Seriously

it's been about two months since I posted in here. Amory and Corey both finished their ball seasons at the beginning of July. I have pictures I will put in this post. Corey took the summer off of karate and Amory ended up getting burned out, so he took the rest of the summer off. I am going on my own, which is kinda nice since I don't have to worry about the boy, but kinda weird because it IS a children's group. Oh well, the kids there are all great. Tonight is graduation/demo but only a few people tested over the summer session, and while I was one, I don't think I did great. That was to be expected, but I wanted to try.

Now, on to Fall. Both kids are being weird about what to do this fall. Last year, Amory did basketball and Corey was mad when I didn't sign her up. Well, this year, they are both saying no. Amory is leaning a bit towards going back to gymnastics, but has asked about going to swim team. He's not quite good enough yet, but we will work on it. Corey has said no to everything. I'm strongly encouraging her to go back to karate though. She's really good at it, and likes it a lot. She just likes to sit around, but actually enjoys herself when we make her go to things. We'll see.

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So

We are in full swing with softball and t-ball. So far we have been lucky without missing too much of each kids' games. Tonight, Corey has a game at 7:30 and Amory has practice at 7, but we'll work that out. Seriously can't wait until next year when Amory plays real ball. We'll be on the go constantly. I already had one mom ask me about dcaba and if we were going that route. I am sure we will. Amory really likes games and dcaba has more games than parks and rec and they are more competitive.

Corey's loving softball. She's doing well. Next year, I guess we are doing a team. Should be fun.

Sports insanity

Well, if you know me, I like to keep the kids busy.

Amory LOVED indoor soccer. He plans to play again next year and of course he still wants to play basketball next year. They do have a summer league for basketball, but the games are all during the day while we are at work. He's thought about taking gymnastics again, but he's not too sure.

Since I posted last, he's been in karate once a week and just started t-ball. Hopefully, he'll get some maturity about following directions soon. In his karate class, he's learned quite a bit. He knows enough to move up a belt rank I think, but sadly he didn't do it. At testing, some of the things he just refused to do, and then some things he was not allowed to do because of his behavior. It's always been the policy to not let them test if they are not behaving. I knew this, I thought my boy did. So, at graduation night, he was very disappointed when he did not get his belt. He told me he was dropping karate if people keep kicking him out of testing. Of course, he believes it's all Sensei James' fault that he didn't move up. Hopefully I can get him calm enough to sign up again this week and to realize that all he has to do is maintain for an hour a week! Seriously, he needs a new belt. His old one is too small! T-ball has started and Amory thinks it's great. His dad who has been taking him to practice however, thinks it's horrible. Apparently, 14 kindergarten boys running around with bats is just not Kenny's idea of fun. I don't know, I can't wait for the game though. Should be hilarious.

Corey has been doing karate and softball. She's still thinking of dance and gymnastics a little bit, especially now that her old gym is reopen. In karate, she was disappointed too. She moved up, but not as far as she wanted to. She however, realizes that she didn't know all the stuff that she needed and has decided to work on that this summer. Hopefully, I can get her to teach me the purple belt katas because I don't know them very well, and she does. She had a hard time with one steps and self defense, so I can help her with those. (I earned my purple belt this last graduation. She is still ahead of me with her purple belt/orange stripe.) Anyway, softball. What can I say about that? She was so against it for awhile and I didn't know why. Finally, it comes out that she didn't care for the coaching on one team. This year though, she's having a blast. Her coach is amazing. They won their first game, but lost their second. But, I'm really happy to see how Corey is improving in both skill and attitude. She's come a long way. I'm nervous for next year, but still, it should be fun for this year. Her team is called the Rebels and they are purple. Pictures WILL be coming soon!

soccer pictures

Here's warm ups. It's funny how excited Amory gets even though the game hasn't even started.








Hanging out on the bench



finally some action


Flirting with H on the bench. He likes the bench for socializing


But, he likes the bench to watch the game. Here he's cheering H on a saved goal.


The monkey runs



walking back to be a defender (loves defending)


Next game, loves the goalie slot. Of course he loves to fall down, so that helps.




I love this one because you can see him getting ready to throw it out of the goal and the coach is telling them to get back.


Flirting on the bench again. This time a different girl.

Another sport filled post

So, what's up these days?

We've recently become less busy. Why? Did the kids give up sports? No. Sadly, the place they did gymnastics is closed. They had the option to go clear across town, but I wasn't ok with that. They could have chosen parks and rec or just take a break. Both are taking a break right now. So Amory may never be a KU yell leader.

Amory started his soccer career this weekend though. He is playing indoor soccer for the first time. His practices are on Wednesdays just like karate so he's busy that night. At his game, he did well running, but then acted like he was going to die after he ran the ball in. He also played goalie. That is something he does well. He likes throwing himself on the ground.

Amory has decided to learn his kata so he can try for his blue belt. I think I know most of my kata to earn my purple. Time will tell how we do. Corey is hoping to get her orange belt. THAT is major. So far in class, I've had a 7th grader whine about not being able to do stuff and then a 4th grader flip me. Fun stuff.

Anyway, sign up for softball has come out. Hope that Corey's on the team she wants.

karate testing

Karate testing has begun. In the higher belts, they start with kata and one step testing a week before the regular testing. During regular testing you need to know strikes, blocks, kicks, and self defense. Friday night was kata and one steps. Kata is called form in tae kwon do. It's a series of moves in a specific order. One steps are little things like an acted out fight. One guy throws a punch and the other person has a set of moves to counter it. For the test I was doing there is only one kata and 3 one steps. (Corey has 6 one steps and 2 katas since she's a higher belt). Let me just say, Corey always says how hard testing is. In the past I told her "yeah, I know but you know the stuff. Blah blah blah." Well, it IS hard no matter how well you know it before you get there. For example, I did my kata WRONG the first time. I didn't even know I messed up. The girl that was doing the testing said, "I've seen you do it right. Try again." So I did and I passed, thankfully. You only get one do over by her rules. Then on to one steps WHICH I practiced over and over. Well, I almost lost it up there. My memory went blank! But, I fought through it and passed all those. Well, when we were done with these we could do merit badge stuff. For my belt there is Dojo etiquette, uniform, and fitness. Dojo etiquette is a breeze. Yes and no sir/ma'am, please/thank you, proper bowing, sitting, attention stance, that stuff. Uniform, easy - fold your uniform, tie your belt stuff like that. Fitness about killed me though. I'm so out of shape, but getting better. 25 push ups, 25 sit ups, 25 jumping jacks, 15 squat thrusts, 10 stretches. I decided to do pushups first because I wouldn't be able to do them without ALL my energy. Amazingly, I passed! I can still feel the situps though. But, know I know how Corey feels at testing. She passed her first kata. She doesn't think she got any of her one steps though. Hopefully she moves up a bit though. Of course, if I skip all the belts I want to skip, I'll probably be only inching forward a bit at a time. Amory has decided to not test. He said he doesn't know his kata and he doesn't know his one steps. Plus, he has basketball on Wednesday that he'd rather go to.

Basketball and Karate

Well, kindergarten basketball is going on now. THAT is a riot. The kids have so much fun and are really enjoying it. Amory is loving every second of the games. He says that practice is even better. He's a scoring and rebounding machine. He's not so good at defending though. His favorite thing is dribbling though. He's great at it.









We just got back from karate tournament. Both kids participated. Amory won a trophy for fastest kick. He got 1st place in his group. He loves getting the runner up medals. You should have seen him with his trophy though. That kid was pumping that trophy into the air over and over. I'll post a pic sometime. Corey did ok. She tries so hard, but only wants to do things her way. That's alright though, it's all about learning.