Nikki's nook

wow

2011-02-23T06:43:00.003-06:00

It's been a whole year since I came on here venting about that team that CHEATS. They did in fact play 12u. The good news is we beat them. The bad news is NONE of their 13s showed up for the game. I am thinking it was because they KNEW I'd be frustrated, but I honestly don't think those 3 girls would have made a difference. It's more the point. I still am thinking of getting the patches from LL saying "I don't cheat". My daughter wants them.

Ok, so what's up for this year? We are still recruiting for this season. Have a decent core group of girls, we just need to build on it. We are playing 14u this year since the girl is born in 1997. Honestly, of the returning players, she's the only one that HAS to play up, but guess what, we don't cheat. We hope to get more 97s though. I'd like to keep a solid group together. We've been practicing for a month now. Good indoor stuff.

The boy? He did basketball, loved the group he played with, did well. Now, he was looking for a team to play on for baseball. We lucked out. A friend suggested him to their son's coach and he got picked up without a tryout. He's happy and less stressed! He will be playing for the Heat. He's ready. We need to get him back to his pitching lessons though. Too much sitting around.

Now, if the weather would be good, we'd get outside and play!

frustrations

2010-04-20T22:04:00.002-06:00

So, I'm frustrated. I decided to help out on the board of directors for LGFPA (Lawrence Girls Fastpitch Association). Sounds good in theory. Should be fun and I want to continue to grow the league. Within a few days of being on this governing committee, I find out there is a 12u team that is playing kids that aren't 12u. So, thinking it was my responsibility, I asked about the rules. I'm informed that it' not allowed to play down. The Parks and Rec people ask me what team I'm talking about and call and ask about it. Either they told the coach it was me, or the coach figured it out that it was me that asked about the ages. Either way, I'm the one causing issues. Not the ones who are cheating YES CHEATING by trying to play girls that aren't eligible. I get a call from the league saying it's taken care of and wondering what my "history" was with this coach. Apparently I have "history" with them. I didn't know I did. But, it's taken care of.

So, forward to today. I go to the coaches' meeting and that same coach is still sitting with a 12u team. I didn't even ask about it. I just left it alone. Supposedly it's dealt with. But, now I'm at home and stewing. I try to be reasonable, but now my kid is involved. They apparently told their players that I was causing issues for them. Their players then go to school and tell the girl, "We heard what your mom did to us." When Corey asked what they were talking about they told her it didn't matter because they were allowed to play the 13s anyway. So, they either lied to Parks and Rec or their players, or something. Or, Parks and Rec lied about the age thing being strict. It's NOT cool, regardless.

Summer sports

2010-03-21T10:19:00.002-06:00

Well, Kenny (he's the dad) had his teams first softball practice. Only 4 guys were there, so I got to play in the outfield a bit and Corey got to catch (it's slow pitch, she hates catching, but it's not REAL catching so it's ok.) Anyway, they were still rusty, but Kenny got hit in the face. He's ok now a week out. By the way, I need to get out and run. I'm so out of shape. (That may be pushed back because of a sprained ankle from playing kickball with a group of kids).

Corey's softball team that I coach had two practices/tryouts. We have finally found enough girls. Some have never played before, but looked good raw. I'm sure with some coaching, they will be good little ball players. We had to cancel this week's practice due to SNOW. That was a first for me!

Amory has found a baseball team to play with this summer. They are scheduled for their first practice on Monday. Who knows how that will go. The boy has decided he wants to pitch next year. I am trying to encourage pitching lessons for that. I know the basics and that's IT. He will definitely need the extra help.

Really bad

2010-01-07T12:23:00.005-06:00

Since I last posted, we've gone through a million seasons it seems. Most recently, Amory finished basketball. He had a great time. I think if he sticks with it, he could be a mad man on defense. Of course, he's not afraid to throw his body around. The rules for his league is basically man to man defense, but his coach told him to get in the middle and basically play zone. It worked out because he would step out if they were looking like they would shoot. He is only 8 and not going to be a star but he had fun, and makes a great contribution to his team. (On the other had, there were some amazingly talented 8 year olds out there, should be fun to watch them as they get older).

Before that was football for the boy. Lawrence has a nice youth football league. I had Amory play for the Lightning, and I think it was the best fit for him. The coaches were amazing and even though Amory thought it was hard, he had a ton of fun and so far wants to play again next year. I hope to get him to do some running when he can get outside more. That's where he struggles. He's a big kid and has little endurance for running.

Before that, there was softball and baseball. Karate was almost an afterthought this summer since for the first time, I coached the girls' softball team. We had a diverse team of 12u girls, and we did ok. We played some amazing games and lost a few we should have won, but that's how it goes. Next year will be even better. Corey says softball is her sport (even though I'm not letting her quit karate, and wish she'd get interested in other sports to help her in the off season). Amory played his first year of baseball and it was coach pitch. He loved it. He went to spring break camp at KU for baseball, and we are looking at some of the other camps for this year. I have no idea what this summer will bring him baseball wise. The team he played on is moving up and he's not really ready to move up to 9u yet. He could be if he was focused, but he's not and that's ok.

Anyway, hopefully I can get back into posting more!

Seriously

2008-08-13T07:25:00.003-06:00

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.

Clickable thumbnails

So

2008-06-10T09:43:00.002-06:00

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

2008-05-19T07:34:00.003-06:00

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

2008-03-10T17:07:00.005-06:00

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

2008-02-04T14:47:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-11T14:12:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-11T17:58:00.000-06:00

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.

What are we up to now?

2007-10-01T06:41:00.000-06:00

Well, both kids ARE doing karate. Amory had said he was going back for his jedi training, but then he started acting weird. Well, he's back with a vengeance. He's loving it and practicing it, but he still lacks the focus in class. I'm sure it will get there eventually though. Corey is loving it too. The new thing is that parents can take the class. Well, fortunately or unfortunately, I can't take the white belt class. But, I want to take class. So, I'm taking it on Friday with Corey. It's the advance class, and honestly, it kicks my butt. I'm out of shape plain and simple. Oh well, it's good for me and I'm having fun, it's a great bunch of kids. Yeah, I'm the only adult. On Wednesdays, one lady was doing it, but she didn't like being the only adult and changed her mind. I have been trying to get the other parents to try it out, but they aren't.

Both kids are back in gymnastics too. Amory wasn't sure about that either. He ended up being the only kid in his class last week. He had so much fun without waiting his turn. He didn't gain any social skills, but his motor skills did get worked. Corey seemed to have fun. Her friends from last year weren't in this class. She's signed up for intermediate class, but I think they combined it with beginner because there were some kids really struggling and some that were really good. She's right in the middle. Our gym joined up with another gym here in town. I never cared for the other place, but we'll see how it goes. So far, it's looking good. The main thing I don't like is the logo of the place. They used to be g-force jets and have a cool jet picture logo. Now they are Lawrence Gymnastics and Athletics East. It's just some random squiggle line that represents like a person jumping or something. Oh well, as long as the kids like it.

Amory will be starting basketball soon. This will be his first team sport. We'll see how he does. I'll definitely post pictures when that happens. Corey wanted to do it, but I just didn't sign her up. She quit softball, I was just worried about that. I'll try to get her in something else though.

Small update.

2007-08-20T08:14:00.000-06:00

So, I haven't updated in over a month. Is it because we weren't doing anything? No, of course not. We did finish up the summer softball season. They had a lot of fun this year and improved so much. We just ended the summer session of karate. Corey moved up to purple belt/white stripe. A small step, but a step none-the-less. She also got patches for tonfa and fan. She had to write papers as the main thing for this, and then demonstrate how to use it. We left there and she was the only one to get patches for the weapons. I told her it was because her mom was mean and made her do the papers. She agreed, but said that it was a good thing I was so mean or she wouldn't have gotten them. I guess she at least knows WHY sometimes parents are mean.

Well, in the past month, Corey thought about doing football. I told her it was her choice, but that it's everyday except Monday. That would mean nothing else. She couldn't decide. Then we got info on a softball tryout for the fall. She decided this was something she wanted to do. Well, that ruled football out. I guess we found something she liked better. I'm kinda happy because football is such a huge commitment and what if she hated it. Anyway, the softball stuff is going well. It's funny, they were only practicing/tryouts for about an hour and I saw improvement already. This should be good.

Karate starts back in the first week of September. So does gymnastics. We'll be running again soon!

Karate tournament

2007-07-14T19:16:00.000-06:00

Well, it was a good one. Corey participated in strongest punch, strongest kick, fast fist, fastest kick, and sparring. I think she got ripped off in sparring. The rule is that it's single elimination if there is more than 4 kids. Well, in this case there were 5 kids. That means the first person to lose was gone. Sure, they may be better than the other kids that were in there, but you will never know. So, she looked good and it was a close match. But, sadly she lost and was eliminated. She got a runner up trophy. Oh well, better luck next time. (and she better sit at the back of the line!)

It went quickly this summer and she had fun and that's what matters.

Amory wanted to be in tournament so much. He is now ready to go back because he's planning to take a weapons kata to tournament. (It's part of his jedi training)

Last game tonight

2007-07-09T06:17:00.000-06:00

Hope they have fun. They are playing a team from the upper division and I KNOW this team is hard. Anyway, Corey had a chance to go to tournament again, but she chose to go to her karate tournament. Should be fun.

More softball and stuff

2007-06-24T13:51:00.000-06:00

Well, Corey's team played their first ever tournament last weekend. They won their second game and did very well against some teams that were just bigger and more experienced.

Team warming up

Anyway, Corey pitched again for a little bit. The girls got a bunch of experience. They played 3 games the first day and one the next and were wiped out, but I think they had a lot of fun. I got a lot of SUN. I'm peeling now.

Pitching

2007-06-07T21:48:00.000-06:00

Corey has been wanting to pitch really bad. She finally got her chance the other day. She loved it and did great!

She can't wait to try again. Tonight, she was the catcher.

Summer is here

2007-05-21T12:21:00.000-06:00

CK has had her first two softball games with tonight being their third. Hope they win this one! She's having a blast and the team looks awesome! Corey played right field and 3rd base last night.

Well, prior to the first game, they had a Wednesday night practice much to her disappointment. Well, we worked it out for her to go to karate and softball both that night. She ended up getting her purple belt. She also did kata with the group in front of all the parents!! Rock on!

KATA TESTING!

2007-05-06T21:29:00.000-06:00

So, the Corey had kata and one step testing on Friday. She had 6 one steps to know, and I think she got 3.5 so not too bad. She also needed to retest for her green belt kata and then her blue belt kata. She got them!! BOTH! Her patches are on her top already. She is so proud and excited. Now, let's see what happens next.

fun stuff

2007-04-13T05:02:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year when you can't sit still. Too bad the weather didn't figure it out. Monday, both kids had gymnastics. No big deal until you throw in the fact that Corey also had softball scheduled at the same time as her class. I wasn't smart enough to tell her to go to early class. (That's what one of her team mates and fellow aspiring gymnast did). However, we got a call canceling practice due to cold! It's APRIL! Oddly, we'd skipped our previous practice the Thursday before because it was around the freezing point and Monday was quite a bit warmer. Oh well. Wednesday was karate, thankfully indoors. And Thursday was softball and again COLDER. We went there and I'd say it was a hair above freezing. All I know is that Amory and I played on the play stuff while we were waiting and I thought I'd shiver to my death. Amory is doing AWESOME at throwing and catching. We took our gloves out and played for a bit. Corey's softball skills are far from perfect, but guess what, she's hustling! I think that will make a huge difference. Then finally on Friday, Corey had karate. She's getting better at her kata all the time, but still refuses to test. The good news is that she asked to get the curriculum and wants to practice. I think she is wanting to skip belts. Good luck with that!

karate tournament

2007-03-12T05:30:00.000-06:00

Well, Corey went to tournament. Actually, we all WENT, but Corey participated. She chose to do only 4 events. That's fine, we got home EARLY. She did strongest punch, strongest kick, fastest punch, and fastest kick. She didn't place real high in anything, but this year she didn't freak out. So, she did well in that respect. I asked her if she did her best and tried her best, and she said she did. That's all we can ask for.

One thing that pissed me off was that there was a man behind me yelling at his youngest son because he couldn't sit still in the stands while they were waiting. Guess what, NONE of the younger siblings could sit still. MOST parents knew that before hand, so we packed activities for the little ones. Not this family, they just yelled. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was when his older boy was competing, there was a small issue. His boy was NOT performing to the level that dad thought he should. Get this, the kid had THREE girls beat him. Honestly, this competition is supposed to be fun, each kid at least medals. I think as they get older, it MIGHT be harder for a girl to win (in fact in the older age divisions, there weren't many girls winning, but there also weren't many girls participating.) However, technique will win the "strongest" events. Now, if they are all using the same strike, sure the bigger guy will win. At nine all the kids are around the same size. The kids that won were the ones that did a better strike. I'm sure this poor boy was in trouble the whole way home. Oh, and it didn't matter to dear old dad that the kid was a green belt going against other kids of higher belt rank. MAYBE those kids that had been a green belt for awhile or even blue belts had a better technique.

Oh, and a parent of a child I know, I could see the parent getting on the kid's case. Little brother had been winning all his events. Guess what, IT GETS HARDER as you get older. Some kids get bigger faster, some kids learn new techniques. It just happens, and then there is the fact that the groups for the older kids are HUGE. Of course, they have this trade up system and if you get four first place trophies, you can trade for one tournament champion trophy and then you can also trade 2 of those trophies for 1 GRAND Tournament trophy. This family has all the boys put all their trophies together to get the tournament trophies. Poor kid wasn't pulling his weight.

softball

2007-02-18T19:18:00.000-06:00

Corey got the info for softball. She can either try out for a new team or be on her same team. Of course she wants her old team, so that's awesome. I hope she enjoys it as much this year.

The evil one

2007-02-12T08:11:00.000-06:00

(That would be Amory for those that don't know him).

Amory is now in a boys only class at gymnastics and is liking it a lot. They do things you don't see in the other classes. They go wild but it's usually a controlled chaos. Anyway, the boy loves his gymnastics class and his coaches.

Sadly, Amory has second child issues. He's never played preschool soccer, taken preschool music class or preschool art. In fact, he's only been in preschool since January. He'll have half a year under his belt when kindergarten starts where his sister had a full year. He recently told me he wants to play tennis. I'll have to look into that for summer.

He did go back to karate. He's not doing well with the sitting quietly part though. Sparring, he loves. We will see how it all works out.

Karate graduation

2007-01-13T21:57:00.000-06:00

Corey had her graduation demo the other night for karate. She was a green belt blue stripe, and was hoping to get her blue belt. Well for the demo part, she and a couple other girls (another 3rd grader and her 7th grade sister) did some throws and such. They had a blast. Anyway, when they called her name, she got he same green belt blue stripe. I could tell by her body language she was devastated. However, sensei had said at any time during the semester if they had tape on their belt (meaning they needed to perfect just one thing) they could re-test. Normally they only test once a session. Well, she coped until the end. She came up to me, and burst. Of course, my baby was crying, so I had to cry too. Well, we talked about it, and she understood what she needed to do to get her next belt and she went off to help clean up. A brown belt came up her and told her she did a great job at demo. (Everyone looks up to Jessie, she's a highschooler AND almost a black belt.)

So, we are doing clean up and sensei asked Corey if she had anything she wanted to show him. She decided to go ahead and do it. She passed, but she doesn't get the patch for the thing she did (kata) until it's even better. But, at least she passed. Corey is a blue belt!!!

so

2006-11-20T09:41:00.000-06:00

I haven't updated in months. MONTHS! That's because things are very calm around here this semester. All we have is karate for Corey and gymnastics for both of them. Corey still refuses to do her kata and I don't even know if she's been practicing it. A step in the right direction though is that she said that she plans on doing kata at a tournament sometime soon. That said, we didn't do tournament this year. Corey wasn't really motivated to do it, and ultimately, I wasn't forcing her. She does practice on the wavemaster a lot though.

Gymnastics is always great. Corey's come along way. Amory is a maniac on the trampoline. He's really learning so much in a smaller class size. I haven't decided what to do with him for next semester. Keep him in the preschool class or send him to the boys only group where he'd be on the younger side. I'll have to talk to his teacher.

Karate

2006-07-24T13:27:00.000-06:00

Well, the kids just had tournament a week ago. Now they are really enjoying their class. The green belt homework is getting harder, but Corey is starting to do really well with it. She also now knows her kata! I'm excited. I hope she tells sensei she knows it so that she can test on it! That would be cool.

Amory knows his stuff, but can't focus.

Mid Summer update

2006-07-17T00:40:00.000-06:00

Today was the last softball game of the season. It was so freaking hot today. Luckily, today was also karate tournament. That means legit excuse to not be in the heat! Summer tournament rules. Hardly anyone there, and it was so low key. Amory did very well, behaviour wise. He had alot of fun. He did the best at escape drill and had a big grin the entire time he was doing it. Sure, he got a medal, but he was 4th place, and it looked like he was the smallest in his group that time. Corey did really well too. She got third in strongest punch this time. She did great at sparring. She ended up losing her match, but I thought she showed so much imporvement. That's the important part.

Softball was so fun this season. The last practice was parents vs. kids. The kids really enjoyed it. I think most of the parents did too. Corey wasn't really wanting the season to end. There is supposed to be a get-together to get medals and such.

summer

2006-06-17T07:43:00.000-06:00

So the kids are doing gymnastics while I'm at work. I guess they are doing well. Corey says that Amory is working on his cartwheel right now and that he's getting good. Neither one has been on the trampoline lately though. Anyway, they both are doing summer karate. There is a demo team that they are both interested in somewhat, Amory more so than Corey. However, his attention span just isn't up to par somedays. We'll see how long he maintains.

They both start swim lessons on Monday.

Corey's still in softball. The last game she was catcher and pitcher and did awesome. I didn't get pics though. I don't know why I didn't take the camera.

Here are some pics of the game before that. She did great that day too.

karate graduation

2006-05-15T07:41:00.000-06:00

I'll put up pics soon, but anyway. Amory got his yellow belt. So excited. I can't believe how excited he was. We were leaving and he kept saying "I just knew I'd get it." Now he's set to spar. LOOK OUT! I told the big girls to go ahead and knock him down a few times. They said no because he was too cute. Damn teenagers. Anyway, Corey moved to green belt black stripe. She knows all the stuff on the curriculum, but she doesn't test well. She looks around and sees what others are doing. Too bad, she knows more than some of them! And kata, forget it. Corey was mad that her buddy Grayson got a higher belt than her. The thing is, Grayson actually worked on her kata. Now, I need to learn it so that I can get Corey to learn it. That's ok though.

presummer update

2006-05-09T22:42:00.000-06:00

Well, karate testing is done and out of the way. The kids both feel they did well. Corey KNOWS her kata, but she doesn't do it for anyone. VERY frustrating, but that's her thing. It's like a preformance anxiety. Oh well. Amory is really hoping for his yellow belt so he can do sparring. I can't believe I have to buy my four year old a cup.

We got Corey's softball game schedule. Seems great. Her team is called the frogs. Pretty tough. She seems to like it though. Good times.

Gymnastics. Corey finally mastered the cartwheel. Impressive. She's come a long way! Amory, he got kicked out of class the other night. Nice stuff. Summer schedule came out, I'm sending them both to morning classes in the summer.

Ahh yeah

2006-04-16T11:12:00.000-06:00

So, Corey started dance in March. It was a hip hop class. She ended dance in March. She decided this really wasn't her style. That's life. You can't like everything.

We got the call yesterday that softball is starting up. She goes on Tuesday for her first practice. I know she's ready to get going to that. Softball is a favorite of hers. Amory is going to sign up for blastball. That's what they do here before kindergarten and t-ball.

Both kids are still in karate and gymnastics. I'm impressed with Amory. Gymnastics is not too difficult for him, but he goes full force all the time. However, in karate, he acts up so I don't think that he's paying too much attention. However, he does know more than I thought he did. He's got all the defense moves, I think he's got his blocks and punches. He knows his kicks most of the time. He can NOT wait to get his yellow belt so he can start sparring. I can't wait for him to get his green belt so we only have to go to one session at tournament. However, he does love it, that's great. Corey is getting better all the time at gymnastics. I hope that she keeps the great attitude. In karate, she's finally getting her kata. She can do it, she just needs the confidence to do it on her own.

karate tournament

2006-03-27T06:47:00.000-06:00

So, tournament (or tourmanet if you are 4) was great and horrible all at once. Amory's session (also attended by Tristan, Haven and another 4 year old friend of ours, Valdez) was interesting. In the first event, Amory was near the front of the group for strongest punch. Being the socialite that he is, he walked around and didn't cut to get his spot back, and ended up near the end of the line. I don't know that he would have gotten a trophy, but he definitely didn't. He got a medal and was so excited (you will ALWAYS get a metal at these events). He thought it was the best time in the world! Valdez got a 2nd place trophy in that event and that was wonderful! All the kids thought it fun. That continued until the 4th event...

Fourth event, it's getting to be later. For some reason, Valdez punched Amory. I have no idea why and I'm sure Haven knows, but at this point, no one cares so I didn't ask. Valdez had a freakout. I guess he thought he was in trouble. He refused to respond, then he just cried and cried. Their sensei came over and tried to seperate them and such. Valdez refused to finish fastest kick.

So, I went to get Corey's registration forms and Monica took Valdez to get the other two when they finished. Amory had a meltdown. Kenny couldn't go help because we had so much stuff in the stands (purses, cameras, etc.) Anyway, so she gets him out of there. Valdez settles down, does the last event. Amory never settles down, just keeps screaming "I want to lay down". He doesn't do the last event. I fall victim to my stress and tell him he owes me $6 but whatever. Haven said she was done and also doesn't do the last event.

Amory was fine once we were out the door. Tristan, you'll notice no mention of him. He was a trooper. Towards the end, they were calling seven year olds for their next event while they were still on the floor for the previous thing. He just went along. I'm sure he was stressed, but he was fine.

All in all, it was a fun time. The four year olds were VERY tired. But that's nothing compared to the older kids.

Anyway, keep in mind that we left town around 7 and were at the tournament with the white belts just after 8am.

So, Corey was registered for all events she could except kata and weapons kata. She felt that she wasn't ready and of course that's fine. We go through all the events. Strongest punch, she improved so much this year but earned a medal. I reminded her it was about doing your best and that she did beat her best, so no worries. Next event, strongest kick. I'm watching from the stands. As I see Corey approaching the bag, I decide to go down and take a few more pictures.

So, all the time Corey is in line for strongest kick, she's flirting with a boy. I'm thinking to myself, how are you EVER going to do well in an event where you aren't even paying attention. Well, she gets up there and kicks so hard I couldn't believe it! Ends up that she took first place. This is the first time she WON a trophy. She's brought trophies home, because they have a trade up system, but this one, she won all on her own, and it was a FIRST PLACE trophy.

She goes throught fastest fist and fastest kick. She isn't so good at these because she pulls back when she hears the signal. She does hit it hard though. She ends up with medals in both those.

Finally, she's called for escape drill. It's 5pm at this point. I know what time it is because I text message my friend that has Amory. I tell her only two more events, and she'd been called for one. All day the announcers were saying "we will be here until 8." SURE, that may have been the intention. At 6:30, she came off the floor on that event. She sat in line for 90 minutes! I was crabby, but I let it go. Then, one big kid got injured on this event and action was at a stand still. They got an ambulance and the kid finished his day with a ride to the hospital. Never has there been an injury that I've seen. He kicked the bag wrong and hurt his knee really bad. I feel so bad for this kid.

At 8:30, they get called for sparring. (there were kata events in between, so it's not that it took that long). She gets suited up for sparring, and off she goes. My friend that had Amory called and said just leave him. It's getting so late and the boys are fine, pick him up in the morning. THANK GOODNESS! I can't imagine how he'd act at this, he was so crabby when he left.

So, anyway, she finally gets up there to spar at 9:30. Sensei James was one of the judges and that made Corey happy. She got some good kicks in and did really well. She ended up losing that first round. If you lose your first one you are out. She was sent off to get her sparring award. Some of the judges were keeping the kids the whole time. Luckily James let his kids go.

Well, Corey gets out of there, looks at me and said, "I lost, I don't care." She was READY to leave. We leave the venue at 10pm.

Well, since Amory wasn't an issue, we ate and finally got home around 1am.

picture link password is karate

updates

2006-02-19T18:03:00.000-06:00

Karate is going well. Corey usually does so much better when her buddy Jasmine isn't there. She goofed off at kata class so much it wasn't even funny. However, she's interested in learning her kata and also some of the harder ones. No, she couldn't test right now over it, but that's ok. Gotta keep practicing. They thought it was cool though that Sensei James's dad was at class Friday night. Kinda neat what's cool to kids. Corey is doing better in sparring, I think this setting this year is awesome for her. She doesn't seemed worried when she fights higher belts anymore (except the teenagers worry her). Gymnastics is the same old same old. I hope that there is a later class for the boys next school year. Amory would love a boy class.

Softball signups are out. Corey wants to stay with the same team. We'll see. I am NOT doing fundraiser though. We WILL pay the $100 instead.

karate kids

2006-02-06T19:16:00.000-06:00

Amory is practicing all the time. Yeah, he's only a white belt, but he loves it. He can't wait until he gets to spar. Not long now (yeah, right).

Corey has been working hard. She has been working on her combos for sparring. It's a bit hard, but she has 3 out of 5 done and written. She actually enjoyed kata class, so I know that's a big plus. She's improved alot on her kata.

rock

2006-01-19T06:28:00.000-06:00

So, Amory had his first karate class. He did ok except having to go to the bathroom all night. He was so excited. I'm not sure that I'll sign in as a parent helper unless it's for safe shield. Just depends on how he does. Last night was a long night because we have a lot of sitting around. Next week though, we will be at the 6:30 class for Amory (as well as Haven, Tristan, Valdez, and Angel). Then Corey's class is at 8. It's a longer class, but that's fine. I'm trying to convince her that the kata class is a great idea. We'll see. All she cares about now is the sparring class.

Oh, and on the gymnastics front, Corey's friend Aubrey joined and so now she has a buddy there.

so

2006-01-12T22:08:00.000-06:00

Corey's been improving on her gymnastics. She has been practicing, and of course, she's been on the trampoline almost every day since christmas.

Amory, still wild, but awesome at gymnastics. Probably because he has NO fear!

Corey got her green belt white stripe. I know she tried really hard in her mind, I just need to convince her that if she only practices a day or two before testing, it's not the same as if you were that diligent the whole session. She's mad that Grayson knew the whole kata. Not my fault the 5 year old friend practices everyday.

Anyway, Amory starts karate this time! Just a week away! Should be great. I personally will be tired, but oh well.

bowling

2005-12-19T14:18:00.000-06:00

The kids had their first bowling experience this weekend. It was fun. Corey wasn't too bad. Amory had lots of energy. Might have to take them again. Haven't thought about leagues, don't know how much the kids like it.

Ok, so the the repost, etc.

2005-12-16T19:18:00.000-06:00

The long post talked about Corey loving her gymnastics class at G-Force. Amory has really taken a liking to it there and was begging to quit parks and rec to go there. He was doing awesome at parks and rec. He has so much fun on the trampoline and bars. He finished up the session and did great! I did promise him that he could go to g-force if he really wanted to.

Also, I mentioned Corey's karate tournament. It's always fun. Corey really improved. She participated in strongest and fastest hitting and kicking. She also did the escape drill. There were a ton of kids in each of her groups, so, it was really hard to move up to the top and in one group she got a 4th place finish and there was very little difference between 1st and 4th. Oh well, that's life. As long as she had fun.

So, on to NOW.

Amory is officially at g-force. He had his first class last night and was super hyper, but his teacher was fine with that. She just channeled it better. Amory has decided to be a cheerleader in college. The KU spirit squad practices when we are watching Corey. He doesn't care about her, he just loves watching those guys flip and the girls fly. He will be starting karate soon. He's really excited and has already picked up some of the stuff from his sister.

Corey had her belt testing. She thinks she did well. I hope so. I can't get her to practice, so who knows. I know her buddy Grayson knew the whole kata. Corey knew very little of it. As for the other stuff, I know she knew the lapel grab (for example) and she forgot kinda what to do AT the test. I peeked in and saw tears in her eyes. Hope she practices more. We talked about it, hope she remembers that in the future.

I made a long post

2005-11-26T07:31:00.000-06:00

and it's gone. I'll do it again later.

small update

2005-11-08T22:46:00.000-06:00

Ok, so Amory is in gymnastics. He's doing well. He figured out the somersault and can do a flip over the bars. He's going through parks and rec. He just had his last class in session 1. He will start session 2 next week. However, the boy wants to switch to g-force. It will be more money, but they have male instructors and it looks like fun. It only offers floor and trampoline, but he says he's ok with that.

Corey is still liking karate. She's struggling on pushups. She refuses to listen when given pointers. She claims her pe teacher taught her a certain way, and I have a very hard time believing that. Anyway, she chose not to test for her fitness merit badge. She's lost her fan, and is whining about that. Apparently, it's my job to find it. Tournament is this weekend. That should be fun. She is NOT doing sparring at it. She didn't want to wait all night. She was so tired after last years tournament. I wonder why it has to be last!

I ran into one lady who had a kid in Corey's same karate class last year and she said that she couldn't bring her kids any more because the Wednesday was not working for their schedule. It wasn't my first choice either, but luckily, we were fine.

Corey had her third practice in her cheer class. She's really coming along. She loves the trampoline. She looks like she's having a blast when I watch it.

Cheer

2005-10-27T07:15:00.000-06:00

So, Corey started cheer this week. She's at G-force. She loves it. It's an 85 minute class and I watched part of it. She was doing well and fit right in. Well, while she was jumping on the trampoline, the KU spirit squad came in to practice. She was so excited! She is excited also to learn cartwheels and stuff like that too. I think this is going to be great for her!

No karate this week. Amory keeps reminding me that he's "four years old" and can do karate now. Can't wait until January. Sorry Sensei James, he's bringing a buddy too! Good thing you are so awesome with the wild ones.

Ahh, Stress

2005-10-06T22:27:00.000-06:00

So, Corey didn't get signed up for basketball. I won't blame anyone as things happen, but I'm a bit sad. She LOVES basketball and I don't know if she realizes yet that she's not in. She's got karate still and we are going to go over and sign her up for her cheer class soon. I wanted to do that today, but that's where the stress sets in, there is NO time in my days this week.

Amory is still enrolled in hot shot tots sports. I think he hates it. He throws himself down and refuses to participate. I leave there angry so it's not good for either of us. However, he loves gymnastics and can't wait for karate to start again next session because he will be finally 4. That will be great for him, but also it will suck. Corey is a green belt and Amory will of course be in white belt. That means we get to go to tournament for about 11 hours. :) What fun!

Update

2005-09-22T05:32:00.000-06:00

So, Amory is taking gymnastics on Monday mornings through parks and rec. They recently changed facilities and are now in the East Lawrence Center. It is closer to home, and it's nice to have day classes. He's doing well, but a bit antsy waiting his turn. They mentioned moving him to a 4 year old class, but I don't know.

Tuesdays, Amory takes Hot Shot Tots Sports. He's actually not too bad at batting, kicking and catching. He needs to work on the throw. That's all fine, until he loses interest. I hope to get Corey in cheer on Tuesdays.

Wednesday is karate night. Corey is now a green belt and is very excited because this means she gets to start weapons. Their weapon this time is a fan. Sounds kinda lame, but it's good when you look into the history, and it actually can look cool. She also loves sparring and is saddened that it's not every time, but that happens I guess.

Thursdays, stay home!!!!
Friday too!!!

I am still trying to get Corey in basketball so, I'm sure our days off will cut down, but we love to be busy!

Fall sports

2005-08-11T23:53:00.000-06:00

Turns out that the fall softball league is only for older girls, and you have to register as a team. Corey mentioned at one point that she wanted to take football. I don't know if she still does, but regardless, we missed the cutoff for it, I believe. I don't know the contact info on that.

Karate will be starting soon. I'd LOVE to get both kids in this. Also starting soon will be gymnastics. Amory takes them through parks and rec and I think I'll keep him there. Corey is wanting to do cheer, so I'm looking at G-Force athletics to get her in there for tumbling/cheer. I think she will love it.

swimming

2005-08-11T21:47:00.000-06:00

I never did post about the kids doing swim lessons. They took lessons at Alvamar this year. A great friend of ours offered to transport, so I quickly agreed. It was a bit pricy, but it was basically private lessons. Only my two and my friends two were in class and there were two classes, so that means a 2:1 ratio! Anyway, Amory took level one and aced it. He is quite the natural in the water. He BEGGED the teacher to let him do the boards. He loved it.

Amory got the idea to go off boards when he saw his sister do it the day before. She was VERY nervous, but she managed. She completed the level 2 class.

Last game

2005-07-15T07:25:00.000-06:00

Well, Corey had her last game on the 14th. She did well and played right field and shortstop. She was asked to catch again, but she didn't get to. We met the time limit. It was another hot game. I'm sad that the season is over, but I'm not all that sad that we won't be toasting.

Corey struck out one inning. She was devastated. I know that feeling, but it happens to everyone. Then, she hit another homer. That kid was beaming. The next hit she got she made it to base, but ended up stranded on 2nd. Then the last hit of the season, she hit to the pitcher who scooped it up and threw her out at first. I thought the world had come to an end. She did get an rbi for that though. She wouldn't listen that it was a good thing.

Corey loved her season and hopes to play in the fall. I need to make some calls to see how likely that will be.

July 10th

2005-07-11T23:34:00.000-06:00

No pictures this time. Man, this game was HOT. The King Cobras were set to take the field at 4:30. We were out warming up as early as 3:45. The game didn't start until nearly 5:00. WOW it was a toasty one! I didn't play or even help in the dugout, but I was drenched. Corey told her coach she was sick and couldn't play catcher this time. Oh well. Her hitting wasn't as good either, but the girls did so well.

July 8th

2005-07-08T21:27:00.000-06:00

We went to Tristan's (a good friend of ours) t-ball game. Some of these boys are going to be great later in their little league careers. One boy looked like a big leaguer when got up to bat. Never mind that he was the smallest guy on his team!

Tristan was great. He goes all out and gives 100% every time he's doing something. He goes for the ball EVERY time. No playing in the dirt for him. He loves this game and has a natural talent. I loved seeing him grab the ball and run for the base every time.

Check out this picture of him sizing up the guy on first. Looks like he's thinking, "I WILL get you out."

July 7th's game

2005-07-07T22:00:00.000-06:00

Corey plays for the LGFPA U8 King Cobras. They played against the "red" team called the cardinals. There are some amazing hitters on that Cardinal team. One girl, Caly, is also a wonderful fielder. You have to love watching these young teams. This girl Caly was playing at the pitching position. In the U8 league, it's all coach pitch. So, this ball is popped up, which you don't see much of in this league. Caly caught the fly. Everyone in the crowd (even the parents of the "green" team) was yelling about how great a catch it was. However, she didn't know what to do with it once she had it. Beautiful catch, and lots of fun.

Now, on to MY kid. Corey played fabulously. She played secondbase and also right field. She's starting to really get the concept of going after the ball and really trying. Too bad there's only two games after this. Well, also, she got a home run. That was just great to see. She ran as fast as her little legs could go!

Practice

2005-07-06T21:49:00.000-06:00

The weather today was great. Add that to a 7pm practice, and you can't beat it. Corey and her teammates seem to really be improving. Some of them are actually catching the ball and throwing. Hitting is also improving.

They have a game tomorrow at 6pm! I am so glad my camera is fixed. I haven't taken a single softball picture all season!

I've decided

2005-07-01T12:51:00.000-06:00

I'm going to make this a blog of sports. Of course, since I only go to little league, it will be about that.

Now, Corey - my 7 year old daughter- is in softball. She had practice last night, but it was rained out. I don't like her coach all that much, so I'll be coaching next year. Should be fun.

Guess what?

2005-06-30T22:37:00.000-06:00

I don't ever post in my blog! Woohoo!

We went to the firestation today for a field trip. It rained.

Just something funny

2005-05-27T22:21:00.000-06:00

Kids are just too funny. This kid the other day kept putting her hand up in the air like the whole Hitler thing. So the aide in my room tells her, "Mary, no hiel Hitler's in this room." The kid (6 years old) looks at her and says straight faced, "I don't know any of those new dances." I about fell out of my chair it was that funny.