Karate Belt Graduation Cerimony '10

We now officially have two karate "men" in our home. Acacia started a few months ago and Chris has been going strong for 6 months now. Acacia went from white to gold belt and Chris went from white with gold stripe to half white half gold. Chris is a little mifted that he did not get to gold yet and Acacia got there before he did when he's been doing it longer. Here are a bunch of photos and then a ton of little movie clips. I used to use a free software on line that allowed me to easily edit my video clips and blend them all into one (rather then 13 short ones), but that free service is now gone. If anyone knows of an application that will allow me to easily edit and combine short little movie clips into one long one please let me know!! The movie clips are anywhere from 5 seconds to 20 seconds long.

Last Swim Meet '10

Acacia had her last swim meet of the winter session. They are off now for about 6 weeks (thankfully!). I had to have her in the pool at 7a and this pool was about 45 minutes away. We were both beat! This was the state conference meet. There were at least 60+ kids competing in each event. Acacia got DQ'ed in her IM. We are still waiting to find out why. Otherwise, she saved a few seconds off her 50 yard breast stroke but back and free she added a few seconds. I was not surprised seeing how she did not have as much sleep as she needed and she refused to eat anything. She was placing like 20th and 30th out of 60 kids which is really not too bad given that she was probably the youngest one there having just turned 9.

Since it was a conference meet the team came up with the Olympic theme, made posters and t-shirts and had a cheer and fight chant ready to go. They were the only team that did this so they really had a presence at the meet. I also love the fact that Oregon really supports this sport. I'd say at least half the fans were in black and orange (Oregon colors). Overall the team place 2nd in the meet. Quite a few of the kids will advance on to whatever the next level is. This is really VERY competitive swimming. Acacia really likes to win ribbons but I think it will be a little while now before she actually gets another one. But, maybe that will be her motivation.





Enter the Oregon Tigersharks!!









Here comes Acacia (blue t-shirt with a ribbon around her neck)











Acacia (and team) doing their cheer (she is still in a blue t-shirt but there is an orange sign in front of her here).






Here's the entire team! Well, the 10 and under group.










Eat my bubbles! How threatening!!














They have to write on their arms all the events they are doing, what stroke, lane, heat, etc ... She had a lot of events this time!!








This is one of her friends. The only way parents can tell their kids apart is usually by their goggles. But, these two have the exact same ones. I can never find Acacia once she is in the crowd of Tigersharks!!











On your mark. Get set .....

A few more basketball shots '10

Chris has one more game till the season is over. I am so impressed with how much the kids have progressed since they started. It really is amazing. Chris is winning the best left handed dribbler week after week.



It always takes a little before he starts getting into it ...









You can't really see him, but Chris made this shot ...










Taking it in for a shot!












Left handed dribbling!











Left handed ... rolling ....

New Team Suit '10

Acacia's new team suit arrived. She even has matching goggles and the swim cap. Her next meet is this Sunday (Valentine's Day). I hope she has a good day! She was pretty bummed out after the last meet because she had to switch from competing in only 25 yard events to having to do 50 or more. She went from being first in almost everything to being more in the middle. You only get a ribbon if you place and placing is 1st - 12th. There are usually at least 20+ kids competing in each event.

More Skiing '10

We were able to get another day of skiing in. It was colder then we normally would have liked it but we all managed to still enjoy ourselves. We met up with some friends which always makes the kids happier! No one ran into anything this time, and no one launched them self off a terrain park jump and no one got lost. It was a good day for all!

Acacia turns 9!

Acacia turned 9 Jan 25th and had a roller skating party on the 23rd with some friends from all her walks of life! 15 kids total and we had a roller skating party! The party includes an ice cream cake BUT that was not good enough. She wanted a roller blade cake .... So I made a roller blade cake .... what do you think?





















The party was a success and no one broke anything! We had a private party room that glowed in the dark, glow sticks, goodie bags, ice cream and regular cake, pizza and drinks and a couple hours of skating! It was a GREAT deal and I had to really do was make the roller blade cake! I was happy and Acacia had a GREAT time!

To see all the photos from the party click the link below.





Click the link to see the slide show of Acacia turns 9 - '10.

Slide show of Acacia turns 9 - '10

Acacia's first swim meet '10

All I can say is that I do not recall this many options for recreational and / or competitive sports when I was a kid! Acacia has done soccer, horseback riding, skiing and swimming and she tried out and made the swim team in Dec. Her first meet was a week or so ago and she won the 3 individual heats she swam in (25y free, breast and back). She did two relays and one of the two came in 5th. There were at least 5 different schools competing and several swimmers from each school compete in each heat. But, now that she has turned 9 she had to move up to the next level. She is no longer allowed to compete in 25y events. They all have to be at least 50y. So, I have a feeling her next meet (this Sat) may not prove as successful as her first. But, she is ecstatic with how well she did. She got tokens for each heat win that will get her a free ice cream at a local ice cream place and she got ribbons.

Since she is new her team suit was not in yet so it was a lot easier to spot her. Her suit is a one piece multi colored swirls. Her teams is the Oregon Tiger Sharks (black and orange). She has her suit now so it will be hard for me to find her in the crowd. We drive to Milwaukee this Sat for the next meet.











This is her winning the breast stroke by a mile!

Chris Plays Basket Ball '10

This year for something different Chris signed up for basketball. No more hockey. He is on a rec league through the school. All the teams are orange and white Oregon Panthers. Orange is home team and white is the visiting team. They have reversible jerseys and just wear the correct color during the game. Chris is number 3 and could be wearing white or orange. He has black high tops and sometimes plays with this sweat pants one instead of the black shorts. I am very proud of Chris and how much he's accomplished with all his athletic activities. He has not found one sport that he completely excels in but he sure loves the Wii, DS Lite and Play Stations games. Here are a few photos from recent games. If you want to see all the basketball photos just click the link below!!









One of Chris' best friends plays in the same league but on a different team and they got to play each other this past week.






Click the link to see the slide show of Chris Playing Basketball '10.

Slide show of Chris Playing Basketball '10