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It’s official – Kyrie and Asher earned their stripes! Their award ceremony was today, and they were really excited. Now they’re both even more motivated to work extra hard these next few months to that when they test next they’ll move up to a yellow belt! Here’s a video of their award ceremony. You can see a little bit of Mr. Bratcher’s personality when it’s Asher’s turn. 
And here they are after class showing off their stripes!
Last year during kindergarten, Asher wasn’t able to go on the field trip. So he was super excited for his first field trip opportunity! They’ve been learning about Italy in his class, so they took a tour of Olive Garden (hey, that’s as Italian as you can get around these parts! 
Even these rocks were imported from Italy!
Next, Kelly took us back for a tour of the kitchen. She showed us the employee area where they keep track of their hours worked and store goals, and she showed us the beverage station. We also walked by a HUGE tray of breadsticks, and she said they go through about 15,000 per day!
When we went back into the kitchen, Kelly handed out hairnets to all of the kids.
She showed them the computer and showed them how the computer helps them with each order.
Then it was time for lunch! I’ve actually never had their spaghetti before, and to be honest I was not impressed. The kids and I agreed that my mom’s spaghetti is far superior!
Asher was so excited that we were able to go. I was, too - I’m so glad I can stay home and be a part of things like this!
Cambria went into her room to play while I did dishes today, and when she came out I just had to snap a picture! So hilarious!! She’s wearing my sunglasses, my old heels (that are now Kyrie’s for dress up), carrying her baby doll, and talking on the phone at the same time. Oh, and a ring from her dress up collection – because what outfit is complete without a fatty diamond ring? 
It was a really nice Mother’s Day this year. I said all I wanted was a day off from doing dishes and to not have to listen to the kids fight at all. Well, I did get the day off from dishes, at least. 
Here’s what the hearts say (from top to bottom, left to right): “My mom always loves me!”, “One time I screamed at the top of my lungs and my mom still loves me.”, “My mom loves me and she also loves to sew, do crafts, and bake.”, “My mom loves me. The best thing about my mom is she’s pretty, nice, and amazingly talented.”, “My mom loves me and she loves to eat salmon with homemade dinner rolls, salad, and for desert New York style cheesecake.”, My mom loves me and I love my mom. Here is a picture of me.” Some of her answers are so funny!
Asher also came home with a cute little gift he made for me at school. His card says, “Dear mom, I love you because you made birth to me and because you make the best mintchoclet ice cream ever and you are the best mom ever. Asher Neil Stephens” The most hilarious part is that I’ve never made mint chocolate ice cream! lol. We make ice cream pretty often, but we’ve never made mint chocolate. So cute. Off to the right you can see the button pin he made, which is now attached to my purse.
And Derk got me an armband for my iPhone for when I go running. It’s way more comfortable than the one I have for my iPod – yay!
My favorite quote about motherhood is by Elizabeth Stone, and it says, “The decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” And that is so true – these kiddos are definitely 3 pieces of my heart! Life is crazy and oftentimes chaotic, but I sure love them to pieces. It’s an amazing feeling to love someone that much, and I have really loved experiencing the bond between mother and child. There’s just nothing like it!
Today Kyrie and Asher tested for their stripes! They were originally going to test for the first stripe, but their sensei said they were ready to test for 2 stripes instead. They did great! Mr. Bratcher (sensei) had another black belt in there helping with the testing (so Mr. Bratcher could watch and see how they did instead of being the one getting beat up 
Here’s the video of Kyrie and Asher beating the poor guy up. Pay special attention to Kyrie’s moves.
Here they are showing Mr. Bratcher the combos they’ve learned so far this year.
They also had to show him one kata (a kata is a sequence of moves). The one they are showing him is kumite tai ichi (kuma tie eech). Here’s Kyrie doing her kata! If you’re wondering what she’s saying, she’s counting in Japanese (ichi – 1, ni – 2, san – 3, shi – 4, go – 5).
And here’s Asher. He’s counting, too, but it’s really hard to hear him.
I’m sure they passed, but we find out the results for sure next week. Way to go, Kyrie and Asher!
Kyrie read the first Hunger Games book and went out with us to see the movie. After the movie, there were all sorts of Katniss-inspired braids on some of the hair blogs I get ideas from, and today I decided to try one on Kyrie. It turned out pretty cute!
Even prettier from the front! <3
Asher lost another tooth today, and Cambria was starting to feel quite left out! So she went out front and found a small rock, put it in a baggie, and wrote the Tooth Fairy a note. Well, when the Tooth Fairy came, she couldn’t help but leave Cambria some money, too, because of the sheer cuteness! Notice the bow on the upper right hand corner of the note? So totally Cambria! I just love it.
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