Ian - The Yellow Belt

Ian had another big night tonight. He went to his martial arts studio's belt testing ceremony. Grand Master Huang (pictured above) called Ian out in front of a room of about 100 or more people for some questioning. He loudly answered correctly with a 'Sir' attached to the end of all of his answers. This wasn't part of the test...just Ian's lucky day. The testing started with a bow to the judges, then he displayed some movements and broke a board to complete. He finished things off with a signature Ian move - a wink for Master Huang. Its not exactly part of the ceremony but he improvised. Good ole Ian.

Bye-Bye Baby Tooth

It's hard to believe it, but we are in tooth-loosing territory at my house. Ian lost his first baby tooth last night. We discovered it was super loose while brushing teeth at bedtime. We could see where two permanent teeth were trying to poke through, but didn't realize the baby teeth were that close to coming out. The one next to it is soon to follow. Ian was VERY proud of loosing a baby tooth. It made this newly minted 5 yr old walk a little taller!

Natalie Bejeweled

I was attempting to wrap up some paperwork after lunch today and caught a sweet moment between the kids. Ian was helping Natalie put ALL her jewelry on at once. She was enjoying having his help, which surprises me a bit. She will - no joke - spend hours playing with her precious plastic bling. Apparently, its fun to put on your feet too!

Ian's Birthday - Part 2

We went to a really fun place called Incredible Daves tonight, per Ian's request. We ate dinner, played in the arcade and wrapped things up with some inflatable slide thrills. He could have gone a million times, Natalie too. Good times for us all. Thanks to Caba, Meemers and Nicole for coming along for the fun.

Ian Turns Five - School Party

Ian turns the big 5 today!! I gave him a big hug when waking him up, asking him "Do you know anybody who is five today?". He responded with glee, "ME!". The celebrations begin with a donut party with his friends at school. Natalie and I brought in the special treats and got to hang out during snack time. Ian got to pick two special friends to sit with him and his sister for snack time. They sang a special happy birthday song to him during circle time. Everyone in the class pretends to be candles and at the end Ian blew them all out (too cute). Natalie and I really enjoyed our time with Ian and his class. Stay tuned....more birthday fun to come!!!

New Hat For Natalie

Our good friend Jill Williams made a very sweet hat for Natalie. It has a white flower at the crown and a stem popping out of the top. She LOVES to wear it. In fact, she wore it most of the day yesterday around the house. It would periodically come off and she would bring it to me and duck her head down so I could put it back on. She's showing things off for the camera in these two pictures. Hopefully she will still like to wear it when it gets colder!