Florence Senda's turn

The younger judo kids rarely have the chance to compete early in the year, as most of the fall tournaments, including the Senda cup, tend to be for U-15 and older. Thus the inception of the Florence Senda invitational, allowing the younger children a chance to compete.  Stasha is at the older end of that "younger children" group, as are some of her friends.

Though Theo is technically still younge enough to compete, he and the other kids who are regulars on the tournament circuit took this opportunity to referee.  It gives him the chance to look slick in his white shirt and band pants, as well as authoratative.

Mrs. Senda, looking spry as a teenager, awarding medals as always exoriting the youngesters to do their best and keep up their judo.

my turn on the bus

Through the last few semesters, Tim has taken most of the judo travel duty and either driven Theo and his teammates to training camps and tournaments, or taken the bus. Now that I've finished school, I'm free to take a share of the the travel. Even if it's Regina in the middle of winter. 

Just a little bleak. It was a -20C while we were there, but windless, so actually somewhat walkable before settling down to watch judo.

  

and thank goodness for my kindle, over the long winter miles. The best thing about this - even in the middle of nowhere, the 3G still allows me to download new books from the isolation of a bus traveling through the southern Saskatchewan landscape.

 

But overall, I was happy to go. It was strangely relaxing, one of the few times I could leave home and not worry about my thesis (still strange not to have to worry about my thesis), not worry about errands, chores or the dogs. Despite the bleak midwinter, it was a break in the routine far more enjoyabel than I expected.

 

Judo Nationals Tournament

Years of planning culminated in the Judo Nationals tournament held in Lethbridge and hosted by our club. Although Stasha is too young to even qualify to compete, she and the younger judoka took part in the opening ceremonies. At Tim's request, she got to hoist the Saskatchewan flag:

and nothing says pomp like red serge. Since it would shave off some dignity to wear jodhpurs with bare feet (and Stetson), he was the only person on the mat with footwear.

even the littlest kids managed to stand at attention through the lengthy welcoming speeches, though it's asking too much for them not to look bored.

and by the end of all that, it was time for Theo to put on his game face and fight.

Mrs. Senda and the boys at the Nationals

via www.flickr.com

all the U15 boys from Lethbridge with their bronze medals, and Mrs. Senda with her honorary set of medals. These were struck with a memorial to Sensei Senda on the back, making them all the more special.

Long weekend: catching up in April

It's hard to believe that a quarter of the year has gone by. I've been slow in updating here, partly since I completed project 365, (though, in a laggardly way, there's still 7 in 7) and partly because we've all been working quite hard (not to mention the increasingly annoying Typepad interface - they seem to be trying to compete with Tumbler and Facebook in the social media niche).

There have been the usual birthdays,

 

with the accompanying rites of manhood:

a few judo tournaments, in which the children generally fling around their opponents and take home something metallic and clanky

and music festivals - the most recent of which convinced us that it was time to get the boy his own drum kit:

It's shockingly loud, even placed in the farthest reaches of the house, and will certainly necessitate getting hearing protection for anyone who plays it (the rest of us can get far enough away). However, one can actually hear it, albeit faintly, from the outside of the house.  Not wishing to further aggravate our near neighbours, who have already taken umbrage over our apple-green shed, we might have to figure out how to sound-proof it a little better. Or at least have very strict drumming curfews. 

Four days off work and school are as welcome as can be, and even with the bitterly cold wind and the scoured, dry paths in the coulees, it's still worth getting outside, just to feel that at some point, there will be something green growing. 

 

Kinda funny how these Lysyks always walk in step. I have a lot more pictures to prove it, but I think this is sufficient.

There's pretty much no competition for the tire swing on this Easter Saturday afternoon.

moss phlox, leading the way into spring:

training camp, 276/365

The kids had a training camp for the southern zone, in preparation for the Alberta Winter Games fight-off (or playoff). It was a good opportunity for them to practice with other competitors, and it really shows that Stasha has come a long way - she's no longer intimidated by strange boys, not even strange boys with higher level belts.  Saturday, Oct 3.

241/365

241/365, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

the last day of judo camp. It's too bad it wasn't better attended - it didn't help that students in Calgary were already back in school this week, and there was an earlier, bigger camp in Saskatchewan just a few weeks earlier. The kids did learn a lot, though it would have been nicer to have a bigger turnout. More disconcerting, however, was Sensei's absence, still in a wheelchair after fracturing his hip. His absence was noticeable.  Saturday, August 29.

payback, 151/365

payback, 151/365, originally uploaded by Sophie_vf.

the highlight of the kid's judo year! lots of sun, lots of water. And lots of payback. (perhaps a bit hard to see what's going on unless viewed large.

the kids have had their weaponry ready for weeks, experimenting in the back yard to assess maximum soakage in minimal time.  Buckets come in handy also.

May 31

at the end of the day, 150/365

I need at least one of these each year. You have to wonder how many kids Sensei Senda has had his picture taken with, how many he's watched grown to adulthood, and bring their own children to the dojo. Also, it's cool to see how much Theo has grown since  his first tournament.

May 30.

Theo in the paper

  in the sports section 
  Originally uploaded by Sophie_vf

The Lethbridge Junior tournament was this weekend. I hardly took any pictures, since I've realized they all sort of look the same. However, my friend Jane, the club photographer, got this one, and submitted it to the paper for the tournament article.

Theo got bronze and Stasha got silver. Again, I didn't take a picture - but if you scroll down to the post about the Raymond tournament, they look pretty much the same.

More judo news

and, Vesna is around the corner!

First, the results of last weekends Katsuta Kup judo tournament in Raymond, Alberta:

This was Stasha' first tournament, and she won silver, admittedly out of only three girls in her category. The gold medal winner was 10 years old and in her 12th tournament, so Stasha was pretty happy with the outcome, all in all. Best of all, she then spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside with her new friend.  You have to like a sport where even when you lose, you get a new friend.

Theo took bronze again, behind his heavier and more experienced teammates, the exact same outcome as at the Provincial Championships. It gives him something to work at.

And finally, we're looking forward to the Vesna, the big Ukrainian dance performance celebrating spring. This years theme is, unbelievably, "A Celebration of Psyanky". Uh, OK.
The kids have some new costumes, which make them both look like Easter Eggs. That's not necessarily the intention, but it's certainly the result.

Spring fever

it hasn't quite hit yet. We did have warm enough weather to start pulling out the capris and sandals, but in typical Cruel Alberta Spring fashion, we're again looking at snow and freezing rain. How to stay amused, meantime?

it was warm enough a few weeks ago to have a few beer on the back porch, and to teach Theo the important life skill of how to open mom's beer with his new camping knife. We are very proud parents, as you can see.

the boy's First Knife was a birthday present, acquired in the unlikely location of the West Edmonton Mall, where we spent his birthday weekend due to a judo tournament. It was my first bus trip in decades. Within the first 15 minutes of pulling out of the dojo parking lot, I remembered why.

The kids enjoyed it quite a bit, though, well armed with electronic gadgets. The parents and other adults similarly came well arrayed with technologica, from iPods to DVD players to cameras. I'm sure there was a good $15,000 worth of electronic equipment on that bus! I'm not sure whether to bemoan or celebrate the lack of singing. Isn't that what we used to do on bus trips? Yet there was no-one there to lead us in a round of "The Quartermaster Store" or "Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall". Do kids even know the words to those songs anymore?

The raison d'etre for our trip:

Silver medal for the boy! Out of eight in his category, that's pretty good. The tournament as a big one, and drew competitors in the senior categories from Wales, England, Japan, etc. The downside is that it was held at the West Edmonton Mall. Such horror!  Compared to the dronelike crowds of shoppers the most peaceful place to hang out was the ice palace where the tournament was being held, and once we'd acquired a few birthday presents for the boy and made a few dashes to the food fair, we retreated to the refuge of the tournament, which relatively speaking, was the shiny happy place to be.

Happy New Year!

January is always a busy month. We got back to school, dance, and judo, and had three major events.
First and most important, of course, was Stasha's eighth birthday!

Opening presents first thing in the morning, with Tim still asleep, and blowing out candles later in the evening:

Stasha's birthday was immediately followed by the judo club hosting the Senda Cup, which the kids weren't directly involved in, but Tim and I were volunteering as timekeepers as announcers. The kids sat in the stands watching the matches and being quite good, for the most part, till they tried to climb under the bleachers. Since I was the announcer with a microphone and speakers at my disposal, I got to chastize them loudly from across the mat. It was strangely satisfying.

The tournament was followed the next day by Family Day, in which all the students, young and old, demonstrate what they've learned. It's also the first family day for which I have no pictures, since I was on the mat myself and Tim refused to bring the camera. However a friend did get a pic of us after it was all over:

Finally, the end of the month brought us their first big dance performance, Malanka, in celebration of Ukrainian New Year. Due to camera failure, I didn't get pictures of the actual event, but I did get pictures of the dress rehearsal that morning. It was a huge success, and despite the fact that we all spent the next day flat on our backs in exhaustion, all the work and preparation was worth it.

Theo in his Polissia outfit. That's right, it has pink ribbon trim. You have to wonder if those Polissians got beat up a lot.

Stasha is ready for her close-up

To keep boys from turning to a life of crime, or hockey, they've given them their own dance where they can show off their tricks. They're fine-tuning the choreography here, though not necessarily with the best example ever, since this is the guy who lost his pants in the Vesna performance last year. Happily, everyone's pants stayed on this time.

Finally, an early lesson in suffering for the sake of art. I had to get their stage make-up on and feed them before the performance, but without messing up their costumes. Thus poor Theo has to eat his cheese sandwich in nothing but make-up, underwear, and a kitchen towel. I feel so sorry for him, I will never use this for blackmail.

Animal feeding time

September is a great time for observing the feeding habits of various animals as they prepare for the winter. Here, we have a lovely northern flicker searching our back yard for ants, grubs, and other goodies:

and here, we have uncivilized prairie chirpers foraging for grub to place in their lunchboxes:

The kids are doing great this fall. Theo loves his new teacher and claims that he makes learning fun. I hope it is not too fun - his new teacher is one of those fun, happy guys who thinks he lives in a sitcom. It just better be a sitcom with lots of multiplication or penmanship. Stasha is very happy to have the same teacher as last year, less happy to be surrounded by pesky grade ones who are "kind of bad and stupid" (her words, not mine). Apparantly, last years grade one kids were much better behaved and also smarter. So she says.

And to my great surprise, Theo loves his Ukrainian dance class.

We weren't worried about Stasha at all because she wanted to dance again no matter what, but Theo took some convincing to get back into it this year. However, because they changed the class configurations they moved him up a level into a large class with three other boys in it. It's two hours long, but he loved it and said it went by faster than last year's one hour classes. However, he also had his first case of really bad DOMS the next day. Definately, Ukrainian dancing seems to be harder than judo.

Both kids are in judo again of course. Cause falling down builds character.

Summer's here!

and I admit, long time no update. June was a month full of end-of-the school year parties for the kids, assignments and exams for me, and just general fooling around.

Summer holidays kicked off with the Junior National Judo Tournament held in Lethbridge. Theo is too young to compete, but he and his fellow judoka acted as flagbearers for the opening ceremony. Each kid carried a provincial flag. Theo got New Brunswick. He was disappointed the ship does not have cannons. The ceremony itself was painfully long, though, and they had to stand for at least 20 minutes while dignitaries talked.  Later, he and his pals went through the stands selling raffle tickets and making big bucks!

Stasha stayed in the official's area with me and Tim, while Tim did the bilingual announements and I helped with the joseki. Unfortunately, she actually got stuck outside the official/mat area after she left to go to the restroom, because Security wouldn't let her back in without a name tag. (dorks! What did they think she was? a tiny little judo terrorist in a pink sundress?)

After Tim rescued her, the tournament director gave her her own name tag with the job position "Mascot". Thus moving back and forth with impunity, she was happy.

The other big highlight of course was Isabel and Cris's visit with the kids! We were too busy to take a ton of pictures, but here's a few:

The weather was great - it was hot enough to blow up the pool.

Theo and Tita Isabel playing extreme croquet: no waiting for your turn, and you can block your oppornents shots! Theo is still talking about it.

And the Super Mario Dance Dance Revolution contest!

We just wish they could have stayed a bit longer. That afternoon Stasha sighed "It's just no fun without  cousins around".  On the other hand, we're heading to Langley on Saturday. Cousins galore!