Since we are a karate family, we decided to have Nora’s birthday party at Bobby Lawrence Karate this year. She was so excited about it! And I have to say that I really got into it to. She invited all the girls from her class and a few other close friends. We gave out the cutest pink belts to all the girls. I went all out and found a really cute cake pattern and a karate pinata. Once again, Mr. Klekas was fantastic with the kids and all the girls had a great time. The entire party was a success!

Last night was promotion again at Bobby Lawrence Karate. All three of the kids promoted. Nora to a white with blue stripe, Emma to a green belt, and Ian to brown with an orange stripe. I was really proud of all of them!

Nora’s promotion was first. She was the only one promoting to a blue stripe, so she had to do her form all by herself. I was worried that she would be nervous, but she was awesome.

Ian and Emma had a combined promotion this time. It was a little bit crazy and there were tons of kids.

Emma did her form first:

And Ian performed his a little bit after her:

Then they both got their belts.

Then they did the belt ceremony. Ian was in the back of the room, so I couldn’t really see him. I just got some pictures of Emma.

Emma was really excited about her new belt. Can you tell?

It was a crazy and fun night at karate. I’m really proud of the dedication and hard work they have all put into karate.

Yesterday was the first day of school for Emma, Ian, and Nora. Everything went off without a hitch. Everyone was happy to go and they all seemed to like their teachers. Nora is in her last year of montessori and has Stevie for a teacher again this year. Ian is starting second grade with Ms. Hendrickson and Emma is starting fourth grade with Mrs. Jerome. Ms. Hendrickson plays hockey so Ian was really excited about that. Mrs. Jerome told Emma that her favorite things were art and reading and Emma was over the moon about that. I’m excited to see what this school year will bring.

Last week I went out for a short mountain bike ride in the afternoon. I left the kids home with Scott. When I got back this is what I found:

All three of the kids decided to be Harry Potter with a mustache. Of course it was done with a permanent marker. Luckily it came off quite easily. Fun times with Dad!

All three kids got new belts today! Nora became an orange stripe, Emma became an orange belt, and Ian became a green belt. I’m proud of all the hard work they have put into earning their new belts!

Nora’s school has been having parents come in to observe for the last few weeks. Nora has been dying for me to come in. Yesterday she finally got her wish. I took her in the morning and stayed for a couple of hours. She couldn’t wait to make me a drink. She was skipping all around the classroom, she could barely contain herself. Her teachers helped her and she brought a little tray over to me and asked if I would like coffee or tea. Then she heated the water herself and served it to me. She loves the food prep works at school and I think that may have been her favorite part of my visit.

She is just on the verge of getting her workbook. She is really recognizing all her letter sounds and is starting to sound out words. They have been working with her and she has been doing her practice pages and will have her workbook soon. She is excited about it and it is really cute to watch. Everywhere we go she recognizes letters and tells me the sounds. Last week she saw a logo on a rug at the ice rink. She started jumping from letter to letter saying each sound as she jumped.

In class, she decided to show me a work from the pink reading group. She climbed up on my lap and started showing me all the words. She really is reading! It is such an amazing process. I am always awed and surprised by each of my kids. Watching them learn to read is really inspiring. I love watching their little faces light up as they blurt out the word. Nora was so very proud of herself. She sounded out the letters to each word. When she recognized the word she yelled it out as she jumped up and down. Her whole body just lit up. She was thrilled. It was really cute to watch.

I wasn’t really looking forward to observing in the classroom. I have had kids in montessori for about 6 years now. I love the whole philosophy and I feel like I have a pretty good handle on what is going on in the classroom. But seeing how excited Nora was to have me there made me glad I did it. I can’t believe she is reading now too. All of my babies are growing up!

Nora has been diaperless for the last 7 nights–and dry 4 of those nights! The other three nights the alarm woke her up.

The first wet night she absolutely flooded her bed. The second night she wet just a little before the alarm woke her up. The third night I was so tired when she came to my room that I just let her get in bed with us The last two nights she has been dry all night.

It has been great, and I’ve only had to wash the sheets once! Scott remembered that with Ian we had him wear underpants with the alarm, then put a pull up over it. That way the alarm works and they feel wet, but if they have an accident, they don’t wet the bed and pajamas. Brilliant!

We are well on our way to being dry at night!

Nora has been potty trained in the day time for almost 2 years now. I had to go back and look to see when I wrote about potty training with her, because I couldn’t remember! Lately she hasn’t been napping very often, but she has been dry when napping too. She wears pull-ups at night, and they are usually wet in the morning. But I think she pees in it while she is awake. I can see her pee almost as soon as she puts it on. Little stinker!

I talked to her and asked her if she thought she was ready to stop wearing pull ups at night. She said she was. I have had success with Emma and Ian using a bed-wetting alarm at night. She was excited to get her turn to be a “big girl” and wear the alarm.

We tried it for the first time 2 nights ago. I was expecting to have to wake up with her a time or two in the night. I was shocked when I woke up in the morning all on my own. I figured that it had gone off and she just took care of it. I went to check on her and she was totally dry. She didn’t even need the alarm. The second night she did the same thing! She is so proud of herself!! I think she was ready

Tonight will be her third night without diapers. I think I am going to celebrate. I have had a child in diapers or pull ups for almost 9 years! I can’t wait to be done with that phase of my life.

Check out this audio clip of Nora singing “You are my Sunshine”. It is so cute!

Nora Singing