Even Horses Love Christmas

Thought the horses would like a little extra treat for Christmas this year.

I crushed up a bunch of peppermints, cooked up a huge bowl of oat bran, and mixed in apples and carrots for a warm winter afternoon treat.

I think they liked it!

Winter Fun

It's so nice to not have a schedule full of stuff to do. Today was kind of warm (as warm as northwest Indiana gets in the winter anyway) so I decided I'd take the kiddos to a real sledding hill. We attempted this a few years ago, but Jade was too little and freaked right out the first time she catapulted down the hill. Needless to say, we didn't stay long that year. This year, however, was different. We stayed there for about an hour and had a great time. I successfully got a picture of us when we first got there wanting to get it out of the way should there be a galactic meltdown at any point.

There were a few near misses...


and a little friendly competition...


and all in all we had a fun time. I was asked when I launched myself into the shrubbery why I didn't steer... well, duh! Because I was too busy filming on the Blackberry to steer! We thwarted any major injury, despite a small collision with a 10 year old for me and a major collision with some other sledders for Jade - and the kids had a blast. This is definitely something we'll have to do again soon. Or maybe we'll just take them skiing. That is... if I survive my first ski trip (in who knows how many years) that is in the works...

Hooray for winter fun.

Taekwondo

Yesterday was the big belt test day at ATA. Jade was going for her orange belt and Vincent is looking to move to camoflauge (a pretty significant jump). I also participated, but there is no visual documentation of that (haha).

Everyone did a pretty good job. There were so many people there cheering and clapping it was a really stimulating environment. The kids did a great job concentrating on the job they had to do. Vincent got selected as "most improved" over the past 8 weeks - based not only on his Taekwondo skills but his attention, leadership, and behavior in class as well. Surprisingly, on an unrelated note, I also got a note from his teacher that he has really stepped up his behavior in his class over the past couple weeks. Worthy of an atta-boy of some sort I think...

Enjoy the videos and pictures from last night's festivities - and if you're going to watch the videos, I recommend muting your volume or turning it way down... just saying.