Not a Wordless Wednesday

I have too much to say for this to be a Wordless Wednesday.
Last Sunday night, Leslie Stahl did a piece on Rock Steady Boxing and every day since I have been inundated with calls about our program.  I had three boxers prior and I now have twelve with more assessments scheduled for this week.  Over the weekend, we made the very tough decision for me to resign all of my other classes so I could focus on my family and my boxers.  In doing so, I am able to have every morning off to be with the kids.
The past two days, I have 8 and 9 hour days at the gym so I took off this morning.  (I turned in my notice for the week before C-mas)
Oh my gosh, it feels so good.  My day typically begins at 6 am, and the girls have been asking me to get them up at 6:30.  Boo was done with school work before 10 am, LE is about an hour behind her. We've been outside for a bike ride, beds are made, dishwasher run and a batch of kombucha is made.
I know not every day is going to be like this, but I am rejoicing in the small victories.

camping 101

This past Friday night, we went on our first family camping adventure to Jim Hogg park.  We just did an overnight trip for one night to see if we could survive and because it was supposed to rain on Saturday.  The kids did great, we didn't sleep much, but we had lots of fun.  We had s'mores for the first time (including Mama's first time), we threw rocks in the lake, all six of "slept" in a tent.  We went with our friends from church.
I think we are all hooked and can't wait to do it again in the spring.

Chopped birthday party

I wish I could take credit for this party and even though it was a surprise party, it was all her idea.  The party was inspired by the Food Network show Chopped, which is a cooking competition among chefs.  There are three rounds and each round one chef gets eliminated.  Instead of eliminations, we had awards for each category, appetizers, main course and dessert.  For round, they made yogurt parfaits.  Daisy won most creative for dyeing her yogurt blue and adding marshmallows and goldfish.  Angela won tastiest with raspberries and strawberries.  Emery won most unusual dyeing hers yellow and adding chocolate syrup.  It looked like mustard, but tasted like chocolate.
Round two was pizza.  Elise won most creative making a face out of pepperoni and olives.  Molly won best use of ingredients, using all of the ingredients to make a meat pizza and Avery won the cheesiest with a mountain of cheese on hers.
Round three was cake balls.  Jacoby won the most original as he was the first to add eyes to his eyes and make a turkey.  LE's was most creative, her cake balls were kissing.  One was pink, one chocolate.  R2 used the most ingredients.  Boo was the top chef.
It was a super fun party.  I have had multiple parents comment how much their kids enjoyed themselves.

surprise birthday party

I think we pulled off a surprise party for Boo.  It was quite difficult to convince her to have her birthday party a week later, but when Ben got called out of town for the week she agreed.  Instead, I was able to pull off a party on her actual birthday.  She designed a board game and had been wanting to have friends over to test her game out.  So, I came up with a night of games and pizza. When she made her own list of ideas of what her ideal party was, at the very last minute I was able to pull it off.
Her theme idea, yummy to my tummy which included taste testing and Chopped.  I opted for Chopped.  We still got to play her game and incorporate some of her ideas.  She seemed pleased.  We along with help from Mimi and PawPaw were able to get her a new bike too.
We collected board games and have plans to take them to the local children's home before Christmas.

more birthday shennanigans

Boo got her requested pancakes for breakfast and then a day on the town with Mimi.  It was a perfect day for hot chocolate.  While Boo was away, we had just the right time to set up for her surprise birthday party.

Birthday Daddy-Daughter Date

This sweet girl choose Cheesecake Factory for her birthday dinner/date night, which means I missed two meals at my favorite restaurant b/c it was Daddy's month of dates.  It's ok a new rule has been implemented for birthdays, it's going to be a double date from now on with both parents.  

Happy Birthday sweet girl

Where did this free spirit come from?
You have become quite independent this year, which scares me.  You are the most creative Richards kid.  You seem to have a flare for the dramatic, which suits you in your theater classes.  You write the most creative stories and drawings.  You have become quite the pianist and have even learned to play music by ear.
I love you Bella and even though you are nine now, I am still going to call you Bella Boo Bunny!

Sunday morning art lessons

My favorite part of homeschooling...that school doesn't happen just Monday through Friday in our classroom.
On Sunday morning, Boo was feeling inspired and asked if she could watercolor on the back porch, which led to everyone being creative on the back porch.  Daddy gave LE a sketching lesson.
These are my favorite times.

new job

The owner at the MMA gym asked if I wanted to try out one of the MMA fitness classes he teaches during the noon hour.  Since I love kickboxing and boot camps I thought I'd give it a try.  After the class, he asked if I was interested in teaching it.  He has been training me for the past few weeks and b/c his girlfriend surprised him on his birthday he asked if I'd cover the class last minute on Saturday.  So, I did.
I don't have my class schedule worked out yet.  Right now I am just teaching for him when I can.  My priority is family and RSB, but this is a fun way to make some extra cash.  Not to mention beating the crap out of stuff is kind of cool too.

Wordless Wednesday

Rock Steady Launches

On Monday, November 2nd we launched Rock Steady Boxing with three boxers (one was out of town).  We learned some basic punches, fighting stance and LOTS of stretches.  Each of these guys had to take an assessment to begin class and I learned men really need to be more "flexible", just sayin'.  PD takes a toll on the muscles and I am most looking forward to seeing how they improve when we do assessments in six months.
These guys are the definition of fighters.  Parkinson's is a degenerative disease.  So, if all we accomplish is delaying the effects of the disease, I would say we win.

tornadoes and tomahawks

Last week at co-op we got to experience Texas weather at it's finest.  On Friday morning, when we arrived it was storming.  During first hour we were called downstairs and into the halls to take cover during a tornado warning.  My parents were driving in that morning so Dad could teach the girl's history class that morning. Thankfully there was no tornado and we were in the clear by second hour.  PawPaw and Mimi arrived safely and by third hour the weather had cleared up enough that PawPaw was able to do part of his demonstration outside.

Pumpkin Party Palooza

Last night we had a pumpkin party,

That idea was quite smarty.

There was food. There was friends.

I wish that party didn't end.

Pumpkin carving. pumpkin goo.

Pumpkin guts. Ew! Ew! Ew!

But alas, the party soon came to an end,

Goodbye! Goodbye! Please come again!

By,

Landry E. Richards

Happy Halloween from Mavis (Hotel Transylvania), Eeyore, Girllock Holmes and Iron Man.