Let it Snow!

That was Amber's honest Christmas wish. Unfortunately, though the month had plenty of cold days and plenty of rainy days they never quite matched up.  We also had our share of unwanted "snow" (ie. challenges) throughout the month but in the end we managed to wrap up the year rather well.

We started the month rather under the weather but Grandma "took precautions" to bring over her famous chicken noodle soup and we all started to feel better.

 

Lance attended his first corporate work party.  It was a semi-formal event at a big country club, complete with ice sculpture, food and 60K in prizes.  Lance didn't win any of the prizes but he and Emma had a great time people watching.  Later in the month he finished his first semester of college with straight "A"s.

Amber started leasing "Boogie" (her instructors horse) two days a week.  Boogie is a retired Thoroughbred with a great personality and lots of buttons for her to learn.  In a lease, she rides the horse by herself, though her instructor does give her a format and things to work on each ride.  Since her instructor has gone back to work during the day, she is only having formal lessons once a week.  Amber really loves the freedom and responsibility of riding on her own and I enjoy working with her those days.  She even managed to get a free lesson one day, from the matriarch of the barn that was very helpful.  She's also trained Boogie to run to her (for treats but it works) so she doesn't have to trudge through the muddy paddock to go get him each time.

Mid-month Lance and Jared were invited as surprise guests for our family friend Lilli's birthday party at a nice Italian restaurant.  

Afterward, the whole family was invited to join them ice skating afterward in Fenton Square (think Rockefeller plaza in miniature).  Titus was enamored with the area and really wants to go back.  All the kids had a marvelous time.

Jared completed his forth Tip Test this month, making him ready to test for Black Belt in the New Year.  He still loves working at the dojang and attended his first work sponsored Christmas party.  His long-term goal is still to make a living off his youtube channel.  Toward that goal he finished out the year with over 10K in subscribers and launched his merch store.  In the New Year he's going to focus on getting more people to watch his long content videos so he can finally monetize his channel in 2023.

Titus continued practicing with his baseball team, doing Redline and TKD; getting ready for a great 2023 season.  Titus' big accomplishment this month was lighting up the back yard much to the delight of our backyard neighbors.  Frankly, I think his light show was better than most I've ever seen.

 

As a bonus, with the help of Lance he put up the ultimate bird feeder as well.  One day we had seven Bluebirds at once!  We're happy to see Cooper back as well, along with a huge variety of other birds.

We had a condensed advent this year due to illness.  During our four days of advent (instead of four weeks) we lighted our new (to us) Christmas Carousel each night and listened to part of a Lamplighter Christmas story.  Each of the four days I tried to cook one child's favorite meal and desert.  We ended Christmas Eve in style with the K Family.  We first went to their house for dinner and games.  Then off to their church to finish the season with my favorite advent traditions; Bells and Silent Night sung by candlelight.  

Christmas day we had our traditional lasagna dinner and spice cake with the "Legacies" - No Soap...Radio LOL. Thank you to all who sent cards this year to decorate our tree so nicely.

Before lasagna Titus decided to test the structural integrity of the ice on the pond, it held for about three seconds before he fell in but his spill did create some neat icebergs as the day froze on.

December 30th saw Lance and Jared off to a formal English Country Dance.  As you can see the boys chose to dress 1920s gangster style.  All six boys were named "Tony" for the night.

AROUND THE HOUSE

This fall we made some much needed updates around the house.  Titus took the initiative to paint the hall upstairs and foyer (including the door which really looks great) a beautiful Colonial/Admiral Blue, just a few rooms left that need the ugly puke-yellow-grey color replaced.

Finally, I got the Tiffany chandelier I've wanted for 26 years but couldn't find one for a price I could justify.  Isn't it beautiful!

Got rid of the "college furniture" in the school room and the kitchen ie. milk crates with wood planks stretched across them.  This table I found on Nextdoor is just perfect for all my indoor plants.

The dogs are still going strong along with their alter egos the cats (Hunter is the subject of many "Find the Cat" photos, Chomper would rather sleep the day away).  

Rainbows are happy in the 75 gallon and the shrimps are prolific in the 11 gallon.  

Drago finally woke-up/stopped bruminating and is active again.  We still have 16 laying chickens and 3 retirees.  Looking forward to really planting out the back yard in the Spring.  The backyard was such an eye-sore for years and now its so pretty I've turned all the FL Room furniture to face and enjoy its beauty; thanks to Titus again for taking the initiative to start the project with his ever ready cohort Amber.

Wings of all Kinds

The first week of November was all about TKD.  Titus and Jared had their normal classes/work, plus Titus had a prep-class for his Black Belt Test and his Black Belt Test (click here for more on that) and the day before that the boys attended a Sparring Seminar held by Master Kim's Sparing Coach and current coach of the US Olympic team.

Needless to say we were "flying" around a lot the first week but we still managed to squeeze in a Field Trip to Hawk Manor.  This was one of my favorite field trips four years ago and the repeat visit did not disappoint.  He brought out a Red-tailed Hawk (beautiful and much better choice than falcon), a falcon (loud when not under his cap), an imprinted vulture (quite comical as it hopped around the room) and a cute owl to pet at the end.  We learned so much about the habits of these birds, their quirks and features if you will and Chip did it in an incredibly entertaining manner.  Chris was very glad he was able to come this time.

Then it was back to Taekwondo.  This time the focus was Jared as he successfully completed his Third Tip Test on 11/9.

Then we managed a little decorating for Veteran's Day (I didn't know about putting green lights out till this year) before more TKD.  

This time TKD was an all day tournament in which Titus and Jared participated and then assisted in all day on 11/12.  This was their first tournament (about 150 participants) and it was great that it was at their dojang.  Both boys did well and we look forward to more formal tournaments in 2023.

While we were all busy at the tournament.  Lance was busy at home putting the finishing touches on Homer.  Homer has been apart in the garage while Lance fixed....Engine mounts, transmission mounts, rear wheel bearings, sliding door rollers both sides, window regulator driver side, passenger side brake light housing, valve cover gaskets, intake gaskets, PCV valve, new brake pads, resurfaced rotors, new front bumper, and new front left quarter panel.(Try to say all that in one breath)

Today he put him all back together.  Chris did a nice detail job of the interior and then Lance touched up the engine paint.  Now all that is left is to paint the Shark Teeth on the bumper and replace the timing belt when the weather warms.

You'd think a TKD tournament and fixing a car would be enough activity for one day but Lance and Jared thought otherwise.  Soon as the tournament was over they cleaned up, picked up four friends and headed out to an English Country Dance; as always, they had a marvelous time.  

Okay you say, now is a good time to take a break, at least for Sunday right?  Wrong.  William stayed over night after the dance and went with us to "Warbirds over Monroe" on Sunday.   This is our third year attending this event and this year did not disappoint either.

Lance remembered to be in his seat for the finale this year :-)  The heat was very welcome.

In between all the TKD Amber was certainly not left out.  She was busy riding twice a week and improving her craft just like the boys. (I just love this photo)

In between all the chaos above we managed to go out for our anniversary.  We were originally going to go alone but in the end we really just wanted to be with the kids, together as a family.  Therefore, we went to everyone's favorite restaurant Alpaca.  It was definitely the right decision.

We finished out the month with a huge Thanksgiving celebration.  This year we actually had a friend grow our turkey for us and grow it did, topping out at 27lbs (without the neck and giblets).  Cutting took a little longer for Alex and Chris this year but like big little boys they had great fun doing it. This is my favorite holiday of the year and it was wonderful to spend it with so many friends.

Long Time in the Making

Titus started his Taekwondo journey back in January 2018.  We looked around a long time for the right dojang; one that would love and discipline him to strengthen his character.  From the first trial class at Kim's Yong-In Taekwondo, I knew we'd finally found the right place and Titus was hooked.  He was so cute in his first dobok, Master Kim adored him and enjoyed spiking up his hair.

Fast forward four years (less 18 month break because of "The Stupid") and today Titus finally earned the right to test for his Black Belt.  This is a real Korean dojang, they don't just hand these belts out (like in some American schools), you actually have to earn them and sometimes you fail in your attempt.  

The test consisted of many parts:  Poomsae, Self-defense, terminology, kicks, sparing, and breaking.

Needless to say Titus was a little nervous going into tonight but his instructors knew he was ready and in the end he earned it without a single mistake.  When Master Kim gave him his belt in the special ceremony he once again took the time to try and spike-up Titus' hair just like when they first met, bringing the journey full circle.

Tonight was wonderful and very emotional... a night to be remembered.

We are very proud of who Titus is today.  He is patient, kind, sympathetic and strong.  I love watching him help out the younger kids in class. We are forever thankful to our Taekwondo family for the sincere love, caring, and leadership they give our son.  We believe it will continue to be instrumental in helping him become the man God wants him to be in the future and we look forward to the rest of his Taekwondo journey. 

 

Moving Forward

We were suppose to be in Hilton Head for Michaelmas and the beginning of October for Lance's fall break.  However, those plans were crushed by Hurricane Ian, much to the disappointment of everyone.  

Instead of leaving for vacation on Thursday, Lance got Amber some new fish for her 11 gallon tank.  As is our new trend, they were really cute miniature rainbows.

By Friday, we realized it was good we were home, as the hurricane actually ended up going over HH and then up and over our way and we wouldn't have wanted our house sitter to deal with all the stress.  First, we lost a 130 ft tree on the side yard (Lance  and I measured), it shook the whole house when it fell (we're leaving that where it fell as "new feature" in the yard). We also lost a huge branch from the maple in the front yard that blocked the whole drive way.  The maple falling was a bit ironic since Chris had gotten a new toy (pole saw) to trim up the maple last weekend, good thing we did or we'd have had more to clean up on Saturday.  Then we lost power around 8pm and it stayed out for 23 hours; thankfully we had the generator.  Did you know that a generator can power two fish tanks, a dragon tank, a lamp, a refrigerator and an occasional computer for 10 hours on only one gallon of gas?  Long live the ICE!  But a I digress....

However, not everyone was still out of power Saturday morning, Chris had found a way to four-wheel Homer over the grass to get around the branch so that Lance could get to his 7:45am baseball practice.   We cut up part of the branch that was in the road in the early morning hours for Lance to drive by and then the rest after he left.  Rather than burning this time we decided to used the branches as a tool for cutting down erosion in the chicken coop, the chickens approve of the idea. 

In an attempt to make lemonade out of lemons, Monday I ended up going with Lance on his day off from school to assist him in buying his first car; a 2007 Audi A3 Turbo Manual. We met the guy out in Wilson.  Turns out he was a fireman and ECU student.  He had the engine re-built only 1000 miles ago, new alternator, clutch, etc.  Lance was in love as soon as he drove it and got it for a very reasonable price.  Titus immediately offered to detail the car as soon as it got home.  Lance knew it needed tires and brakes but didn't know how bad till he went to replace both.  By providence his work was having a sale on tires that week for employees and the brakes aren't much when you do the work yourself.  Now its all in perfect running order.  He put on the last 500 miles (already) of engine break-in, so he also changed the oil and now he can run the RPMs as fast as he wishes.  He's learned to shift it really well, its the perfect little fun car he'd been looking for and gets much better gas mileage than Homer ironically.  By the way, the car's name is Plurp (A tip of the hat to Peep in the Big Wide World).  Also, in putting on those first 500 miles he realized the need for a dash-cam, now both Plurp and Bruce have them.

The first FIAR field trip this month was to Page Farm for traditional fall fun; corn maze, corn crib, hay ride, pumpkin picking etc.  After we got home with the pumpkins, Titus took it upon himself to have fun cutting one up all by himself.  It turned out rather cute and the chickens loved the innards.

Titus is still on course to testing for his Black Belt in November.  He successfully got his 4th Tip this month and completed his required Black Belt Project.  Though Jared will not be able to test for Black belt till March, the Masters allowed them to do their Black Belt Project together.  They decided to teach an "Introduction to Taekwondo" class, they advertised all over, begged a few friends and ended up with a class of 13 students.  They did an absolutely wonderful job planning and teaching the class, the Masters were very pleased and as a bonus one of the attendee even signed up to start taking classes.

Chris took the day off for his birthday, he came with to see Amber ride and enjoyed a lazy rest of the day watching baseball.  Since Lance was at an away game, we waited to really celebrated Chris' birthday on Saturday.  We started with "Celebration" and a ball pelting, followed by French Toast, then later we had an early lasagna dinner, followed by his favorite Spice Cake for desert (Titus insisted on putting and lighting all 53 candles.  To Chris' credit he blew them out in one blow).  We had dinner early because the boys had a dance to go to that night, so in the evening the rest of us watched the movie of Chris' choosing.  My loving husband works so hard for the family I'm glad he at least got a few days of relative relaxation.

Ballroom Dancing this fall consisted of learning Swing, Tango and Cha-Cha.  Lance and Jared had a blast as usual dancing and even taught the group some English Country Dances for good measure.

The second FIAR field trip was to Bennet Place, the site of the final surrender of the Civil War.  This was one of the best docent tours we've had in a long time.  We learned so much about the civil war we never knew before. Piecing together what we learned there with what we learned previous opened up all kinds of different ways to view Abraham Lincoln's assassination and who may have truly been behind it.  Jared spent a long time talking with the reenactors and got the inside scoop on how to become one; something he's very interested in pursuing. (Though when he does - the Union and Confederate soldiers will probably be shooting AT each other, not side by side LOL).

On the way home from Amber's B-Day celebration we realized Big Red didn't have running lights.  So Lance brought Big Red into his Electronics class so they could diagnose a problem with lights.  It was a great real life hands on experience for the students and it saved us a ton of money in diagnosis.  After Chris ordered the part and brought it back for a second day of class to have it installed.  This was a real team effort with the Chevy expert volunteering his help.  There's some electrical issues still to sort out but Lance is getting the wiring schematics from the Chevy guy, so he'll learn even more fixing the bad alarm job of the previous owner.  Not many people save money from sending their kid to college.

We don't normally participate in Halloween, but the dojong really needed help with their party, so we allowed the boys to volunteer.  They dressed as a sniper and Long John Silver and had a wonderful time helping herd all the "cats" at the party.

While they were at the party Chris and Lance ran the first of two tryouts for Titus' Spring Baseball Team.  Chris will be the head coach of varsity this year.  A few days before, participation was looking rather sparse, thankfully attendance was much better than expected.  After the second tryout on Sunday (All my boys attended this time) they are thrilled to have enough quality kids to field both a Varsity and JV team.  Chris and Titus are very excited about the Spring season.

Jared is getting closer to monetizing J-Rod Studios and making his passion a business.  This month one of his shorts reached 1M views and his subscribtions are at 7.4K. He just needs to find a way to get the 4K watch hours on his videos, unfortionately shorts don't count toward monetization.