Black Belt

Aaron started taking martial arts classes after school about two and a half years ago.  About six months into those classes, the instructor told me she thought Aaron really had "true black belt spirit" and she thought he would benefit from additional classes on Saturdays.  We signed him up and he has loved it.

 

His instructor, Jennie, started her own self defense company called Powerhouse Self Defense.  It started out as Power House Self Defense for Ladies, but it soon grew to include men and children as well.  As the business grew, Jennie could not continue with her school.  She took her black belts and her top two students (Aaron and a girl who was almost to black belt) and offered them positions as assistant instructors with her program.  She has been training Aaron privately since then.

 

He tested for his black belt on Christmas Eve.  That boy has some power!!

 

Ms. Jennie presenting Aaron with his black belt.

The fam (Probably wouldn't have worn the cheesy snowman shirt had I thought about a family photo...alas...not about me.).
 

Being silly...the boy is HEAVY!

 

Aaron and Mamaw Annie



"Rapping" up the Season

Hannah is in the chorus at school this year.  She performed in the Holiday Concert.  She actually had a small rapping solo.  Yes, I said, "Rap."

 



Holiday Concert

Traditionally the sixth grade and eighth grade bands play for the Holiday Concert.  It is designed to allow parents to hear how their sixth grade student should improve in two years and to allow eighth grade parents to hear how much their students have improved.

This year Rachel is in eighth and Aaron is in sixth so we had a student in each band.  They were both fabulous.  The sixth grade band this year has worked very hard and is playing music ahead of where they should be.  Rachel and Aaron are both becoming quite good on their instruments.  Rachel plays the trumpet and Aaron plays the French Horn.

 

Aaron and Rachel were in a hurry to get to the warm-up room, but with a lot of arm twisting  little gentle persuasion, they gave me a second to snap a shot or two.  The sixth graders do not yet have uniforms.  They purchase them in seventh grade.  So, they were allowed to dress nicely and wear a Santa hat.  Rachel is wearing her uniform. 

 

 

Hey!  Who is that sitting in the first chair in the trumpet section?  None other than Rachel Ray.



Mom, You Didn't!

I picked Hannah up in carpool this afternoon as I do every day.  It had been a cloudy day, but as I sat there, the sun came out.  I dug my sunglasses out of my purse and put them on.  I must have sat in carpool for about ten minutes after that point. 

The way carpool works is each family has a number to hang from the rearview mirror.  The teachers call this number and your child lines up at one of three cones.  You pull up to the cone and a teacher loads your child in the car.  This particular day the teacher who let Hannah in the car had a cast on her arm.  I said something to her about not being able to get out of carpool even with a cast.  She laughed and said it was actually her second day that week because she had covered for someone else.  We laughed and I drove off.  I smiled at Hannah and asked her how her day way.

Hannah:  Mom!!!  Why are you wearing your glasses like that?!?!

Me: (Touching my face...trying to figure out what she is talking about.  They seemed fine to me.

Hannah:  Look!

This is what I saw when I looked in the mirror.  Apparently, I had been sitting there the entire time and carrying on a conversation with a teacher with a missing lens.  Hannah and I both got a huge laugh out of it.  When we picked Rachel and Aaron up, we told them what had happened and Rachel said, "Mom!  You didn't!"  Yes, yes, I did.

Robotics

Aaron and Hannah both participated in Lego Robotics in an afterschool program last year.  They didn't go to competitions, but learned the basic building and programming skills.  This year in middle school, Aaron has the opportunity to participate in Robotics at his school.  They build the Lego robots and program them to do certain tasks.  Only ten members of the robotics club were selected to go to the competition and Aaron was one of the lucky ones.

It was interesting to see what is in involved in a competition.  The teams run their robot through several different heats and are scored by judges.  Aaron's team won a trophy for "Most Innovative" and they scored high enough to move on to the regional competion in January.

 

 

 

I'm very glad that Aaron enjoys Robotics.  He doesn't like school, so any positive experience he has there is a bonus!!

 

P.K. decided we should go out to dinner to celebrate.  Aaron chose his favorite, Marietta Fish Market.

The Night We Almost Got Arrested

I'm not sure how it started.  Is that how all criminals start their stories? 

Shannon, Cynthia and I were sitting in the living room enjoying our last night before they pack up and head back home.  We were laughing about something (who really remembers what after the following chain of events?) when one of the teenagers could take it no longer and went to hang out with the dads and Uncle Brian in the kitchen.  Being the mature women we are, we decided to text her over and over and over. 

At some point, we decided we should sneak into the kitchen.  We made it half way before we got the giggles and they heard us coming.  We did what any adult women would do and rushed into the bathroom...together...shut the door...and turned out the light.  While we were in there we were contemplating throwing a roll of toilet paper into the kitchen in the spirit of "teepeeing."  Then we heard the girls in the living room say, "Are their phones in here?"  We ran to the living room in time to tickle Rachel into releasing the phones.  Shannon would later call leaving our phones behind a rookie mistake.

We sat back down in the living room and laughed off our escapade.  Someone (again, does anyone really remember who?) said, "We should sneak around to the back door and scare them."  We all quickly agreed.  Having learned from our previous rookie mistake we took our phones annnndddd a key to the house.

We turned on the t.v. to help mask the sound of us leaving the front door.  We couldn't believe that first part even worked, but Lori, Noelle, Rachel, P.K., Doug and Brian were engrossed in something on the computer in the kitchen.

We snuck down the sidewalk and down the driveway to the backyard.  We quietly opened the back gate.  Holly must have heard us from inside because she started to bark.  We ducked down behind the trampoline.  We briefly discussed how we would talk ourselves out of being arrested if those inside just called the police.  This is the point where one of us realized using the potty while we were in the bathroom may have been a good idea (we will leave some dignity and not mentioned names).  The three of us are beyond squirrely at this point and the announcement of bathroom needs sends us into more hysterical laughing which we are trying to cover.

We tiptoed up the stairs to the little bitty landing outside the backdoor.  This is where we realized we didn't plan this well when someone asked, "What are we going to do now?"  More trying to hide the laughter.

It was decided we would just see how long we could stare in the windows before they saw us.  It didn't take long for Brian and Noelle to spot us.  Then we knocked on the door, heard the dog go crazy and saw poor Lori catch air jumping out of her seat.

We laughed ourselves silly all the way back to the front door.  Once inside, we proudly talked about the highlights of our shenanigans.

(Again, who said it is a mystery) "We should have stood in the back of the yard and thrown acorns at the windows."  To which someone else replied, "I think that would have gotten us arrested and I don't think I can leap fences anymore."

I know most people reading this won't find the humor, but I know that when Cynthia, Shannon and I read this, there WILL. BE. LAUGHTER!

 

Election Day

This year was the presidential election.  I think it is important to exercise the right to vote.  It is a blessing to live in a country where we can cast a ballot and express opinions without fearing for our lives.  Being overly involved in politics is not a requirement to vote.  I don't like to discuss politics with others, but I think at the very least every citizen who is eligible should vote.

During the last presidential election, I took the kids with me to vote and the line was forever.  This year a lot of people were able to vote early and they took advantage of it.  Due to this, P.K. and I were in and out in ten minutes.

 

 

P.K. and me with our stickers right after we voted.