Bailey makes Red Belt

Bailey waits for the testing to start.
There's no smiling in Tae Kwon Do.

Bailey's last hour as a blue advanced belt.

Now that's a high kick.

Bailey gets her red belt at the end of the test.

Bailey was excited to get her red belt.

Spring is Here!

Baseball and softball practice started this week for Joseph and Bailey, so it must be spring. Opening day is the 21st and games start the following weekend.

Rachel, Natalie and I at the playground during one of Bailey's practices.

I thought this picture I took of the sky was cool.

Scream 4?

Rachel took this picture of Natalie and I.

Natalie loves to swing.

Volleyball Filled Weekend

Mallory, Rachel and Taylor all played on different teams at five different locations in and around Williamsburg this weekend.

Taylor usually plays on a 12 year old team, but moved up to play with the 13 year old team for this tournament. Taylor did great for someone who is just learning how to play. Her team did not do so great, they didn't win a single game, but Taylor did get to play a lot.

Rachel's team only won two games on Satuday, but came back on Sunday winning three out of four games in the morning to make it into the top playoff bracket. In the playoffs, the team from Saturday came back and they lost, but at least won one out of the three games in the match. Rachel is showing great improvement from the beginning of the season. She will become a stronger player as her confidence in her ability to play builds.

Mallory had her best tournament yet. Joe saw more of her games than I did, but he said she was an all-city contentor this weekend. He got lots of great video footage so we can start working on her college video footage for this summer/fall. I will get to see more of her games when I download the video to the computer tonight. Her team also lost in the first round of playoffs. Mallory was disappointed to go out so quickly after playing so strongly in previous matches.

We have next weekend off from volleyball and then we have volleyball for the next three weekends after that. Taylor should play with the 13's team again on Apr. 7th. Mallory plays on the 14th. Rachel and Taylor both play on the 21st.

One Fish, Two Fish ...

Taylor got a betta fish

Rachel got a betta fish too

So now we have eight people, one dog and two fish at our house

Ring Dance

Mallory & Cameron - dressed to the nines for the ring dance

Mallory pins on Cameron's boutonniere

Mallory got a wrist corsage

Mallory's class ring

Talent Show Tryouts

Joseph and Bailey tried out last week for a part in the Elementary school's annual talent show. Natalie will also perform with them, but she was not feeling well that day, so she did not try out with them. Well, they made it. So now they have to practice their act at home and at school. They are singing and dancing to "Life is a Highway" from the movie "Cars". Joseph did a great job coming up with dance moves to go with the music. Now all we have to do is teach his moves to Bailey. Natalie will just follow along and try and do whatever they are doing on stage. I also want to find some "Cars" pillow panels so I can make them each a t-shirt with a large "Cars" character on it. The talent show is not until the end of April so at least I have some time to get our act together.

Where's the Party?

This is just a fraction of paper that was thrown around the house while Taylor and one of her friends were supposed to be babysitting Natalie. The two girls got into a shredded paper fight with Joseph and covered most of downstairs with 1-3 inches of paper. They even shredded more paper when they ran out of paper that was already shredded.

Weekend of Volleyball

Taylor in mid-air.

Taylor makes the save.

Ready to switch.

Great hitting form.

Another hit.

More Volleyball

Mallory was the ref for Taylor's game.

Mallory attempts to block.

Great height and arm swing.

Even More Volleyball

Mallory, Rachel and I drove out to Charlottesville Saturday night for an all day volleyball tournament on the UVA campus. Mallory's team came in 2nd in their group and Rachel's team came in 3rd. Both teams played well and a good time was had by all.

Rachel closes the block.

Rachel needs to straighten her arms when blocking.

Mallory has great hang time.

Mallory doesn't miss many serves.

Mallory knows how to spread out and protect the net.

Family Tradition

Following the rest of her siblings, Bailey is the 5th Stratton to be selected by her teacher to be this month's Special Me.

Natalie wanted to get her picture taken by the sign with Bailey.

Sisters

Natalie & Bailey

Taylor & Rachel

Rachel & Natalie

Middle School Volleyball

Taylor at one of her first middle school volleyball games. She got to play in one of the three games they played that day. The coach put everyone from the bench in for that game. Usually the 6th graders don't get to play. The team is getting new uniforms next year. They keep them for six years before they are replaced. Mallory wore one of these same uniforms when she played there.

Truck Nastics

I took these cool pictures while Taylor flipped on and off the truck.

American Idol?

Do you think that Natalie is ready for American Idol?

Volleyball times Three

Joe spent all day in Richmond watching Mallory, Rachel and Taylor play volleyball. Mallory's team started strong winning their first match, then slowed down towards the end of the day. Mallory wasn't feeling well all day and it showed. Rachel's team was undefeated in pool play, but lost a close match in the semi-finals. Taylor's team struggled all day, but she got to play a lot more than we thought she would and she had a lot of fun. The next tournaments are in two weeks.

Blue and Gold Banquet

Joseph joined Boy Scouts over two years ago, only to have his den disband before the end of the year. Last year, he didn't want to do Scouts at all. This last summer, he decided that the wanted to join Scouts again this year. So we signed him up and he has loved it even though he is the only boy his age in the Pack, all of the other boys are 2-3 years younger than Joseph. Tonight, at the big award ceremony, he finally received 2 badges that he actually earned his first year as a Boy Scout. He also got a badge for participating in the pinewood derby. Plus, since he is the only Weblo, he gets to represent the Weblos of his pack at the district pinewood derby race next month.

Big and Little

Joe said "I'm not carrying either one of them up the stairs to bed!"