What President Obama SHOULD Have Said

regarding the BP oil spill.  

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Wordless Wednesday

Who Needs a Hose When You Have God?

The kids have found something even better than getting wet with the hose- playing in the rain.  We had a garage sale this past weekend and both days were abruptly interrupted by torrential rains- they didn't last long, but what they lacked in duration, they made up for in intensity.  The three younger kids however, found the rain to be utterly and completely enjoyable.  In fact, they couldn't understand why the adults were running to their cars and not stopping to play with them.

We should all find such joy in simple things

The Rest of the Story

From Wordless Wednesday-

D is obsessed with the hose (or more accurately, spraying people with the hose). The other morning she and K snuck out the back door and within minutes we hear these squeals of joy, giggling (both from D) and this sound that sounds like joy and terror all at the same time (from K) B went out to save her but by then she was right in the thick of things laughing her head off a she ran from her sister. And judging by how wet D is, K must have had a turn with the hose as well

Of course the game ended after K managed to get the hose (and go in the house WITH it). I think she is trying to keep D out but since we only barely dodged the water "bullet" with D we decided it was time to take the hose away from the door and away from the children

Wordless Wednesday

What's Missing....

From this photo?

Yep a tooth- X lost his first tooth the other day. He couldn't wait to put it in "tooth pillow" and leave it for the tooth fairy

The First Kung Fu Tournament

The boys are both taking Kung Fu lessons from a wonderful instructor- Sifu Max. At the beginning of January Sifu Max started a sparring class for the kids. Now for those of you who know me it is very surprising that I (she of the "give peace a chance" mentality) have decided to have the boys join in the class. My rationale was that it would be nice for them to be able to defend themselves should they ever need to and sparring, unlike boxing, involves not hitting/kicking hard. The point of it is that the fighter must have discipline and control. In a real fight they could deliver a killer blow but in a match, hitting/kicking too hard costs you points or can disqualify you.

So a month ago, the boys participated in their first tournament.

We weren't sure how it would go since during practice he spends most of his fights laughing but X placed 4th- not too shabby for his first time out against bigger kids with more experience.

A had much harder competition- he was at the younger end of the bracket and his opponents had clearly been sparring for several years. In addition, (according to one dad watching) the matches were not being scored correctly. However- he stuck it out and completed all 3 fights which considering he didn't even want to go, was pretty impressive too (afterwards he said he was glad he went so hopefully that means he won't be telling a therapist about this someday)

I have to say, while I did cheer for my kids to "get him" in X's last fight his opponent fell down and I could not bring myself to say "hit him- he's on the ground" so I guess I haven't totally changed