And the Beat Goes On

As much as I love being on Facebook, I have missed blogging! We've been wicked busy! Here are some pics to catch up. Of course, Max is doing very well and the mountains are still beautiful!

Peter competed in the Vermont Jr. Iron Chef competition
We had another fantastic Easter Brunch at the Langham in Boston
The girls grew and stayed cute and the boys (and my friend Ramsey) all earned their 1st Dan Black Belts in March.

Twin Birch continues to grow. I am opening a store/studio next week which will give people a chance to come in and shop, see soapmaking and even take classes to learn how to make fantastic natural skin care products. I can't wait to share pictures & stories from this new adventure!

Breathe

It's amazing to me that summer is almost over. Even though the calendar says we have about 6 weeks left, kids go back to school in 2 weeks. Here in Vermont, the crickets are singing. For me, that's a real reminder that the schedule is about to become busier and the relaxed yet full days of summer are coming to an end. It's at a moment like this that I have to remind myself to breathe.

Many times this summer, I have felt a twinge of guilt because I haven't been the blogger that I aspire to be. I've also been squeezing in soaping instead of making it my daily focus. I'm sure I'm like lots of other moms who put all of the "important" stuff on the shelf to submerge into the joy of being with their kids and soaking up these fleeting days. It's such a balancing act. Again, I need to remember to breathe.

Gerry tested for his Black Belt successfully a couple of weeks ago. He made a great montage of photos from his testing and the rest of the Blue Wave Summer Camp weekend. I smiled when I listened to the song that he put with the pictures. Good to know we're on the same page. Congrats, Mr. Tallman!

Here is a great video done of Summer Camp 2008 by Mr. Emerson & Miss Kline. Summer Camp is such a blast!!

Black Stripe Boys

Whew! The summer is flying by and I can barely keep up with all of the activity! The latest summer high point came last Friday when the boys tested successfully for their Black Stripe in TKD. Operation Black Stripe was years in the making... 3 1/2 years to be exact! We all traveled over to the Bradford Dojang to participate in their Quarterly Testing. Austen & Peter were great! The Dojang was sooo hot and the testing was vigorous, but they did it!
Here's a shot of the boys 2 years ago with GrandMaster Tae Sung Lee (above) and at their testing. Nice high kicks, boys! I am such a proud mama!!
Gerry also did a mock testing for his Black Belt. He was fierce! His official test will be on July 31st in front of the whole Blue Wave Association! Good Luck, honey!

Feeling Green

Cora, Ella & I tested for our next belt in TKD this week. Happily, we all passed. Cora & I are now Green Belts & Ella earned her Green Stripe. The girls did a fantastic job!
In other green news, I find myself falling in love with all of the yummy Spring & Summer fragrances that I have. Lately, I've been using LOTS of Shea & Shimmer Scrub. It's been soooo good for my sunburned skin. (I'll admit that I let the sugar rinse off & then just rub the magic shea all over) I've also rediscovered Summer Green Shower Butter. It's just a wonderful, lush, green fragrance! It's citrus-y & summer-y & yummy! Shower Butter is perfect for your skin. It's a soft, whipped soap that softens while it cleans. I love it. Stop by Twin Birch on Etsy to grab yours.I hope it's as beautiful where you are as it is here! Spring in Vermont is our prize for getting through the final, cold days of winter! Happy Spring!

Hurts So Good

We just got back from Blue Wave TaeKwonDo Association's 2009 TaeKwonDo Winter Camp. It was the first year that all of us participated in all of the workshops. It was extra exciting this year for a lot of different reasons. Firstly, Grand Master Lee came over from Korea. He is a 9th Dan (9th Degree Black Belt) and the head instructor of our organization. We all had the opportunity to join in one of his workouts. Here's a brief list of what we did with Grand Master Lee and the other instructors:

Crunches, push ups, planks, lunges, kicks & strikes by the hundreds, poomse practice, paddle drills & sparring.

I can't tell you how blissfully sore I am! It was the hardest, most satisfying workout I've done in a long time!

We also had the chance to watch our instructor, Master Tom Chase, test for his 6th Dan and Miss Buckholts test for her 2nd Dan. In the wings was Gerry. Having just earned his Black Stripe, he is hoping to test for his Black Belt in August. He got to hold boards for the High Dan Testing, including for Master Chase. He was so excited and honored. Watching Master Chase test was really exciting for all of us. He was great!


The boys are right behind Gerry. They are waiting to be invited to test for their Black Stripe. Hopefully, they'll be testing for their Black Belt at Winter Camp 2010. All Black Belt testings take place in front of the whole Blue Wave group, so it's pretty daunting. It didn't look daunting for Master Anthony, though. Check out the board breaking sequence he rocked while testing for 7th Dan! ~



All of the Black Belt testings were so inspiring. They are the perfect demonstration of what we can achieve if we practice discipline, perseverance, strength, determination & courage.
We feel so lucky to have found this sport as a family. It makes us a better, more solid clan. We share fun, goals and muscle aches. Here are some pics for you to enjoy!

ps. in the category of "no news is good news", I haven't heard on the big order, yet. The anticipation is killing me! :)

Black Stripe Super Star!

Gerry tested for his Black Stripe at Tae Kwon Do last night. He tested with Ramsey, who earned her Red Belt! Both of them were amazing! Both Masters Chase said that their testing was impressive and that they were very proud of them!

They weren't the only ones! I was all choked up watching Gerry. It's really inspiring to see how well we all can do something when we practice really hard and put our minds to it! His testing was a great demonstration of determination & discipline. And Ramsey was right there with him! Watching the two of them test makes me want to challenge myself even harder!

PJ also tested last night and earned his Blue Belt. He did a great job, too. He has the loudest kiyup ever!

Congratulations to all of you! Your testing last night proves it~ Randolph Dojang Rocks!

They Went, They Tested, They Passed (& so did Ella & I)

Hooray for Peter & Austen! They were invited to test for their Red Belts at the Bradford Dojang quarterly testing. Bradford has at least 20 Black Belts in their gym, plus many students, so the testing is really intimidating! (I know because I tested with Ella for our Yellow Belts on the same night! *gulp!*)

Anyway, the boys did an outstanding job. Here's a peek at their board breaking~pretty cool!


We are so proud of them! Hopefully, they'll test for their Black Belts in March 2010!




Special thanks to all of the Randolph students who made the trek to watch our testing! You guys are the best!

How Cool Is This?!

I got to try some Bo Staff work at Blue Wave Summer Camp. It was awesome! I love it and I'm determined to master it (I'm sure it will take a long time!) Here is Mr. Kwiatek who is one of the instructors at the dojang in Beverly, MA. He makes it look so easy and seamless. I can share with you all that I bonked myself in the head more than once during our seminar.
Find more videos like this on The Blue Wave Taekwondo Association


I'll post some pictures of summer camp next week. We are off for a long weekend to Loon Mountain. Gerry's parents have had a condo on the mountain for many years. It's a great, quiet place to go and regroup. Can't wait for some hiking and playing at the Whales Tale Waterpark.

Red Belt Success!

Last night the Randolph Blue Wave TKD clan traveled up to the Burlington Blue Wave Dojang for a great night of testing. Once a student has reached 3rd Gup (Blue Belt with Red Stripe), they must test outside of their home dojang. Gerry was notified last week that he would be testing in Burlington for his RED belt. This is a huge deal because earning your Red Belt leaves you only 2 tests away from BLACK BELT! It also means testing in front of a formidable panel of Black BeltsTesting is really hard physically and pretty intense emotionally. Here's a quick vid. of Gerry's Board Breaking and Sparring segments. You can see that he kicked Master White and Miss Essig when he tried to break. It looked painful. Gerry apologized after the testing. He did an amazing job during his testing! He was very focused and looked great!!

I get the sense that being a Red Belt is kind of like pledging for a fraternity. Master White was telling the dojang last night that lots and lots of people quit TKD as Red Belts and that students have to stay focused and determined to make it all the way. They often have to drop and do push-ups for whatever reason a Black Belt comes up with. They also fetch the Black Belts their coffee, serve ice cream to 350 people at Summer Camp and do other types of scrub work.

I can't wait for the day that my three boys test for their Black Belt. Although Austen and Peter weren't quite ready for this testing, they are working really hard to earn the right to test before the Fall. Gerry has said that his goal is to test with the boys for Black Belt. Big congrats to Sonja and Mike who also earned their Red Belts and Ramsey who earned her Red Stripe! Huge congratulations to Gerry for his outstanding job!! We are all so proud of you!!!

Meanwhile, I will test (with Ella?) for my yellow stripe on Tues 7.29. I'm nervous, but I totally love the personal challenge that TKD is making me face. TKD couldn't possibly be any further out of my comfort zone and I am totally into it.

Rocking in the Randolph Dojang

One of the coolest things that we ever got talked into doing, is TaeKwonDo. A long time friend named Master Peter Chase "chased" us around for a long, long time telling us that we should have the boys participating as students. We finally joined them up about 18 months ago. Gerry decided to join with them. Cora started in September and I hope to join with Ella in about a year (when she's old enough.) Master Chase and his son, Master Tom Chase are amazing instructors full of great encouragement and constructive instruction. It's a fabulous workout, too! Can't wait to get myself in the dobak (uniform!) especially for the hips, etc!

I didn't know a thing about TKD before we joined and thought it was all about self defense and fighting. WRONG! Happily, it teaches lessons of patience, perseverance, self-confidence & good sportsmanship. Although the boys also enjoy team sports, this is a sport where you get out exactly what you put in. There are a number of great families in our dojang (gym) and I am so psyched that this is part of our lives.

Last week, Great Grandmaster Lee visited our dojang from South Korea. Yes, he came to tiny Randolph Vermont but he is also "touring" the region. There are many Blue Wave TKD dojangs in New England. The boys and Cora were so lucky to benefit from his instruction. It was great to watch the class!

Here's a group shot. Notice all of the black belts in the crew. Master Gordon White, pres of the Blue Wave Association, Mister Michael Wood and Mister Matt Wood all visited our dojang to work out with Great Grandmaster Lee. As you can see from the color of people's faces, it was a
serious work out!