The Secret House by the Sea

Sunday, June 28, 2009

For Ami, Drawn by Grace and inspired by a photo on a bench.

It is a combination of "Alice" and Ami's love of the Mariposa, which is why she's standing on a mushroom, instead of sitting on a bench!

What rhymes with "Orange"?

That 's a tough one. I suppose I will not be writing a poem about Grace's new JuJutsu Belt...

The test is a 3-4 hour, grueling process, in which the children ( and adults the night before) show every skill they have learned from every belt they have already earned. They do techniques, spar, reflex blocking and foot/hand work. The students throw 550 punches at the beginning and end of the test, representing symmetry. ( 1x10, 2x10, 3x10...10x10, then 10x10, 9x10, 8x10...1x10 at the end...) The end of the test is a very emotional moment, in which all of the exhausted students throw the last 10 punches of the second 550 in precision...ich, ni, san! Everyone yells the numbers in Japanese to encourage the students and breaks out into applause after the bow-out.

Grace's Shihan gave her high praise upon bestowing her rank, saying that she is "one of those rare few " that come into her Dojo with a "natural" ability for the Martial Arts. She said she was VERY proud of her work and that she was proud to promote her to Rho Kyu. ( Orange Belt) Grace can now begin learning Judo Throws! Shes extremely excited.

Here is the Secret Family with the Shihans who teach us and own the Dojo.

They are Purple belts and are the very highest rank attainable. Do not let the one on the right fool you...she can throw you into the basement. The grey hair only belies wisdom, not age. We highly respect both and trust them implicitly on the mat. They are truly beyond professional at what they do.

Grace now out-ranks us. The belts go as follows, and each belt takes about 6 months:

white, yellow, orange, green,blue, brown, brown, brown, black

Grace's Dojo Friend.

can also throw you into the basement;)

Thursday, June 25, 2009

She wants to be an Astronaut?

This is for all of us out there with little girls who have expressed an interest in being an Astronaut...

Please view it after your lovelies have gone to bed, and refrain from drinking...

Make sure to read the message at the base! :)

Happy weekend!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

A Week in the Life

It is Summer again, in all it's glory, and we're having a ball going to Ju Jutsu, "hanging out" with buddies, having Barbecues and watching interesting series'.

We just finished watching the series "The Seeker" , as a family, and it was great! it is based on "The Sword of Truth" Novels, by Terry Goodkind.

We also watched "Seven Years in Tibet" , as Grace is interested in teh Dalai Lama. She loved it, although it also made her angry. Grace is still into her Manga and Anime, as well as SCRATCH programming, and she just made a REALLY awesome "Joke Aquarium" program. She's also decided to make her own Manga, and we are evaluating software packages to help her do that! :)

Grace is in her element, scampering over rocks, sloshing through the shallow ocean water, and exploring the foliage.

The resident Night Heron at our nearby pond was having a particularly friendly evening! He decided to pose nicely for this photo!

Yay! We planted a garden, and it looks as though it'll be "Wick"!

This is the mock-up for a Dinosaur hat grace wants to make!

Grace is in the outfit from her audition in NYC. We went to the AMNH afterwards. These photos were taken in the Hall of Biodiversity! We also saw the "Extreme Mammals" exhibit, which was both fascinating and wonderful!

This little piggy...was cute. This photo was taken a t a sweet little local zoo, where they rehabilitate injured animals, or save ones that cannot be rehabilitated.