1st place!!

I'm so proud of Rykie! He won 1st place at the Karate tournament yesterday. He is so amazingly talented! On the way home I heard him whisper to himself "Don't mess with the guy who won first place." I'm so proud of him! Love him so much!!

Ryker's Easter Photos!

Here are my Rykie's Easter photos! Ryker stayed up late one night helping me set up for my Easter sessions. He is still very much a mommies boy. I still very much adore it to :). Ryker's favorite thing in the world is to snuggle with me. I'm soaking it all up to!

Leaving yellow behind

We are so proud of Ryker. And from the looks of his face I'd say he's pretty proud of himself to! Ryker's doing so well with his Tae-Kwon-Do. A few weeks ago he earned the last stripe on his yellow belt. His new orange shirt and belt have been ordered. He knows how proud we are of him! I'm always surprised at how fast he achieves his stripes and new belts. It's great, and I'm so happy he's found something he loves so much!
Updates ~ Britt's blood test results came back and the infection level has gone down a bit, yay (happy dance)!! I was so worried yesterday that we would end up in the hospital this weekend, but looks like he's ok. Also Grandpa Steed is doing better as well (another happy dance)! I'm so happy everyone seems to be on the mend. It's just wonderful :). Today is Daxon's 9th birthday party, and I'm off to get ready for the event. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Happy Valentine's Day Rykie!

I don't have a photo of you for this post. I hope to be able to take a photo of you in that cute karate outfit of yours soon (and before you change from a yellow shirt to an orange one). I just wanted to write here on your blog to say that I love you. Today you received your last stripe on your yellow belt. You are moving on up to an orange one. You seem to excel so quickly at anything you set your mind to. You sat tonight and read for a full hour to earn points for your school's reading contest. I'm so proud of you.  Happy Valentines Day, I love you! ~ Love, Mom

Tablet Time

Out of our three children, Ryker is the one most interested in his tablet. He would play on it for hours if we allowed him to. We have to limit his tablet time, and encourage him to do other activities. Right now he has several interests, and we would like to encourage his other interests over "gaming". I swear this kid is a pro at anything he does. He catches on to things so quickly! He is doing very well with martial arts, reading at a high level, getting good grades, and seems to accomplish any task he sets his mind to. Last Saturday was the first time I took the kids roller skating. I was amazed at how quickly he learned and started skating. Dax and Zaylee did well, but even towards the end they were still falling down and using "Skate mates" (PVC pipe contractions on wheels to help kids learn to skate). Ryker refused to let me rent him a skate mate and was out there skating on his own in no time. He has always been stubborn and I really think his stubbornness helps him in a positive way. When he wants to accomplish something, he is so determined!

More Birthday party fun

Here are some more photos from Ryker's 7th Birthday party. Ryker's favorite thing right now is candy so we had a "candy theme".  We celebrated with family and friends and had a wonderful time.The kids frosted and decorated cupcakes and enjoyed playing games and the pinata.

Uncle Mike surprised us all when he walked through the door. He came all the way from Boston! What a wonderful surprise and birthday present!

Karate Kid

Rykie absolutely loves Karate. He does very well. In fact, his instructor has told us that he has the ability to pass up everyone in his class! He is a natural. Daxon also goes to Karate and Rykie is getting a bit ahead of him now.  I hope Dax realizes that he does and can do just as well as Ryker. He is only falling behind because he does not enjoy it like Ryker does. Daxon goes to class and has agreed to continue going but he has wanted to quit several times. I am very proud of both of them. Ryker for excelling and Daxon for sticking to it when it's not his favorite activity. I was able to get a few photo's of Rykie and will do my best to take some of Daxon soon. They are so cute in their uniforms. They used to have white shirts and have both leveled up to yellow now.