NWA ATA Tournament

That's a lot of letters in a post title.  Noah's Taekwondo school hosted a tournament with it's "sister" club in Fayetteville this weekend.  This was Noah's last tournament (probably) before he moves up to Juniors and out of the Tiny Tiger class.  He and we are ready.  He did fantastic but he's a little over the whole participation medal thing.  He's ready to win or lose.  We are ready for him to be humbled so he can be a better loser.  He can be a pretty sore loser, like most Sullivan's to be honest, but the kid has never really lost at anything because they never keep score!  

With that said he was the same rockstar he always is.  We feel he was the star of creative weapons.  He was the only kid in his division that brought music and had a planned routine like they were supposed to. Of course I'm far from partial :)

Here's his creative weapons routine he made up, set to "Walk the Dinosaur!"

Post holiday blues

We had a great holiday.  We got to spend some extended time in south Arkansas with the families and we got plenty of chillaxing time at home as well.  We totally dug the way the holiday fell this year.  With Christmas being on Tuesday we had a week and a half out of school after Christmas so all the stressful stuff got out of the way quick.

I haven't posted anything honestly because most of the photos I took were with the "real" camera instead of my phone and I haven't moved them to the computer yet.

We had a bit of a downer towards the end of the break.  A precious 2nd grader I've worked with since Kindergarten was involved in an accident and passed away.  Having a kid her age has hit me hard and I've struggled to shake out of it.  Her dad always stood out to me how much he was crazy about his little girl.  Last summer I remember he and I joking how hard it is to get bows just right and how female DNA just doesn't understand our ineptitude. It was an difficult way to end the break and the funeral was truly heartbreaking. I know she's in a better place and I know she is finally able to do all the things her body wouldn't allow here on earth, but I just can't stop missing her smile.

Rest in peace Reagan.

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Santa 2012

The big guy got the best from both kids this year.  We tried the square in Fayetteville a few weeks ago but Santa apparently had the night off.  We made a quick sojourn to Tulsa this weekend and we did some quick research on the best Santa's in town.  Then we settled for number 3 on the list because it was where we were headed :)

Root Beer Floats for Christmas

I've felt bad about the lack of updates but honestly a whole lot has not been going on.  This month is 1 of the 2 biggest months at work for Jenna and I so we tend to go into survival mode.  Lots of takeout and lots of day to day.  I was going through my pictures though and realized I hadn't posted this.

Noah and I made root beer last weekend.  We didn't go whole hog and brew from sarsaparilla root.  We bought extract and water and did a quick boil.  We did keg the root beer though so I've devoted 1 of my 3 taps to the concoction.  

As an aside, we followed the recipe exactly and I now know why sodas are so bad for you.  There is enough sugar dissolved into the solution to choke most mammals.  Even without caffeine in it, Noah will not be allowed a glass after 5PM because he'll be hopped up on sugar.

I'll post a second picture of him pouring up a frosted mug soon.

My little vintner

A couple years ago Jenna and I wanted to begin a tradition of making wine and giving it as Christmas gifts each year. Okay, I wanted to do that and she agreed to allow me. We made, bottled, and gifted our first batch.  It was a little green so we decided on a longer ferment time.  It sat from January to November under the stairs and then....

Last year was a just a hard December and we didn't get the wine bottled.  So it lived an extra year under the stairs. Having sat and aged an extra year had me nervous so I was adamant that I was going to bottle it this year. When I found the time last weekend, my little brewing assistant, Campbell, was there to try her hand at wine making.

She held the bottles while I filled them up and she wiped up behind me.  Corking was her favorite part.  I only own a hand corker and it takes quite a bit of muscle.  So clever dad that I am, I grabbed my beer capper.  It's a much bigger floor model.  I'd take a bottle and put a cork in it.  Then I'd slide it to her and she'd lower the capping lever down and pull so hard her body would shake.  We did this for 28 bottles!

I think it's awesome that she wants to help me out whenever I have a "poject."  It's also a little funny that with my juvenile hobbies, it's the 3 year old that is most interested in what I'm doing.  For the moment, I'm just soaking up being Dad and enjoying my daughter wanting to be with me.  Lord knows at 15 she's not going to be interested in my hobbies :) Right now there's no better sound than "Can we make beer Daddy?"

Happy 3rd Birthday Campbell!!!

Today our little girl turned three.  She's been ready for this day for quite a while.  Every toy she saw she wanted for her "Dirthday Darty" and she's been showing 3 fingers for awhile  waiting for someone to ask her how old she is.  "I'm two but I'm gonna be this many."

The big day was today but the party was last weekend.  All of her grandparents were able to be here.  She was so proud her friends were there.  She took Emily to each of her grandparents and introduced her.  A week later she still wears the crown everywhere she goes.

Here is the full gallery...

ATA Super Regionals 2012

This weekend we went to Kansas City for Noah's first ATA tournament.  We had so much fun I almost feel guilty.  We stayed in a hotel right next to the tournament at the KC Expo Center.  We (Jenna and I) were not able to interpret the schedule so we ended up waiting around for 2+ hours until Noah's group was staged.  He competed in traditional forms, sparring, traditional weapons, combat weapon sparring, and creative weapon forms.

I have to brag on him.  For most of the morning there were 25 rings of adults competing, sparring, and such. Kid's were scattered here and there but overall there weren't as many kids as I thought there would be.  When he was called he was in an initial batch of 30-40 kids 8 and under camo belt and up.   From there they were split into groups of 6-8 over 3 rings side by side.  Each group was given half of a ring which I guess makes sense taking their size into consideration.  Parents were scrambling everywhere to make it to there kid's ring.  As luck would have it Noah's group was the first to get settled and the judge was counted in. So of all the kids and all the parents, Noah was the first to be called.

He jumped up and shouted, went to the center of the ring, and bowed.  They do a quick thing in Korean and Noah answered perfectly and bowed again.  She told him he may begin on his count and he was a rockstar. For the next several minutes we saw kid after kid come up sheepishly, not know how to answer, forgetting their forms, etc. Not our Noah though.  He is such a confident kid. I honestly think I'm more proud of his confidence than his actual abilities. I don't know how we got that right but both of our children seem to just fit into their own skin. I pray it lasts forever.

Hopefully she'll survive

The way the past week has gone​ Campbell may not survive to her 3rd birthday.  Yes I'm aware it's only a month away.  To sum the past 2 mornings up; today Cam was taken to Stephanie's house in her pajamas, without her hair washed, and without a thing to eat for breakfast.  She was forcefully cleaned from her pullup and force was also used to brush her teeth.  

For whatever reason this is the week she's decided to test her independence.  She wants to get out of bed on her terms.  She wants to get dressed on her terms. She wants breakfast on her terms.  Unfortunately, her terms are when it is time to walk out the door to get everyone to their destinations on time.  ​

Monday started with a little static and her up at 6AM.  Tuesday was a battle that was so exhausting we got a sitter that night to go have beers.  Wednesday she refused breakfast and clothing only to relent and get dressed from her underwear in our driveway.  This morning we didn't fight her at all. She refused clothing-fine. She refused food-fine.  ​

Of course it went to hell in a handbasket as soon as I put my backpack on. I dropped Noah off in the parking lot instead of the dropoff line so he wouldn't be embarrassed by the screaming 2 year old in the backseat.  We had to pull off the road so I could tighten her seatbelt she was trying to fling herself out of. She was exhausted and out of breath when we got to Stephanie's and of course she ​refused to go in so I carried her like a football to the door.  She hid her face in shame from Stephanie and I sat on the couch with her until she calmed down.  We had a long talk (the 3 of us) and I left her clothes with Stephanie.  She and Jenna had a talk on the phone afterwards about how to handle transitions if this happens again tomorrow.

Of course if it happens again tomorrow, ElDorado and Texarkana may have a new resident.​  She better be glad she has those eyes.​ That's what keeps lions from eating their young.

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