Spring Break 2010

Spring break was pretty low key this year. We didn't make any big plans, choosing to just hang loose and play as the wind took us. Fortunately, the weather was pretty nice all week which is rare for Portland. We had very little rain and the temperatures were nice enough that the kids wanted to play outside a lot. We spent a lot of time up in Vancouver, WA with Lisa, Kyle and Keri. It was fun for the cousins to play with each other and for the adults to have someone else to talk to. We went out to Seaside, OR one day with Lisa and Kyle. It was supposed to have been 62 degrees out there, but the wind was incredible. We played for a while on the beach, but the kids couldn't deal with the cold and wanted to come home. (Despite the cold though, Andrew and Marin opted for shaved ice on the way home as their treat. Brrrrr.) Nothing like the Oregon coast to make you appreciate warm sandy beaches. It was still a fun day trip though. Aunt Keri planned for the kids to do some painting one afternoon. They all had a good time making their own masterpieces. Overall, it was a relaxing spring break.

Vernonia Taekwondo Tournament

Andrew competed in another Taekwondo tournament. It was out in Vernonia, OR which is out in the boonies. Laura was here for a weekend visit so I felt bad that we were going to spend most of the day sitting in a high school gym. When we got there, the gym was frigid!! Apparently the boiler had broken in the middle of the night and had been sending cold air into the building for several hours. They had the doors open because it was warmer outside than it was inside. Needless to say, it made for miserable conditions. Andrew competed in his form, board breaking and sparring. We came unprepared for board breaking. He told me that he didn't want to compete in it because he had never broken wooden boards before. When we got there though, they had said that he could do it and they had extra boards. Andrew did really well, despite the cold. He finished first in his forms, second in board breaking and third in sparring. He should have been second in sparring as well, but there was a mistake with the judging. They had an inexperienced teenager keeping score during one of Andrew's sparring matches. Andrew had beaten his opponent, but the kid had scored it wrong. Even the head judge questioned it and said he thought Andrew had won. To be fair, they sparred again, but Andrew got beat the second time around. It was good experience for him. I am so proud of how far he has come in taekwondo. He is getting so close to getting his black belt. This time next year and he should have it.

Marin's 7th Birthday

I am ashamed to say that I am not even posting about Marin's birthday in her birthday month. I have been swamped with stuff and have not gotten around to posting anything for two months. Marin is so sweet and she deserves better, so Mommy is sorry Marin.

Marin had a great birthday. She had her first party with friends. Every other year, she has chosen to go to Skamania Lodge instead of having a party with friends, so this was a bit of a shock. Marin invited several friends to go to Build-A-Bear workshop. They were all very cute. Most of the girls chose a bear covered in shamrocks. I think they all had fun making their bear and choosing names, clothes, etc. We had pizza and cupcakes after the girls were finished with their stuffed animals. Marin seemed to be enjoying herself as did the rest of the crowd. We also had a family party for Marin on the Sunday before her birthday. Marin chose to have homemade mac and cheese for dinner. That is her favorite thing. We got a cake from Costco and we put an edible image of Marin as a baby on the top of it. It was very cute, but I didn't like the idea of eating baby Marin. This is the second year in a row that Marin has wanted a picture of herself on the cake. She said it was a Marin-themed birthday. On Marin's actual birthday, we went to Red Robin for dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Harker and then the kids came with me to my dodgeball game. (Yes I am in a dodgeball league.) They love coming to the games, even though there isn't really a safe place for them to sit. They end up dodging balls too. I think that overall, Marin had a great birthday weekend. She is such a sweet, special little girl. She would do anything for anyone. I am so glad that she is in our family. I continue to be proud of what a wonderful daughter she is growing up to be. Where did my baby go though? Seven years old already?

Montavilla Taekwondo Tournament Clinic 2010

Andrew and Marin participated in the Montavilla Taekwondo Tournament clinic this year. This is Marin's first time with the tournament format. Andrew has participated in this particular one twice before. It is a more relaxed environment, because of the fact that it's a clinic, where others are learning what it means to compete in a tournament, as well as judge a tournament. Andrew and Marin both did well. They had some stiff competition. Andrew took third place in both sparring and his form. In sparring, Andrew got kicked really hard in the face. He was up against higher ranked kids, but he held his own. He shouldn't have been kicked, since they compete in non-contact Taekwondo, but sometimes it happens. He got really angry after getting kicked and really attacked his opponent. This was the first time that Andrew has competed in board breaking. It was really difficult. The boards did not want to break. In fact, Mr. Brown, one of the instructors had to test to make sure that they would break after a whole round of adults were having limited success with breaking. Andrew got 2 tries to break his board. He was unable to do it so he did not medal. I don't know that any of the kids in his group broke their board though. We are so proud of how he did in the tournament despite the board breaking setback. Marin also did well. She took first place in her form. She just missed medaling in sparring. She was fourth. In the sparring, they went to sudden death after a tie. The other girl got the first point and won. Marin is pretty timid when it comes to sparring. She lacks the killer instinct, which I am okay with. It is pretty cute to watch her. She is so dainty while sparring. It is a lot of sitting around and watching others and they were both really patient. It was a very good experience for both of them.

Christmas Pictures 2009

I know, it's the first day of February 2010 and I am just now getting around to putting up Christmas pictures. I have just procrastinated and been a slacker about it. We had a great Christmas in NJ and it was so fun to see everyone there. It was nice for all the cousins to get a chance to play with each other and reacquaint themselves since it had been 2 years since some of them had been together. A lot of growing up has taken place during that time.

Andrew's Birthday 2009

Andrew is 9 years old. I can't believe how quickly time flies. Andrew decided that this year he would go bowling with family for his party. We alternate family and friend parties every other year. This was his year to have a family party. We went to Big Al's for bowling. It was pretty fun. I think the kids had a blast. We went out to The Rock for pizza afterwards. We all stuffed ourselves. Andrew wanted a soccer cake this year. He has really gotten serious about soccer and so that was the theme. I had Costco do the cake, my first one that I haven't decorated for him ever. It felt kind of weird not doing the decorating. Andrew was pretty easy to shop for this year. All he had on his list was gift cards to buy books, a Star Wars trilogy, and some other random things. He wanted to buy a bunch of Warriors series books. There are about 20 books in the series so he needed lots of gift cards. It is nice that he is out of the toy phase, but it makes it a little more difficult to find something that he really wants. We also spent much of the day shopping for gifts and wrapping gifts for the family that we were sponsoring for Christmas. It was a nice thing to do but truth be told, I think Andrew wanted a little more attention for himself. The day after his birthday, Andrew broke his arm so I guess this might be a rough year.

Broken Arm

It is a miracle that I am not getting arrested. Andrew broke his left radius. This is the 3rd broken arm for my kids. Marin has had 2. I promise I am not abusing my kids. It was the day after his birthday and he slipped on the wet grass in the yard. I was inside but heard him screaming with pain. He came inside and said he was going to die. He refused to let me even look at his arm. He wouldn't let me lift up the sleeve of his jacket either. We rushed out of the house to the ER. He was howling in pain the entire ride over. Andrew told me to valet the car because he couldn't walk to the ER entrance from the parking garage. They got him right in, put him in a wheelchair and doped him up with pain medication almost immediately. They couldn't even look at his arm to determine the severity until he had some pain meds. They put in an IV so that they could give him medication easier that way. I went with him to radiology which was quite an ordeal. They had to be really creative so that they could get the pictures and angles that they needed without hurting him too much. In fact, he dry heaved because of the pain of moving his arm. They determined that he broke only the radius, and not the ulna, although they said it would have been easier to set had he broken both. The doctor knocked Andrew out to set his bone. They had an in-room x-ray machine so that they could instantly see if the bone was back in place. I could not believe the amount of physical exertion this guy was putting into getting his arm reset. He worked for 45 minutes, with Andrew coming to mid way through. He decided that he wasn't getting the bone where he wanted and so they let Andrew come out of the anaesthesia for a while so that they could get another Orthopedist in to assist. They put Andrew under again and then worked for another 15-20 minutes before the bone was set satisfactorily. We ended up being in the ER for 7 hours. It was a marathon for all of us. Poor Andrew was sick from the anaesthesia too. He got his first cast up to his armpit. Then several days later, he got his second cast which was cut above his elbow. Finally he is on his third cast which only goes up to the elbow. He is supposed to get this one off on Wednesday and get a wrist guard which he will have to wear for 2-3 weeks. I will be so glad when this is over, although Andrew has been quite a trooper about it all.