I haven't blogged in awhile.  Here is a quick re-cap of our past few weeks.

- We are enjoying having Daddy around before he leaves for the month of July.  We redeemed our "Pass of All Passes" and have been going to Seven Peaks, Trafalga, Planet Play, and also spending time at Liberty Park, the library and lots of outside time.  At Trafalga, we rode the Bumper Boats, and they shoot a stream of water.  I boxed Nate in and shot him for like 2 minutes straight with water.  It was so hilarious.  Sorry, Honey!

- On Tuesday, we went to Salem/Provo to eat a yummy dinner at Brick Oven.  My cousin, Katie, entered the MTC yesterday!  It was great to see her and Deon.  She is going to be an awesome missionary!  I am jealous.  I'd go again in a heartbeat!

- Nate and I set up a date swap with some friends here, so we have been able to go out a lot lately!  We got to eat Korean food, see Iron Man 3 and Now You See Me (both were SO good!).  Last night we went to the Gateway and had a blast.

- I just got tickets to go to Oregon in July.  Just a little getaway to keep me sane while I'm a single mom for the month of July!  I am also going to see John Mayer with Nikki while I'm there.  It will be amazing!

- Primary is going wonderfully!  Our Presidency works well together, and overall, it's running smoothly.  I love our sweet children so much.  They already know so much about the Gospel.  I love being with them every Sunday.

- Cameron earned his blue belt in TKD.  He does such a good job at all the moves, but he is starting to lose interest in it.  :(  I hope it picks up again soon because he's starting to get to the really fun, cool stuff!

- For Father's Day, we went to Nate's grandpa's house for the annual bbq.  Yum!  Potato chips dipped in a chocolate fountain is so delicious.  We spent some time chatting with Missy and Casey, which was really fun.  We love those two!

- I'm getting lots of running in before July, too.  I try to run Bonneville 2 days a week.  I probably won't be here next summer (crazy!), so I'm taking advantage of living a mile from the mountains.

- NO major details here, but Nate and I had an experience that threatened to harm our relationship, but through the loving grace and goodness of Christ, it brought us closer together.  I have learned things about repentance and forgiveness, and I feel so so SO humbled and grateful.  It is NEVER too late to change and become better.  But I can also promise you that ignoring the promptings of the Holy Ghost will NOT result in true happiness.  For awhile, you'll think you're doing okay, but it's not okay.  It's not worth it.  I have a firm testimony of that now.  And it's not easy!  Prayer and scripture study are essential to keeping close to the Spirit and being able to resist Satan's grasp.  I am grateful for Nate and his maturity.  He is a wonderful man, who was quick to forgive some of my weaknesses.  The Gospel made that possible.

And finally, I love this:

I have a blue-striped Reader!!

First of all, Cameron earned his blue stripe!  Next up is blue belt.  The form for this belt is pretty intricate.  But he already learned half of it last night.  Smarty pants.

Yesterday, Sam brought over a few Magic Treehouse books that he was finished with.  Cameron does a good job reading, he has really taken off with it this year.  But he doesn't seem to enjoy it.  He'll never go look at books just for fun.  But last night he started reading the Magic Treehouse books in bed, and he stayed up reading 2 chapters.  This morning, I found him reading the next chapter.  He is doing it!!!  I'm so excited and proud of him.  I hope he keeps it up!  I love having a reader!!!!!

Claire didn't want to go to sleep last night, so I let her snuggle with her brother for awhile.

Playing School & A Green Belt!

I would say my older kids get along about 60% of the time.  When they do play well together, they usually are playing ninjas or "bad guys" or some other Cameron-driven game.  Roo is a good sport!  Once in awhile though, they will actually play something uplifting and productive...like school!  ALL of my childhood memories are of me playing pretend....school, house, jungle, fortune teller, travel agency, library...nonstop pretending.  I had a wonderful childhood!  So I love watching my kids do that too.

The other day, Cam and Roo were playing school.  Cam was teaching her how to make these math graphs, and it was great because she was actually learning it!  If Cam could stop killing bad guys and start playing school every day, Roo could be two grades ahead!  :)

They have leftover facepaint on from a Valentine's party.  Here they are playing school.  Too cute!

In other news, Cameron tested for his green belt last week, and he got to see his results and get his belt last night!  He is so excited!  He has come SO far in just 6 months.  We are so proud of him.  His moves will start becoming a lot more intricate and difficult now, and when he spars (fights) with the other kids, he will start making actual contact (I'm nervous!).  He'll test for his blue stripe in April, and then his blue belt in June!  Exciting.

Bo Chung Form

Cam had his 2nd Tae Kwon Do test last night.  He tested for the green stripe on his orange belt.  He did awesome!  He'll find out on Monday if he passed, but we're sure he did.  He did his form perfectly.  He'll test again in February for his green belt.  He has been doing this form for 2 months, so he's excited to learn something new!

We have LOVED having him in TKD.  It has been so great for him in so many ways.

Orange Belt!

Last week, Cameron had his first Tae Kwon Do test.  It was out in West Valley.  They called the kids up, 4 at a time.  I was SO nervous when it was his turn!  But of course, he was calm as could be and did his form just perfectly.  He had to wait until tonight to see if he passed, and he did!  He is an orange belt!  We are so proud of him. 

This is "Sir", his instructor.  I cannot say enough good things about him.  He is a wonderful teacher.  I love how he spends time teaching the students more than just moves.  He talks about discipline, respect, physics of the movements, the importance of being on time, the importance of practicing and hard work, and the list goes on and on.  I am very happy to have his influence in Cameron's life.

Tonight he already learned most of his next form (he's so stinkin' smart!), so I'm assuming he'll test again in December for his green stripe.  He tends to goof off in class a lot, but beneath that behavior, he is learning tae kwon do REALLY quickly and really well!  Good job, Buddy!!

Here are the colors leading up to Black Belt:

Update!

I have been neglecting my blog lately!  I need to get back in the habit.  Time is flying by, and I don't want to miss out on recording our little life!

Things are going well for us.  Cameron is loving first grade and so far, he seems to be behaving himself!  He really loves his teacher, Mr. Grandy.  He has had a much better attitude about his homework than he did last year, so I'm relieved about that!  He is also becoming a little more interested in reading, which, if you know me at all, you would know makes me VERY excited!!  Tae Kwon Do is also going well.  Some days he is pretty tired and tends to slack off in class, but "Sir" keeps him in line!  We can't really afford TKD right now, BUT it has been so so so worth it.  His instructor is amazing with the students.  He spends time teaching them respect and focus and listening skills.  It has been so good for Cam, and I know it will only get better as time goes on.  I'm not sure when he will test for his orange belt, but so far he has learned his first form, "Chanji" really well!

Nate has been struggling with some health issues again lately, but we think it will be okay.  I have felt the Spirit calm my own nerves and fill my mind with peace.  We know God has a plan for our family, and so we press forward each day.  I just feel bad for Nate, and I wish he could feel better and enjoy this time in our lives a little more than he's able to right now.

Roo starts school today!  We met her teachers a few days ago, Jill and Sarah.  I think it's going to be a really fun year for her.  And I won't lie....I'll get a few hours to myself while Claire naps, and it's going to be great!  I have been focusing more on my scripture study recently, so I am excited to have that quiet time to do that.  I love the scriptures so much.  I am reading the Doctrine & Covenants right now, and it is so powerful.  I have also been doing some specific topic study.  I'm starting with the importance and blessings of keeping the Sabbath Day holy.  I feel as though I've been casual about that, and I want to improve on how I spend my time on Sundays.  We made a family rule of NO television, and that has helped bring the Spirit, but I feel like we can do even more.  We have also been doing a MUCH better job of having Family Home Evening than we EVER have, and I have felt a huge difference in our home.  I also have a goal to work on teaching my children the scripture stories a little better.  I have slacked in that, and I need to do better.

Claire still isn't really walking, she CAN, but she prefers to crawl since it's so much faster and easier!  She is a feisty, loud thing, and she makes us laugh all the time.

And as for me...well, I am actually doing REALLY well.  I have been really pushing myself with running and some weight training, and I feel so good!  I won a free entry to a 5K next month, so I get to run one more race this year!  I feel very balanced and happy right now.  I have always looked forward to having school-aged children.  I think I'm a better mother when we have a routine.  I have some time to myself to focus on exercise, scripture study, cleaning and baking, and so when my kids come home (or wake up, if you're Claire!), I feel ready to be with them.  Does that make sense?

Um, anything else?  Other than that, we have just been hanging out outside with Nicol and her cute girls a lot.  I love this nice weather where it's transitioning to Fall.  I can't believe it's already September again.

Finally, a few more pictures of my girlies (sorry Cam, you're gone all day now!).

 

By the way, I don't think anyone really reads this much anymore, which is fine.  But I am curious, so if you read this, please just leave a little comment saying hi!  :)

태권도

We have always sort of joked around about putting our kids into 태권도, just because we spent so much time in Korea walking past dojo's and hearing all the cute little kids yelling out and kicking high.  Yesterday I spent the day in Lindon with Becky and her cutie boys.  Cole just started 태권도, and Becky was telling me how wonderful it is.  It teaches discipline and respect and is a great outlet for agression/high energy.  Um, hello....that is JUST what Cam needs!  Talk about an answered prayer!!!

So we looked into it and ended up taking him over to the Salt Lake Valley Tae Kwon Do studio for a free trial class.  He. Loved. It!!!  He did SO well!  I was VERY impressed with his instructor, and I can tell that he loves his students and has tremendous patience with them.  So we went ahead and signed him up!  My dear friend Ashley is going to watch the girls for me in the evenings when I take him, so this will be something that Cam and I can enjoy together.  Once again...answered prayers!

I am excited to watch him learn and progress over the next few years.  I feel so optimistic and excited that this is really going to help Cameron channel some of his crazy energy into something productive.