Moving Towards Black Belt

Every 8-10 weeks we have a Taekwondo belt testing and over the past 2 1/4 years we've been slowly moving up the belt ranks towards Black Belt. Last week Christine, Joshua and Caleb tested for their Black Belt recommended, and this week we found out they all passed! This means, if all goes as planned, we may have some new Black Belts on our hands by sometime this summer! I also tested for my Red Belt decided level and passed. Rebecca sat this one out, so she is now the same rank as me. Here are some photos of the testing:

Jump Round Kicks

Forms

Self Defense

Posing for the Picture

Joshua Sparring (on the left side) (it sure is hard to zoom on action without bluriness)

Caleb Sparring (on the left side)

Waiting for their turn to do board breaking. Unfortunately I was holding boards for another student to break, so I wasn't able to get photos of the boys doing their board breaks, but they both got both of their breaks on the first try. Way to go boys!

Since Rebecca was spectating this testing, she used Christine's new camera to take some photos and video for Christine. Here Christine and Mommy are lining up and ready for Forms.

Christine doing her Form

Christine sparring

The whole group of us at the end of the Testing

Novel Study Baking

Joshua is currently doing a Novel Study on The Sign of the Beaver by: Elizabeth George Speare. The study guide he is using is from Total Language Plus, which we've been quite happy with. In the novel the main character Matt eats some Johnnycake that his father had made. Joshua's project was to make some Johnnycake of his own. It tasted very yummy, especially with honey!

Mix the dry ingredients

 Add cornmeal mixture and wet ingredients

 Ready to bake

Adventure to the Symphony/Peter and the Wolf

On February 8th, Caleb and I had our own Adventure to the Symphony. We rode the bus and Skytrain into Vancouver and then a short walk to the Orpheum. The production was Peter and the Wolf and it was a great introduction to the symphony for Caleb, who had never been before. Here are some photos of our adventure:

We got on the bus at the first stop on the route, so we had it all to ourselves for a few minutes. Shortly after this photo was taken Caleb decided he didn't want his picture taken, so this is the only really good picture of him on the trip.

 Waiting for the show to start

 Travelling home on the Skytrain. Can you see our reflection in the window?

This is the Flag of my Country

In recent chapters of Story of the World, we've studied some new countries, especially in Africa. When you make a new country, you need a new flag and so we decided to each design a flag for our own created country. Before we started we learned about symbolism in flag colours (like blue for freedom and red for courage) and in symbols on the flags (like a lion for strength or an eagle for courage or intelligence). Based on what we learned, we each created a flag that reflected the things that are important to us. It was a fun project with some well thought out results. Unfortunately I didn't get very many pictures though.

The Fossil Record

Christine just finished learning about the fossil record in her science lessons and the experiment was to make your own fossil cast. She made a cast of a shell and, just for fun, she made one of her fingertip too.

First we make the plaster mud

 Then we pour it in the mold. We made the mold by pressing the shell into plasticine.

 Once it's dry we take the cast out of the mold

 And there it is!

 It looks just like the original!

 ..and this one does too!

Irish Potato Pancakes

While studying the Irish Potato Plague of 1845-1850, we learned just how important potatoes were to the Irish people. Over a million Irish died of starvation caused by the potato blight in just 5 years. Our project was to try out some Irish food that used potatoes. We decided to make Irish Potato Bread, which ended up looking more like potato pancakes. Here are some photos of our project:

First we had to peel and boil the potatoes

 Then it was time to mash them

Add the rest of the ingredients to make a dough

Make the dough portions into patties

Fry and Eat! They were quite good! 

Some of us had them with sour cream and some preferred butter

Missionsfest

At the end of January we were able to head down to Canada Place and take part in the Missionsfest School Program. While the three older kids participated in the program for the morning, I took Caleb along with my friend Suzanne and her son Tanner for a little excursion/adventure to Gastown and then on the Seabus to Lonsdale Quay. When we got back and had lunch, we joined the others for the afternoon portion of the program. We listened to a talk and to the Watoto Children's Choir. What a treat! Once the program was over we roamed the exhibition hall and stopped at several booths to chat with the people there and learn about different missionary organizations.
This was a first for our kids to be at a big event and be 'dropped off ' with a group in the midst of several hundred other kids, but they all said they had a good time. Christine and Rebecca took great notes which really helped those of us who weren't at the morning portion to understand what they learned about. On the way home Joshua's comment was "I am so tired..but I'm sure glad I came"

On the Seabus

In the Missionsfest School Program