Yellow Belt

After a very intense two-hour test, Grace earned her yellow belt last night.  She had an excited cheering section:

And, boy, did she ever earn that belt!  She definitely got nervous, but she impressed us all by how well she continued trying and stayed focused the whole time.  The test was certainly harder than I thought it would be.  There was a "movement" section where she had to show that she had mastered white belt material, and then there was a "stamina" section, which quite frankly felt like just enduring the two hours was enough, but they also ran for four minutes straight, held the push-up position for a minute, and other such torture.  There were two kids (including Grace) testing for their yellow, two testing for orange, and three testing for purple, so lots going on.  She did GREAT.  We are very, very proud of her--but more importantly, Grace is very proud of herself.  She still just loves MP and can't wait to start learning yellow belt material.

She will be a yellow belt for a while now.   While she needed to attend 13 classes in order to test for a yellow belt, she will need to attend 26 classes to test for the orange belt.  There is also quite a bit more material.  And, she will be able to start sparring!  Wow.  She's excited and nervous to do that...  

After having taken off their current belts and getting ready for the belt ceremony:

Shaking hands with Mas Pat, her favorite teacher who taught her intro class:

Cutting her yellow belt with a machete-like Indonesian fighting knife (very cool):

The new yellow belt:  

We then headed out for some well-deserved dessert with Peter (who was a champ for making it through that big test!), Jenn, and Matt.  Grace got a strawberry tart (and shared some of my malt).  It was a good ending to a big night.  

Then, she woke up and played soccer today...  Whew!  

Sweet Dreams

This is how I found Anna sleeping tonight:

Cracks me up.  (And thrills me that I can take this pic with my ISO cranked way up and not use a flash!)

Good Night!  

Soccer!!!

It's soccer time again around here!  Grace actually had her first game last weekend, but I had to miss it to go to a Girl Scout Conference.  This week, there was no way I was missing it, though.  Grace was awesome--especially in the first quarter before she got tired.  She was much more in the game, blocking the ball, turning it around, and running with it.  It was so exciting to see!  The girls have moved up to U8 soccer now, so the field is bigger and they play eight minute quarters now instead of five:  much more tired girls!  Five girls play at a time now, though, instead of just three, so they're learning positions now, too.  Adam is again the coach--and thinks he may even need to buy some running shoes for practice and games!  He is a great, patient coach with some very excited girls who love to hug each other... often.  :-)  

In other news, Grace is testing for her yellow belt this Friday.  She is very excited, especially since we went to an open house on Friday and saw one of her teachers (the only woman) kick some serious ass.  Bahk Bonnie was seriously tough, graceful, and amazing.  Two of the highlights the girls can't stop talking about was when she was sparring with two men and totally took them down, even though they were "about a foot taller than her" (Anna's words), and when she broke metal with her head!  Not a bad role model for Miss Grace, eh?!  

Anna has started her two dance classes (ballet and contemporary dance both with Miss Beth) and violin.  Anna loves it all, and she's even started waking up extra early to practice a half an hour before school, so there is less to worry about in the afternoon.  That is working out quite splendidly, actually.  Her class of 35 was just split on Friday, since they hired a fourth 3rd grade teacher.  I think there are more like 25 in there now, which should help me sleep better at night.  She seems to like her teacher and is happy.

Grace is doing well in first grade.  She comes home tired, but happy, and is truly becoming a good little reader.  She is diligent about her homework and quotes Ms. Cotter often, often describing how nice she is.  She proclaimed this weekend that she was "sure [she's] going to have a good year in first grade."  She no longer seems to be kissing Conner on the playground, but is still his--and many other kids'--friend.  I helped in her classroom a couple of days last week, and even stayed to have lunch, and got to meet many of her friends.  

I'm still adjusting to my life without the girls all day.  I was kind of looking forward to some time to be bored, which really hasn't happened yet at all.  The days fill up fast!  I've gotten lots of doctor appointments taken care of (my eyes are doing well!), had a photoshoot up in Logan last week, am compiling pictures to finally update my website, and am hoping to finally paint our bedroom (a project on hold for the past 2 1/2 years!) this week.  The afternoon/evenings are completely packed with lessons, so it's so nice to be able to breathe and get some things done during the day.  

Looking Sharp

Thanks for the new clothes, Gramma!!!  The girls absolutely LOVE them--and it was cool enough today to wear the whole ensemble.  :-)  As you can see, they look adorable.  Anna wanted to be sure I fit the shoes in the picture, since those are her favorite part.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

School Days

It's only the third day back at school, and it's all craziness around here:

We tie dyed these outfits (plus much more) this summer, and this is what the girls chose to wear to school today.  And this is how they pose when I tell them to just do "whatever they want."  :-)  

School is going well for both of them.  Grace's teacher is every bit as wonderful as we anticipated she would be, and she seems to have a nice class.  She has found friends to play with at every recess, some old and some new.  We have learned, though, that she and her best boy friend from last year have been KISSING on the playground...  Eie Yie Yie!  I suggested that they find other things to do with their time instead of kissing each other, and Grace replied that they're "only kissing on the cheeks, Mom!"  I said it would still be a good idea to have something else in common.  And, she told me that she likes to call Conner "Connie" and he calls her "Gracie."  I can only imagine this--and it scares me half to death!  She also likes to play with her friend from preschool, Will, and our neighbor, Sam.  I can only hope she's not kissing them, too...  She's been playing with some new girls in her class, too, but can't seem to remember their names.  I don't think she's kissing them either.  :-)

I'm getting less information from Anna about school (although she definitely isn't kissing anyone, because she is completely appalled by Grace thinking of kissing boys).  Her class is enormous: 34 kids.  The whole school actually is completely bursting at the seams.  The principal is currently working things out, and I'm trying to trust in her, although I admit to waking up with panic attacks and worrying about the chaos that has become the girls' school.   Letters may have to be written; board meeting may need to be crashed, but it will work out in the end.  I hope.  

Anyway, Anna likes her teacher and comes home telling his funny jokes or doing silly tricks that he showed them.  I can only hope she's learning something in there, too.  No homework has come home yet, so I really don't know.  She is still playing with a lot of her friends from last year.  Apparently they have a meeting place on the playground, so they can all find one another.  Anna is talking about some nice new girls in her class, who I'm sure she'll befriend soon enough.  

And, here is a funny picture of Grace that my Uncle Mark took with his camera while he was here on Sunday:
Hilarious.  Thanks for sending this to me, Uncle Mark!  Grace brought in a copy of it to school for show and tell today.  :-)

First Day!

Here are a few pictures of the girls' first day at school (Anna: 3rd; Grace: 1st).  This morning went well--no crying from Grace!  She only said she wanted to go home twice after entering her classroom... But then after a good hug, she sat down at her desk and was very brave.  She's come a LONG way since last year!  Once I helped Anna find out where to hang her backpack and she found some friends, she was fine to walk down the hall into her class without me.  

I can't wait to find out how their first days went!  I'll be sure to report...

P.S.  I have had a GREAT day.  I've officially declared the next two days my vacation days.  It's been a mighty long time since I've even been alone, much less spent a whole day on my own, so I'm giving myself some time to enjoy it.  I know I'm going to get busy soon enough, so for now I'm just letting myself relax a little bit.  The joy of it all! 

New Things

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  Adam has been gone A LOT lately and it seems any time I try to get anything done, the girls start fighting.  So, I'm getting very little done.  I think we're all missing having him around.  I know many of you are parenting more alone than I am most, if not all, of the time.  I can honestly say I so honor what you do.  It is such hard, hard work.  

I took a few pictures today of some new things that have happened lately:  bangs for Grace and a retainer for Anna.

Grace looks adorable anytime, but she looks very cute indeed with bangs: 

And, her hair stayed out of her face during MP without any clips (great for Grace who hates having her hair done or having it styled--simple is best with her).

Anna can't believe what I asked her to do:
Show off her new stylish retainer!  :-)  She's doing great with it.  She should have it out around Christmas.
Already a pretty smile...

Adam gets back Saturday night.  He and the girls start school on Monday morning.  I have a list started of all the things I'm hoping to get done when they're gone.  I cannot believe both girls will be gone all day.  I'm going to miss them so much!  But, I have to say, this summer has felt pretty intense, so I'm excited to get back on top of things and have time to think and figure out what I want to do with my life.  Wish me luck!

My eyes are doing pretty well.  I'm on two different drops which are keeping my pressure down.  I go back to the glauc. doc. in a couple of weeks and see how I'm doing.  Thanks for all the kind thoughts and words!