The Kids and Karate

I haven't done a karate post in a while, so here it goes!





<--and of course, I HAD to start with this one....I think the image just speaks for itself!!

This past Saturday the kids graduated to their next belts in karate. A couple months ago, RJ graduated through the ranks on the Ranger side - which is what they call the little kids (generally under 6 or 7) and moved to the Young Adult side of the studio. He loves the new moves he's learning - and the best part? He gets to learn how to use the 'weapons'!! Every two months, they learn how to use the new tool. It's really great watching him progress through the moves.

Maddy is doing really well, too. She loves karate! She has so much energy and really puts it to good use in class. She is one little girl you won't want to mess with!

Here they are getting their belts. First, Maddy-Belle (as she likes to be called!). As she was getting her belt, you can see what RJ was doing! It surprises me how silly they STILL get even though my camera is in their face all the time. They are soooo cute!! Notice the complete lack of front teeth on RJ - he's just starting to get the bottom ones in to replace those that he lost last January.

And here is RJ getting his belt:

Whenever I post about the kids, I like to try to get an even number of images per child, so I don't appear as if I'm favoring. For all the moms out there (including my own!), I'm sure you know what I mean!!! So I include this last one, simply because I think it is cool. And I assure you, both of my children are in it!

Since Ron couldn't come, I asked Maddy to take a picture of RJ with my cell phone so we could send it to him. The blig blur on the right is Maddy's cute piggy tail and RJ is one of the small figures in focus on the phone!

Have a great day, everyone!!!

Maddy's First Day

With RJ's first week of school down, now it's Maddy's turn to have her first day of school.

She's attending a 3-day preschool a few houses up the street from us. She was so excited to go - she asked me every 10 minutes from 8:30 until 12:30 when we finally went!!! I'm glad she likes it so much.

Not to hijack her post, but RJ is loving school now, especially the new specialty classes he gets to go to - Art, Gym and Music.

Back to Maddy...here are a few choice images from her first day. Note: Another one of RJ's "smiles":

I have to share what went into this last image because it is just so cute and so indicative of the kids' personalities. Maddy wouldn't look at me so I could take her picture. What you can't see in the frame is all the other kids and teachers going into her school, so she was very preoccupied. So RJ decided to help and stepped right in front of me to try to get her to look in my direction. Of course, his shoulder is the blurry blob you see in the lower right corner, but I had to leave it in...he's just so sweet. Aren't they the BEST??!

Day of Firsts

Thursday was RJ's first day of First Grade and the first time he was going to be away from home all day for school. He has been so apprehensive about this all summer. Luckily we were able to go to the school last week to see his classroom and meet his teacher. While there he found out that his friend who has been in his class every year for the past 3 years will be in his class again. That definitely made things better. So of course I had to grab a few images!! And for those wondering, I didn't cry. That day. I did however cry the night before as I was making lunch for him to take the very first time. :-)

Here's Maddy... being Maddy

RJ waiting for the bus. The second one is what happens when you ask him to smile.

RJ getting on the bus...and getting off

Happy, Happy, Happy!!!

Earlier in the month I exclaimed to all how big of a month August is in my household. I wasn't kidding. Last week alone, we celebrated my father-in-law's 60th birthday, my mother-in-law's birthday (40?!<-- me looking for brownie points!!), my 7 year wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband, and last, but most certainly not least, is my uncle's birthday. Now, I was not near him to celebrate the last one, but it's always in my heart (and super easy to remember since we got married on his birthday!)

So I want to publicly say Happy Birthday to my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, and my uncle! I wish you many many more happy ones to come!!!! And to my husband, I am so glad we were actually able to spend the ENTIRE day together for our anniversary. Truly a special occasion. I love you!!!

So on to the images...in order to fully celebrate, we rented a house on Gun Rock Beach in Hull, MA for the week - well, Wednesday through Sunday, but close enough. It was really great. We were literally right on the ocean, as you can see. What you can't see is that high tide brought the water up to the back steps for us. It was amazing.

Off the porch to the left:

Off the porch to the right:

This was the view off the porch over to Nantasket Beach (at night):

The waves crashed into the rocks right below the porch. These rocks actually form the base of the foundation of the house we were in. It was so cool. The kids loved climbing all over the rocks - moreso than being in the ocean!

RJ checking on the rocks below:

And Maddy posing like a goof, as always!

I just thought this was really nice looking. As we walked along the street, Ron was carrying Maddy and the sun was setting right over their shoulder. I just love how they are silhouetted with the orange sun.

Maddy Graduates Preschool

As if the las few weeks were not busy enough...Maddy had to go and graduate from preschool!!! She has been going twice a week in the afternoon all year to Mansfield Children's School. I can't tell you how much I love the program there.

They had a cute little family picnic at Capron Park. The kids spent the whole time playing at the playground. I was completely enjoying myself - so much that I almost forgot to take pictures (if you can believe that!). I got a few really cute snapshots of the kids playing. Note, as you look through them, how Maddy is always climbing. That girl has no fear!!!

Here is the link to the rest of the images: http://jeniferlynphotography.com/Pages/Maddy_Grad/slideshow/index.html

I'm using a different type of slideshow, so please let me know if you can't load the page.

Maddy's Birthday Party

Friday night was Maddy's 4th birthday party. It was soooooooooo much fun - thank you to everyone who came. I wanted to keep it very small, since we as a family are in the middle of one of the most hectic times of life. Maddy was getting a little antsy, so I let her open one gift in the morning before school. She was sooooooooooo excited to get a new bathing suit and towel that she insisted on putting it on immediately. I almost couldn't get her to put real clothes on for school!

Here's the cake...I baked the cake, then brought it t my mother-in-law's house so she could help me decorate it. This was the first time I ever attempted a cake like this, but I think we did GOOD!!! Maddy liked it, which was really all that mattered to me.

Here's a picture of Maddy and Daddy - isn't that sooooooooooo sweet?! I'm trying to get a slideshow together now. Once I do, I will add another post with the full show in it.

Another Karate Graduation

On Saturday, the kids graduated to new belts in karate. Unfortunately, I had a really bad "duh" morning and thought we needed to be there at 9:30.....NOPE! Luckily I was trying to get there early, so we got there just in time for Maddy to get her new belt. I felt so bad. Luckily for me, she really didn't want to work out that morning, so 'just' getting the belt was more than OK with her. I would now like to present to you the new Green Belt - Maddy and the new Blue Belt - RJ.

I put together a slideshow of images set to RJ & Maddy's favorite song "Move Along" by the All-American Rejects.

Click on the arrow to start it. Enjoy!

Watch out for Maddy!

As I said in the post from yesterday, Maddy was inducted into the Gold Belt Club at karate, something RJ did two months ago. It's really just a confidence booster for the kids - they get to be a part of an "elite" club (that is actually offered to all kids promoted to green belts - which is what Maddy will be on Sat). I really can't say enough good things about the karate program there.

In any case, Maddy was awesome...WATCH OUT for this girl, do NOT mess with her! I feel really bad that I can't post images of RJ doing this, but I was video taping him last time and didn't have any helpers with me(except Maddy and she was NOT going to have my camera!).

Now for the fun...here are some of my favorite images...

Getting Ready

Breaking Through

Kickin' QueenPosing With Miss Stacey

Isn't She a Ham?!

Birthday's are Fun!

We had quite a busy weekend! After my sister's shower (see below!) , we had a birthday party for our cousin. He's so cute and the kids had so much fun!!! My Auntie-In-Law is an Arbonne consultant, so I got to spend some time playing with the make up and skin care items. I bought a whole ton of stuff and became a wholesale distributor with her, so if you want to know more about it, shoot me a quick email (I get a discount!) and we can talk. I love what I have so far and do NOT want to be a salesperson, but I will tell anyone who wants to know what I love and why!

I took a few great shots of the kids (of course - again, they are my FAVORITE subject!). This one of Maddy makes me smile every time. And if you know Maddy, this face is HER!

They got to do a pinata, which was so much fun for them!

Here's one more of Maddy (notice the curls - Giggy set her hair in curlers before bed and she looks just like a princess!)

Oh yeah, and we TRIED to get a family picture with all the cousins together, but as you can see, they were all a little giggly!! (It IS a party I guess!)

Mansfield Character Breakfast

This morning I took the kids to a character breakfast where the proceeds benefited the Chernobyl Children Project, USA. Prior to today, I had no idea such an organization existed. The purpose of the organization is to provide help for children affected by the Chernobyl disaster. What I didn't realize is that the nuclear disaster that occurred in 1986 is still having a profound effect on people who live there. You can read more about what they do on their web site, but one of the main things they do is to coordinate trips for children from the region to a Boston-area host family. They get to stay with the family for a month and receive proper medical attention for the time they are here.

I realized that it truly is amazing how little I know about what is going on in the world. It makes me sad to think of the innocent children that were (and are continuing to be) affected by the radiation.

Here are some images I made while we were there:

Doing Dishes

Something I've seemed to have forgotten to do in this craziness of life, is to capture more images of the kids just being kids. I've spent time in the past trying to get the perfect posed image of my children for Christmas, or Easter, or just because. What I seem to forget to do is take the camera out while they are doing what they do best - playing, having fun, etc. In my opinion, a posed picture is nice, but rarely captures the true essence of the child. And since the purpose of taking pictures is to forever capture your children in time - why not do so while they are doing all the things that they love?

When I look back at pictures of my children in a year, two years, or even ten years from now, will I remember that RJ's favorite toy is his Lego Star Wars? Will I remember all the times Maddy sat down to color on whatever she felt like coloring that day? I hope so, but my guess is that I won't. And having great images of them doing their favorite things will help. So, I'm making a pact to myself to take the camera out more during daily life and get them doing things that they usually do.

Tonight I did that, in a rare moment where my children (of their own accord, mind you) decided to wash the night's dishes for me. Aren't they sweet? Being 3 and 6, though, they didn't really clean anything, but they sure got water everywhere!

More Karate Kids

The kids have graduated to their next belts in karate again. The karate program they are in promotes them every couple of months to keep them interested. They go to Personal Best Karate in Foxboro. I highly recommend them. Miss Stacey, their instructor, is the kindest, most patient woman I've ever met. Here they are posing with her after receiving their new belts:





Here are a few images from the demonstration they do prior to receiving the belts. I am such a proud momma - I have the GREATEST kids ever!