Happy Day!

My little boy (well he's never really been little in the traditional sense but little to me) who they questioned if he would reach six months has hit 216 months today and is still going strong.  People wonder why I'm not big into doctors or statistics, but I digress :-)

The celebration of my beautiful boy's birthday started out early with William coming over and bringing a new WW2 game.  It took them two hours to read the instructions but for these two WW2 fans it was fun all the same.  

Later in the week he was able to put together his new COBI set, the long awaited Battleship Bismark.  Amazingly it took a couple days to complete, there were so many pieces.

Throughout the week everyone played Memoir '44 with him and most of us more than once.  Notice I said "us".  As a birthday gift I finally sat down with him and learned to play, I even came back for more the next day.

In the evenings of his birthday week he got to choose the movies.  We watched Midway for the first time on the new TV and Sully to name a few favorites.  

At the dance on Saturday, the whole group sang him Happy Birthday as a surprise!

Today, his actual birthday, was spent in the traditional manner.... ball pelting to "Celebration", french toast breakfast, and pizza and spice cake for dinner.

This has been quite the year for Jared, a lot of big items checked off his life list (graduation, black-belt, employment, etc.).  His creativity and entrepreneurial focus continue to amaze and the dojang has honed in his people and leadership skills.  We are so proud of the young man he is today.  Can't wait to see what he adds and completes on his list in the coming year. 

After the Tide

Before vacation this month... we expanded the chick run, Titus and Amber completed their EOGs and we finished history.  However, when we got back from vacation it was time to start all over again.

Baseball playoffs started the Monday after we got back.  Titus did an amazing job during the first game, made some excellent plays in the outfield and then a phenomenal job as pitcher shutting out the game for the teams second win of the season.  Tuesday, well... it was their last game and now it's time to focus on Summer Swim Team.

The following Friday, Lance and Jared, went to the L-House for Game Night.  They had some new and interesting social games to play and the boys enjoyed themselves as usual with this great group of kids.

Saturday was a full day with Kimberly over for a playdate with Amber, and Titus at TKD most of the day.  The pool also officially opened but the weather wasn't exactly cooperative.

Lance has continued catching for Pros a couple times a week, a family at TKD let him take their Porsche for a drive (quite the dream come true) and in strange news he was traded (didn't know that was a thing) from F-V Twins to Carolina Pirates (collegiate summer teams).

The last Saturday of the month was the beginning of Summer Swing Dance season for Lance and Jared.

Sunday was a much awaited day.  All the kids went to the see the Super Mario Brothers Movie in the theater.  This was Amber's first time going to a theater, she was sat between Lance and Jared.  Lance had a little buddy on the other side to discuss the fine points of the movie with.  The movie did not disappoint, all the kids said they were laughing the whole way through.  They concluded Dad will love it as well, but they're not so sure about me :-)

Also, Titus decided to give the poor squirrels a break and build them their own feeder below the bird feeders they so valiantly try for but can never attain.

The Waves Call Us

Sometimes I think they actually do call us back, to calm us and renew our strength.  

The weather was absolutely beautiful this week.  We stayed in a new unit this year (our old one was being remodeled) and it was even nicer than our old.  The back patio was literally over a pond in the back with an adorable island full of turtles, it really added to the peacefulness. The unit was also much newer and closer to the beach, for all those reasons we decided we'll choose this one again in the future.

We follow pretty much the same routine everyday.  

Go to the beach....

Fish....

I decided to try casting with Lance's pole and was immediately rewarded with the weirdest catch of the week.  I literally snagged a jelly fish as I was reeling it back in LOL.

Walk....

This was my favorite find on our walks this week (large hermit crab).  A close second were the huge living Welk and Starfish (in the "fight club")

Boogie Board....

Change, go walk to have late Lunch...

See our friends....

Play at the park....

Go back to Condo play games (Jenga, Chess and Connect Four were this years favorites), read books, etc....

Go to the beach....

Fish....  

Build dams....

and help them collapse... 

Go back to condo, eat left overs for dinner....

Watch a movie...

Go the beach..... 

Play Bocce.... 

Build a castle..... 

and watch it collapse.....

Fish...

 

Lots of fish were caught this week by nearly everyone.  Lance started with this Sail Catfish (very venomous), and followed it with a decent sized sting ray. Titus caught a huge Sail Catfish as well (up above), Amber caught a Whiting and I actually caught a real fish too, a Weak Fish.

Walk at night....

Sleep and Repeat.

The only change to the schedule above is to go play Putt-putt one day.  Already looking forward to our return trip on September to do it all over again!

April Showers

Lance and Jared started a four weeks of ballroom dance lesson back in March that culminated in a formal dance on April 1st.

April 1st is also our cats' birthdays.  As you see, Hunter (Fluffy Evilness) has been reading his bible.

and Chomper (Evilness) has found a new partner in couch crime.

In addition to Cat's Birthdays and dancing, April 1st is "April Fool's Day" and Holly found a great trick to pull on Lance.  We lined up shoes with water bottles in them and told him that "Water is running out of your fish tank!" as he came in the door from work. Hee! Hee!

April 3rd Jared filled out his first W-4.  He's been volunteering and doing leadership training at the dojang up until this month.  Now he is officially an employee.  To celebrate we got him his very first wallet (from The Tank Museum in England of course).  In addition to teaching at the dojang, he also helps out in promotional events, such as this one at the Farmer's Market.

The latest twist in his Youtube channel - J-Rod Studios Brickfilms (https://www.youtube.com/c/JRodStudios) is working on making his channel a brand J-Rod Studios Bricks (https://jrodstudiosbricks.com/) where he hopes to launch a line of 1:64 WW2 Tank models as his first wave of products. 

Excitingly Lance started catching again for the Pros again this month.  His old facility had shut down but most of the guys were now working out at this new facility.  His reputation preceded him, so when he called the new facility to see if they needed someone to catch bull-pens they were thrilled to have him.  This is truly a win-win, the pitchers get to throw at a real person and he gets to de-rustify his catching skills and break in his mitt before summer ball starts.

For our Easter Celebration this year we decided to read the Easter story in all four gospels and compare them.  Afterward we packed up lunch and took a nice long hike at Blue Jay Park (with Oliver) to enjoy the beautiful weather and God's glorious creation.  (With that focus in mind, we totally forgot to take any pictures.)

In addition to baseball and demo team performances, Titus spent a lot of time this month helping Frank fix his riding lawn mower, which was a fun activity for them both.

I've found that people seem to make the time to get together better if you have a destination.  So on Saturdays I've started to invite old friends to the Tea Shop next to the dojang on Saturdays while Titus does his classes. First Tea this month was with my old friend Jen and it worked out marvelously.  Next one was with Ava (but at the house) and that too was truly enjoyable.  Looking forward to more "Tea with Friends".

In addition to lots of horse riding, Amber tried out a new sport with her friend Kimberly this month....ice skating.  Thankfully no broken bones, just a few bruises.

By April 16th it was time to migrate the Chicks outdoors, the smell and resultant allergies had become too much for everyone.  The new location is working out great (next to the Retirees), the heater cord works and they are enjoying the great outdoors.

April 22nd Titus and Jared attended the Regional AAU Taekwondo Tournament in Columbia, SC.  Since the competition started at 8am they went with Chris the night before.  For dinner they found an incredible pizza restaurant that got them set up for the long day ahead of them.  In the end, Jared place 3rd in Poomsae and Titus placed 2nd in Sparring.  They finished out their trip by finding another great restaurant, this time burgers, which was much needed after a WHOLE day of competition.  It was a fun weekend for the boys.

April 23rd was Frank Birthday.  We of course celebrated with lasagna and Spice Cake.  Lance's gift to Frank was to fix his truck for him after a shop had messed it up.  Between work and school you'd think Lance spent enough time fixing cars but he's always happy to help a friend and he enjoyed the time with Frank as well.

April 27th  FIAR had a field trip to the Sylvan Heights Bird Sanctuary.  This is one of my family's favorite wildlife parks, so Jared joined us to see "all the little birdies".  About a 1/2 mile from our exit the interstate stopped and became a parking lot.  We sat there for an hour (three semis had apparently played bumper car).  Well I shouldn't say sat, we got out and talked with our neighbor cars, and as we were on a bridge the kids had rock throwing contest into the river much to the amusement of some travelers.  But back to the intended focus of the day....  My family would love to have birds but we realize with two cats that hunt and a dog with a bird problem that wouldn't be wise.  Therefore, we enjoy them wherever we can.  As you can see, the birds were all over the idea as well.

Jared Joins the Black Belt Ranks

Jared started his journey to black belt a few months after Titus so it makes sense that he would test for his black belt later as well.  Since Jared is also an instructor at the dojang, he has anxiously awaited this day as he felt it gave him more credence as an instructor being a Black Belt.

This is Jared when he first started TKD.  The first photo is with Master Kim and second with Master Ed-Lijah and Master Jang.

This is Jared with those same men today (Master Jang is on this tiptoes).... he's grown a little.

We can't forget Master Ko, he joined the dojang after Jared but has become a great mentor.

The dojang has become a second family for Jared.  We are so thankful for their love for our children.  Looking forward to the all the future has to hold for Jared on this TKD journey.

The Ides of March

I'm not really sure what an "Ide" is but it sounded like a nifty title.  

March 2nd Titus and Amber had a FIAR field trip to Walnut Creek.  This is an inner city wetland sanctuary.  Thankfully they had loaner boots for everyone, as it was still wet from the recent rains.  The kids had fun exploring, looking for and learning about different animals in the creek and wetland area.

March 3rd Lance and Amber had a "date".  They went to the ballet performance of one of Lance's friend.

March 4th was the beginning of Titus' baseball season.  Chris was bamboozled into to managing both the Varsity and Junior Varsity team and coaching the Varsity team for Titus' middle school.  It was a lot of work leading up to this day and will be till mid-May.  Titus has been playing a lot of outfield so far this month and had some serious ESPN catches, again this year he is often one of the only guys to make it home.

Titus also spent a lot of time with Frank this month rebuilding their chicken coop/run, taking down and putting up sheds.

Amber in turn spent a lot of time on horses.  I'm continually amazed at how she keeps improving.

Titus, Amber and I also started going to the park on Thursdays with a group of old friends.  We all weren't sure how it would work out but its been awesome for everyone.  These kids are great, they just play and play hard just like my kids needed.  It's hard for us to leave each week in order to get Titus to his Writing Class.

March 11th Lance and Jared went to an English Country Dance.  I'm so thankful for these events, they are such a great outlet for young people to have safe fun.

March 16th we had a FIAR field trip to the Raleigh City Museum with some interesting city history and building activities  After we went to a new (to us) park with an incredibly large slide and other challenging equipment the kids had blast playing on, while we moms enjoyed the beautiful weather and talked.

We picked up 20 new chicks on March 22nd.  The chicks arrived four days earlier than we expected so we had to scramble to get a place set up for them.  We decided to go back to the Comets we first got when we began our chicken raising journey and so far we are very pleased with our choice.

Mid March Titus decided to master the art of making Schaum Tortes, they are one of Chris' favorite deserts.

March 25th was a busy day.  Titus had a TKD event and performance at Ting Stadium.  The crowd really went wild after their performance.  

 

Then I took him to the Mc-Family for an Air-soft party I had already dropped Jared off earlier in the morning (Notice the nice air job he did painting his gun).  

In the middle of all this Amber's friend came to the house for a playdate.  Chis and Lance went to USA baseball to watch Caden play with the Collins.  When I got home I was thankful the girls play so well, it allowed me to just enjoyed the quiet till it was time to start picking people up and getting others home.  It was hectic but so thankful everyone was able to do something this Saturday they enjoyed.

Jared finished out the month taking a CPR/First Aid Certification Class at the fire department for work.  He said the class was both entertaining and informative.  Those are skills good for everyone to have.