Sunday:

 

Vacation Tuesday: Science Museum

Our second day of vacation started out with leftovers from the night before.  Basically, we all had dessert for first breakfast.  (Second breakfast was a bit healthier.)

We moved on to the science museum in Detroit.  It was fine.  We ended up spending about four to five hours there so it was worth it, but it also wasn't quite as amazing as I had hoped.  (They also canceled our IMAX movie because of the heat the day before.  This confused us a lot, but isn't something to argue about.)  Anyway, I didn't end up with many pictures, but we still had a fun time.

The timing was actually pretty nice because then we were able to get on the road before things got too busy.  I had found a rock shop that was more or less on our way home, so we drove a bit and then took a quick break.

It was exactly what I had been hoping for.  Lots of different rocks, a microscope in the back to look at them, and not much "new age" type of stuff.  I'd highly recommend it, if you happen to be in the area.

Saturday: Grey Bear

Joshua's Lego challenge for us today was to make Grey Bear or a grey bear.  Joshua ended up making a throne for Grey Bear.

The Grey Bears.  Mine is on the left and Isaac's is on the right.  I spent most of my time on the head, and while it's a bit hard to see I had some really cool building right above the eyes to get the ears at a nice angle.  Isaac concentrated more on the droopiness of Grey Bear's body.

Ben's grey bear and the throne.  He ran out of time to fix the one hand, but has since updated the claw and changed them to black.

Friday: to do list

 Last night I realized I had a bunch of really short items on my to-do list.  So this morning instead of ordering things by importance, I put the <5 minutes ones at the top.  I knocked out so many things today!  It was amazing.  (I wasn't going to get many things done today anyway because the kids were home from school.)

Isaac and I also hung up a display for his rocks.

And we went to the library.

And apparently Joshua made a video.

Thursday: rules

This summer, we have a new rule in the house: no spraying the hose into the house.

Now, I think this should have been a rule that goes without saying.  But a few months ago Isaac sheepishly told us that the carpet by the basement slider was rather wet and it was partially his fault.  While not soaking wet, it was damp for a few hours.  Ok.  Everyone laughs about the rule and we move on.

Yesterday Joshua was by the upstairs screen door and I had to remind him of this rule!  Twice!  I don't think he actually sprayed water in the house, but he did stomp away after I reminded him that it's a rule the second time.

Wednesday: this and that

I made curry today.  I almost only made a single batch and then half way through I remembered I wanted to make a double batch.  I was just going to deal with it, but then realized I had a half onion and a half bag of carrots and plenty of meat and potatoes.  So I started the next batch.  And I ended up with eight meals.

I continued through my to do list.  It's slowly going down, but never fast enough. :)  Cleaning the bathrooms took longer than expected so I didn't get quite as much done as I was hoping.  It was close though.

Joshua used Isaac's guest pass at rock climbing and had a good time.  It involved him climbing up the same route over and over because he enjoyed how I dropped him down on the rope.  There was some swinging and some hovering and then the owner came over and I thought we were going to get in trouble but instead Joshua learned some spinning!

I forgot to even get the rice cooker out for the curry.  Usually I just forget to turn it on, and once I forgot to put the rice in.  It's a real problem.  What I haven't done yet is forget to plug it in or put the lid on, so there are still many ways I can mess it up in the future.

I went to my first black belt karate class. :D  It was about the same as the other classes, but blacker.

Tuesday: black belt!

Tonight was the black belt banquet and I finally got my black dobak and belt.  I had a good time.  I think the kids were bored but they held it together very well.

We have some before pictures:

Raelynn and I work together a lot.

We then had dinner and it was delicious.  Mrs. Galli sat at our table and was personable as always, but mentioned that I was one of the strongest candidates of this class.  That felt nice...I had put a ton of work into it.

During:

The presentation of the certificate and dobak

Not shown: They talked a little about things they appreciated for each person and it was super nice.  Mrs. Galli had my acts of kindness from several years ago and commented on how it show me balancing being a wife and mother and teacher along with helping out in the community.  How happy she is that we've become friends too.  Mr. Galli commented on how I ask questions, but that it allows them to talk more about why we do something the way we do.  (I do ask a lot of questions.)  I also ask a lot of technical questions, making sure my forms are just right.  (Or at least, that's what I imagine in my head.)

Opening of the belts

                                                 

After:

I made it!  It was a long wait from the test to the ceremony, but I am finally official.