Jared's Baptism

We had Jared's baptism today. It was just him, so we got to plan everything. Ceci gave the prayer and Marcus gave the talk about baptism. Ceci held up a picture during the talk. I played a music number on the flute. Scott also spoke and Jared actually listened which is rare for him. He was so cute and serious during the confirmation. He looked so small surrounded by all those men. It's at times like these that I wish we had family close. It was a wonderful and special day.

Scarborough Renaissance Faire '08

The love to fight with their swords!

This is a doll that I bought there. I have bought one from this artist before. She makes beautiful dolls.

Sir William in action!

Jousting Time!

The Turtle Race Begins!

Get me out of here!

It's the parade!

It's the turtle races!!!

Captain Turtle!

Sir William with the kids. He is there every year with the jousting. He's great with the kids. He always takes time after the jousts to meet with them and take pictures.


Ceci decided to be a fairy this year instead of a princess, but like me became too hot in her dress and decided to change into something more comfortable.


The boys enjoyed taking part in a street sword fight. I think they enjoyed it a little too much. The man fought was jabbed a little too much by the kids.

Ah, Dead Bob. He is quite crude, but only around the adults. The kids love him for some reason. His shows are hilarious, but like I said, a bit raunchy. Luckily, the kids don't have a clue what he's talking about.


We made our annual trip to the Renaissance Faire. It was tons of fun as usual, but hot. After only about an hour, I changed out of my dress into shorts. I could never survive back then wearing those silly dresses. I was going nuts. The kids really liked the turtle race and street sword fight. It was really crowded this year. Lines to the food and bathrooms were ridiculous. This is usually the smaller Ren Faire of the two we frequent. Not this year. It's getting more popular. We couldn't even find a seat for the jousting which was disappointing. The jousting group hired at this faire is much better than the other one. Oh, well. We still had fun despite the heat and crowds.

Happy Birthday, Jared

Jared is eight. I can't believe how time flies. Instead of a party with friends, he wanted to go to this place that has laser tag and tons of others games. It's in this huge indoor complex. We couldn't afford to have a party with friends and go to this place, so he had to make a choice. He decided to ditch his friends:) Marcus, Scott and he will go next week to celebrate. I have some pictures of his cake that Scott made. Jared really liked the Speed Racer movie, so Scott made him the car that's in the movie. I thought it turned out pretty good. He liked all his presents and had a good time.

The Great Toadini Escapes

Sorry, it has been so long since our last post. I am trying to play catch-up now. About two weeks ago, Toadini escaped once again, but this time we couldn't find him. We left him out some water, but no luck. He's not coming back. We can't figure out how he escaped. Oh, well anyone that tries that hard to be free deserves his freedom. God speed, Toadini. You will be missed.

All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth...

Ceci finally lost her two front teeth. They have been loose for awhile, but she would never let us wiggle them. She's been eating from the side of her mouth for quite some time. I finally was able to get her to let me tug on them. One came out with no problem, but the second was more stubborn. She insisted on having Daddy do it. Why, I don't know. He is such a wimp when it comes to pulling teeth. It takes him forever. She sounds so funny. Love it.

More breaking boards and almost a bottle

Scott and Ceci had tae kwon do testing a week ago. Here is some footage of their board breaking. Ceci had to try and break two boards with her high and low spin kick. She is so cute. She finally broke one. Scott had to first try and break a bottle. I thought for sure he was going to break it, but it didn't happen. He was pretty disappointed. If you can't break the bottle, you break a board with your hand instead. He broke the board without any problems.

I helped out with testing that day. It was pretty grueling. Once you become a dan bo nim you have to log at least 100 hours of work (help out with teaching, testing days, etc.) at the school before you even can test for black belt. I have long way to go, but one way to get some hours in is to help with testing of the lower belts. It's was non stop for 3 hours and if you mess up you have to do push ups. I was very sore the next couple of days:) I messed up a couple of times. The black belts put you on the spot to demonstrate a move and, of course, my mind goes blank and I can't remember the simplest of moves. I was pretty nervous. I was pretty mad at myself, but it was my first time. I will get better in time.

New additions to the Gibby Clan

Our little family is growing. Three red, bellied toads have joined the Gibby clan. They are quite the escape artists. When we woke up this morning, one was missing. We were in a hurry to get to tae kwon do testing, so we knew we weren't going to be able to spend much time looking for it. Although when Scott went to turn off the kitchen light, our missing toad was found hopping across the floor. Scott quickly caught him and put him back. Whew..that was close. The last thing I wanted to find in a couple of weeks was a dead toad behind the fridge. Yuck! We are keeping our eye on that one. Enjoy the photos of them.