We have a Gold Belt!

Tonight was Owen's first promotion night for Karate.  He promoted to a gold belt, and he couldn't be prouder.  He and all of his classmates showed off all of their skills and then each child received their new belt.  It was a fun and special night, and we were thankful that Grandma and Grandpa made the trip down to celebrate the accomplishment! 

Practicing

Demonstrating punches

Demonstrating escapes

Ready to receive his new belt

Tying on the new belt

Brand new gold belt!

Proud parents!

Newly promoted class!

Valentines for the Little Loves

I've been searching the internet for the past couple of months for the perfect valentines for Owen's class.  I came across these and Owen loved them- so we had a winner!!

Last weekend, Owen and I went about the work of making these little cuties, and we had a blast!  I LOVED making these!! 

 I had a huge bag of crayons left over from my teaching days so we peeled them, broke them,  and melted them into hearts!  I made paper valentines to go with them that he can sign. 

I'm going to be sad when I actually have take them out of my jar and give them to small children :) 

Y'all know how excited I get about babies.  I mean, I get REALLY excited when someone I know is going to have a baby.  I love it.  I personally don't have a great time being pregnant, but I adore other pregnant people. 

As a result, I am super stoked to go to a baby shower this weekend for my childhood best friend, Les's, wife.  They've been looking forward to having a baby for awhile now, so I am so happy for them that it's happening. 

Last fall we went to the labor day festival in my hometown. Owen called dibs on riding in the parade in Grandpa's corvette and Eli wasn't too pleased. Fortunately, Les came to the rescue and let Eli ride in the parade with him on his tractor.  Eli's normally not nuts about people that he doesn't know well, but he just loved Les.

They are going to be wonderful parents and I can't wait to meet that sweet, little  nugget. I'm just hope that he/she gets his/her mama's good looks!   (Just kidding Les-sort of :)

A Super City

Today our city is playing host to the 2012 Super Bowl.  It's been pretty incredible to watch the preparations and see our state come together to make the event unforgettable. Matthew had the pleasure of attending a conference with a spokesperson from the Super Bowl commission a few weeks ago and he couldn't believe all of the planning and details that went into this event.  He assured me that they'd thought of everything, and that we were ready for the big game.

  I'm loving reading the media's reaction to our Super Bowl, with articles here and here touting this as the BEST Super Bowl that's ever been.  Maybe it's easier to impress when everyone outside of Indiana had such low expectations, but it's still really nice to see our wonderful city getting some love! Even Mother Nature was smiling down on us this week with the unseasonably warm weather that graced the city. Crowds have swarmed, ziplines have zoomed, and the city has rallied to provide the best possible experience for everyone in attendance!  

We made it down to the Super Bowl Village last weekend, and it was a pretty neat experience.  It was c-o-l-d the day that we went, but I'm glad that we got to see everything.