Double excitement, double the fun, double the stress!!!

So....this was the last week before the next karate belt tests.....Neither got their invite on their first day of class....neither really expected that they knew enough to get invited this time around, even though R was ready 3 months ago (and the only reason she didn't test was because she decided that she had the right to yell at me and tell me what I needed to do)...she worked on the universals that she had trouble with and ended her class last night with the testing sheet.  YES!!!  My 9yo will be testing Monday night at 6pm for her "black belt candidate"...when she earns that, the next belt to work for his her junior black belt!!!  holy smokes, where has the time gone??!!???

Next up was T's class at 7pm....he had been told at the last class that he needed to actually spar instead of just stand there looking tired and disoriented....well, last night's class he was MUCH improved and only had trouble doing the wheelbarrow race in the warm up.  He worked on self defense, stick disarms, and a few other things, plus 2 katas.....during his stick work, he accidentally hit his partner at the corner of her eye - she said if it turned black she'd take a picture for him.  At the end of his class, stripes were given out....lots of students got black stripes, T got a red stripe.  He asked what the difference in colors meant and was told that he was invited to test for his next belt!!!  That means that on Wednesday, T will be testing at 6pm for his green belt in the adult class!!!!

Yes, I am one proud Mom...they both have worked SO hard and I can't wait to see how far they take this.....woohoo!!!

We've adopted!!! (again)

So, I posted about our recent loss of a wonderful dog and how none of us were really coping.  Our children swung from "We need another dog NOW" to "I don't want to get another dog EVER."  But Ken and I both were missing our dog....a dog....so we were actively looking.  Saw the most precious looking boy on a website for one of the SPCAs (relatively) close to us and called....they hadn't cat-tested him, and they couldn't do it the day I called because he was in surgery for his "snip snip."  I said I would call back the next day.....they cat-tested him and said he was more interested in a toy especially once the cat went under the table....ok!!

This was Thursday....we left shortly after T finished his karate class, stopped to get some soft toys and lunch, and headed to Charlottesville - praying that nobody got there and chose him before we did.  Had a meet and greet and he was just a love, though he shocked us all when he removed one arm off the monkey toy that we brought him...lol.  Filled out paperwork, bought a harness, got him in the back of the Jeep - he promptly jumped over the back of the seat and stayed between the children - and off we went.  We have discovered that he *is* house-trained, knows some commands, and goes into his crate with little to no trouble at night (he also goes in there when he can't find us or one of us is out of the house and the rest are still asleep)....he has met the neighbor dog and given kisses through the fence, hasn't met the children yet and we will be VERY careful with that since he might be too excited for the littlest one....

So, I'd like to introduce Barklay Reginald Vann:

Rainy days = salad nights

Well, we've had several days of "off and on" rain.  Personally, it messes with my emotions and makes me unfocused and moody (read: depressed).  So I play with my Ott light and alternate knitting projects, read, and sleep.  In the meantime, the 3 garden beds have gone completely bonkers - especially since the rain has kept me from getting out and doing any weeding.

Tonight, we had pierogies, ham, and salad.....the lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber all came from our very own garden beds!!!  I tossed some shredded carrots and some mini sweet peppers in and we had an awesome salad with our dinner.

I'm not sure what is going on with our carrots, but I will give them a little while longer.

The cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen (they are in the garden bed), but the beefsteak tomatoes haven't started turning yet - though there are several on the plants.  The lone pepper plant (hot pepper, just for hubby) has one pepper that is close to being ready, and a second that has just started growing.

I had to go out again and pick the beans off the plants, so now I have another full bowl for snacking on (yes, I actually enjoy fresh, uncooked green beans).  We haven't done anything with the collard greens yet....told Ken that I was just going to leave them there because it seems that as long as they are growing, the bugs will eat the collards and leave everything else alone.

SO.....at least this year, the gardens are doing well.....yay!!