karate
My grandniece, Izabella Harman has a personality that far exceeds her small stature. She is full of smiles and always happy. Her mom, Melanie Harman, says that she is growing into her personality, but I think that such a big personality will take a little time to for her to grow that much. Izabella “Belle” has such a bubbly personality, and that is pretty hard to contain.
Belle is so very sweet. As she has grown, she has become rather protective of her mom. She doesn’t want her to work too hard. So, Belle has designated herself as “Momma’s Helper.” She makes sure that Melanie doesn’t 
carry too many things at once. If Melanie has a large load of stuff she is carrying, Belle says “No, no Momma!! You have too much stuff!! Give me that!!” Being a helper is one of her top priorities, and while he mom is her top priority, she doesn’t limit herself to helping just her mom. Her teacher says she is so very sweet and helpful with other kids in class. She loves doing her schoolwork, which isn’t always a common thing. In fact, she loves it so much that she gets irritated when other kids around her are distracting her from doing her work. It is rare to see such a dedicated student, but then, Belle isn’t just your average student.
Bell loves her siblings, and she is so sweet to Alice and Jaxx. She loves being around them. Belle has never stopped being a Daddy’s Girl though!! Her daddy, Jake Harman is her hero!! When she wants him, she squeals, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!” What dad wouldn’t just melt when his girl does that. She tells him in no uncertain terms that he is the greatest dad ever.
Belle has been taking Karate, and her Sensei is always telling her aunt, Siara Kirk just how awesome Belle is. While Belle is becoming a “lethal weapon,” she is also the most loving girl. She loves having “Girls’ Days” with her Aunt Siara and her grandma, Chantel Balcerzak. Sometimes they just hang out, and sometimes they 
workout. She also loves playing video games with her grandpa, Dave Balcerzak too. She is the light of their lives. On a funny note, Belle likes to say “Yo and Bro” a lot and her Aunt Siara thinks that’s so funny. Her family is so important to her, and that makes her a very special girl. Today is Belle’s 7th birthday. Happy birthday Belle!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My grand nephew, Matthew is all boy, with a big heart. Over the years, I have watched him change in so many ways. As a really little boy, he loved to play games like super hero or karate expert. It was so cute to see him pretending to be able to fight any one of the adults…even though he would never have really had the heart to fight any of us, because he loved us. Little Matthew really only pretended to fight because his parents and family thought it was cute. He was acting.
When you think about it, all kids do a little bit of acting. They might start out accidently doing something that makes their parents laugh, but once they find out what kinds of things bring laughter to the people they love, they will do it over and over again…just because laughter is contageous, and it’s fun to laugh with their parents. Matthew is no exception to that rule. He loves to laugh and to make others laugh too.
Matthew is a very loving boy. While he is all boy, he reserves a place in his heart for the people he loves the most. His parents, grandparents, and sisters. He might pick on his sisters…unmercifully, as boys often do, but he loves them dearly and would fight anyone who tried to hurt any one of them. As I said, he might pick on them, but it’s just as likely he won’t, because he likes to be kind and helpful too.
Of course, we can’t forget that, like all boys, hanging out with the guys is a top priority, and that is something Matthew really enjoys. Coming from a family where he is the only boy, having guy friends to hang out with is vital for sanity!! Thankfully, Matthew has three male cousins who love to hang out and do the guy things with him. There is nothing a guy likes more than to spend the night with his cousins and just be boys…awww, what a life. Today is Matthew’s 8th birthday, and I can’t believe he is 8 years old already. Happy birthday Matthew!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My cousin’s daughter, Kristin has always been an amazing girl. Her parents, Bill and Maureen have kept us up to date on her activities through the years…mostly by pictures and letters, since they live in Wisconsin, and we are in Wyoming. Kristin has always seemed like the shy type, but that is mostly because knowing someone in letters and pictures isn’t quite the same as knowing them in person, and when you come and visit, and you are a kid, it’s hard to find things to talk about. Nevertheless, Kristin was very sweet, and we all enjoyed the visiting with her, when she and her family brought her grandpa, my Uncle Bill out for a visit in 2007. It was very nice to get to know both Kristin and our cousin, Cody, who is my cousin, Jimmy’s son, and we are so glad they all made that trip so that Uncle Bill and his brother, my dad could see each other one last time.
As I said, we had kept track of Kristin and her activities mostly through letters and pictures, but now that she is on Facebook, I expect that we will get to know her even better. Kristin has been in Karate since she was just a small child, and at this still young age, she is a black belt, so while she is not physically real big, she definitely carries a big stick, so anyone who gets in her way, might want to keep that in mind. Of course, like most kids who have taken Karate, her abilities would never be used to bully others, but only as protection for herself or for others. I have never had the pleasure of watching her compete, but I can imagine how great she must be since she is a black belt.
Now that Kristin is in middle school, she has begun to branch out into some new interests, one of which is drama. No, I don’t mean the kind that involves screaming insanely, but 
rather the kind that involves being in plays. Her drama group just finished performing “Once Upon A Mattress” and from what I’m told, the play went very well. I have never seen her act, but with Kristin’s ability to excel in all she does, I can imagine that she is an excellent actress.
Kristin has grown so quickly from the shy little girl who came to visit us in 2007, into a beautiful young lady who I am proud to call my cousin. I know that she will go on to make her parents and the rest of her family very proud. Today is Kristin’s birthday. Happy birthday Kristin!! Have a wonderful day!! We love you!!
