Maddux Three Peat.

Today was Maddux's karate tournament and he didn't disappoint. He has had three tournaments and has won the gold medal all three times. He is progressing very nicely and one of the better students at his level. This time he had to do 2 different Kata's with 3 different techniques. For the first one he did an upper block with a punch and front kick. Then he did the down block with a knife-hand strike followed by a side kick. He was the only one there who did three techniques and still scored the highest score in his group. I was very proud of him and he was very excited to get another gold. Here are some pictures from the tournament.


Maddux before the tournament ready to kick some butt.


Maddux receiving his gold medal.


Just waiting for his turn.


The upper block.


The front kick.


Celebrating the victory.


His third gold medal. Only 10 more to go to catch Michael Phelps.


The entire group after the tournament.

One Giant Stack of Firewood

Well we finally ran out of firewood the other day and had to get some more. Jennie searched the Internet looking for the best deals. She finally found a guy who was pretty reasonable so we got two loads. The kids had swimming lessons on Tuesday so Nolan and I stayed home to stack. He was a big help and loved every minute of it. Usually when the kids help me Brooklyn and Maddux are good for a couple of minutes and then get tired. Nolan stayed out for an hour or so and only went in when I did. So now we will be warm again and can keep the $300 gas bills way down. The wood stove makes such a big difference and keeps us nice and toasty. Here are a couple of pictures from the stack. They dumped both right on top of each other and it was almost as tall as the bottom of the roof.


Here is our king of the hill.


Daddy with his big helper.

Of course I can't post pictures of one of the kids without throwing a couple of the others up.


Here is Brooklyn with Maddie showing off a sign that they made. They taped pine cones, leaves and rocks to a piece of sheetrock to create their sign. Not sure what it says but I know it took a roll of scotch tape to get everything to stick.


Maddux with his signature grin. I don't know what happened. He use to have the perfect smile and not has the fake one down.


Then there is the roll. Always up for a picture. Anytime he sees a camera he goes straight into his "cheeeeese." Doesn't even have to be our camera.

Daughter Daddy Dance

Well last night Brooklyn and I went on a daddy daughter date complete with dinner, dancing and ice cream. The rec center hosted a daddy daughter dance for girls 6 - 12. It was the first year that Brooklyn could go and I figured it would be a lot of fun to hang out. I spend a lot of time with Maddux doing karate and other things and don't spend as much one on one time with Brooklyn so this was our night. Of course I picked her up some flowers to start the night then came by the house and picked her up for dinner. We ended up eating at Applebee's before the dance as this is one of Brooklyn's favorite places to go. We then headed over to the dance to get our groove on. I was surprised at how many people actually showed up (probably about 150). The dance lasted 2 hours and was semi-formal in attire. It was a very fun night as the DJ was pretty good and they just played songs the whole time. It was funny because there was a lot of Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana on one side and then a lot of older stuff (B52s, Earth Wind and Fire, Bon Jovi) on the other side. Then of course there were 4 or 5 daddy daughter songs. They also took pictures of each couple (via Polaroid; I didn't even know they still had those) as a keepsake to take home. We ended up running into one of Brooklyn's friends and her dad and spent most of the night dancing with them. Then after the dance we all went out for ice cream. We ended up getting home at about 10:00 but it was all worth it. We had a blast and can't wait to do it again next year. Here are a couple other pictures from the night.


Brooklyn with her flowers.


You can't have pictures without the "funny face" pictures.

It was a very fun night and one that I will always remember.

Swimming Lessons.

I just wanted to post some pictures of the kids during their swimming lessons. They absolutely love the pool and Nolan is so jealous that he can't go yet. He probably likes the water more than any of them. They are learning how to do some of the different strokes and are catching on pretty quickly. I watched Brooklyn do the back stroke last night and was quite impressed. I love to watch them and am always amazed at their progress. Here are some pictures from last night.


Brooklyn getting ready for class to start.


Maddux waiting for his turn.


Even though Nolan isn't out there he loves to go and watch. I think he is just hoping that we will stay afterwards so he can swim.


Brooklyn working on her front stroke.


Here she is doing the back stroke.


Maddux working on his back float with Mrs. Marteen.


Maddux loves to play under the water when it is not his turn.


At the end of their class they get to dive for rings underwater. Maddux loves this as he gets to go under water.

Monster Golf

With no school and no work for me we had an action packed day. It started with me metal detecting in the snow looking for our property pins and ended with a game of Monster Golf. When my dad and I fenced in the backyard last year we started without a permit and got caught half way through. We submitted all the paperwork in July and they came to us in December asking if we had finished and ready for inspection. I told them we had been done for months and they needed the property pins located to make sure we didn't build on the neighbors property but with all the snow it hasn't been ideal to go out and look for them. Then all the snow melted this week so I figured I would go and look for them. Well then we got a little more snow this week so needless to say I was out looking for the pins in the snow today. I did manage to find them so we should be all set.

Then Jennie and Brooklyn went to get haircuts. Brooklyn got her hair cut fairly short but since it is such a mess when it is long Jennie is hoping this keeps her hair a little easier to do in the mornings.




Here is Brooklyn after her haircut. Short but it looks very good on her.




Maddux finally wanted to shave off the mohawk so I cut that off last night. Look at that devilish grin.




Nolan didn't get a haircut but is always up for pictures. One of these days I will buzz him while Jennie is out.



A couple of pictures that I absolutely love. Brooklyn has become such a big helper with Payton and loves to carry her around. It was kind of funny because yesterday she was walking around with her and tripped over Nolan and fell down. Both were fine but Brooklyn cried for about 15 minutes because she though she hurt Payton.



I just love how alert Payton is and love her eyes.

Then we headed out for some lunch at CiCi's pizza and then decided to take the kids to Monster Golf. It is an indoor miniature golf course that is themed around monsters and filled with blacklights. I wasn't sure how Maddux would do as he scares easily but he only had one little issue but then went right on playing. Here
are some pictures from their round:


Brooklyn and Maddux getting ready to tee off.


Here we are in the middle of the course (middle of the picture).


Brooklyn striking a pose.


Maddux taking his time to line up the shot.


Brooklyn just taking a swing and hitting it where ever it will go.


Maddux just waiting for his shot.


Here is Maddux watching Brooklyn making sure she does everything correctly.


Nolan playing the frog game. You had to press the button so the frogs tongue would shoot out and knock over the flies. This was by far the best game for the kids.


Nolan swatting the crocodile heads. Kind of like whack-a-mole. Just look at the look on Nolan's face.

Our Little Karate Kid.

Sorry since it has been awhile since our last entry. I know we have been busy but it doesn't seem like we actually did very much. Here is a quick recap of the past week. We started the week with about 2 feet of snow on the ground and cold temps. By Wed and Thurs it was upper 60's and all the snow melted away. Then Saturday and Sunday it dropped back to the low 30's and we got some more snow. It just can't seem to make up its mind. We are teased with beautiful weather for a couple of days and then bam, snow again. I don't mind the cold at all so I guess it isn't all that bad.

On Wednesday night the kids were lucky enough to have Great Grandma Elaine come over and spend some time with us while Jennie and her parents went to watch a basketball game. The kids but her to quick use as they had Great Grandma help them fill out their Valentine Day cards. Brooklyn was able to do all the ones for her class by herself but Maddux hasn't learned how to write so he told Great Grandma who he wanted to send one to and she would fill it out for him. We are grateful to be able to spend time with her and I know she loves spending time with the kids.

The kids have started swimming lessons again and have those on Tues and Thurs night. They are really progressing nicely and love to swim. Nolan is not quite old enough to do lessons yet but is probably more excited to go swimming than Brooklyn and Maddux. Thursday I stayed afterwards and took him swimming with the other kids and some of their friends. They have a blast and love swimming. Nolan is the one we have to watch out for as he has no fear of the water. He has no problem going under and will jump in whether you are watching or not. He is a little dare devil.

Our Valentine was not the typical night out as a couple. The day started with me having to ref 4 youth basketball games in the morning. Then one of the girls that Jennie watches during the day, Emma, was having a birthday party so we took the kids to that. It was at a local bowling alley and our kids love to bowl. Then we had to hurry home and Maddux and I headed out to his karate awards banquet. It was kind of strange to have it on Valentine's Day but I thought it would be fun for him so we decided to go. It was down in Canton at a very nice hotel downtown. There were probably 150 or so people there. They provided everyone with dinner and then had some of the students demonstrate their skills. They had kids sparring, breaking boards, do flips, and showing off various moves. Maddux really liked that part the best. A couple of the kids who help out with his class were involved so it was fun for him to see those guys in action. Then they passed out various awards to some of the different students. Maddux was awarded the Most Accomplished Male Young Kicker award for his efforts and skills in karate. It was pretty cool for him to be recognized for that. I think the only thing that he was interested in was getting the award. There were a total of about 8 or 10 different karate studios there, from as far away as North Carolina and Virginia, and he was the one who got the award for that category. It is basically for students under the age of 7 (he just turned 5). We are very proud of all that he has accomplished and have seen a huge improvement with his focus, skills, and attitude. The event lasted a total of 3 hours, which for a 5 year old can seem like an eternity, but he did a very good job and had a good time. Here are a couple of pictures from the night:



Maddux with his award; check out the mohawk (he requested that himself).



Maddux in the group picture with the other students and his shihan (master), in the black sweater with the tie.



Here he is just hanging out waiting for things to start.



Accepting his award as the Most Accomplished Male Young Kicker.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.

Well we have got quite the little snow storm over the last 24 hours and we probably have at least 2 feet on the ground right now. It was been snowing all day and just combined on top of what we got last week. However, I must say I have been pretty lucky this year as today was the first day that I really had to shovel. Our neighbor, Debbie, has been really nice and usually has the driveway snowblown before I even get home. The funny thing is that she usually also brings us some type of treat or baked goods. I thought it should be the other way around. She snowblows our drive and we take her something. We appreciate her willingness to come over and I know it makes it easier for Jennie if she has to go anywhere during the day.

Well today Strongsville canceled school, I think they were one of the only cities to do so, so Brooklyn got to stay home and had a friend over. They were all playing outside and helped shovel the snow. Maddux did a lot of this although most of what he shoveled was paths around the house, on the lawn.



I know they had a lot of fun and have had way to many snow days already. I went to school in Montana, which I think is a lot colder and has more snow, and I can't remember having school canceled once because of snow. There were a couple of times when it was so cold that the car wouldn't start but don't ever remember not having to go because of snow. Brooklyn has already had 4 or 5 days off because of it. I tell you what, kids these days just don't have to tough it. Anyways, here are some pictures from their "snow day" today.



Maddux taking a giant big out of the snow. Not sure what they were thinking but they all did it.



Maddux coming up from his bite.



It must taste good and as long as it isn't yellow snow I guess there is no harm.



It looked like so much fun that Brooklyn had to try some.



Here she is with her snow beard, no pun intended, afterward.



Brooklyn and her friend, Maddie, eating snow.



Maddux, Maddie and Brooklyn.



Brooklyn trying to catch some snowflakes.



Brooklyn shoveling the lawn. Next time we will shoot for the walkway or maybe the drive. She must think that the lawn needs shoveled also. Plus if she did the drive and walkway I wouldn't have anything to do when I got home.

The funny thing is that this could all be gone by this weekend as it is suppose to heat up to the 50's. Should be quite the mess.