Valentine Cuties

These are cuties.. "Valentine Cuties" that the kids and I worked together in creating cute, healthy treats for them to give to their friends at school.

I almost caved to buying a pack of pre-made Valentines cards. I mean, after all, it is quick and easy. These Valentine Cuties took two evenings to put together. The kiddies helped with cutting out hearts, writing and signing a "cutie" note, gluing pieces together, counting and lining up the cutie characters, and helping hold the cellophane while I tied the knot.

While I won't say spending two evenings was fun, I will say the results are very satisfying. The kids and I had crafty art time together. We had teamwork, in putting together the pieces. We created from simple things from home. We made gifts! It felt good not to be passing out candy, and I hope it helped make the act of giving a more personal experience for the kids. Each Valentine Cutie was unique in its own way... foot position, heart message, and of course, smiley face!

Little Ninja Training

E had the opportunity to participate in a special kids ninja warrior workshop with the pros. Yup! She got to learn ninja skills from Kacy Catanzaro, Brent Steffensen, and Flip Rodriguez! Of course, Kacy is E's favorite.

E was just short of the minimum age requirement by a month, so the gym made an exception and let her enroll for the workshop. The spots were filling fast so I signed her up, though I wasn't sure if she *could* hang with the bigger kids.

Smallest kid on the block.

The workshop started off with 4 main stations that focused on training a few specific obstacles. The kids were broken down into groups of 12 (12 kids per station), which then were broken down into smaller groups depending on the obstacles at that station. E tended to be last or close to last in line for most of the training. I was the helicopter mom that hovered around as much as I could just in case the instructors were not watching closely and/or if E needed help on the obstacles.

Her first station was with Flip Rodriguez and his crew of instructors. Skills learned were climbing up structures, down short walls, rope climbing, and fireman pole slide.



Actually, E's rope skills were not too shabby at all. Not completely assistance free, but definitely she had enough confidence to try it on her own.

This station also had training for the mini-Warp wall. They did a few drills for the kids to get comfortable with forward climbing, backwards climbing on the warp wall. Then moved on to practicing running up and sliding down.



Single file line and on to the next station, with Brent Steffensen.

Station "2" had a version of the Quintuple steps, cliffhanger traverse, and climbing/jumping over barriers. E initially got tripped up on the Quintuple steps, but the 2nd time through, Brent gave her some tips that helped her out.

Station "3" was with Kacy Catanzaro & crew. This had a bar traverse, balance obstacles, and a rope traverse.

Station "4" was trampoline practice and rope swing into a foam pit.

Ryan and Liam show up to watch E ninja.

After the stations were all done, the kids had a break while the instructors set up 2 obstacles course for the kids to line up and try. Kids getting a course briefing.

E's run on the first obstacle course.



E was 2nd to last in line, so she get's lots of spectators and cheering for her finish.



E almost missed running the 2nd obstacle. Of course, she was last in line again. Time was up and the instructors did not realize she didn't get to do the 2nd obstacle course. As they started ushering the kids, good ol' helicopter mom stepped in. Kacy made sure E got her 2nd obstacle course and cheered her along the way.



Super fun event for E and I. She had a great time doing obstacles with the ninja warriors. I loved watching her try the obstacles, figure things out, and really hold her own. That grip strength is definitely coming along!

Ryan's super proud of her too. Happy smiles all around this day (except when we all got pelted with windy rain storm after lunch!).