Saturday, April 21, 2012

Our Orange Belt!

On Saturday Jackson went to the Ramstein dojo to test for his orange belt in Karate Tech.
He has been ready to get his orange belt for a long time so you can imagine the excitement he was feeling when this day finally came.

Practicing his kata I and II with the other belt testers.

There was a range of colors of belts waiting to test.
The order of belts are:
white-yellow-orange-green-blue-red-brown-black
We were telling Jackson that he has gone from a white to a orange belt in just over a year in a half. It will be interesting to see how far he advances in the years to come.

All of the kids sparred each other. This is Jackson's favorite part. He is all boy and loves it!

The last picture of him in his yellow belt.

Master Richard giving him his orange belt after the testing process.

We are so proud of him!!

Jackson's T Ball Day

It's that time of year again...baseball season!
This is Jackson's second year playing t ball. He is so excited to start the season!
This year Jason is his coach (which he loves) so they have been spending lots of time hitting and catching the ball.

 Opening Ceremonies for the games

Jackson walking by with his team.

Getting ready to bat!

Getting a little help from Coach Vohs.

Great job, Scrappers!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Kinder Easter Party

Jackson had an Easter party in his class so we went to join in on the festivities.
Here is Mrs. Bryant going over the estimation jar. She is an amazing teacher. I am so thankful for her!
(Notice the boy in the back dressed as a mailman. Everyday the kids write letters to their classmates and it is his job to stamp them and put them in the proper mailboxes. So cute!)
 We were in charge of the egg dying station. Grace just joins in like she is one of the students.


 On a full sugar high at the snack table!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Baseball Season

Jackson is so excited for t ball to start. Jason is the head coach of the team so every Monday they are off to practice together. 
Jackson is still the little slugger he has always been. Brings back memories of when he used to go to bed every night with his baseball bat. 
I know it will be a great season for the both of them. I'm looking forward to many more years of this.


Sunday, April 1, 2012

Tongeren Flea Market

Last weekend I went with some friends to Tongeren, Belgium to shop at the flea market. We intended to drive all the way there, but ended up staying at Spangdahlem. We woke up at 4:30 the next morning and arrived ready to shop in Belgium at 7 am. It was perfect because the venders were just getting started and we got some good deals.
Mandy and Jennifer on their way and ready to shop!
 We bought a lot from this vendor; two dough bowls, a clock, a beer bucket, antique sleigh and a beautiful mirror. Mandy was the queen of bringing the prices down. The two dough bowls that you see here we paid 60 euro for both. That same size in the Pottery Barn catalog runs for at least $200. So yes...we got a great deal!
 Mandy got this trunk and it is such a beauty. The man who sold it to her worked on restoring it for a week. It has the original lock and key (that still works) and she only paid 120 euro. 
 Our new coffee table! The picture really doesn't do it justice. It is huge and has a  lot of storage inside. I was thinking of putting blankets in there, but it is too heavy for the kids to open so I think I'll just use it for keepsakes and photos. I only paid 325 euro for this. The seller told us it is an antique from India that his daughter imported.
 There was all kinds of items there but this was probably the most interesting. This is a WW II Nazi helmet. The seller was asking 350 euro for this. Gives me chills to think about the things this helmet witnessed!
 After we bought all of our items it was time to load the car. We ran into some friends from church and they were so kind to help us tie the ladders to the roof. Thankfully he is a surgeon and did some fancy surgical knots to keep it secure.
 Jennifer packed and ready for the drive home.
 We packed it in! It was very worth the trip. We will definitely be back in the near future. Jason even said that he wants to go back with trailer and all.
 These are my items including my coffee table.
I love all my unique treasures!