to do with me.

Wait!!
What does love have to do with a Pagan Holiday?
I have no idea.


The point is I had to make Hannah's costume twice.

 She lost the jacket/shirt I had made so at the last minute I got my new black sweater and the glue gun. Not nearly as good, but done.