Perseverance

Little by little, one walks far.

Peruvian Proverb

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First Day of School

Can you guess which child goes to public school and which one is home-schooled? Hint: The snappy dresser hangs out with 1800 other teenagers all day!!

Meth Madness

I stumbled across a blog in the middle of the night a few weeks ago that I find rather interesting. I have no idea who writes it but it's rather like "watching" a reality show. The author is unable to work due to a chronic illness involving substantial daily pain and is often up late at night writing her blog. That is how I found her. I was up in the middle of the night updating my blog. Recently she put up a link on the effects of methamphetamine. Check out the picture gallery. Ana is already anti-drug but these pictures really drove home how fast the devastation occurs with the use of illegal drugs. I guess they are illegal for a reason!

Does she look older?

She's still a lovely girl - even though she is old!!!

My "Baby" is a Teenager!!!

On Sunday, August 27, 2006, my "baby" will turn thirteen years old. (Eeek...how old does that make her mother?) We went to Claim Jumper for lunch and they treated her to a free Mud Pie for dessert. We were all too full to eat any other dessert so we will do a chocolate "I'Declair" later with presents. Happy Birthday, Ana!











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Sam's First Sleepover at Our House

Sam had his first sleepover at our house on Friday night. He and his friend, Grant, moved all the furniture out of the office, set up the airmatresses and moved the playstation into the room. Rumor has it there was SOME sleeping going on, but not much. The playstation got a really good work out. They both had a great time!





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Hero - an update

Someone asked who my heroes are. That was easy for me. My first hero is my husband, Mike, who fits every description on the list. He's always right here cheering me on in whatever I do. My second hero is my karate instructor (you know who you are). Were it not for his guidance there were many times I would have quit karate because it was just too hard to do on a regular basis, especially with my body falling apart like it is. Ultimately, I decided to keep going from green belt because I didn't want to disappoint any of my instructors who have worked so hard keeping me going over the last five years. Now that I'm really close to black belt I keep going for me with the encouragement of all of them.

Hero

Someone we admire.
Someone we look up to.
Someone who gives us hope.
Not a myth or an icon or a legend-
Someone solid, genuine and real.
An ordinary person who does extraordinary things.
A hero picks us up when we are down.
Believes in us before we believe in ourselves.
Inspires us to expand and embrace what’s possible.
Helps us realize that we can be heroes too.


I know who my heroes are - do you?

The Return of the Beard

This is the beard after one week. Looking scruffy and still too prickly to kiss!!! I'll give it a few more days to get soft.












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Las Vegas 51s

On Tuesday, August 15th, Ana and I attended a Las Vegas 51s Minor League Baseball game with our friends Joe, Janis and Rebecca. Joe's brother, Jim, is the Media Relations Director so we were treated like VIPs!! We had dinner in the air-conditioned Club Level and had great seats to watch the game! A big thank you to Jim!!









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Happy 43rd Birthday Mike!

On Monday, August 14th, Mike will turn 43 years old. Due to our busy social schedule (read: karate) we won't be available to celebrate then. We chose Saturday night instead. Yesterday we went to lunch at the Salt Lick Bar B-Q at the new Red Rock Resort and Casino and picked up a slice of Chocolate MotherLode Cake from Claim Jumper. Can't wait for Ana's birthday in 2 weeks so we can do it all again!! Happy Birthday, Mike!

The Consequences of our Words

Before.......................After

This is what happens when I give Mike a hard time about all the gray in his beard and then leave the house for 3 hours. For anyone who doesn't know, the last time I saw Mike without a beard was October, 1984. Quick! Do the math! That's just short of 22 years.

Bodies

We went to Bodies - The Exhibition with the kids today. It was really kind of cool. Sam's favorite part was seeing the lungs of the smoker compared to the non-smoker. "It was black and ugly and nasty looking and I hated it!" said Sam. The "Fetal Development Room" was a little bit on the freak-show side but it was all fascinating. It was $82 for our family of four with our Nevada residents discount. Worth the money if you have any interest in anatomy or the inner workings of the human body. If it comes to your city, go see it.

Pool Time

What do you do in Las Vegas when it's 110 degrees? You meet your friends at the Activity Pool. This is Ana and Sam with our friends Sera, Ethan, Grant and Dana (on the far right.) This is the pool where Ana is a Junior Lifeguard. She helps teach swim lessons in the morning. In the afternoon she has to option to "shadow guard" which means she follows the life guards around and does everything they do (except she doesn't get paid!!) She enjoys it and when she is 16 she can do it for money.

Karen's 40

Karen is 40 years old today. If the baby of the family is 40, how old does that make everyone else? The family (Mike, Ana & Sam) took me to Brighton Collectibles and picked out a beautiful necklace for me. Then we had lunch at Cheesecake Factory and Ana & I went shopping and picked up what I really wanted...a bo staff!

2006 Chun Kuk Do ITC

July once again brings us to the Chun Kuk Do International Training Conference and World Championships. Ana attended the 3 day event which included training classes, competitions and an Awards Banquet and Dinner at the Stardust Resort in Las Vegas . Ana competed in kata and fighting and took 1st place in both events! She competed against other girls her rank and close to her age. Next year she will be a higher rank and competing in an older age group. I'm sure she'll be great next year, too! The highlight of this year's event was a class taught by Grand Master Chuck Norris himself. We did not participate but were able to watch which was really fun!

Four

FOUR

Four things to do before I die
1. Get my black belt in karate
2. Learn to shoot a gun
3. Fly on the Concorde (not gonna happen - out of commission)
4. Stay at a seaside inn on the Mediterranean

Four things I can't do
1. Jump
2. Swim 50 laps
3. Sleep through the night
4. Figure out Sam's thinking process (WAY different from mine!)

Four things I love about my spouse
1. He works hard so I don't have to
2. Takes days off that hard work so I can pursue karate when I want to
3. He is THE barbecue master and cooks every weekend
4. Loves and accepts me in spite of myself

Four things I say often
1. "You're smoking crack!" as in...you've lost your mind
2. Cha ryut and kyung ye (Attention and bow in Korean for karate class)
3. Shush!!!
4. Get off the phone!

Four movies I could watch over and over again
1. Sense and Sensibility
2. A Knight's Tale
3. Toy Story 2
4. Okay - I don't spend a lot of time sitting around watching movies so I can't think of another one.

Four jobs I've had
1. Sandwich maker at Wendy's (a good lesson in how not to treat people)
2. Travel Agent (both leisure and business...business is better)
3. Accounts Payable Specialist for a grass seed company
4. Mom (the hardest one yet...working was a lot easier!)

Four places I've lived
1. Idaho (born there)
2. Montana (grew up there)
3. Oregon (got married and had kids there)
4. Nevada (want to retire here)

Four TV shows I like to watch
1. The Amazing Race (when it's on)
2. Survivor
3. Dog The Bounty Hunter
4. Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations

Four places I've been on holiday
I've been a travel agent so the list is long - I'll pick my favorites
1. Russia (1989 - right after the Berlin wall came down)
2. Bermuda - didn't see any triangles
3. France
4. Germany - to play soccer when I was in high school

Four favorite dishes
1. Brownies
2. Garlic mashed potatoes (but probably only because I can no longer eat them due to dietary restrictions)
3. Filet Mignon grilled over mesquite by my husband
4. French Onion Soup

Four places I'd rather be
1. On a massage table
2. On the mat doing karate
3. Almost anywhere my children are not fighting and someone is handing me a Margarita
4. With my husband (didn't mean to put you last, honey)

Phoenix - July 2006

We took a little summer vacation to Phoenix to visit the grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin.

This is Ana, Sam and Delaney on the bumper boats. A wet time was had by all!!










The Go Karts were a big hit with Ana and Sam. Delaney was not quite tall enough and had trouble pushing the gas pedal.












Swimming in the grandparents pool was the preferred entertainment AND it's already paid for!!!







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Fourth of July

Since the fireworks of my youth (you know, the ones where you get to blow stuff up!) are against the law here in Nevada, we did what we could. The kids did Poppers, SmokeBalls and Sparklers! Our neighbors who always do the really good fireworks moved last fall so this was all we had. Michael - we missed you!

Salt Lake City Again

We took a side trip while visiting Salt Lake City to actually visit The Great Salt Lake. It didn't make sense to drive 7 1/2 hours from Las Vegas and not see the Lake. It looked like a Lake!!