Katie's Gingerbread Girl

OK - so now that we are over a month away from Christmas, I think it's fair to say that I am a little late at getting this post done! The truth is, I am HORRIBLE at downloading pictures off of my camera! I should have learned my lesson when our camera was stolen with about 4 months worth of pictures still on the memory card, but no, my ways remain unchanged.

All of that aside, Katie had a family assignment over Christmas break. We were asked to work together as a family to create a gingerbread man that reflected something that our family liked to do over the winter months. We really did all talk about it - well, Eric, Katie and I talked about it - and decided that something our family likes to do together in the winter is to cheer for our favorite Dawgs. Of course, since this was an assignment from Katie's class, we also wanted to include something specific that she enjoys - which is cheerleading. Mix the two together and you get a Husky cheerleader gingerbread girl. I know I am a little biased, but I think she turned out pretty cute. Of course, an added bonus is that Katie's teacher is a WSU alum. :)

So, here's how the breakdown of responsibilities went: Katie, Aidan and I put on all of the Nilla wafer cookies to create the gingerbread look, Eric designed the outfit, Katie was solely responsible for the hair and face (although I added an extra cookie for the nose, which she was not too fond of. Oh well, I insisted that it was my special addition. he he), Aidan and Katie came up with the idea of adding grass and did that all on their own, and Aidan created the bow for the hair. I have to admit that I was pretty amazed by this little bow - oh the proud mom moments! :) Somehow he actually got the thing to look like a real bow, and although Katie made the point that it didn't match her purple outfit, we all liked the bow too much to change it. Viola! Our own Husky cheerleader.

Katie posing with the finished product

Aidan's Karate - Hi Yah!

Aidan and a couple of his best friends recently took a few "trial" karate classes to see if this is something we are interested in doing full time. Aidan absolutely loved the karate - especially the first class, which was obvious by the fact that at the end of his first lesson, he asked me if he could take karate "forever". Today was our second class, and although he had just as much fun, we are still trying to decide if we will sign him up. Aidan isn't even quite sure if he wants to take karate or gymnastics, the two classes I am letting him choose between right now. Karate is a little expensive, and since Aidan loves quite a few other sports and is really involved in soccer and baseball, I'm not sure that this is something that he will be doing for the long term. With that said, I love the values that it instills and the many benefits of this great sport. His future in karate is still yet to be determined, but I love the pictures that I got of him last week in his cute outfit!

Aidan doing his karate kick

Aidan, along with his best friends, practicing his karate chop

Aidan getting ready to bow to his teacher

Aidan with all of his karate gear on