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Christmas time

Here at Baker Monkeys we've been having a fantastic time celebrating the holidays. We just got back from Saint Louis visiting my grandparents and will have another gigantic picture post from the trip up soon. In the meantime, enjoy this video of our monkeys (plus an extra, the Baker Monkey cousin Abby) sing their favorite Christmas song.

Pedway Tag

Last night Tom took Maggie to a basketball game. As usual around here the fans were obnoxious and stupid. They left at half time and did some exploring downtown. Tom showed Maggie how all the buildings with pedways were connected and that one could get completely around without going outside.

Tonight the whole family went. We scouted out the whole thing with the intention of playing pedway tag tomorrow night. We are going to make up some guidelines and set up teams tomorrow and the fun starts at dusk.

Having absolutely no money really gets the creative juices flowing. If anyone has any other free family fun ideas, send them on.

Inspired to Write

Josh hates it when we make him write. It's okay if he does it on his own terms, but I really want to encourage writing more than just the bare minimum to get through school. Tonight we were at praise band practice with Tom and he was acting kinda, well, eight. I offered to pay him a dollar to write me a story that was front and back of a page (he writes big and on every other line).

I started him off with a line and he responded with very little and went off again to play. I didn't want to give up so I wrote another line and asked him to alternate with me. This is what we came up with:

The day my mom was turned into a toad...

We kicked her out of the house. She was gone for good. She was on her own. (tres harsh)

Then there was no one to wash clothes or dishes.

So daddy did it. Nothing was in place. (hehe)

I couldn't find my underwear and there were plates in my dresser drawers.
Then mama's drawers made out of chocolate. I ate them all up. There was nothing left.

I had a tummy ache. I really missed my mom. I decided to go find the witch that turned her into a toad.

But it was too scare [sic] that I never went. The next day I was too busy playing game cube that I never went.

Then my brother, who is much braver then me, went and found the witch and had my mom restored to her proper form. She found my underwear!!!

Then she turned back into a toad.

The end!

Ripped!!!

Maggie got her first rip on Monday. In gymnastics, this is inevitable. Rips are painful, yet the first one is important to a gymnast. Everyone at the gym makes a big deal out of it. It is a rite of passage. You are one of us now. That doesn't mean everyone is happy that you are in pain, it is what it is and you have reached a point where you are serious. You ask yourself if what you are doing to your body is worth it. Do you love the sport enough to endure pain for the joy it brings you. Maggie said yes.

At any point, if she wants to change sports, it is okay with us. I do not enjoy seeing her push her body to exhaustion by holding a chin up on a bar till she falls off just to build upper body strength. I live in fear of her first major injury. Gymnastics is dangerous and physically taxing. That crazy child loves it!

Look at the smile on her face as she shows it off to the camera!
BTW...she's not the only one.

I found Maggie's kindred spirit as I was doing research on minimizing Maggie's soreness and first aid for rips. I don't know those people and haven't read anything else from their blog. I did find some really good info though. For those who are curious about rips, go here and here.

Also, if you just don't get why... here.