karate tournament

Yesterday was Jordan's first Karate tournament. She did great! I was really surprised at how many kids there were there. In Jordan's ring there was probably 40 or more competitors. She did a great job waiting for her turn and watching all the other kids go. When her turn came she was very focused on what she was supposed to be doing. The commented she had a good side stomp. She did not 'place' to earn extra points, but she did get a cool trophy. All the kids under 8 got a trophy, so that was cool. She played and carried that thing around for the rest of the day. We also got to watch her instructors perform. Mr. Hui and his partner got 1st in the black belt open competition, they were awesome to watch. They did several jump spin kicks. It was great. Mr. Allyn did a sword routine and Mr. Hicks and Nelson did a form together. It was a fun day. Grandma and Grandpa came down to watch so it was extra special for Jordan.

Last nigh Jordan got her next belt in karate. She is now up to the white w/2 yellow stripes. She is so proud of herself when she earns her belts. Although she wanted a solid green belt, but that is a long way off. They are busy getting ready for the tournament at the end of the month. Jordan knows all her skills really well. She just needs to work on her balance a little with the side stomp. Sorry the pictures are not good quality but I only had my camera phone.

bike rider

Jordan is getting better and better at riding her bike. We lowered her seat so she can catch herself from falling. She has also been doing the balance games on the Wii fit so her balance is really improving. She even rode home from the park yesterday. Joe got lots of walking in from following her from one end of the park to the other.

biker babe

Ok, so no pictures of this but here is a re-cap of my evening last night. Jordan had church choir last night from 5:30-6:15. It was so nice out that I did not want to sit inside the church to wait so I decided to grab the ipod and go for a walk instead. I ended up running into Joe out for a ride on the Harley. He took me for a 20 minute ride up by Spring Lake Reserve, a little out of town. I was very nervous, it is only the second time I have been on the bike. Joe said I have a lot to learn about riding and getting on and off the bike, well DUH!!! I felt like a teen sneaking out of the house to meet the boyfriend! Getting on the bike I even looked around to see if anyone was watching, not because I was sneaking around but because I'm sure I looked really dumb getting on. I was really nervous going on the ride, but by the time we got back to the church I was relaxing...a little. Joe dropped me off at the front door of church and I just wonder what people thought. I drop off my daughter, walk away and come back with my hair knotted and windblown getting off the back of a motorcycle! I know what I would have thought, some one is sneaking around on hubby. Oh well, I know the truth. I just hope my 'skills' get better the next time I have to get on or off the thing. And maybe I'll get a bandanna so my hair isn't such a knotted mess!

wheelin' time

Jordan loves her wheeler. And she loves the mud. It was very hard to keep her out of the ruts at the cabin this weekend. She also got a really big kick out of revving it up and spinning her back tires. She eventually got the wheeler taken away from her after she rammed into her Dad so hard it exploded his can of beer. Oh well, a girl has got to learn her lesson!

easter eggs

Easter Sunday was beautiful! The Easter bunny hid the eggs outside so the kids had a great time looking for them. We were missing one, I think either the cat relocated it or a raccoon got it over night. Oh well, it is not like there is a shortage of candy in our house after the weekend. Jordan and her cousins were all dressed up for church so the hunted for eggs after church. Good thing too, as Jordan's all pink outfit was not so clean and pink when she was done.

The church also had an egg hunt before church, so there was plenty of eggs to go around!

wilderness finds

Since it was such a nice weekend we spent almost all of it outside. We took the wheelers out behind Tim and Chic's land and decided to do a little exploring. Years ago we found an old homestead in the woods, which happens to be on the edge of the land Tim and Chic bought last year. So we parked the wheelers and did a little walking where they recently logged some rows of pine. We found some old tin containers and an in tack glass jar with a tin and glass lid. There was also a lot of piles of rocks all over the woods. I stumbled across what we think is the old well, or possibly the sewer. It is a dug out pit, tapering down from about 7 feet at the top to 2 or 3 feet at the bottom. In the bottom is a culvert sunk in vertically. It was still frozen but I want to go back this summer and see how deep it goes down.

Joe and Jordan also went on some very long walks around our property. They took the dog with them too and all 3 were wore out from all the walking.

horseback riding

Our friends Troy and Tina live just up the road from our cabin. They have cows, chickens and horses. Jordan was so excited to ride the horse, and even better that it wasn't hooked up to a wheel and only going in a circle. Caliee was nice enough to teach her how to groom the horse and take her walking around the yard. She loved it! She can't wait to go back and do it again. Charlie, the horse, is 20 years old and very calm. A great horse to start riding on.

More in the woods

Here are some more photos of the fire and creek in the woods. While we were out there the kids also did some exploring and played hide and seek. It was a fun day.

Afternoon coco

Today we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to have a little afternoon snack in the woods. We met Grandpa, Fawn, Josey and Riley out by the creek. They already had a fire going and water on for coco and tea. Riley had already fallen into the water and his pants were drying out by the fire. The kids, and me, all had wet feet, and then some by the time we got back to the house. It was a beautiful sunny, warm day, though not warm enough for me to strip down to my undies and run around in the woods. Tomorrow is Easter and I think the Easter bunny might be able to hide the eggs outside this year as the weather is supposed to stay nice.

Hey, I'm taller then you!!

Tonight was a beautiful evening, hardly any wind, which is very rare here. So we took advantage and Joe got a fire going in the back yard. We were able to enjoy a couple hours of being outside, dog and all. I raked the side yard per the instructions I got from Trugreen who was here the other day to put fertilizer on the grass. Apparently we had a bit of snow mold and some (a lot) of doggy pee spots, go figure! Jordan decided she was finally going to climb the tree on the corner of the yard, she never accomplished it last year. She figured it out pretty quickly and was up there for quite a while before deciding to come down to roast some marshmallows. Then she moved on the the crooked lolly pop tree along the street, she got lots of looks from passing cars while she was up there. I think she will be up it those trees, and others all summer. It still gets cool early this time of year, so we were in the house before it got dark. Stay tuned, next week is Easter, and Joe's birthday, so I'm sure there will be lots of photo ops coming up. At the end of the month is Jordan's first karate tournament, she has been working hard, I just hope she won't get stage fright when the time comes. I think all the little ones get a trophy reguardless.