November Happenings

November went by way too quickly.  I think between having just returned from vacation and trying to move forward towards the holidays everything became jumbled for me.  There were a few standout things from the month that I'd like to document though.

Eric's parents came to visit for Thanksgiving.  They were actually here from the weekend before Thanksgiving, so we had lots of time with them.  They were able to attend a small taekwondo tournament with us that Saturday.  Emma was only competing in a couple events, and ended up taking second place in her form.  The real fun was seeing her be a judge.  She's never done it before, and the school's owner came and asked her to do it.  Any higher belt rank can technically judge a lower belt rank, so Emma can technically judge any belt lower than first degree black belt.  Usually they have adults do the judging though.  Or at least 3rd or 4th degree black belt much older teenagers. And at this tournament, even though it was small, there were several adults and older black belts who could have done it, but for some reason Emma was asked.  I think it's awesome!  And it was so much fun to see her do it.

Mr. Pettis, the school's owner, is introducing the judges.  Including himself, there were 7 judges.

Besides the 3 judges, there is always someone who writes the scores down.  The judges
 hold up their scores at the same time, and they are added together for the actual score.  

For sparring there are 3 judges as well.  Each time a point is scored (or thought to have been scored), they hold up the flag (red or white) representing the person they saw make the point.  It can be hard to see exactly who scored the point, so at least 2 judges have to agree before the points will be awarded.  The sparring goes to 5 points.

Emma awarding a medal to someone.

Emma performing her own form, which won her a medal.

I love that these girls can still be silly and have fun.  They don't take the competition
 too seriously.  They work hard, but know how to enjoy themselves too.

We explored Milwaukee a little with the grandparents, and ended up having dinner at Safehouse.  Eric and I have wanted to since we moved here, and finally made it.  If you haven't gone and find yourself in Milwaukee, you should go.  Lots of fun in this spy themed restaurant.

Waiting to be seated.

Thanksgiving itself was very nice.  We just stayed home and cooked all our own stuff.  Eric and I both love cooking, so we never mind doing something like this.  And everything turned out great!  Can you believe I have no pictures from the day?  Is that normal?  Oh well.  It was great having family in town for the holiday as well.  Thanks again for coming!

And now for a couple random pictures from the month.  Emma made some glasses with her Lego's one day.  And the other picture was just her all bundled up ready for school.  I just thought she was super adorable in her glasses and hat, so I had to take a picture.