Belt Test and Tiny Taekwon do

Aden had his very first belt test last night and he's been practicing hard for weeks. In fact, a little of the practicing has rubbed off on his brother, who has been doing this around the house...



It is the cutest thing ever to see Ethan, 20 months old, running through some of the positions. The night of the belt test though, Aden was ready and he NAILED it! I am so proud! He did all his movements just right and earned a yellow stripe.

Afterwards, we went with the whole belt testing group to Dairy Queen to celebrate. Ethan made all sorts of new friends.

Some Videos...

Here are some videos of Aden breaking a board at last night's belt test, and of the tournament a few weeks ago.

TOURNAMENT






BELT TEST - BREAKING A BOARD

Happy Birthday Linds!

For Lindsey's birthday, we met up with family at a great little Mexican restaurant in Cedar Hill (thank you waitress for being so accommodating to my kids that day!) and then checked out the shopping center around it. It was a gorgeous day and it was nice to be out of the house for a while.

There was also some pretty awesome sprinklers that Aden and Ethan decided might be the highlight of the whole place.

They center also had some small play area for the boys to climb.

But best of all, they had Aden's decidedly new favorite shop - GameStop.

After we left, Adam and I took the boys to pick out their Valentine's Day presents. Since Valentine's Day fell on a Monday, we celebrated the day before instead. We got the boys balloons and chocolate covered animal crackers, then took them to Build-a-Bear.

Aden picked out a puppy, then we found a dobak for his puppy that comes with different colored belts! Aden named his puppy Saju.

Ethan was less involved in the making of the bear, and more involved with sharing the love. He took every single heart he could reach out of the heart bin and rubbed them all (one-by-one) on daddy's cheek.

Of course these two are pros at bath time, and I can tell they are already good little care-givers in the making. This bodes well for me later in life.

Aden and Saju...

Sgub (Bugs backwards) all by himself. Because someone threw a little tantrum upon returning home - and was promptly sent to naptime.

While Ethan napped, Aden set up a whole photography session on his own. He placed all their fuzzies just where he wanted and kept asking when Ethan was getting up. When E finally woke up, Aden placed him just where he wanted. I think he did a fantastic job! Adam actually took the picture too, I found it on my phone later!

And finally, inside the home where no one but us could see him, Aden allowed me to spike his hair. I think he looks so grown up. He thinks he looks "crazy." He calls this "waxy hair." Needless to say, he will not allow me to do this for public view. I guess he forgot I blog.

Ethan is always good for a great expression!



Oh my spicy little meatball!

Ethan is such an emotional little guy. He has big outbursts of anger and objection all the way to an outpouring of love and tenderness. And when he laughs, he laughs with his whole self. I've never heard a better laugh. He is so sweet too, when I tell him I love him he says, "No..." and shakes his little curly head, but then smiles in a way that I know he knows I love him. It's his game. He loves to play any sport involving a ball, loves to dance and loves to play chase. His best time is when you sneak up on him and scare him with a "boo." I think he likes the thrill and the game. He jumps and then laughs his belly laugh and then tries to get you to do it again, and again...

He has also been really great at brushing his teeth by himself (with mommy following up after). He has gotten to where he'll tell me what's next, "Bath time?" or he'll get out of the bath and say, "Teeth!" and of course, at all times of the day he is asking for food. I've never seen anyone pack away as much food as this little booger.

I'm so glad that he's MY little boy.

Snow Days... in TEXAS!

Snow! Ice and snow and more ice and snow! We've had three straight days of ice and snow and temperatures under 30 degrees, so no school, no work and no going anywhere in general. The boys have been troopers though, I really thought we would drive each other nuts being holed up. And there have been a few moments... but over all it has really been a nice little snuggle fest.

The boys had an excellent time in the snow though. On Friday, I had a conference call and Adam thought he might have to drive to work, so the boys went to school for a few hours. Aden had just enough time to show off his medal at show and tell.



As soon as we picked them up though, it was straight into the snow we went.

 Ethan actually liked the snow this year, unlike last year.

 The boys attempted to make a snowman, but this was not the sticking kind of snow. We even tried mashing it into a bucket first, and that did work a little (but was no match for Ethan's swinging arms... he couldn't stand it, he had to push it all over.)

It didn't actually feel very cold being out in the snow, but we aren't prepared with boots and such, so the real concern was all this snow soaking into the boys' clothes and getting them sick. So we went back in and warmed up with dry clothes and hot chocolate (with whipped cream!).

Later that night after baths, the boys enjoyed Scooby Doo movie time in bed. Ethan has discovered that he likes Scooby Doo and Little Einsteins. This is the first time he'll actually sit and watch TV at all. Usually he acts like he doesn't even see the TV, which has been fine with us. He's much more into toys and balls and stuffed fuzzies.

Aden surprised us at dinner by announcing that he can read. Of course we had to see this in person, so I pulled out a little first reader and sure enough, that kid read it! It's like all of a sudden, one day he is sounding out what letter things start with and the next day he's reading a book! I can't get over how much the mind of a child can hold. And I'm SO proud of my little reader!

Cows, Pigs, Horses... Oh My!

Yee haw to the Fort Worth Stock Show! Aden put his boots on, Ethan grabbed his flannel and we headed down to see some fuzzies. Bring on the livestock!

We started with a little bean bag game, which Ethan also played, and then made our way to as many cows, horses, pigs, goats, rabbits, chickens, ducks, turkeys and other such animals as we could find.

But on the way, we found TRACTORS! All three boys decided we need one.

A&E got to hold and pet a baby goat... and it only cost $12. (Seriously highway robbery, but they giggled and cooed the whole time).

Ethan was pretty impressed and  intrigued by the fact that cows also take baths.

(Watching cows get shampooed)

There's also quite a bit of purchase opportunities as well, from hats to boots to trailers to barbecue supplies. Endless amounts of goods! And food of course, which was really what Ethan was concerned about. He saw a corn dog stand and begged "please? Pleeeaaase?" until I gave in. Which didn't take too long. I can't say no to that sweet face.

After all the petting and shopping and eating, we ended the night at the carnival section of rides. They actually have a large amount that both boys could ride.

While Aden was on the motorcycles, Ethan saw the swings and threw a fit trying to get to them. We're still trying to teach him the concept of "just a minute." He remembers these from Six Flags though and wanted on immediately.

When we finally got there though, he sort of froze. I couldn't tell if he was scared or not, but I think he might have thought about being scared for a few seconds. Then he was fine though and had a great time on the ride.

The winner for the evening though, for both boys, was the boats. They loved these. Ethan cried and kicked me when the ride was over and I had to take them off. That kid has quite a temper... and quite a leg muscle.

He got over it though and after a quick talking to about not kicking, we were friends again.