Testing time again!

Yesterday the boys tested for their yellow/orange belts. They did SO great! The new studio has better lighting for pictures so you can see them a little bit better this time. We got some really great shots of Ethan because he was close to us. Unfortunately Dom was on the far side for the test.

The order of belt rankings for the boys age goes as follows:

White
White/Yellow
Yellow
Yellow/Orange
Orange
Orange/Green
Green
Green/Purple
Purple/Blue
Red
Jr. Black

Every 4 classes they attend they gain one stripe on their belt. After 4 stripes you qualify for testing. They only test once a month. However, just because you have 4 stripes doesn't mean you automatically get to test. In fact, most often they make you skip a month. They don't like to hand out belts just because you've come to class. It's been 3 months since the boys last test (this is partly because the studio moved and they made everyone skip a month). They were REALLY ready to be orange/yellow belts.

By the time they are ready to test for their orange belts it will most likely be around Thanksgiving. As they get older and move up into the older division, you have to attend 10 classes to earn a stripe, that's 40 classes before you qualify to test. So it can be several months between belts. It's a LONG process!!


Enjoy the video...

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We told the boys

We finally told the boys last week that there will be an addition. We told Ethan that in May he will be a big brother. His response was, "But I won't have a birthday yet." A little confused, but that's okay. Then Brad said "Your mother's pregnant." No comment from the boys. Then I said, "There's a baby in my tummy." Ethan's eyes popped out and his mouth his the floor. Dominic jumped out of his chair and clapped his hands and said "You have a baby in your tummy?!?!" Ethan wanted to know how I knew. I told him that we took a test. That wasn't much help. I told him I had to pee on the test. A little humor to confuse them is always fun. They looked disgusted. After I assured him that the pee is no longer on the test, we just pee on a stick to find out the results, then we clean off the stick. And how my pee contains certain homones that are read on the test. This made no sense to them, but it was no less the truth. Later we finally got around to showing them sticks and how to read it. They agreed, I did have a baby in my belly. Then they ran off to go play legos.

"Volini, party of 5! Volini, party of 5!"

We took 3 tests because we couldn't believe it either.

Baby Volini #3 due May 2009.

P.S. To all our friends who borrowed baby stuff: we might need that back now (if it's still available).