Black belt

After many years of hard work, Simon has become a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do! It was no easy feat either. He spent four months working on booklet that required him to write essays, do physical achievements, book reports, meditation, fasting, and a teacher recommendation. Then last weekend he had three days of testing. He had a written test on the origins of TKD and about the Masters he has. Day two was an endurance hike followed by a 3 mile run. The hike wasn't easy by any mean. I went with him. I thought I was in good shape... phew, it was hard! The hike was beautiful though! We were in Bear Mountain, NY. It's on the Hudson River and part of the Appalachian Trail. So, breath taking. I wish we'd been there a month earlier when the leaves were changing.

Then day three was about forms, sparring, and board breaking.

He did a fantastic job with everything! We are very proud of him. He was presented with a trophy, new uniform, and a black belt!

October... no, it's November!

Where did October go? Wow, time slips by so quickly! My poor little blog feels abandoned. I've been swamped with school this semester. With OB and Peds in one class there is a lot to cover! I've got lab twice a week too. Then the kids seem to be involved in every activity under the sun. Dan and I have to coordinate who's getting which kid to what place at what time. Chaos I tell you, chaos.

So, what have I been up to...

I went to my brother's wedding! I got to see my nephew while I was there too. Got my mom her wedding quilt finally. It was done within a year. That's gotta count for something! I took Mallory her quilt as well when I went to Denver.

My little brother is married to a wonderful person! Welcome to the family.

Jack is adorable and I love his red, red hair.

Love the quilting.

I sadly missed Hannah's 13th birthday so I could go to Colorado and see my brother get married. Dan was awesome and let Hannah have a slumber party. There were 4 extra teenage girls in the house. I bet he wore ear plugs all night. :) I told Hannah if I wasn't there then her birthday didn't happen. 13 is too old. I'm not ready. Teenagers are a whole new creature. Start praying for me. For the next 13 years we'll have teenagers in the house!

Halloween was a blast. We did a Zombie Crawl in Asbury Park.

Brains!

Darn, he's cute.

Oh, I'm hoping to make ornaments again this year. I found a bird pattern that I love! When I took this photo with the bird on the book I thought, "This shit is for the birds." The research class is by far the hardest to wrap my brain around this semester!

I'll try to blog more often. My mommy already grumped at me for not blogging enough...