Jackson trained harder for this last tournament than any other he has participated in. He was practicing at the dojo four days a week, on weekends, and endless time at home. The goal he set for himself was to earn at least one first place medal.
It was a two day tournament and he participated in seven events: 2 forms, 2 weapons forms, 2 types of sparring and he was part of his dojo's, first ever, demo team.
I took the family out to dinner at Madeline's Steak House after the demo teams finished with their performances. We all agreed that it was quite possibly the best steak we had ever eaten. Jackson zoncked out on the car ride home.
Jackson didn't compete against anyone else from our dojo. Out of the other kids participating, none were in the same age and belt level bracket as him. It was a very tough competition. Jackson was up against kids that could do split kicks and areals. Honestly, I was shocked at the skill level of these nine year olds.
My favorite picture!
Jackson achieved his goal of earning a first place medal. He did great all the way around and I am one proud momma! I am thankful to my mom for coming out for both days to show her support.
1st place - Nunchuck Sparring
2nd place - Contemporary Form
2nd place - Traditional Weapon
2nd place - Contemporary Weapon
After the tournament we invited my mom to join us at Johanna's Kitchen for lunch, which has become a tradition. I loved the look on Jackson's face as he walked out of the event center, with his medals proudly clanking together around his neck. Great job bud!
What do you want to be when you grow up? Architect
What is your favorite book? Eragon, by Christopher Paolini
What is your favorite song? Grenade, by Bruno Mars
What is your favorite TV show? I don't know, I don't watch much TV
What was your biggest accomplishment this year? Making a bow and arrow
What is your favorite season? Winter Why? Because it's cold
Where would you most like to go for a vacation? Hawaii
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Jump on the trampoline
What is your favorite thing to do inside? Play with Copper
What is your favorite restaurant? Sizzler
Who is your best friend? John
Jackson turned 9 on April 3rd. He woke up to some Birthday decorations around the house. The balloons on the fan was especially a hit. (Copper kept trying to case them, which was hilarious)
Jackson got to open a card from Russell's parents (with a gift card) and a few things from me (arrow heads & 'bee bar') then we headed to Sizzler for his Birthday dinner.
Our server brought out the BIGGEST root beer float any of us had ever seen and we all sang happy birthday to Jackson.
Back at home, he opened the rest of his gifts (A new football, a new pump for his basketball, The game, Mindcraft for the computer from Russell, Command & Conquer for the Xbox from Ashleigh, and an ipod from me).
We surprised Jackson with these glow in the dark balloons. They are made with little glow sticks inside and ended up being really fun to play with!
This is my beautiful baby girl right after she got her braces on:
Just minutes after getting them off:
She has grown up so much, and way too fast. After two years of appointments every six weeks and all sorts of fun and sometimes crazy color combinations, the braces are off. She is super excited and just in time to start this next school year as a freshman in high school. She got balloons and a goodie bag filled with treats from the orthodontist.
I treated her to lunch at a new crepe restaurant in town before taking her back to school.
I am part of a photography group online. Once or twice a month a themed challenge is posted for photographers to participate. I've participated in a few of these challenges over the last year or so. The most recent challenge was tittled "Silhouette" and I won!
There were some fantastic entries, including a woman's silhouette on a beach and a man's silhouette infront of a sunset. I was honored to win up against so many other great photographs.
The kids spent easter morning with their Dad this year so Russell and I had a nice relaxing morning around the house. We later picked up the kids and headed to my Mom's for a delicious dinner with the family. We had an Eater egg hunt in the back yard and Jackson got to have a horse ride before heading home see what the Easter bunny had left for them (Copper even got a basket with toys and bones).
I need to backtrack a month to catch up. My laptop is out of commission again so I haven't been on top of blogging and it's taken a while to get the older pictures onto this computer.
We were invited to Hunter's birthday party at Classic Skating (my kid's cousin). It was a blast. I hadn't been roller skating in, I don't know how many years. It took a few times around the rink to get the hang of it again but it was really fun. I'm glad Russell and the kids talked me into skating.
Strobe lights, disco balls and music to get you tapping your foot makes for some fun skating. It always nice to visit with family and old friends and Hunter got some great birthday presents!
...and couldn't be happier. I spent hours of planning and day dreaming for this garden throughout the winter. Originally I had plans drawn up for a beautiful wood fence around the garden and garden boxes. Then reality set in regarding the cost of such a beautiful design. So, it was time to get inventive and revise my plans. My stepdad, Mark had a ton of old pallets from work. He and my mom brought a couple trucks full of pallets over to me and I got busy.
I took an unused, weed filled, eyesore behind our garage and turned it into our family garden. It took just over a month, start to finish. It all started with cutting down a wild growing tree that shaded the area. The tree was pretty tall so it needed to be cut down in chunks and what better place to start than on the roof.
Meanwhile, we started some seeds inside:
Fence to keep the dogs out and clear all the weeds:
The building begins. I spend time afterwork and on weekends measuring, sawing, and assembling. In case you didn't know, I love power tools.
Inside, our seeds had sprouted, were transplanted into cups and were doing well.
After the garden boxes were all assembled, I added landscape fabric on the bottom (to block weeds) and added some support posts.
I got the idea to line the inside with some paper grocery bags online, it keeps the soil from falling out through the slats.
Next step was having soil delivered. This is the first of two truck loads full and the task of filling the garden boxes seemed never ending!
Our seedlings were getting huge, and ready for transplanting by this time
As I was building the trellises I looked back into my yard and it looked like a secret garden behind my rickety old fence.
I had kept some of the long branches from the tree I cut down to make a teepee trellis for the peas.
It felt amazing to get it all planted. I absolutely love my garden and we've already gotten a handfull of ripe strawberries.
I will keep you updated throughout the summer. This is what's currently planted:
Veggies
Corn
Yellow Bell Peppers
Zucchini
Kale
Cabbage
Eggplant
Cauliflower
Brocoli
Leeks
Red Onion
White Onion
Garlic
Tomatos - 8 varieties
Banana Peppers
Sweet Peppers
Radish
Peas
Carrots
Cucumber - 2 varieties
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Honeydew
Pumpkins
White Pumpkins
Gourds
Spagetti Squash
Potatoes - 2 varieties
Herbs
Chives
Mint
Chamomile
Basil
Parsley
Cilantro
Edible Flowers
Nasturtiums
Pansies
Fruits
Strawberries
Apple Tree
Cherrie Trees
Plum Tree
(the trees were already planted when we bought our house 5 years ago)
