First Farmer's Market of the Year!

We met Ron and Meg downtown for the first Farmer's Market of the year this morning. There weren't a lot of vegetables or fruits ready for harvesting yet, but we did pick up some really good tomatoes, a cucumber and some baby spinach. Liam was very excited about a booth with air plants and cacti. He lit up when he saw pots of tiny Venus Flytraps, and asked if he could get one and pay me the $7 back. Of course I agreed, and he happily toted his new plant home in a small bag along with instructions on caring for "carnivorous plants." 

I made two loaves of Italian bread from scratch when we got home to go along with the salad. The house smells wonderful! 

One thing we had not been looking for at the market, or indeed anywhere or at any time was a deer skull. 

A lady selling farm raised meat had this skull at her booth and the boys were very intrigued by it. They were discussing its finer qualities when the lady asked if they wanted to keep it. Of course they said they did, so we carried this deer skull around the market alongside our vegetables and Venus Flytrap. Life is always interesting with these two! 

As she handed over the deer skull, the lady said, "Take good care of Joe!" And I'm sure they will!

Max is 5!

White Belts to Yellow Belts!

Aaron and Liam had belt testing for tae kwon do today. They were both pretty nervous, and spent a good part of the morning practicing and studying their Korean! Aaron has faithfully practiced his form on days when he supervises the weight room at school, and he works with Liam at home, too. Liam has been easily frustrated if he's not able to remember his form perfectly (for sure not related to his perfectionist mother), but he has worked hard to memorize it. They both did great, and passed their test to become yellow belts!

They practiced outside the school as they waited for their turn to test.

They only way Max would sit still was if he had the camera, so he is responsible for the majority of the indoor testing shots! And those of his own feet, and objects in his general vicinity...

He took this picture of Aaron, and I kind of like the perspective! Gives some scale to the gym through the eyes of a 4 year old!

Liam is in the third row, second from the left. Master Penny and Grand Master Kim watched them from the front and asked each student questions about their form, their techniques, how to say words in Korean, etc. Liam had to demonstrate different stances, and he did pretty well! After he performed them, Master Penny said, "All A's and B's, you passed!" He looked so proud!

Max was proud, but also interested in his shoe and the shoe of the man sitting next to us.

Aaron and Matthew one-step-sparring. It was nice to have another adult for Aaron to test with. He is taking this class with Liam as a father-son bonding experience, so sometimes it is just him with a bunch of kids. He doesn't mind, but it's nice to practice with someone a little closer to your own size, too!

Liam has been practicing blocks and punches with his dad to get ready for one-step-sparring. This kid he is with is very good at sparring and has won a few tournaments. Liam was a bit intimidated by him, but still did well!

I love this picture because I think it captures the spirit of what Aaron is trying to do with Liam by learning tae kwon do together. He wants Liam to see him work hard, practice and do something he's never done; even though he is sometimes embarrassed or nervous or scared to do it. By seeing his big, strong dad getting through the same challenges he is faced with, Liam's found out he can do some pretty great things, too.

Brothers and Books

After I got out of the shower this morning, I expected to find the boys in one of their usual spots; playing Minion Run on the tablet in their bedroom or watching a show in the living room. The house was unusually quiet, and I wasn't sure where they could be or what they were up to. I finally found them both, reading quietly all tucked into my bed!

Max was reading "The Official Knight's Handbook" and Liam had one of his Minecraft books.

It made me smile so much to see them like this, and I could not stop telling them how cute they both were. "No, you're cute, Mom," Max said back. Such a great start to my day!