Busy weekend

Saturday we left the house around 10 and didn't get back until after 6. Sunday was mostly spent at home but we were planting putting out slug baits(container filled with beer) that I think just was to give Jack an excuse to drink beer while gardening :) We planted more, Jack got burnt, it was just a very filled weekend. Kinda nice really. But back to horsey parties...

Layla up on the big horse. As much as she was scared to do it the look of pure joy when she did was awesome.





Oh the looks this girl can give. She is just way too cute!




Some of the smaller kids could get on the small pony to get pictures taken. Gwen wasn't really too happy about this. I told her she could not feed the pony her chocolate cookie. She gave it to me but she was sorely missing her cookie for the 5 minutes she was on the pony.




Layla got on the pony also. She looks so big on it! But she actually really enjoyed that also.



And I am going to have to go searching. I have a picture of Jack's dad that is similar to this. Okay Jack's dad does not have a pink bandanna over his mouth. Jack was joking around. Layla didn't want to wear her bandanna so he did :) I don't think he was counting on me taking a picture. Anyway, the picture of his dad is him sitting back and kinda squinting in the sun just like Jack is doing here. Of course Jack's dad has long curly hair and I think a beard, but the face... Oh and when Gwen sees this picture she says "Daddy funny!! Daddy funny!!!"

Horse riding

I swear Gwen rode each of the two horses and the one pony. We think she took about 5 or 6 turns. She called them all "My horse, RIDE!" I thought Layla was the horse obsessed. I was wrong. Some of the kids were scared to ride the actual horses, not Gwen.





I love this picture of her looking up at the horse. She looks so tiny.




The helmet was a little big on her but she insisted on wearing it. The first time she rode she had a bit of a hard time not slipping. I told her she had to hold on with her legs. By the end we didn't have to hold her on. She did really great.




Natalie really enjoyed herself also. She rode quite a few times.




Layla was scared of the big horses. But after I got her on one then she was good. She realized that they weren't so scary.

Natalie's Karate Graduation

HA! Remembered to put them in the right order.

So this was really scary. It was a pretty small room and there were a lot of karate kids there. They all warmed up together. Jack caught a picture of something that wasn't so scary, them stretching. But I kinda wish I had had the camera because getting a picture of the black belts doing squat kicks and just missing the kids heads that were in front of them was about to give me a heart attack. And seeing them all doing jumping jacks was quite something also.



Natalie performed her kata. I have been drilling this into her for so long now it is insane. I said Layla doesn't need to practice much but Natalie? I am proud of her for different reasons. This is hard for her. Really hard. She really has to work at it. I think seeing all the cool stuff at the graduation helped her. She wants to be able to do all the things blacks belts can do.






Layla got a medal also, but I don't have a good picture of it. Each week they have to fill out their black belt action list. This tells them if they have listened to their family, helped their family and such. One of the reasons I like them going to karate, not only is it teaching them self confidence and strength it is also teaching them to act respectfully to everyone. One of the sensai's gave a kinda speech at the end. He said something like karate is what we need now. People who have a strong work ethic, respect and the determination to do hard work. I see that. I see them being taught that. It is something that is really important to us and I am glad to see it reinforced.



And maybe you wonder how we got such a close up of Natalie getting her next belt? Well remember how I told you it was loud, crowded and kinda crazy? Natalie heard them call Natalie, but did not hear the Walter part. Of course I could see her talking to her friends and playing around. So at the end we asked her sensai to give her the new belt. He was nice enough and understood that it was probably hard to hear. But knowing Sensai, he probably knew that Natalie was dazed off somewhere :)

Layla at Karate Graduation

Sorry I will try to remember to upload pictures in reverse order next time. I have a lot of pictures to upload though and don't feel like fixing them right now. And please excuse not so great pictures. It was crowded and hot and lots of people trying to take pictures, it was pretty crazy.

So Layla getting her new belt. She is now a purple stripe belt. I have to say how proud I am of her. Karate seems to come really natural to her. We got a lot of comments on how good she is and how much she must practice. She actually doesn't so much.




Sparring. She got pared with the tallest black belt. Kinda funny considering she may have been the shortest there.







Again kinda proud of her for remembering things like bowing to your partner. She did so well through the whole thing.



And I uhh think I caught her picking her nose at the beginning :)

Art and Craft Fair!!!

This Saturday! Here is a link
http://rlf1916.com/events/SouthworthArtsGardenFair

Please come out and support local crafters!

I will be there. Totally nervous and freaking out but I will be there :) I have a feeling Jack will be dragging me to the car. I have been working on a few things to bring with me and I will share one of my favorites.




I am working on a matching mirror. My girls are calling it the mermaid mirror. The problem with all of these is that the girls keep asking if this stuff if for them. I love them so much. So supportive.

So come out and join us. We had a blast at the fall fair here and I am thinking that this will be a hit also:)