JT's Weekend

Last Saturday JT had a Tang Soo Do Championship meet.  He had a good time! 

He's in there, somewhere.  Trust me.

Practicing his form.  Love the height!

As a time judge...JT is near the center of the photo, one of the two young men sitting together as this young lady gets ready to perform.

Handsome!

Two Biggies Today!

Luci went to her first Tang-Soo-Do class (Korean karate) with JT.  No telling if she'll ever go to a second class, but I hope she continues.

Luci wiggled out her tooth today!

JT

 The big night--  JT's friend, Matthew, was supposed to test also but he broke his arm the night before!  Matthew, I am so sorry. 

JT, we are so happy for your achievement!

Yea for JT!

JT earned his Black Belt in Tang Soo Do last night!  


So proud of you, JT!
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John and JT went to Mississippi for the testing. 

Busy Saturday

First, JT had a pre-test for his black belt. Test, JT! Test!

Then we had a Chinese New Year lunch with our Families with Children from China group. There were 9 girls and one boy present, all from China, among other siblings and family and friends.

Our newest treasure, who came home in January. Here she is with her proud mama.

The line-up.

Giggly girls.

Luci and Kalyn getting silly during lunch.

JT brought his diabolo (Chinese yo-yo) and demonstrated it for everyone. It was a big hit. This little cutie kept trying to make the diabolo work.

Luci noticed these gorgeous clouds and had me come take a picture. This was at sunset.

That was not the end of the day--JT and John played paintball in the field by our house. JT's in this picture, oh-so-far away. Look near the big bush in the middle of the shot. Our house is on the far right.

John hunkered down...

and hidden by the trees.

Ready to shoot at my baby.

JT with his paint ball gear...

and ready to shoot back at his daddy.

Christmas Parties

We've been to several Christmas parties this month--Families with Children from China (the pictures from that are on my other computer, and I don't have access to them right now), JT's Tang Soo Do party (no photos of that), the boys' teen church party, our church party tonight, and the homeschool party last Friday. Whew! I was just thinking tonight that I sure don't get out much. I don't, but my children do. So that means I do get out quite a bit. Just as a chauffeur.

Here is our church party tonight. The kids (3 year olds through 6th grade) did a little program. Luci's down there on the front row. What? You can't see her?
Is this better? She spotted me and gave me a big grin. But first, she stuck her tongue out at her brothers who were down front taking pictures for me.
What Christmas party would be complete without the crazed mother, trying to get everyone in place on time?? John called halfway through the party, telling me he was just about to leave his compound to start his trip home. So nice to talk to him! Another reason to love cell phones. But it didn't calm me down any--the trip from compound to the airport is the most dangerous part of the trip. Which explains why I am up so late doing the blog...so I can keep checking the news online, like a ghoul, to see if there's any news out of his area. So far, so good. Maybe after Wednesday I won't feel compelled to check the news so often. I sure hope so.
Homeschool party--we went to a place called "Forest Jumps." Luci's in there somewhere.
They have these big climbing things to play on.
Kalyn came, too! It was so nice to visit with Kathy.
JT played some games during the party. . .and Bryan acted like a teenager.
On the way to our house in the country is this home. They have their yard covered with shiny things. It's lots of fun to look at, and this is only about half of what they have! The lights are timed with music, and you can turn your car radio to the right station and listen.

The song that was playing when we were there was "Mary, Did You Know?" One of the lines goes like this:

Mary, did you know
that when you kissed your little baby
You kissed the face of God?

I said, "Wow. Those are some powerful words."

Luci said, "Did she have Power Kisses?"

Thirty Days of Thanks...

I'm thankful for Tang Soo Do, that our YMCA offers it, and that JT has found something that he loves. He is really good at this. His instructor and the other black-belts who have gotten to know JT respect him (even at such a young age) and enjoy watching him perform. Today JT had his first pre-test for earning his black belt. Tang Soo!

Sports

Yesterday was a day full of sports! Luci's first soccer game of the season, and JT's karate competition.
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Prayer before the Upwards Soccer Game

Rolling around on the field while the rest of the team plays. ?

Game's over, Mama!


JT only entered two parts of the competition...and won both. Here is a very happy JT with his gold medal for his staff work:

and on the stand accepting his second gold for his form:Here is JT competing in his form:

"Life is all about ME," says Luci.

Blue's Clues just came on. Joe said, "It's my birthday!" Luci said, "Hey, I have a birthday! He has one like me!"

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At soccer practice Thursday night, the identical twins Mason and Nate had on different colored shirts. Coach, clarifying which boy was which, said, "Mason, you're wearing red, and Nate, you're wearing green." Then Luci (the only Asian on the team, the only one with black hair, and at that moment the only girl) piped up, "And I'm wearing white!"

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Today was all about J.T.--Luci and I took him to Huntsville for a Tang Soo Do clinic at the YMCA. Leave the house at 7 a.m. and home at 6 p.m. Once we got to the YMCA, Luci says, "Come on! I want to go to the mall!" We passed a mall on the way to the Y. She's a shopper through and through. We've only been to that particular mall once before, and Luci remembered the Build a Bear Workshop (we have a lamb in a wedding dress now), and the Chinese food in the food court (their fried rice was our lunch).

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Friday we studied the human body...the skeleton was the topic. A few hours after lessons were over, Luci kept telling me her "skillet" was sore. Finally, in frustration, she said, "You know! My skillet! Where my bones are!"

For the Grandparents

OK, so the living room isn't tidy. We had kids playing all day and that's what happens.
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JT is teaching Luci some Tang Soo Do (karate) moves. Their personalities show through pretty well.

JT's Tang Soo Do Clinic in Mississippi

John took JT to this clinic. JT earned points towards earning his black belt.

JT's Big Day!

JT has had such a good day! Today at his Tang Soo Do test, he advanced to Red Belt. After that is Blue, then Black. Black's not too far off! JT won the award for the Best Test today and got this neat trophy! He was so excited. I was, too. Here is JT with Mr. Jones, his karate teacher. Mr. Jones tells me quite often how much he likes JT and that JT has great ability in karate. Dad, that's the teacher you met with Katie, Laura and Suzi Q (oh yeah, and Charlie) last summer. JT got to be the boy in the front holding the trophy this time. He's wanted that trophy since he went to his first test 2 years ago and saw someone else win.
JT and Tyler. Tyler is a homeschool friend. The boys are in the same class at the YMCA. And they both have red hair. They get everyone confused about names...if they were identical twins, I don't think there'd be any more confusion as to who's who. Now that they both have red belts, they might have to resort to name tags. (I have to change out JT's brown on his uniform. His uniform will look like Tyler's when I do that. He has his old brown belt around his neck.)
The boy in the front! Congratulations, JT!!