Oops!

Went missing for a bit there, didn't I? We've been busy-ish. ;) I'll try to catch up briefly...

1. At the end of April, I participated in a Women's Self Defense class put on by Karate West. I've actually had some experience with these sorts of tips back as an undergrad (when I was volunteering in low income areas and working at a women's drop in center). But. It was really good to have the refresher and I learned some great pointers!

2. We've seen some movies...this picture was taken after watching the Lego Batman Movie (at the cheap theater, having seen it already when it first came out)...

3. Micah continues to train for his black belt testing. He's swimming 1-2 times a week, doing tabatas 3-4 times (tabatas are timed exercises), going to the weekly training sessions and also adding in the various scheduled checks. I think this picture was taken after the first one-step defense check...one of the ones where each candidate needs a partner to throw around and take down and such. Asher's Micah's partner. He's a good sport about it. :) (I love that all these boys have known each other for years and are getting to test and train together. They're great!)

4. We wrapped up the JOAD season with an ice cream social and then a parent/kid shoot off. ;) Everyone had to use rental bows (or your own if you had a barebow, like mine). I'd like to say I held my own...and I had at least a couple good ends...but Noah obviously was better than me (and Nathan, who switched out with me part way through). (You'd think he competed in barebow at the last tournament or something, lol.)

5. My irises are blooming (thanks in part, probably, to the rain earlier this week)...

6. Asher likes randomly taking selfies on my phone...usually when I'm not looking. Earlier this week, though, I got to be included. :) (And then I played around with it a bit, lol.)

7. We wrapped up our Science Olympiad season, too. We finished up the season strong but wanted to get together as a team just for some fun. The kids had a blast bowling and us moms had so much fun watching them...and their genuine delight when they managed to hit any pins. :) (Let's just say they should stick to science, lol...and, fortunately, they're all good with that.)

8. And last night, we had the honor of helping my good friend Deanna celebrate her graduation with her Masters from CSU. We got to go to the Cording Ceremony for the education department...where each graduate received department cords from a special person (or persons) in his/her life. Deanna had her three kids as her "corders" and we enjoyed hearing all the thanks and appreciation in the room. We're so very proud of all the hard work that's gone into this degree and couldn't be happier for her!

Okay. That's some of my catching up! Will be back with more soon... :)