One night, Reagan, Cole and Steve were outside playing basketball while I was cleaning up dinner. When I left the kitchen and then returned, this little bunch of flowers was on the counter.
Reagan is so sweet - she does stuff like this all. the time. She can be sassy and want to argue her point, but she is always so kind. She leaves us notes, flowers, stickers or just tells us how good we look or how thoughtful we are. She is always thanking us for "everything you do for us."
I'll have to remember this little pile of flowers the next time we disagree on something :)
It's hard to believe, but our, little Reagan is 12!!!! Crazy, I know! With their karate tournament the day after Reagan's birthday, we just couldn't imagine having a big birthday party. So, we resolved to celebrate just ourselves. I made pancakes (her favorite) for breakfast and we sent her to school.
Her friends decorated her locker and her cute teacher sent me a pic. They had little presents and notes for her as well.
After school, she opened presents. She enjoyed her new backpack and wicked t-shirt, but she was most excited about her pink, time turner necklace (like the one Hermione uses in the Harry Potter books and movies).
She asked to go to dinner at Bonsai and we decided we would. However, that afternoon, it felt like her birthday was a bit TOO low key. I know - I know - we meant it that way because of the big tournament the next day, but I wanted it to be a great birthday.
So, we invited the Shapiro family to join us for dinner at Bonsai. Luckily, they didn't already have plans. They surprised Reagan and she was thrilled! We had a fun time and enjoyed our friends while we all celebrated Reagan.
While we were waiting for dinner, as is the case when we are waiting for almost anything, Cole pulled up the MSQRD app and started face swapping with Steve and pulling out other effects. Crazy boy!
We are so happy for Reagan and love her more than words can say. Her turning 12 means that she will leave Primary and head to Young Women. I'll miss her, but she is getting too old for Primary and she loves and adores the YW in our ward. So, here's to transitions!
Our sweet BIL Mark passed away last Monday. He fought that cancer (both types) so valiantly. He hung on to see his latest grandson born (they named him Mark) and then was gone within hours.
There was such a nice funeral service. Several of his nurses from Huntsman Cancer Institute came to support Robyn. So many neighbors, friends and family came as well. We hope that she felt of everyone's love and support.
We are so grateful that Mark is out of pain and free from the burdens his physical body placed on him. I'm sure he had a sweet reunion with family members and friends. Now, we will continue to support Robyn and try to be there when she needs us. Thanks, Mark, for the life you led and the example you set. We will miss you until we meet again. xoxoxoxo
We've had this trampoline forever... no, like FOREVER!!! Truth be told, we don't take very good care of it. We don't take it down in the winter, we don't take our shoes off to jump on it, we don't rinse it off or cover it or anything. Years ago, Shannon gave Steve new pads for the tramp and a new ladder, but the mat has been around for more than 20 years.
Well, a week or so after Cole's birthday party last October, we had a friend over and he was jumping on the trampoline and it ripped and he went through the tramp. Like, he had one foot hanging through the hole in the tramp. It scared him more than anything, but we had to get rid of the tramp.
So, the rest of the fall and all winter, we had no tramp. Then, Steve arranged for a new mat and new pads. Yay!!!!!
Reagan and Cole were THRILLED to have the trampoline back. We are happy campers now!!!!
Our friend, Madison, turned 9. We go to church with their family, go to karate with their family and carpool to school with their family. We love Madi and she LOVES unicorns. So, it was only fitting for her to have a unicorn party.
Her mom decorated with pink and purple and silver and gold. It looked great!!!! She had rainbow colored dip for the fruit and rainbow sherbet punch. Glitter and rainbows everywhere!!
The girls each got a new "unicorn" name from a paper where you put in the first letter of your last name and the last letter of your first name (or something like that). They got to know each other. They played "Pin the Horn on the Unicorn" and her big brother and his friend were helping with the games. Then, they had a unicorn piñata.
After that, a unicorn arrived at the party - a REAL UNICORN!!!!! There was also a bin of bunnies and I'm sad to say that the girls may have been more excited about the bunnies. Not sure why - I mean..... mythical, magical unicorn vs. bunnies??? Oh well - we were glad we had both :)
The girls followed a scavenger hunt and then got to ride the unicorn and hold the bunnies. They had lunch and a gorgeous, unicorn cake and then perfectly decorated gift bags to take home. Cole came after his football game and even he loved the bunnies. Ugh - bunnies :)
Happy Birthday Madison - we hope you had a great time at your party. Thanks for inviting us!!!!
Well, we've been totally re-commited at karate since January 2nd when we returned from our 90 day break. We've been coming to all of our classes, weekend Black Belt Leadership, private lessons and practicing at home.
The tournament is coming up in May and Reagan and Cole are planning to compete as well as to test for their 2nd Degree Black Belts. Well, probably to avoid a scene at the tournament and certainly to avoid us having to pay unnecessary funds, a pre-test is held a few weeks before the tournament. If you pass the pre-test, you can test at the tournament. If not, no deal.... you can wait for 6 months until the next tournament.
This time, our dojo and 2 others tested together (other schools tested in other pre-tests). Ours was held at the Park City dojo. It was three hours straight and it was stressful. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. It was definitely palpable.
First, they warmed them up with v-sits, pushups, squats, and cross stretches. As if that wasn't enough, they next warmed up with kicks, punches, blocks, chops and lunges.
After that, they showed off their forms. They had about 4 forms to remember. Cole was asked to lead the group for one of the forms. He did a great job.
After forms, they showed their self-defense techniques.
Next up was weapons forms. Because the 1st degrees were using staffs, they split them up to show off their forms. On this one, they didn't have to follow the leader - they could go at their own pace.
Reagan was up first and then Cole.
Cole's form is longer and more involved as he and our sensei worked together to add things to the form that would make it more impressive and hopefully help him at the tournament. He can't do those extra things when the group is doing the form together, but he can do them when he is performing individually.
Then, they showed their power karate skills.
Reagan, unfortunately, was all the way across the room from me and I couldn't get pics of her without having someone else in front of her in the pic :(
Cole, on the other hand, was right in front of us.
Next up was sparring. They split into mats and then rotated around every several minutes so that the parents could see the individual competitors.
The studio owners would walk around and inspect during this entire time. They watched the sparring and the forms and the kicks. They would, sometimes, ask a few of the competitors to come back out to the mat and re-perform a certain move or form individually. It was tense. Luckily, Reagan and Cole were not asked to repeat a form. Plus, all the class would show a form and then, the students testing for black belt would sit down and the rest of the students would show another form and then, the students testing for 1st degree black belt would sit down. This left just those testing for 2nd degree up there. They had to show still another form that was a higher skill level. No one was testing for 3rd degree that I was aware of.
Next up was grappling. This was one area we were worried about. Testing for their 2nd Degree meant that they needed to know everything that competitors testing for black belts needed to know, everything the competitors testing for first degree black belts needed to know and everything competitors testing for second degree black belts needed to know.
Luckily, Reagan and Cole were each paired up with great partners who knew the forms well and were helpful for Reagan and Cole. It went well.
The last item on the checklist was kicks. The studio heads would shout out an order of kicks and the competitors had to execute. For example, they may say "Roundhouse, Hook, Cartwheel, Butterfly, Chicken" and the competitors had to remember and perform the kicks well and in that order
Then, the competitors were given the choice of what combination of kicks they wanted to show off. Reagan and Cole - of course - did their favorite kicks. Cole did a tornado kick on the floor and I caught a pic of him with his tongue in his cheek. He does this during football, basketball, karate, soccer.... anytime he is really concentrating:)
By the end of almost three hours, the kiddos were exhausted (I was too, but due to stress, not exertion) and they were sweaty and hot. The three studio heads went into an office to confer on individual students and whether or not they would pass. They were gone a LONG TIME! Seriously! At first, Reagan and Cole were just glad to be done, but as more time went on and they were waiting and waiting, I think they started to get into their own heads. Reagan looked super worried and Cole hung his head and didn't look at us.
Finally, the studio heads came out and each one talked about what to do if someone failed. They talked about taking it as constructive criticism and working harder to achieve their goal for the next tournament. We waited very anxiously. Then, each studio head took his students and took them to a part of the studio. He spoke with the group collectively and then stepped away from the group and called each student over individually. Not everyone passed, but - luckily - Reagan and Cole did.... Whew!!!
They were elated!!!! So was everyone else that passed. They were sympathetic and encouraging of those who didn't pass, but could hardly stifle their excitement at passing themselves.
What a crazy, long, stressful night. It's over and they qualified to test at the tournament. Now, we register for the tournament and keep practicing for the next couple of weeks so we can show our stuff at the tournament and - hopefully - earn our 2nd Degree Black Belts.
It's about that time - football time. Cole started asking in the middle of winter "When does football start?" I assured him that it wasn't until spring. He had such a fun time with the team he played last year with. So, I texted our coach (who is in our Stake) and asked if he would be coaching again. He said he would and that he would love to have Cole on his team again.
Last year, Cole was in the 3rd/4th grade division. He was a 3rd grader, but the other boys on his team were 4th graders. It didn't seem to matter. This year, however, those boys have moved up to the 5th/6th grade division while Cole is in 4th and would be the older of the 3rd/4th division boys. We figured that having him play with boys who are 2 years older than him might not be a good idea. So, we just signed him up and waited to see what team assignment he got. We heard from the assigned coach who wanted to set up a practice before the season actually started. We met up at a local park. Most of the boys on this team are in 3rd grade and Cole is one of the biggest and oldest. Plus, several of them have never played football before. Finally, the coach's son is the loudest, most obnoxious kid I've ever run into. Whoa! Oh well - we figured - this is our assigned team.... we will try to make the best of it. Cole showed his stuff at their practice and the coach seemed impressed with what he could do.
Before it came time for the 1st game, I received an email from Coach Erwin (his coach from last year). He was wondering why Cole wasn't on his team and said that he had contacted the flag football coordinator to request that Cole be put on his team. I replied that I didn't think Cole could be on his team because of his grade level. He still wanted to try and ..... lucky us - he was successful!! Cole was back with his same coach and some of the same boys. Yay! Yes, he will be playing with kiddos 1 and 2 years older than him, but he will have a fun team and a coach who knows him. We'll take it!!!
They held a practice before their first game and right away, Cole was able to step in as Quarterback for several of the plays. He loves that and he thinks the coach's son is the best center. He says that the two of them just know when the other is ready.
It's going to be a short season - Thursdays and Saturdays for a month with practices right before the games. We are excited and can't wait for our first game!!!
It has been in the 70s lately - even the high 70s. So, naturally, I thought Spring had sprung.
I figured we were out of "winter" and that we would have rain, but no more snow. So, I arranged to have my snow tired taken off of my car and my regular tires put back on.
Well, of course, the next day .... it snowed... a lot! Perfect time for me to have no snow tires - ugh!
Oh well - we definitely need the water and I do love a snowy landscape.
I guess Mother Nature wasn't quite ready to give up on Winter. That's OK - we love the snow!!!!
Our Easter decor was pretty much the same this year. I love all the bright, pastel colors.
We did get some new candles this year, but that's really all.
For our centerpiece on the kitchen table, I put up the paper, floral arrangement that Reagan made a couple of years ago in Activity Days.
I left up our Christmas card, lighted wall and I put past Easter pics on it. LOVE it!!!!
Also, since I'm still not sick of the flocked Christmas trees, we took down the heart ornaments and put up pastel colored ornaments. I love to look at these - they make me happy :)
We switched out the luminaries from snowflakes to flowers - I wish they would release some that have hearts for Valentine's Day and/or bunnies or eggs or something for Easter.
"Mom on the Run" is the title that best describes me these days. After practicing law for 11 years, I had two little ones and am now a full time Mom and loving it. With a 14 year old and an 12 year old, life is full and crazy. Each day we "run" whether it is to the gym, shopping, guitar, karate, piano, school, lunch with friends, institute class, family activities or church functions. Reagan and Cole keep me crazy busy and we have lots of fun.
Steve (the love of my life) and I have been married for sixteen years and we live in Sandy, Utah. Playing with the kids is our most enjoyable hobby these days. We also try to fit in snow skiing, walking and hiking, and playing in our yard. We love to spend time with Steve's three daughters (and their spouses/kids). We traveled much more before we had our kiddos, but still try to travel when we can. If we are away, we can most often be found on one of the Hawaiian islands and we love to spend time at the beach.
