Ninja Phoebe

Phoebe started taking taekwondo classes last summer after her brief stint with ballet. She told me the ballet tights were too itchy. She also saw a martial arts demonstration somewhere and was mesmerized, so we signed her up and now we are hooked. Phoebe loves shouting "KIA!" and learning the kicks and blocks. I love that they teach about respect and being "a first-time listener." Recently she has been doing pull-ups - at the playground, at home on a pull-up bar. She is scary competitive. When she gets this way, Bruce prefers to hide in his room and read book after book. Oliver likes to wrap a belt or scarf around himself and mirror everything she does.

The kids like to play with a metronome app on my phone. Bruce uses it for piano lessons, but Phoebe and Oliver use it for fun. This would be Phoebe practicing her kicks; she is preparing to graduate to a green stripe belt in a few weeks.

Oliver will be two years old soon. I am staying crazy busy lately - running more miles, working on some exciting freelance writing projects, condo board stuff, blood drive stuff, church calling stuff - but I am savoring every moment with him (I do all that other stuff when he is asleep, like right now!). I sometimes pinch myself when I'm at home with him, snapping the marble track together, and watching him continuously feed marbles into the tubes. He is so happy and I love being with him. I think, "I am the luckiest." And then I do everyone's laundry and pack everyone's lunches and think, "They are the luckiest."