First, I have to make a disclaimer. I rented a special lens to use for this tournament. I am SOOOO disappointed at how these pictures turned out. I think there was a problem with the lens–I can see a strange reddish bar running through all my photos. I’m happy to have the photos because they really captured the emotions at the tournament, but I really wish they were better quality.

This years tournament was a big success. This was Emma and Nora’s first time participating. It was Ian’s second time. They all had fun and competed well.

Nora was the first one to compete. I signed her up to do forms for this tournament. She was supposed to perform tay keo ku sho don. She had a little speech she was supposed to say:

Hello Judges. My name is Nora. My style is kwon shu. Today I will show you tay keo ku sho don.

Except, she didn’t say it. She just walked up and stood in front of them looking very shy. They asked her if she was going to do star block–another form she could have done. She got all flustered and confused because that wasn’t the form she had practiced. Instead of doing her form, she started crying. Luckily the judge was nice and went out and consoled her. She ended up not doing any form, but all her tears were erased when she saw that she got a medal for participation anyway!

Next, we got to watch Emma. She participated in forms as well and did the same form as Nora. She did awesome. There were about 20 kids in her white belt group. She was thrilled to have a friend from our studio in our group. She and Bella sat together and I think it helped calm both girls nerves because they both did great. Emma ended up getting first place and Bella got second! They don’t actually give out medals to the white belts for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. But Emma and I went to look at the results and she was thrilled to find out she had gotten first place in her group!

Ian was the last one to go. Since he is a purple belt he participated in forms, self defense and sparring. He did forms first and he did really well. There are so many moves that usually I can’t tell if he does it all right or not It helped to have the judges so I could see the scores. I knew when I saw his scores that he had done well. He ended up getting a second place in forms. Then he did self defense. He got a little confused when he went up to talk to the judges. He started to get really worked up and I think there were a few tears. But he held it together and did pretty well. He got third place in self defense.

The most entertaining thing to watch was his sparring. Up until now, he hasn’t been able to kick in sparring. In our studio, purple belts just focus on punching. In other studios the purple belts are allowed to kick. So for this tournament Ian was allowed to kick. It totally transformed his sparring! He went from mostly blocking and dodging without ever getting any points to scoring a lot of points with kicks. He still didn’t punch, but the kicking saved him. He won his first match 5-0. His last match was for 1st and 2nd place. He gave it a good fight, but ended up losing that match 5-3. But he was so cute to watch. He was so into it and so animated. I loved seeing his face light up when he found out that he had scored a point. Now he just needs to work on controlling the kicks and adding some punches for the next time.

It was a fun tournament. I was proud of all three of them for participating and doing their best. I’m looking forward to the next one in the Spring!

We had an early snowstorm this year! It turned out to be more snow that I was expecting. Usually the first storm of the year is just a dusting and the snow is usually gone by afternoon. This year we got a few inches and they stuck around.

Emma and Nora were home from school and Ian was at hockey practice with Scott. Emma asked if they could go out and play in the snow. We dug out all the snow clothes and headed outside. I little while later Emma called me to show me what they had made and to ask for a carrot. I remembered that we had a snowman kit that I had bought years ago. I dug it out and we decorated the snowman. They were so proud of their work!

Nora has been sitting on the bleachers watching Ian do karate since she was 2. This week she decided to join him and participate herself!

I have been so happy with the program at Bobby Lawrence Karate. Ian is just starting his third year and he as gotten so much out of it! Cole Klekas seriously has a gift for teaching those little ones. I just love watching him interact with the kids. I love the principles that Bobby Lawrence Karate teachs. I am really happy that Nora decided to give it a try.

Nora did even better than I expected in her two private lessons. Nora tends to give up easily. If she tries and can’t do it she gets frustrated and wants to quit. Once she gets in that mode it is hard to change her mind. But she really tried to do everything Mr. Klekas asked her. A few times she said she couldn’t do, but he talked her into trying. It was really cute to watch. I think she was proud of herself too. At the end of her two lessons she earned her white belt. She was just thrilled!

Nora started school last week too. She actually started before Emma and Ian, but I am just getting the photos finished. Monday morning we woke up to rain and thundershowers. Darn! I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to get those cute first day of school photos outside. It stopped for a few minutes and we rushed outside, but it was still a cold dreary morning to be outside.

Nora, however, didn’t seem to mind and was really excited to go to school. She was returning to the same school she attended last year. She had been looking forward to it for weeks. She couldn’t stop talking about her teacher Lina and cute “Baby Finley”. She was so excited to have a baby in her classroom.

We took a few quick photos and then headed for school. As we started to get closer, she started to try to talk Scott and I out of leaving her there. She asked us to walk her in and I could see her starting to melt down.

We walked her in and helped her find her locker. She didn’t want to put her things in it. She just held on to everything and kept asking us to take her home. I helped her put everything in, but she quickly grabbed it out and tried to make a break for the car. At this point I knew there was no stopping her. Once she gets worked up, there is no calming her down. I knew I just had to take her to Lina and leave.

We found Lina, and I handed her a screaming and crying 3 year old. I felt terrible, but I knew that I needed to kiss her and tell her I loved her and leave. That is exactly what I did. I felt bad that she was sad, but I knew she would be fine once I left. I wanted to get a few photos of her in her classroom, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

Luckily, she calmed down just as soon as I left. She had a great first day. When I picked her up she was all smiles and she couldn’t stop talking about how great her school was!

A few photos from the beach. Stories to come later.

A few weeks ago Scott’s sister Stephanie posted on her Facebook account about her 4 year old cutting her own hair. I immediately thought to myself how glad I was that my kids had all outgrown that stage. I kind of smirked and felt like that was one parenting experience that I was glad that I missed.

So, I kind of feel like I deserve what I got

I was upstairs working on my computer when I heard Ian say “Um, Mom, Nora is cutting her hair.” in a completely calm and collected voice. I immediately panicked and ran down the stairs, all the while hoping she hadn’t cut much. After all, Ian didn’t seem fazed by it.

But, I wasn’t so lucky. I started yelling as I ran to Nora. She knew immediately that I was going to be mad. I have talked to her so many times about not cutting hair. Every time I cut someone’s hair I always tell her that only mommy can cut hair. We never cut our own hair. Each time she shakes her head and says she will never cut her hair. I guess she forgot, because this is what I found when I got downstairs.

I know it looks like I set this up, but I really didn’t. This is exactly how she was sitting with the blanket and everything.

I didn’t handle it very well. I just looked at her and yelled “NO, NO, NO!” and then saw all of her curls in a pile in front of her. I was so bummed! I just walked away because I was so upset I felt like I needed to be alone.

After a bit I went back and hugged her. I told her I loved her and I would always love her–even if she had no hair.

I took her outside and took a few photos of her new do.

I still wish she hadn’t cut it, but it could have been a whole lot worse. I know it is just hair and it will grow back, but I loved her messy curls. I promise never to judge the actions of other kids again

Nora is obsessed with Max and Ruby. It is by far her favorite TV show, and the only thing she ever asks to watch.

It is a funny cartoon about a 3-year-old bunny and his 7-year-old sister. I never see any parents, nor is there any mention of the parents. There is a grandmother bunny sometimes. I’m not really sure who the kids live with. But none of that seems to matter to Nora. It is a cute show that shows two siblings and how they work out their problems in a positive way. Nora needs some work in that department, so I am happy that she likes this show

I remember Emma and how she loved to watch The Wiggles. She wouldn’t be caught dead watching it now. I’m sure that will happen with Nora before I know it! I just wanted to remember this sweet time when she loved Max and Ruby.

I am taking an online photography course right now and we are working on shooting in different lighting conditions. This assignment was supposed to be shot in full sun (gasp!) using backlighting. This is usually a situation that I avoid like the plague, however, this technique worked great. I had fun with her and I think these turned out great!

Nora has been taking ski lessons all winter. This is really her first winter skiing. Last year we took her out a time or two, but she mostly just walked around on the flat in her skis.

This year, at three, she was old enough to do the Deer Valley ski program. All of my kids have learned to ski in that program. But Nora has been the first one who resisted going. Every week she cried when I dropped her off. All week long she would talk about her instructor “Connie” and tell me how much she loved her.

“Mom, did you know Connie is from Argentina?”

“I love ‘the magic’ Connie!”

“Mom, Connie is a princess.”

But as soon as we got to the door to drop her off, she would take one look at Connie and burst into tears. Every week I would reassure her and then just leave her crying. Each week when I picked her up they told me she was just fine as soon as I left. I saw her skiing on the magic carpet a few times. A few other times she was just sitting in the snow. I really didn’t think she was getting much out of the program, but I kept sending her every week.

Every Saturday Emma and Ian ski in a ski program all day at Park City Mountain Resort. This weekend Scott and I decided to take Nora up and ski with her for a little while. I was expecting it to be a ton of work and a lot of skiing with her between my legs. Boy was I wrong!

She was skiing like a champ on the first run. She could ski totally on her own and in control, make turns in both directions, and stop whenever she wanted to. I was SHOCKED and really glad I kept sending her to the Deer Valley ski school.

We had a great time skiing with her. Skiing as a family is looking like a real possibility now!

Check out this video:

When Nora was about a year old she used to pull out her own hair. She would pull it out and then roll it around in her fingers and suck her thumb. She did it so much that she had bald spots on her head. I kept trying to find dolls with hair to encourage her to pull out the dolls hair, instead of her own. She never really pulled the dolls hair, but she eventually stopped pulling out her own. Soon after that she started getting really attached to stuffed animals, and she started pulling the fur out of them, instead. I was going through my old emails today and I found this video that Scott’s mom sent me. I just had to share it!