Family Fun Saturday

We had a very fun and busy day today.  Cooper and Nathan are now taking karate on Saturday mornings.  Also, Cooper and Kindle started rehearsals this morning for the Nutcracker.  They will be in the Nutcracker on December 17 & 18 at Reinhardt University.  They are really excited.  Cooper will be a soldier again this year and Kindle will be a mouse.

Cooper as a soldier last year.

Kindle as a snowflurry last year.

After rehearsals, we headed out to the land to see my parent's house.  We were curious to see the progress being made.  The kids were so tickled to discover how much had been done.

The framers were up there working on the house while we were there.  The kids were tickled about that also.  Nathan and the older 4 went inside (see photo above) and even went up the stairs to the 2nd floor.

 
Nathan wanted to check on the deer stand that he, my Dad and his brother, Michael, have been working on.

This deer stand is 15 feet tall.  He is adding a railing so it will be safer for Cooper.

Here is the view of my parent's house from the top of the deer stand.

The kids had a lot of fun throwing rocks and getting all dusty while Nathan was checking on the deer stand [no photos because Nathan obviously took the camera to get these photos].

After we went to the land, we headed to Dellinger Park in Cartersville.  The kids had a great time on the playground.  One of the great things about my kids is that they are very outgoing.  They made friends with all of the kids and played hide-n-go-seek and tag with them.

Grant counting

Kindle hiding

Celeste went on the slide over and over again.  She also figured out how to hang from the top of the slide.  She was so proud of how strong she was.  She had a wonderful time.

Gunnar hung out with me in the sling.  Nathan captured this photo of Gunnar and I.  

Cooper was too busy for a good photo of him at the park.  I *tried* to capture one, but he was always moving and never looking at the camera.  Oh well :)

We concluded the evening with Mexican for dinner and a little Super Mario Bros. on the Wii.  We had an awesome, fun-filled day together.

The Yellow Belt

If you have seen my previous posts, you know that my 7 year old, Cooper, has been taking karate for a year.  On July 24, he went to the dojo his sensei is under to be tested for his Yellow Belt.  This was his first belt test so we didn't know what to expect.  Nathan took Cooper so he was calling and texting to give me updates during the test.  We have been waiting to hear ever since.

Tonight, Cooper and Nathan went to karate and he was presented with his Yellow Belt.  He is sooo excited!

Nathan also got his karate uniform so he is official.  Cooper loves it that he is one belt up from his Dad.  

He is always giving Nathan pointers.  Ha ha!

The kids were so excited that all had to get in on the action.

Cooper can't wait to display his "old" white belt.  He wrapped them up on his dresser & I thought it was kind of a neat way of showing the Yellow Belt taking over.

I am one proud Mama!  It was such a good lesson for him to learn this past year and it paid off!

Circumcisions & Karate

Today, I had to take Gunnar to the doctor to be circumcised again.  Yes, I said again.  After being circumcised at birth it didn't heal quite right so the poor little guy had to have a little more taken off :(  I hate seeing my children in any kind of pain, but he had to have it done at this point.  Luckily the doctor does use Lidocaine to numb it, so it wasn't too bad.  Needless to say this has made for quite an interesting morning.  Since Gunnar isn't sleeping through the night yet(typically my kids do around 8 weeks) I didn't get too much sleep and had to get up at 6am to take him.  My appointment was at 8am, however, the doctor didn't even come into the office till 8:45.  I know doctors tend to run behind, but seriously she is late everytime! I thought, if I am the first appointment, she should be on time since she must get behind meeting with patients during the day.  On the contrary, she is just late to work.  I guess when you own your own practice, you can do that.  Luckily, she is really sweet and gentle with Gunnar so it has been worth it.  Unfortunately, he has been a bit fussy today which is completely understandable.  Thank goodness he is laying down for a nap now which is how I am able to write.

Typically on Wednesday evenings, Cooper takes Shotokan karate at the ballet studio Kindle takes ballet at, Woodstock School of Ballet.  He really loves it.  His instructor is so kind and really patient.  His class typically has 2 or 3 kids in it and occasionally an adult.

He has come so far this year and we are really proud of him.  He will be testing for his yellow belt in July.  He is thrilled!  Nathan has always wanted to learn karate so he decided to take the class along with Cooper.  They are both very excited to have something else they can do together.