Wednesday: a cat day

 Today was a lot of cleaning up.  Finishing up cleaning from the new office set-up, camping, and then the normal cleaning.  The cats made me smile several times though.

I was taking apart the boxes from the desks, turned away for a moment, and suddenly there was a cat in the box!  It felt a bit odd because usually the cat takes up most of the box, but this time there was room to spare.

Ben has a bad...something...and so I've been in the guest room the last two nights.  Horizon usually snuggles by my legs like a nice kitty, but when I woke up this morning he was near my shoulders and next to Snowfoot.  It is not where I was expecting to see him.

Monday: Joshua's computer

 A short while ago we decided that it was time for Joshua to have his own (good) computer.  So I have a new computer and Joshua, who is inheriting my old computer, has been sad about the lack of Minecraft for the last few days.  It hasn't been too long, but I wanted to get everything set up for him promptly.

And so, in between a few other chores today, I reset the office.  It use to have one longer table, but that table wasn't long enough for two computers.  

Joshua was so excited.  He promptly decorated his table with assorted Minecraft characters made out of Lego and added the creeper head to the back of his chair.  Ben and I were happy that we've hung on to some of the old monitors that we've used in the past...they're small and the color isn't great on the secondary monitors, but they work for looking stuff up as needed.  These tables also came with cupholders, but we're calling them lovie holders instead; you can see Grey Bear in the middle of the picture.

Saturday: final test

The day finally came!  Black belt test number 3, the final test.  

It started with basic actions and combos.  There were always a few that I have trouble starting, but I get them within one or two repetitions.  We moved on to forms.  I struggled with a few forms, not because I don't know them but because it is hard to do them with a group.  However, I've also been at enough practices lately that they know I know the forms and this last test is mostly just for show.  (There were a few people missing and I think there were a few students they were watching a bit closer than normal.  They got a little grumpy at the lack of power some students were putting forth, but besides that they seemed happier than normal too.)

Phew.  We were through the hardest stuff.  Self-defense followed.  I had been struggling a bit with this because they would previously only give the name of what they wanted...and it felt like the names and/or the motions kept changing.  So this time they gave a quick description too.  I was with a lovely partner and we had a fun time together.  We are trying to come up with a word when we execute the move correctly.  We don't want to say "good", because it doesn't feel good.  But we don't want to say "bad", because the move was executed correctly.  We've been using "terrible" and laughing about it, which lightens the mood.

Next we had some fun things!  We were divided into two groups and needed to make a six-motion form in five minutes.  There was one adult in each group, with the expectation that we'd help lead.  No problem there!  One student would select a move, we'd run form.  Then the next student would select a move and we'd run the form.  If they were too slow to choose a move someone else got to choose, although everyone did get to put a move in by the end.  The parents voted and we won!  Huzzah!

Then the parents came out and we had to teach them the first five moves of a form.  My sparring partner's mom came out to help me since the rest of my family was camping.  She is a red belt, although hasn't been on the mat for a while, so we had to do one of the harder forms.  We ended up with Bassai, which was the one I disliked the most.  But we only had to do the first five moves and I know the form!  I just don't like it.

The mile came next.  I just gave them my time from Thursday again  (12:02).  I feel a bit like it's cheating, but that 10 minute break is so nice.

We finished up with some sparring.  I never love sparring but it was fine.  It helped that I had just had a break.

And then we were done.  They noted that I was the first adult female to become a black belt under their leadership of about eight years.  (In fact, there aren't that many adults that make it.  I obviously don't know the history all that well, but in talking with the other adult that was testing for his second degree belt there might only be two males as well.  There are several teens that are now in college and on the cusp of adulthood, but they were all younger when they actually got the belt.)

(Note that we were all able to flip our belts!  Previously we had the red on the top black on the bottom denoting black belt candidate.  Now we have black on the top denoting that we've passed but are waiting on the official ceremony.)

Thursday: exercise

Today was a day of exercise.  I did my mile for my test this morning: I came in at 12:02.  I worked through my forms.  I know them, but it is sometimes hard when I do them with other people.  Cheryl and I took a walk before lunch.  I brought the kids to rock climbing.  (I didn't climb today, but it's still exercise.)  And lastly I went to karate class.

I also got a new computer and monitor!  We're giving my old one to Joshua, because he's been using mine a lot and this way we might all be able to play some fun games together.

Wedneday: chores

I worked through the chore list today.  It was pretty boring.  I practiced my forms for a while; they're getting better.  The test is Saturday and I'm ready to be done.  They ended up not rescheduling it as I had mentioned earlier and right now I'm rather glad of that.  I can get it done with and move on.

I brought the cat grass in for the cats this morning.

Tuesday: flowers

I finally got all the flowers on the wall.  A few of them might need to be moved around a little bit more to get everything balanced, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Monday: summer's coming!

 As with every summer, I have high hopes of teaching the children household chores.  Our housekeepers recently graduated and so I moved up some of my summer plans.  For now they still have daily chores, although in the summer Isaac is going to have a weekly list instead.

As for the chores that the house cleaners used to do, they are now up for grabs.  I've offered money in the past for extra chores, but this year they can choose money or extra screen time.  It's been a huge hit with Isaac so far.  He did a great job of cleaning the bathroom tub this evening.  It looked amazing.  I think Joshua might do some, but he hasn't seemed as motivated yet...and that's ok too.

Saturday: being careful

 Joshua was playing with the nerf gun and found it very important to put up this Caution sign.

Last Sunday: Mother's Day

It took me a day to get some of the Mother's Day pictures and then it took me a while to get pictures of the papers but I'm finally getting around to posting.

The kids did a really nice job with Mother's Day.  They both had some gifts and were just so excited about them!

Notice that I'm Grey Bear's Mom too.

Isaac got me a puzzle and made a flower (not pictured).  Joshua made the funniest/cutest pieces of paper though.  I especially appreciated being as helpful as the Internet.

Thursday: field trip

 I helped out at Joshua's field trip today.  It was a perfect day for it.

Joshua wore his dangerous bear shirt on purpose.

Joshua was also willing to hold my hand a lot.  It was lovely.  

The field trip was about ecosystems and the leaders did a really amazing job of making it interactive.

Wednesday: walk and rock climbing

 I went for a walk with Cheryl this morning.  We saw a ton of wildlife in our one mile walk!  Two snakes, a muskrat, three adult ducks, several baby ducks, a cardinal, and lots of other birds.

This afternoon Cheryl tagged in to be the responsible adult at rock climbing so that I could climb.  For my first time ever!  The workers were rather surprised...I'm there all the time and know all the ropes (somewhat literally), but have never climbed.  Anyway, it was harder than it looks, as expected.  I kind of wish that I could always join them, but that seems like it might be breaking the rules a bit too much.  Isaac and Joshua did a great job of showing me the ropes and helping me out though.  I managed to get over the top of the bouldering wall (even though the easiest route had been removed).  I also did an auto-belay (oh, it is scary letting go at the top) and worked on a take-away route with Joshua.

Tuesday: CPR training

This morning I went to CPR training.  I've had some of the assorted first-aid training that they went through several times, but this was the first one that included the CPR training.  While I'm not sure it was exciting, it was interesting.  I picked up a few new tidbits of knowledge that will hopefully stick with me even though hopefully won't need them.

Yesterday I found Isaac's hat.  He's managed to keep it for years and it even has a name: Flippy-Floppy.  It was buried in the school's lost and found, but my mom eyes found it.  (I also had my annual physical yesterday, hence the paperwork with generic info on it.)

Friday: cats and Joshua

 Tornado enjoyed using the cat backpack a lot today.  I think Horizon knocked him over in this picture.

I tried to give away the lawn mower today and failed.  But then Joshua played with it today.  By sitting on it.

I have no pictures, but Joshua had a real massage today.  He's been into massage lately so I thought it would be a fun thing to do.  It was not what he expected and he enjoyed it "medium".  I think he was expecting a few specific things we've done (like chops or kitty paws) and not getting those slightly decreased the rating.  Either way, it was a nice special thing for him.

Thursday: Tulip Immersion

 We went to the Tulip Immersion this afternoon with Cheryl.  The boys enjoy it more if they can take pictures, so we all took a bunch of them.

Wednesday: nap & O:CtH & tulips

I'm sure you're all curious: who joined me for my nap today?

Only Giraffe.  I only get two naps with Grey Bear every week and used them up already.

I finally had some time to work on the kitchen again.  I worked on the cabinet under the sink.  I cleaned the garbage cans.  I cleaned a lot of yuck up so I guess it was important to do, but I'm glad it's almost done.  I just want to put a cabinet protector down because the bottom of the cabinet is in rough shape.

After rock climbing we went downtown for some treats and to see the tulips.  They were beautiful.