Snapshot Sunday-Purple Belt

Harper tested for her purple belt on friday.  Eventhough this wasn't her best testing, she never got discouraged. 

She broke a board with a step behind side kick, but I took video of it instead of photos. 

Way to go Harper!!

Sunday Snapshot- Green Belt

Harper tested this weekend for her green belt in Tae Kwon Do.  She even got to break a board.   I didn't actually get a shot of her breaking it, but here is an action shot.

 

She is now a green belt.  I am so proud of her.  She has worked really hard.

Sunday Snapshot- My Rock Star

Harper and I had a little photoshoot for her Valentine's card.  This is one that didn't make the cut, but she looked so sweet.  I had to share.  I love my little Rock Star!!  I will show the kids Valentine's on Tuesday.

Orange Belt

 

Harper is still loving Tae Kwon Do.  She tested for her orange belt this weekend.  It is amazing to see the

dedication from all of the kids.  She was set to test in December, but she got strep throat the day before the testing.  She was so upset that she missed it.  She had to wait a whole month to test.  She was devastated at first, but eventually took it all in stride.  The extra month of practice made testing a breeze.

 

The testing took 3 hours, but she left with an orange belt. 

I am so proud of you Harper!!!!

Harper's Birthday Party

Harper's birthday party was on her actual birthday, which worked out perfectly. We had her party at the Skate Center and it was so much fun.

She worked up a sweat with all that skating.

This was the best photo I got of her skating. My camera did not like the lighting situation in the Skate Center. I am going to blame it on the camera not the photographer.

Harper's party was a ton of fun. She was a little sore the next day though. I have to admit I am glad that the two birthday parties are behind me now.

Happy Birthday Harper

Dear Harper,

Seven years old, really? I always tease you that you didn't want to be born on my birthday because you wanted to have your very own birthday. I swear you came out of the womb knowing what you wanted and when you wanted it. You are so strong and independent, but also so caring and loving. This year you have made me proud more times than I can count. Just this morning a father stopped me in the parking lot after I dropped you off at camp. He asked if I was your mom and I said, "yes". He said, "Harper has been so sweet to my little girl who has special needs". I love that you can be friends with someone without judging them or feeling strange just because they are different from you. I could go on and on because I am always getting compliments from others on your behavior and your character. I am so fortunate to be your mother. Thanks for being you.

I hope you have the best birthday ever, Babycakes.

Love,

Mom

Race Weekend

Last weekend was all about running. Harper ran in the ING Kids Rock Marathon on Friday night. She has been running in gym and after school for a couple of months now. She ran her final lap right outside LP Field.

She ran by so fast I pretty much missed her. This is right before the finish line. She is on the other side of the girl in blue.

I am so proud of her. Eventhough she really did not enjoy the training, she loved the race. She said she is definitely doing it again next year.

Gettin' Into A Groove

We are a month into first grade and so far so good. We have settled into our school routine. This year has been much easier on all of us. Harper has finally decided to like reading. She has a wonderful teacher that really has motivated her. We have to keep track of the number of minutes she reads each day. There is a friendly competition between all the first grade classes to see which class reads the most minutes at the end of the year. Harper is very competitive so this has really made her want to read.

Most of the time when I look at her, I can't believe how grown up she has become.

Then I see photos like the one above and realize she is still so little. I mean just look at those

chubby cheeks.

She still has her very own unique sense of style. I have learned to embrace it. She is starting to become more aware of what people think of her though, which does impact some of her decisions. It does make me sad to see her self confidence waiver, but I know it is part of growing up. For now we are just taking it one day at a time.

I sure do love you Harper!!

Team-Up Thursday- School

This week Cara and I chose school as our theme. Harper's first day of first grade is today so we thought it would be an appropriate theme. I immediately though school supplies since we had a whole pile of them laying around. I really wanted to get a shot of Harper writing in one of her new first grade notebooks, but I thought that might not be the best idea. I guess I should have bought an extra one for us to practice at home.

Cara's school shot is awesome. What a grande building! This is where her boys attend daycare.

Since we are talking about the first day of school, here's Harper posing for me with her new backpack on. She's a little excited.

Yep, she is now a 1st grader.

It is amazing how much stuff can fit into that backpack.

I wanted to get a shot of both the kids together. Harper's response was "Ok, but Miller don't touch me." Yeah, the photo speaks for itself.

"Ummm, I don't like my brother."

Head on over to Megan's for more Team-Up Thursday.

Happy 6th Birthday Harper

My baby girl is 6 today. Six. How is that possible? We are having a family party for her tonight. So I will have party photos up next week. Today I have this shot for you.

Nice, huh? I was taking photos of the garden and realized that I haven't taken any decent photos of the kids in awhile. The lighting was good. Why not try to snap a couple of close-ups of the kids? Harper was more than willing to pose for a shot. Just as I snapped the shot her finger went straight in her nose. The little stinker. She immediately asked to see it on the camera. She was most proud of herself. All the other shots she is sportin' some sort of fake grin. Sigh.

I was debating on whether to post this shot. I imagine it is one of those photos that will embarass her beyond belief in a couple of years, but you know it does really show her sense of humor. There is never a dull moment when she is around.

Miller was not thrilled with the idea of having his photo taken. At all.

See what I mean.

Harper, I hope you have the best birthday ever.

Happy Birthday sweet girl.

Running, Fishing, and Gymnastics

+++++WARNING+++++Parental Boasting will occur multiple times in this post.

For several weeks, Harper has been anticipating her mile run (which actually ended up being a half mile) at school. Let me to tell you she is one competitive little girl. The day before the race they ran during gym class. Harper ran so hard that she felt like she was going to be sick and had to visit the nurse. I tried to convince her that she didn't have to run full speed the whole entire time, but I could not convince her that pacing herself was a good idea. The day of the race we went to the school to watch her in action. She started in the second group of kindergarteners and steadily passed her classmates. She was the very first kindergartener to finish. I was so proud of her determination.

Yes, her shoelaces are untied and she is holding her headbands.

My proud little runner finishes school in less than 2 weeks, which means I will have a 1st grader. Can you believe it?

Miller has been asking to go fishing for several months now so we ventured out on Sunday for a relaxing day of fishing.

This is Miller's smile. Very natural looking don't you think?

It was actually cool out and felt like Spring.

I love this photo of my two favorite men. Cheesy grin and all.

Harper has been taking gymnastics all year long. Halfway through she was ready to quit and really wanted to take karate. We encouraged her to stick with it. At some point during the year something clicked and she has mastered everything they were teaching in her class. During the end of the year evaluation, the coach asked if she would be interested in the development team. Of course Harper was SO, SO excited, but this means 2.5 hours of practice each week. Yikes. That is a big commitment. We are going to try it for the summer and see how it goes.

Have I mentioned that I sure do love those two kids of mine?

My Little Snaggle Tooth

I think it is every kindergarten's dream to lose a tooth. Harper has been hoping for a loose tooth all year. Finally several weeks ago when she jumped off the school bus, she came running up to me beaming. She finally had a loose tooth. She wiggled and jiggled it. She was messing with that tooth constantly. Then last Thursday the nurse at school pulled it out for her. She was beyond excited.

She was even more excited for the tooth fairy to come. Another milestone that makes me realize my baby girl is growing up way too fast.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Do you think there was a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow?

The other side of the rainbow peeking through the clouds.

This shot has nothing to do with rainbows. Just wanted to show you my little monkey. She climbs up that pole like its nothing. It makes me nervous every time.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone.

Bathing Suit Weather Already?

Well, it's not quite bathing suit weather yet, but it was gorgeous outside this weekend. We planned a trip over Spring Break so I bought the kids new bathing suits last week. Harper has been sleeping in hers every night. She wore it under her clothes all day yesterday waiting for an opportunity to strip down to just her bathing suit. Finally when Mitch decided to wash the cars, I told her she could run around in just her bathing suit. Miller quickly followed suit.

I am choosing this last shot as my Best Shot this week. It gives me hope that Spring is really right around the corner.

The Dream Dog

We have been in need of a new home computer for some time now. So after Christmas we splurged and bought an iMac. My husband has been having fun playing around with his Flip video camera and iMovie. Mitch stayed home last week with Harper since she was out of school. They spent a good portion of the day working on this video. Enjoy.

The First and Hopefully Last Bike Accident

Harper had her first very bad bike accident last night. It was one of those moments that seemed to be moving in slow motion, but it really happened so fast. I felt like I should have reacted differently or sooner or something. She was obviously not feeling really comfortable riding, yet she started down this hill anyways. I wanted to stop her and should have stopped her, but I didn't.

If she had just put on her brakes or if she had just glided down the hill, she would have been fine. The problem was she couldn't decide what to do and ultimately crashed. I watched the whole thing and it was horrible. I was too far away to know for sure, but it looked like her face smashed the street. She was screaming instantly. Mitch ran to her. He grabbed her and the bike and started back up the hill. All I could say was, "did she hit her face?" He said very seriously, "yes, she hit her face." I couldn't see her because she was faced the other way, but I could see Mitch's face and knew it was bad. As he passed me, I saw her and there was blood every where. We hurried home to further access the situation. She was still screaming. Mitch took her to the bathroom while I grabbed some ice. After we got her calmed down and Mitch took a good look at her mouth, he decided she needed to go to the ER. My gut was telling me she should go so I was glad that he felt the same way.

I stayed home with Miller and Mitch took her to the ER. It's a good thing I have a calm and collected husband. I truly don' t know what I would do without him.

I took this photo this morning. She kept ice on it the whole time she was the hospital so the swelling had gone done considerably by the time they made it back. As you can tell, she was not really excited about me taking a picture of her big, fat lip.

This is the worst injury that I have had to deal with so far as a parent. You feel so helpless, so much guilt, and so much pain. You wish that you could trade places. You wish that you could rewind time. It makes you realize how easy it is for something to go really wrong. You replay the scene in your mind over and over again. You want to just hold them in your arms and comfort them forever.

I know at the end of the day this was pretty minor. She escaped with no stitches and all her teeth intact. She is sore and swollen, but she is okay. I hope her confidence isn't shattered by this accident. She told Mitch that she wasn't riding her bike again until she was sixteen. To be honest at this very moment, I am ok with that.

Little Miss Independent Part II

I actually got to witness the unassisted bike riding yesterday. She still needs help getting started, but she is riding with no training wheels. Of course, instead of being excited she was frustrated that she could not do it completely by herself. I had to remind her that this was only her second time even trying to ride the bike by herself. Patience is not her strong suit.

This little guy was lovin' all the open space of the parking lot. He zoomed around with no fear.

Then when no one was watching him, the little stinker would fake a crash. He did this multiple times and I finally caught him in the act. Poor thing is starved for attention I guess. Or maybe we have a stunt man in training on our hands.

Who knew a high school parking lot could be so much fun?