Belt Ceremony for TWO Purple Belts

The kids were bummed that Daddy was not at belt ceremony tonight to see them get their new belts. 

Chloe was moving up from her second green belt to her first purple belt.

Owen was moving up from his first purple belt to his second.

He was admiring some special stripes already on his new belt for attendance and testing performance (big honors!).

Owen and Brianna arm wrestled to see who would get the special red, white and blue stripe added to their new belts since they tied with the highest number of lifeskills stripes.

Mr. Poole was making things a little unfair and helping Brianna.  But then said, "Just kidding.  You both can get the special red, white and blue stripe sewn onto your belts!"

Owen was so excited about this honor, as well as receiving his second purple belt.  Even though it was late, I was slow in packing up and letting the kids talk and play with friends because I knew someone was trying to get there as fast as he could (Todd caught an earlier flight home and wanted to surprise the kids).

Owen saw Todd first.

He had been missing his Daddy so much this week.

There was a running jump into Daddy's arms.  :)

Welcome home honeys, we missed you so much!

Saturday Morning Scrabble

We started a cut throat game, as is normally the case when Aunt Judy and Uncle Chris come to visit.

Bean was playing with us this time and some of her word attempts were questionable.

Jezzie kept Em company while they supervised the game.

You know it's a good weekend when lunch time comes and goes and the pajamas are still on.  :)

Birdhouses and Four Generations of Family

It should by no means be inferred that family drives us cuckoo.  We just like arts and crafts.  And love being with family!  The morning started off with birdhouses, acrylics and glitter.

Owen is all about LSU colors these days.  They are his favorite college football team.

Much time and thought went into the placement of each drop of glitter glue and brush stroke.  When they were all done, they were both certain they had masterpieces they could sell for upwards of $25.

I should have done a better job setting up my camera for Uncle Mike as it's so rare we get all the Finney women together.

Since Aunt Judy and Uncle Chris were also in town this weekend, a trip to Provino's was in order.  Their garlic rolls are sooooo good.

Another Fun Day

This afternoon we went to Champion Kids where there were trampolines, gymnastic equipment and a foam pit.  The kids had fun jumping away a ton of energy!

Afterwards, we headed to karate for Chloe's belt testing.  She was happy to be the first one in line by best rank so she could bow in the class.

There were a ton of parents in attendance to watch their kids.  There wasn't much standing room left for us as we arrived a little late this evening.

Busy Day!

The day started off with riding scooters and bikes out front.

Then we went to the airport to pick up Uncle Mike.

The kids pretended to be bunny rabbits while we waited.

And waited some more. 

Uncle Mike's pilot got lost on the way to the gate.

We came home and quickly changed into karate clothes for belt testing for Owensk.

He did awesome!

And was happy his sparring partner was one of his instructors.

Closet Re-Org

This was an afternoon devoted to organizing and cleaning.  Owen's mess of a closet turned from this...

to this....

Pay no attention to that mess on the top shelf.  We were only focused on the bottom half where he could reach.  :)

Friends & Jezzie

We had friends over for dinner.  Todd missed out on the company and good food.  He was on a flight back from Minnesota and wouldn't land until everyone was gone and after the kids were asleep.  Jezzie really liked our company and made herself at home on Sahar's shoulder.

And also on her husband Shah's shoulder.  Shah was a good sport, was wanted Jez off fairly quickly. 

Sahar thought Jezzie was super sweet and continually encouraged her to hang out around her neck.  :)

Karate Tournament

After the first karate tournament, Chloe knew she wanted to attend another.  This time, she was a year older and a little more aware of her abilities and how well she did in performing.  The tournament started off with the 4th and 5th degree black belt instructors being introduced.

Then Grand Master Soon Ho Lee and his wife were announced.  She always wears elaborate dresses and big smiles.

We watched the demo teams from each school perform and then this student who just earned his 2nd or 3rd degree black belt.  He did all kinds of flips and really had the crowd cheering for him.

It was another hour after the opening ceremonies before Chloe was called to staging and then put in a group to come back out to the gym floor and compete.  

She did really great and never got stuck in one spot trying to remember the next move in her form.

Chloe's kicks were high, too!

Once she was done, the judges scored her performance.  She got 9.7s and one 9.8.  Go Chloe!

After all the girls in her group finished their forms, it was time for sparring.  Chloe won this point.  And the next one.

Then her opponent won the next five points.  She was a bit disappointed over this loss.

It was a very long day.  We were all bummed Todd was not with us to watch and cheer on Chloe.  She had a great time and left with a medal saying she wants to sign up for the next tournament.  :)