Movin' On Up, In Karate

Caroline learned the "-ad" family on Monday, so she now knows that it's not bad to be sad or mad, but if she had, it's better to be glad.  She's doing a great job at her reading.  It is the coolest thing to hear her sound out the words.  When she gets to the word, "the," she always pauses, looks at it intently, and says, "Oh yeah, this is the one you can't sound out.  The."  Yes!

She also moved up to the boys' karate class this week.  Everyone from her current class moved up as many of the bigger kids in the boys' class had moved to a different class.  She was nervous to go in for the first time.  When asked, she was most scared about the 5-minute dodgeball game at the end of class.  I didn't blame her, there are a few boys that throw the ball with all they've got.  Those same boys play baseball, so they hit hard and on target.  She was able to stand on the side during the game.  The rest of class, she did great.  Her small group was pulled to the side to learn their Basic Form 1, but other than that she was immersed in the class.  I'm sure her nerves will dissipate quickly.  She's a tough karate kid.

Henry was tested for his green belt-black stripe on Saturday.  He did great on the test.  He's a tough karate kid, too.  At the end of the test, he easily kicked through the board on the floor.  Then he had a new challenge - break a board with his hand.  He broke through the first one on his first attempt.  So, then they got a bigger board.  He gave it three whacks but couldn't break it.  As he finished, he looked at his hand and shook it a bit.  I imagine it hurts more to hit and not break it, than to hit and break through.

Fortunately Josiah and Caroline each had a friend to play with during the belt test.

After his test, instead of getting ice cream, we went out to Sweet Tomatoes and finally used Todd's birthday coupon.  It is always freezing in that restaurant, so along with bringing jackets, we all got hot chicken soup to maintain a decent body temperature.  After the kids were all thoroughly warm, the boys got their ice cream sundaes and Caroline got her bowl-o-sprinkles.  Then it was a rush to get outside and warm up again.  It took all of two seconds to warm up outside.  It's still ridiculously hot.  Even though the temperatures say high 80's or low 90's, the humidity has been such that it feels like a sauna outside.  Coupled with the intense mosquitoes it's been a rough go for a few weeks.

We did try to go out for a recess break a couple of times this week, just because I know it's important to get outside.  We've stayed out for about 30 minutes and when we've walked inside everyone has been drenched in sweat.  It's so gross, but it just happens the minute you step outside.  You don't have to do anything intense to sweat.  We have all been happy that we homeschool on these sorts of days, because the moment we walk inside everyone wants to take a shower and rinse off.  Fortunately we have the luxury to do so.

An equally awesome part of homeschooling is that I get to do elementary school for the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th time with each kid.  It's paying off on our competitive Jeopardy calendar.  I beat Todd's score for September and I've gotten all 7 questions for October right.  It can only get better as we go up in grades.  :)

I was checking over Josiah's Awana work the other day and there is a section where he can write in prayer requests.  He often doesn't write anything there, so I was intrigued when I saw he had written in: "that Henry makes the NFL"  Henry may have other goals, though, as he remarked this week, "I wonder who will draft me in Major League Baseball?"  He wants to do baseball because football players can get head injuries (easier).

I had a meeting one night this week and Todd told me about Caroline's experience with her chicken pot pie dinner.  She kept saying how much she liked the noodles in her pot pie.  They were so soft and good to eat.  We're not totally sure what she was eating, but there were definitely no noodles in the pot pie.

The weekend ended well.  The Texans are currently playing the Cowboys.  Caroline has gone into cheerleader mode, "When I say J.J., you say Watt.  J.J.! Watt!  J.J.! Watt!"  And the kids got to open another package from Cheryl & Phillip.  Caroline got a pair of black and orange striped tights and she has already tried them on and has a big costume planned.  She asked me if I could buy her witch shoes.  Uh, no.  You'll have to work with what you've got little girl.  She has like 20 pairs of shoes, all but two are hand-me-downs from various friends.  There are definitely a few black ones in the mix.

Activity books from Cheryl & Phillip!

We also tried to take our Christmas card picture today.  We never got Christmas cards out last year, so I'm trying to be a little more proactive this year.  One child, a boy who shall remain nameless, was what we would call uncooperative in the smiling department.  I threatened no media until Christmas if he wouldn't give me a smile.  Caroline and the other boy did well.  

It looks like a Merry Christmas to me!