Cross Training at Core TaeKwonDo Video

Here’s the video we got. Sometimes it was hard to see T in the crowd. Great training today. 

Cross Training at Core TaeKwonDo

A great day of training today. T made another new friend today. This kid makes friends everywhere he goes😊.  Plus his new gear came in and it’s a size larger than the old gear and it doesn’t look like it will be long before he’ll need the next size up🤦🏻‍♀️.

Mom’s Hip Doctor and Pt Appointments Today

Mom’s rocking her PT. Getting better each visit. Here’s some pics I got today. 

The hip doctor told us she could bend more than 90 degrees now. She’s so excited about being able to do that. She moves to one day a week PT starting next week. He says she needs to wait close to the four month time frame from surgery before going back to work though to give herself some extra time for healing and getting even more stable. 

Working with Scot Today

Today T and I went to help Scot on a project.  T got to learn about tile and grout cleaning.  Plus he got to learn about sealing grout once it's been cleaned.  He are a couple of pics that I got and I will add more pics later of the sealing of the grout if they were able to get some pictures for me to share because I didn't stay for that portion of the job.  

Then and Now

I wanted to share this comparison pic I did with you of T the first time he did any sparring at our home dojang, Black Belt World, and one that was taken this year at the AAU Virginia State Championships.  T loves this sport so much and desires to continue doing it and see where it takes him.  He loves his coaches and his teammates too.  I'm seeing such maturity in him from last year to this year.  I'm seeing more leadership qualities coming to the surface and shining.  He is going to be a great Master someday.  I can't wait for the day when he has his own dojang teaching his own classes.  

Update on Mom

Mom uses only the cane at home now.  They haven't given her the ok to use it everywhere yet because they want her more stable with it first so she still uses the walker when we go out anywhere.  If she wants to go shopping she rides the carts because she's not ready for all that walking yet.  Her PT is going so good and she improves each time she goes in.  She goes to her hip doctor Thursday and he will let us know then if she can finally break the 90 degree hip protocols he has her on.  So proud of how far she has come but also being extremely careful about her pushing too much to do things because we don't want any risk of that hip popping back out.  I've expressed to her that this is going to be a very busy summer for us with four major tournaments that T will be doing and all of them are out of state.  I can't risk having her do anything that will put us back at day one with all that we have coming up on our calendars with T.  So we will see what her doctor says when we see him.  

Carolina Hurricanes - Take Warning!!!

Carolina Hurricanes are the division champions!!!  Those of you that know me well know that I love hockey and I love our local team Carolina Hurricanes😊!!!  So looking forward to seeing how they do in tue Stanley Cup Championships. Really hoping and praying they bring home the big win this year!!!  Go Canes!!!

T's Endocrinologist Appointment This Morning

T had his appointment early this morning. It was a good appointment.  Upon talking to the doctor and giving her all the information she asked for she seemed to think T might fall between 5'7"-5'9" tall.  She did a blood work up though as well as a bone age scan.  I don't know how to read this so I messaged her asking for understanding of how tall he might grow.  We are waiting to hear back from her but I thought you might like to see his scans.  As soon as we know the piece of information we all would like to know I will pass it on to you by editing this post to include the result she gives us under the pictures I'm about to share with you now.  Upon looking at the pics though it looks like he still has a lot of growing to do.  She did tell us that he is due a growth spurt at 14 years old so that should be happening soon...LOL! Remember I'll post what she comes back and tells us below the pictures as soon as she tells us.  This is what they do for a bone age scan though.  They scan your left hand.  T will go back in four months for them to do all this again and have something to compare with this initial scan they've done.

  Here is what his doctors says:

His bone age shows his growth plates are exactly what we would expect for his age, so his predicted adult height would correlate directly to his mid-parental target height based on mom and dad's height, which is calculated at 5 feet 7 inches, plus or minus 2 inches. His final adult height will really depend on how quickly he progresses through puberty. Some people's puberty progresses slowly and they grow for a longer amount of time and reach a slightly higher height than predicted, and others progress very quickly and stop growing sooner. We can assess this rate by re-checking the bone age x-ray in about 6 months to see how quickly the growth plates seem to be advancing and closing. Overall it is always very difficult to give an exact prediction of how tall someone will end up being because there are so many different factors as play and everyone is a little different.

The blood test will make sure all of his hormones are in the normal range as well, and that there is nothing working against him to achieve optimal growth. I will let you know when I see the results!

 

Taylor Murphy, NP

UNC Pediatric Endocrinology 

Our thoughts:

So now we have the task of taking the information we have as a family and make the best decision going forward whether to stay in this sport or move on to other avenues.  We always want to make the best decision for T in moving him forward in his goals.  At the end of the day when we've discussed it all and given some time to figuring things out we will let everyone know what that decision will be.  Don't expect us to say right away as this may take some time to figure this all out with us as a family and with the coaches.  Know this though, that the absolute best decision will be made for the betterment and future of T and his goals.  

USA TaeKwonDo Moving Forward

USA TaeKwonDo is the pathway for anyone who desires to be able to represent their country at the Olympics.  If an athlete has an olympic dream this is the road they have to travel to get there.  Will that be the case for our son???  Honestly we don't know as of yet.  There are a lot of factors that go into an athlete being able to be competitive on that level.  One of which that is a huge a factor is height.  Tomorrow we go see a Peds Endocrinologist to see about getting a bone age scan for T.  The information having that done gives us is that all important factor of height which we need to know going forward in this sport.  If his stature is going to be that of a short stature that doesn't count him out entirely in this sport but it does make the road ahead a more challenging one and one in which he will need to train harder than he ever has before in order to achieve his goals.  T and his teammates are so very talented in this sport and hard work does pay off.  We've seen that with his best bud and teammate Chris who is currently a scholarship athlete with the USA TaeKwonDo Olympic Team.  What that means is he's a team member but he is not fully funded until he is a resident team member.  Chris is on track for becoming a Resident Olympic Team Member.  That is pretty much the hope and dream of T and all of his teammates.  It speaks volumes that T has a teammate that is on this path and it also speaks volumes of the talent of their coach, Master Amao Wasiu Tadjou who is from Ivory Coast Africa, here at home.  

T's path has not been an easy one.  It took us some time to find the right coach(es) to help our son be able to be competitive in this sport.  He has such an amazing coach in Master Wasiu.  He also has other amazing Masters who pour into his life in this sport as well.  They are all instrumental in the journey T has been on all these years and we are so incredibly thankful for them.  Master Wasiu especially though.  He has been major for T. 

T recently fought his last fight at his currently weight division though and will be moving up a weight division.  What does that mean for T?  Much taller fighters.  Can he fight and win?  We have every confidence that if he puts in the work and really believes in himself that he can fight and win in his new division.  It all boils down to this....how much does he want it?, is he willing to work incredibly hard for it?, and will he have the confidence to do it?  These are all things that only T can control though.  He's growing so much and maturing a ton and we feel with the right guidance he will be able to meet the challenges ahead head on and do well.  It will be a learning curve at first though and he totally understands that.  

At the end of May T will fight his first fight in his new weight division at an Open Tournament in Texas.  Open means that fighters from other countries will be there and its a major competition.  He's looking forward to this event and will be training hard to get ready for it.  Be praying for us and him as we prepare for this next event and division for T.  

We are so excited about what the future holds for our son.  He's an amazing young man who has lots and interests and talents.  The future is bright for him whatever path he decides to take in life.  We love this TaeKwonDo journey that he's been on but if it happens to take on a different path and look we are fine with that too.  He's done so much and accomplished so much in his young life and more so than most kids his age have accomplished.  To say Scot and I are proud of T is such an understatement at this point because we are so overly ecstatic at all he's done and is doing.  Looking forward to the future because it's bright for our son!!!    

Mom’s PT Today

Mom was rocking’ it again at PT today. She’s getting stronger 💪 .

Stepping exercise. 

Sit to stand exercise. 

Kicking out with ankle weights. 

Resistance exercise. 

Mom’s PT Today

Mom is rocking her PT. Today she learned how to walk with the cane. She still has to use the walker when we go places for now and use the cane at home until she is used to using it. 

AAU SC State Championship 2022 Video

More Pics from AAU SC Championship 2022

T fought so good. He’s improving more and more and we are so proud of his progress. He’s learning so much and making so many adjustments right now because of new rules that are being implemented this year. 

He Is Risen

Linked 24:6 “He is not here, but he is risen…”
Happy Resurrection Day!!!

Great Day for Team WOW 🤩

Team WOW had an incredible day today. All gold medals except one which was Silver but they only got Silver because it was two of our own fighting one another, T and David. Here’s a few pics for now and more to come later. 

One of our favorite Ref’s. He’s such a great guy. 

T and his buddy Braston. 

Team picture. So proud!!!

Blast From The Past

Blast from the past. USA TaeKwonDo South Carolina State Championship in 2018.  T won gold that year. I miss when he was just my little boy. He’s now just about as tall as me and looking more like a man everyday.  Of course it doesn’t take much to be as tall as me…LOL! Tomorrow T fights at AAU South Carolina State Championship. Looking forward to a fun time with the team.

Now he looks like this:

Happy Birthday to Scot

We got Scot two new T shirts for his birthday. Check ‘em out. One he wore today and the other he will wear tomorrow. 

Good Friday!!!

They brought Jesus to Golgotha, which means “Skull Hill.” And there the soldiers offered Him a mild painkiller, a drink of wine mixed with gall, but after tasting it, He refused to drink it. Then they crucified Jesus, nailing His hands and feet to the cross. The soldiers divided His clothing among themselves by rolling dice to see who would win them. And the soldiers stood there to watch what would happen and to keep guard over Him. Above His head they placed a sign that read, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of Israel.” Two criminals were also crucified with Jesus, one on each side of Him. And those who passed by shook their heads and spitefully ridiculed Him, saying, “We heard you boast that You could destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days! Why don’t you save yourself now? If you’re really God’s Son, come down from the cross!” Even the ruling priests, with the Jewish scholars and religious leaders, joined in the mockery and kept on saying, “He saved others, but He can’t even save Himself! Israel’s king, is He? He should pull out the nails and come down from the cross right now; then we’ll believe in Him! He says He puts all His trust in God, so let’s see if it’s true, and see if God really wants to rescue His ‘favorite son’!” Even the two criminals who were crucified with Jesus began to taunt Him, hurling their insults on Him. For three hours, beginning at noon, darkness came over the earth. And at three o’clock Jesus shouted with a mighty voice in Aramaic, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” —that is, “My God, My God, why have You deserted me?” Some who were standing near the cross misunderstood and said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One bystander ran and got a sponge, soaked it with sour wine, then put it on a stick and held it up for Jesus to drink. But the rest said, “Leave Him alone! Let’s see if Elijah comes to rescue Him.” Jesus passionately cried out, took His last breath, and gave up His spirit. At that moment the veil in the Holy of Holies was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth shook violently, rocks were split apart, and graves were opened. Then many of the holy ones who had died were brought back to life and came out of their graves. And after Jesus’ resurrection, they were plainly seen by many people walking in Jerusalem. Now, when the Roman military officer and his soldiers witnessed what was happening and felt the powerful earthquake, they were extremely terrified. They said, “There is no doubt, this man was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:33-54 - TPT).

Happy Birthday 🎊🎈🎂🎉 Scot!!!

Today we celebrate an amazing man, father, and husband on his birthday. We are so incredibly blessed to be living this life with you. Happy Birthday Babe!!!  T and I love you to the moon and beyond!!!

Earlier This Week with His Body Coach

Here’s a short video of T from earlier this week with his body coach. 

Mom’s A Trooper

Mom’s a trooper. PT has went really good the last two visits this week. We had a set back when her sciatica acted up in her surgery leg but she’s making forward progress now. Here’s a pic and video. 

T’s New Hoodie

This was a Christmas gift from T’s Uncle Jeff and Aunt Debbie. They had given him one at Christmas that turned out to be too small. Growing problems…LOL!  It took them a while to find another hoodie and T received it yesterday. Green is a color he can actually see. He loves this hoodie. He’ll still be able the wear it in the fall😊. 

What a Memory😊

This memory popped up on Scot’s Facebook page today and Nan had her glasses on. 

National Siblings Day 4.10.2022

I’m the oldest of seven siblings. Their pics are in order left to right of oldest to youngest. I’m able to stay in touch with most of my siblings. Even though most of us live far apart they are always in my heart and prayers.