Karate Kid JT!

Who needs Ralph Machio when we have JT!? JT has really taken to Karate. He has been really working hard on it and practicing. He is proud of himself for EARNING all the stripes of his white belt and now... he is a Yellow Belt in the Little Champions. We are so proud of him.

The Last post I had on here was of him receiving his yellow stripe a month ago. Since then, he has received his green stripe, and his brown stripe. Last week it was time to earn his new belt. He was a bit shy and nervous, but he knew his stuff!

This is a picture after he earned his green stripe.

Being awarded his green stripe :)

Yellow Belt Testing Videos. I had to break it up to fit email it from my phone. So it is a little choppy but you get the gist. He had to know all of the material from his previous stripes.

Beginning of testing.

The material in this video is all from his first stripe, the yellow.

These are continued of yellow stripe and green stripe

This is the brown stripe curriculum and him passing the testing.

Yellow Belt JT!

JT earns a Yellow Stripe at Karate

JT earned his Yellow Stripe at Karate on Thursday. He was so proud! He had missed all of last week because he was sick (he actually got sick AT karate last week) and we had gone on the website to practice alone but he hadn't done the classes. So on Tuesday, Master Mendoza said they would test for their yellow stripe. For the yellow stripe you need to know the positions, front kick, back kick, upper block and down block. He had the idea, but was a little too shy to have the confidence to show Master Mendoza on Tuesday. He came home that night and wanted to practice. So we did. Yesterday he went to class READY! He even went up to Master Mendoza and said, "could you please test me for my yellow strip because I practiced!"

Here he is during the test. (sorry if the quality is bad... i only had my phone with me)

He passed with FLYING colors. SO cool. Here he is getting his stripe on his belt and running over to show me. Priceless!

I'm not sure if you can hear the instructor, but he is explaining that hard work and practice pays off. And that JT didn't give up and that is why he EARNED the yellow stripe. This is important to know because when you talk to JT about it, he always says he EARNED it. It is a real sense of accomplishment for him. Which is perfect because that is exactly why we signed up for Karate!

He also got a Black Belt Bingo sheet that he has been working hard to complete. There are a bunch of tasks ( make the bed, help with dishes, brush your teeth, go to bed without complaining,....) and if you complete a BINGO line you EARN a stripe on your belt. If you complete the whole thing, you get an ice cream sandwich! Let's just say, both rewards are PERFECT motivation of JT! LOVE IT!

Our Karate Kid!!

A closer look.

Are You Kidding Me??? Sammy's Colt's WON the CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

This is how we started the day this morning...

Are we seriously going to football again?

We started out against the UNDEFEATED Bucs. In order to make the tournament you had to be the top 4 seeds out of 10 teams. We were the fourth seed and the Bucs were the 1st seed. Sammy really had an unbelievable game. We won 14-12. It came down the wire. Sam had a few good runs, a touchdown and was an animal on defense. It was a lot of fun to watch. All the parents were going crazy on the sideline.

Sammy's TOUCHDOWN run!! I finally got one on tape and it was sweet!! YAY Sam!!!

Going after a flag.

Ready... Set...

This is how he looks when he starts out to run the ball :)

Video Clips of some of his runs today.

another.

On to the Finals. We played the Saints. The Saints in this league are usually untouchable. They play together starting when they are like 2! Usually the Saints at every age division wins the league. This year, the Bucs were the only ones to beat them. So, after beating the Bucs we knew we had our work cut out for us when we took the field. We ended up winning 21-15. This was another wild and unpredictable game.... There was a touchdown by us, followed by a no huddle touchdown by them, then they got a safety on us...We really had to work for it!! In the end, the kids played their hearts out. Again, Sam was an animal on defense, had a great catch for a much needed 2 point conversion and a few runs too.

This game was a little more intense, so I didn't get as much footage of it...

Picture after a run, throwing the ball to the ref.

I never get a good video clip of Sam running the ball (much less a touchdown) because i am always so excited and cheering. The Championship game was NO exception. I had to include this so you could see what most of the video clips I have look like :) It is the thought that counts!

After the game huddle. So cute. They were SOOO excited and it was SOOOO well deserved!

The Championship Team!

Only the 1st place team gets trophies...

Yay!!

JT.

He has been an awesome little brother at ALL of Sam's games and even practices and hasn't even complained too much ;) Today he took the camera to keep himself busy and him and his friend, Maggie snapped some shots. Maggie is Ryder's sister and they have become good buddies on the sidelines over the past 4 seasons. Oddly enough, Their parents are from Pittsford!! Small world!!

hysterical!

Love it!

Sam and his buddies, Drew, Ryder and Mason.

Ryder and Mason have been with Sam for all 4 seasons. This was a great way to end their 4th season together before they move up to the next age division next year.

Congratulations COLTS!! We are SO proud of your well-deserved victory!!

Big Things for JT and Sam too!!

JT RIDES A TWO WHEELER!!!!

After a long time of him doubting himself, JT finally got the courage up to try a 2 wheeler seriously. To his surprise.... he rocked it! He is so excited to be on a big boy bike. He asks to ride all the time! :)

It won't be long before Eli is right there behind him! Our baby isn't much of a baby by typical standards!
Happy Big Boy
Sammy on his BIG bike. He actually has been practicing on his new bike too. It is so big and doesn't have brakes on the pedals so it has been an adjustment for him too.
Eli trying out the Jeep.

Video Clips....

Cruisin'

Eli following along

Stopping ... well , sort of :)

Eli Pushing the Jeep.

He tried to make it go by pushing the pedal, but I guess he thought he could make it go faster if he just did it himself. Little Toughy!

STAR STUDENT JT!

Last week JT came home with the Star Student bag from school. He was SOOOOO excited. He had been waiting patiently for Olive to come visit (the stuffed Octopus they bring home). Here he is with her and his journal.

He took her everywhere in the beginning. He started by our weekly trip to Buffalo Wild Wings with the Lee's on Friday night.

A typical Friday night scene at BWW. :) Happy kids.

Don't forget the little guys!

Here is JT's poster. We used up all the ink in our new printer and printed out a bunch of pictures of him. Most of them from NY and Uncle Buddy and Aunt Lindsay's wedding. He had lots of fun putting together a poster all about HIM! He even decorated it with some special stickers.

One of jobs of the Star Student is to bring in an estimation bag. What better item for JT than suckers with gum inside?

Looking at his poster. so cute.

At the end of the week he had to bring back Olive. He was sad to see her go, but she went to Ella's house next, so that was a little easier to share with his Share Friend. :)

Sammy's Football!

Tomorrow we are playing in the championship games. It has been a great season and Sammy has done AWESOME! I, on the the other hand, have done a pretty bad job at capturing him this season! Here are a few shots. I told him he had to make a couple touchdowns tomorrow for me so I can maybe get ONE on tape!

in the huddle.

Defense with his buddy Ryder.

Video of Sammy Pulling a Flag

I think this is a touchdown... just not on video. :)

Eli is always happy to run around the field on Saturday morning!

Sammy, JT and his buddies Mason and Drew. After the game we have been going to the "Burrito Shack" together for a breakfast burrito. It truly is a SHACK... but they make good breakfast burritos! The kids love it.

Wish us luck for tomorrow! IT will be a tough couple of games!

I will blog about it later!

ANOTHER visit from the Tooth Fairy!!

Sammy lost his 3rd tooth. The poor kid has teeth that want to stay in FOREVER! The dentist has said she wanted to pull them for him, but this kid is SO tough, he just rips them out! This time he made me do it! I felt so bad, but look at this face....

He doesn't seem upset!

Baby tooth #3. Goodbye!

Phoenix Zoo

Sammy has been asking to go to the zoo FOREVER. He has such long days at school that it is hard to do fun things after he gets out. Well, Wednesday he had a half day and we made the most of it! Arwen took us to the zoo on her zoo pass and the boys had a ball!

Eli really loved seeing the animals this time. He called every animal "Oti-Oti-Oti" except the Lion... He pointed and said, "Harry!"

6 Crazy Boys at the zoo + 2 big bags of Kettle Corn and 4 Iced Lemonades = TIRED moms at the end of the day! But it was well worth it!!

That gets us up-to-date!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

Starting a month behind... i will catch up more recent events soon! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! We were so fortunate to travel to NY for our annual Christmas holiday trip. The boys look forward to it every year and they are never disappointed. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful family. I am so grateful for you all everyday! Love and miss you.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without the family cut out cookie night!

Ready to be put in the oven!

Sammy Cutting out cookies.

JT Cutting out cookies.

Little Stinker.

Time to Decorate!! Every year I forget just how messy this process is! Its a good thing too, because I don't know that I would do it if I remembered!

Look at Matt's face in this pic! lol and Eli eating a cookie on the sly!! hilarious!

I think he ate 4 cookies... at least.

Crazy Christmas Boys!

JT's last day of school before break...

CHOO CHOO!! All Aboard for the Polar Express!!

SANTA! I KNOW HIM! :)

A little nervous to sit on the big guy's lap!

Very serious about Santa.

Stuffing a Gingerbread Man he made.

JT playing a game with Mrs. Lee

Sammy's Last day of school before break. Polar Express PJ day.

Look how big he is!!

We arrive in NY... the first thing we do? Play in the snow!!!! (of course!) Eli is watching his brothers play through the window.

I decided to bundle him up too and go out to snap a few shots.

Snow Angels.

Love JT here.

And Sammer.

The best part about these shots is... I locked myself AND my 3 boys outside in this weather with when I went to take the pictures. I didn't realize the door was locked behind me! Thank God for Aunt Barbara!

Christmas Eve!

Everyone was so excited to start the Christmas fun. We had to distract the boys a little to get them to be patient before they could open the first gifts of Christmas.

goof ball.

Love this.

If a picture says 1000 words... this one is perfect in describing our 14 month old!

The annual dollar store gifts at Aunt Debbies. Always a hit!

SOOOOO Excited!

T'was the Night Before Christmas book with Ya-Ya and Poppy

Sprinkling the Reindeer Food

Merry Christmas!

Cookies for Santa and Carrots for the reindeer.

The children nestled all snug in their beds.

The annual note from Santa.

The stockings (too big to be hung by the chimney with care)

The presents under the tree.

The classic "Walking Down the Stairs" shot :)

in awe...

Checking to see if Santa ate the cookies.

JT's Buzz Lightyear car... Eli thought it was his. I don't know who liked it more!?

My favorite gifts of Christmas. This year we decided the boys should give each other presents. The best part about it was that when we presented the idea to them, the boys both knew exactly what they wanted to get for the other one and were so excited about it.

JT got Sam the Donkey Kong Returns Wii Game.

Sam got JT the Bakugan Meter and Glove.

They really do love each other.

Eli enjoying the chaos.

The very messy but super fun Hot Wheels race track.

Oddly enough... Sam loved getting an alarm clock from Santa!

SLEDDING!!

One of the many great parts about visiting NY in the winter! It is always a hit... especially when you get some hot chocolate after!

Video Clip of them going down the hill!

This is from the game before we went to NY for Christmas. This isn't Sammy's first touchdown, but it is the ONLY one I have on tape! It is too hard to watch/cheer AND record! ANYWAY... it is from December, so I included it on here.