Roses are Red, "Violet" is......

L-I-V-I-N-G! My friends from the Village gave me this when I returned to work last year. It was in full bloom and was beautiful. Now I am not sure what this poor plant did in a former life to deserve being sent to live with me. It must have been pretty bad though. Usually coming to live with me is like a stay on death row for a plant. But "Violet" has not only received a stay of execution, she is thriving. This is an actual picture of the plant and if you need a signed affidavit that the blooms are real I can provide one.

Blue Belt Testing

Davis tested for his blue belt on May 19th. To advance to the next level he must perform his form, answer questions and demonstrate sparring. All students of the same rank learn the same form, which is a series of TaeKwonDo strikes, blocks and stances. Four students do their form at the same time in front of 8 black belt judges and a room full of students and parents. He gets three tries to do it correctly. After the form the four students approach the judging table to answer questions about their form or ITA TaeKwonDo. Do you know why some black belts have black stripes down their pant legs? After this they put on their sparring gear and spar to show the judges what they have learned. At the end of the testing students are told if they will advance to the next rank or if they will receive a “no change.” As you can see from pictures below, Davis moved on to the rank of Blue Belt.

We return to the TaeKwonDo Academy a few nights later for the awards ceremony. Before each testing the students who are still in school must submit a Partner’s in Learning Form signed by their teacher. This form asks the teacher to rank the student with one to three stars on how they display the tenants of TaeKwonDo. Davis has received three stars each time his teacher even suggested they give him four stars. You can see them on his green belt in the picture at the top of the post

Mother's Day

Dear Davis, Rebecca and David,

Thank you for a WONDERFUL Mother's Day. I knew it was off to a good start when Daddy brought me a cinnamon crunch bagel with honey walnut cream cheese. Yummm.

The bike ride on the Black Creek Greenway was so much fun. I am happy Rebecca is able to ride on two wheels so we can do more family rides. Do you remember the snakes we saw? I do. And you wanted to go down to the creek to throw rocks. NO WAY! I wasn’t about to take the chance we would find something more venomous than a king snake or green snake.

I really enjoyed dinner at Outback, though I am not sure who enjoyed it more me or Rebecca. She finally got her shrimp and was one happy girl!

Thank you all for making my day so special. I love you. ~ Mommy

Preschool Graduation

Rebecca graduated from preschool tonight. She walked to Pomp and Circumstance, then her class sang. Her teachers, Ms. Chrissy and Ms. Tabitha presented the diplomas.

After the program they went outside to release balloons, which the kids loved.