Wally World Run…

We made a Walmart run and the kids went in their pj pants🤦🏻‍♀️. 

USAT VA…

T is weighed in and ready to go tomorrow. He and Ari were 2 pounds under at weigh in. I needed an easy button for that. One of the easiest weigh ins ever. Of course he’s weighing up to the heaviest weight division he’s ever been in before with taller guys but he said it’s worth it not to be cutting like many of the guys he fought last year are. T and Ari got to have Macarons as soon as they got back in the truck after weigh in. Here are so pics I got this evening. 

Waiting to weigh in. 



They beat us to the vehicle for the first time ever…LOL! 

They were trying to distract themselves at Olive Garden while waiting on their food…LOL! 

T’s Futon😊

T has a place for him and his friends to sit and sleep when they visit us now in his teen cave😊. We finally had time to get it out of the box and in his room…LOL!  He’s only been bugging us about it for like forever 🙄.  #teendrama

We got this because T’s Taekwondo Master  has one in his dojang and it has stood up to all the kids in after school care…LOL! I don’t think they are making it anymore so I’m glad that we bought when we did because we wouldn’t be able to get one now.  Each time we do something to his room it makes the space look so much better😊. There’s still more to do but that will be for another day. 

The brown table you see in the picture to the left will get painted black at some point. Then his huge millennium falcon will go on it😊. That will be a happy day because then it will be off my dinning room table…LOL! 

Fighting Hairstyle…

T will be fighting Saturday with his hair like this so his hair doesn’t get in his eyes or face while fighting. 

Training Tonight…

T led the class in stretching tonight. He’s taking it easy before he fights Saturday at the USAT VA State Championships. 

New Shoes For The Spring/Summer…

Easter came early for T. We got him the sports crocs that he’s been wanting. He had no Spring/Summer shoes that fit anymore and this is what he wanted. He loves them. 

That’s a red Crocs Lego jibbitz you see in his croc. He’s getting a money sign jibbitz and a fire 🔥 jibbitz to put in them that he ordered. Since everyone calls him Money at the dojang he thought that would be fitting. 

T & Ari Strategizing….

T & Ari have been strategizing and going over what Master Doug has taught them and making it better. If you wanna win you’ve got to Make It Happen!  You’ve got to Put In The Work to get the Results that you want!  These two kids are highly motivated and T has the attitude that “I’ll be damned if anyone is going to get the better of me!”  

We’ve seen such a huge change in T’s mind recently. He’s really got that fighters mindset. It only took him listening to an extremely raw book by David Goggins and having to recover from a rib injury back in January for that switch in his mind to happen. Goggins is a Navy Seal who came from a rough upbringing. Both have made him the man he is today. He has no quit in him. He has no I can’t in his vocabulary. It’s not an easy book to listen to because, like I said, it’s extremely raw language and all. In the fighting world (sports/competition world) it’s a game changer to listen to this book on Audible. Just reading the physical book won’t accomplish the reaction we’ve seen in our sons mindset when it comes to his taekwondo fighting. It’s got to be listened to and you’ve got to be able to deal with the rawness for the message of it to really get in you. 

Being a Christian listening to stuff like that book is hard. It’s hard on your heart to hear all that rawness but the message of it really hits home when it comes to having a strong mindset for the sport that you do. A strong mindset gets you far when you are a competitor. 

Now when T trains we see his new mindset coming out on the mat. He’s holding back with his teammates but he won’t with a real competitor at a tournament and I feel for anyone who has to fight him because he’s not just going to let them have an easy win nor is he going give up anymore just because they are bigger. He no longer lets thoughts that someone’s better get into his mind. He no longer lets how big they are dictate to him that he can’t win. He’s in a much different and stronger place. 

I told him now you can understand the Bible’s account of David and Goliath better because he had the attitude you have right now because he wasn’t going to let anyone think they could, even for a moment, get the better of God’s people!  David was the only one out of all the soldiers with armor that had that mindset. Everyone else was fearful because of Goliaths size but not David. He fought Goliath with no armor at all!  He had a sling and 5 smooth stones to fight him with and he defeated Goliath!!!  That story sinks in more now for T because of the Goggins book. That book was a huge light bulb moment for T. We are going to really enjoy watching him at tournaments now because it’s like he’s a brand new person out on the mat now. Win or learn T is for sure going to be leaving it all on mat and he is doing his best to help Ari understand and have that mindset as well. 

David Goggins Book “Can’t Hurt Me” has changed the entire fight game for T.  I’d encourage anyone who is a serious competitor with high goals to listen to this book. They need to be an older teen to adult to be able to handle the rawness of the book though. This is not something for a young child competitors ears. 

Pic of T and Ari talking things out and training together on Bob. 

The realization has set in for us that T is getting too tall for the fan light in our living room.  Especially when he does jumping techniques…LOL!  I may have to have Scot put in a light that is flush with the ceiling😳😱🤦🏻‍♀️. 

Cryotherapy is a Game Changer!

T has been back doing cryotherapy for several weeks now and the results are amazing. He hasn’t complained about his knees hurting him at all. His osgood schlatters all but disappears when he’s going to these sessions. 

T Shoes For Ari's Semi-Formal School Dance...

T will be going to Ari's end of the year Semi-Formal 8th Grade Dance in May.  She's picked out her dress and her mom is getting it this weekend.  We've got T's hightops (that's what the boys are wearing with their suits) to go with his suit.  We still have to buy his suit and have it altered from the Men's Warehouse.  We actually chose the suit last weekend though.  Can't believe my boy is going to be going to his first school dance.  It may be his last too because they are looking to start homeschooling Ari next year.  Here's what T's hightops look like that we ordered.  They are Jordan Air Force 1's.  It's what all the guys wear.  They are going to be going with either a navy/grey suit and her blue dress that she is getting.  

I love that these two kids are such great friends.  They have built a really strong friendship and no matter what happens they will always have that.  T really looks out for her too.  I love seeing my boy turning into such a great young man 🥰.  

T’s New Sparring Uniform…

So we did a thing. We broke down and bought the new sparring uniform that we were like we weren’t going to buy. The fighters actually love the uniform because it’s lighter and the material is stretchy so that they can be more flexible when fighting. T is really looking forward to wearing it at USAT Virginia and USAT East Grand Prix. The arm and leg guards fit snug under the uniform so they shouldn’t move around as much. We’ll see when he fights next weekend. 

Facebook Memory from 2019....

This is a throw back to when T won Gold at the NC State Championship in 2019 against Landon Peters.  T fought him so well.  He had just beat him and got Gold at GA State a few weeks prior and fought him again at NC State and won.  The pic below is of T and his buddy Chris.  They have both grown up so much since that time.  

Chris has since graduated High School with an Associates Degree before even doing his first day of college classes.  He's attending UNC Charlotte and he's on the Scholarship USA Taekwondo Team.  He's going hard after his dream of representing USA in the 2028 Los Angles California Olympics.  We still love watching him compete.

T is no longer a little boy as he was in this picture below.  He's a straight A student who is going hard himself after earning a USA Taekwondo National Medal/US Open (G2) Medal.  Plus he would like to make it on either the Scholarship Team or actually make USA Team someday.  Once he accomplishes those goals he will set even higher goals (such as winning at Worlds/Olympics/G2 Event in other countries) but for now those are his main goals.  To earn a medal at those events and possibly bring home Gold from those events is important to him.  That's as high as he's setting his bar right now.  Once he does that then he'll set a new bar.  T is my realistic kid.  He doesn't set goals that are too far fetched.  Many competitors have the Olympic dream but very few get there because getting to the Olympics is no easy task.  Most have a 0.0000000000000000001 percent chance of getting to the big show and T knows that is very rare and an extremely hard get.  Not impossible but hard.  He's putting in a lot of hard work and it shows.  His mental game is really firing up right now.  The way he's thinking about the fight game right now is spot on and we are looking forward to seeing all that he will accomplish with his mind so different and stronger now.  Such exciting times for us.  

Keep praying for our boy as he competes and goes hard after his dreams.  Pray for God's hand to be on him.  Pray for the courage that God gave David to defeat Goliath to be upon him.  Pray for the Holy Spirits guidance as he keeps going after his goals.  And pray for safety for him and his teammates as they compete this year.  

Yesterday’s Training…

Yesterday was an intense training session. The coach really pushed them and had them fighting a lot.  They were all doing really good yesterday. T and Ken had several fights. Master Doug did that mainly to teach them both a lesson on how team members should treat one another. He was mostly teaching Ken the lesson by letting them get it out on the mat. Ken has been upset because the girl he liked didn’t like him but liked T. He’s not been very nice to them because of it. Lots of teen drama and the coach squashed it yesterday. I loved how he handled it. At the end Ken apologized to both T and Ari for his behavior and everything was right in the world again🙄🤦🏻‍♀️. 

At the end of training they had trained so hard that T threw up (mostly water from drinking it too fast) but prior to that happening T accidentally hurt one of his teammates, Cyrus. Cyrus ended up having to have 10 stitches in his mouth. It was totally unintentional and T has felt so bad ever since. He understands it’s a contact sport and accidents happen but he still feels bad nonetheless. 

Here’s the video from last night. 

Out at Ari’s…

T, Ari, and her little brother Bobby went four wheeling today after team training. T wore some tactical pants that his dad can’t fit into that were really too big for T but with a belt they fit fine. They had a blast riding all over their 30 acres of wooded land while Scot watched as Ari’s dad John did some sand blasting getting rust and paint off an old tractor that her dad is restoring. Her mom and I walked all over the property today. My Apple Watch was very happy with me today as I closed all of my exercise rings today and almost closed them a second time…LOL! Here are some pics I got of T and Ari.

They were looking over at Bobby in this picture. 

Laughing at Bobby in this picture. 

T and Ari took turns driving all day today. We ended today with a Mexican dinner. 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day ☘️…

T is only a little bit 🤏🏼 taller than me🤣🤣🤣. Happy ☘️ St. Patty’s Day ☘️ !  May the “Luck of the Irish” be with you!

L👀k Close At T’s Shirt…

T is wearing ☝️ of his dad’s old sports car club t-shirts. Pop, this will be a blast 💥 from the past for you and Nan😊…LOL🤣🤣🤣!

T’s Ortho Appointment…

T had his Ortho appointment today and it went great. Everything is looking great and his teeth are doing good. Afterwards we went to WichWich for Wicked Wednesday sub sandwiches. That was our late lunch/early dinner. I got this crazy 😜 pic there…LOL🤣🤣🤣!

Haircuts and Shaves…

The boys both got shaves and a haircut. They clean up so nice. That’s was probably the closest shave Scot has had in quite some time…LOL!  Truco is awesome. 

Training Yesterday…

It was a great training session yesterday and T did it all while suffering the worst I’ve ever seen him suffer with allergies.  Check out the video below. 

Air is Going to a Quinceañera…

A Quinceañera is a celebration of a girls’s 15th birthday and her transition from childhood to adulthood, typically with a mass followed by a party/dance. 

One of Ari’s friends invited her to her Quinceañera. The girls are escorted by their dads and they do a dance with them as well. 

Ari looks quite beautiful and I just wanted to share a pic with you all here of her with her dad, John. 

Choose Wisely....

"You become like the people you spend the most time with so Choose Wisely!"

This is a message that we give our son constantly.  We are doing our best to raise him to not be a problem on society like so many are today.  We are always sending him the message of making good choices.  Choices that propel him forward and build his life up and not tear it down.  Choices that won't make him part of the problem that our country is in but rather part of the solution to make things better.  Choices that will bring him a lot more accomplishments in his life as he grows into a man.  Choices that attract people to be more like the kind of person that he is becoming.  

The Choices we make in life will make us or they will break us.  They will propel us forward or bring us to a crash landing quick, fast and in a hurry.  They will make us either a leader or a follower.  They will make us successful or destroy us to the point that we have nothing.  

Being a part of the solution to things is so much better than being part of the problem.  Being a leader is so much better than being a follower.  After all, being the head and not the tail is just what God wants for us!  He wants us above only and not beneath.  He wants us raising up and not falling.  He wants us moving forward and not being a quitter.  Quitting is not an option for those of us who call ourselves children of God.  Being children of the King of Kings makes us Princes and Princesses.  It makes us Royalty.  If we are Royalty then we better sure act like it.  Carry ourselves like it.  Live our lives like it.  

Living our lives like it means making Wise Choices.  So Choose Wisely who you spend your time with.  Make sure they are worthy of that time.  And live your life like the Prince or Princess that you are!

   

TMoney's Progress (TMoney is what his Coach & Teammates Call Him)...

2017 was the year that changed everything for T.  It's where he really found his love for Taekwondo Sparring as a sport.  He loves everything about Taekwondo but sparring is his absolute most favorite part of Taekwondo.  In 2017 T won Grand Champion at Kukkiwon Cup giving him three gold medals and a big trophy cup.  It was his springboard moment for really wanting to do competitions.  And so the traveling began.  We've been all over our country with this sport.  He's competed a ton, done training camps and has had several coaches throughout the years.  He's learned a lot and grown a lot in this sport.  He's constantly amazing his dad and I with his passion for the sport and Taekwondo in general.  He has become quite the teacher and coach to his younger teammates.  He's even been quite the encouragement and teacher to his pears with all that he has learned over the years.  T has so much knowledge to give to those who want it.  It's amazing to look back on 2017 and see where he is now in 2023.  He's such a different fighter now and his enthusiasm for Taekwondo has really grown  since he's been at CORE Taekwondo Performance Center.  He respects his Master and Coach so very much and the bond that they are forming is so great.  His dad and I love watching that relationship grow and deepen.  There's so much respect both ways.  I love seeing that.  T knows that he still has so much to learn and he's willing to put in the work to learn all that he needs to know and to continue to grow in his knowledge of Taekwondo.  He is becoming such an amazing young man and we are so proud of him! 

Cryo Today…

Before T went into the chamber today his body temp was 88. When he came out his body temp was 56. He is loving 🥰 doing this again. His body is feeling so much better too. I love how going to the chiropractor and going to cryotherapy go hand in hand with how they help the body heal and be at its best. He did both today in back to back appointments. 

CORE TKD Training Last Night…

The girls weren’t aggressive enough and didn’t fight hard enough at US Open so now Master Doug is working to get them more aggressive when they fight. He put T with them to help them fight stronger and more aggressively. Even though Ari is T’s girlfriend T doesn’t take it easy on her and she doesn’t take easy on him either…LOL🤣🤣🤣!  She did help tie his gear up at training though. Check out the pic then video. 

Beautiful Either Full Moon or Nearly Full Moon Last Night!

Just wanted to share this picture that I get last night after we drove into our driveway at home.  The moon was so much more beautiful than this picture. 

Happy International Women’s Day!

Happy International Women’s Day to all the women in my life!  Have a wonderful day!  Love you all😘!

Private Training Today…

T had a private training with Master Doug today. T is looking really strong and fierce. He’s like a totally different fighter now than he was when he was with Master Wasiu. Master Wasiu taught T a ton of good stuff that T will always have in his toolbox to use when he fights at tournaments and what Master Doug has taught T has added to what Master Wasiu taught T in all the right ways. It’s like there’s been a fusion of what the two coaches have taught T. And when you add in how much T has matured in the last year the difference is night and day. I love the relationship that T has with his coach now though. It really makes me happy to see him happy and growing in a strong relationship with his coach. 

T at Ari’s Yesterday…

T and Ari hung out yesterday.  They have so much fun together. Glad they are such great friends. That makes a relationship even better. I’m sure they both can’t wait until next year when they are allowed to date. Let’s see if they stay together that long though. T watched Ari make a cake. Scot held Sam, Ari’s guinea pig. #1stLike #teenrelationships 

T with His USA TaeKwonDo Shirt and Nunchucks Necklace…

T’s girlfriend, Ari, brought him back a nunchuck necklace from US Open. He also got an extra surprise with a tshirt from US Open too that we got for him. He loves them both. 

Welcome Home!

We were at the airport early this morning to welcome two of  T’s teammates home from their 1st ever US Open Tournament. Even though they didn’t medal we wanted them to know what a great job they did their first time out. 

US Open Results for Team Core…

Team Core took 3 girls two fighting -52kg and one fighting -59kg. None of them brought home a medal from this event but gained valuable experience on an international level. Proud of their effort. They all fought strong. 

In the pic they are walking with our coach Master Douglas arm in arm supporting one another. 

Happy Son’s Day (Yesterday)…

We shared this on social media yesterday but forgot to share it here. 

We’ve been streaming Taekwondo Sparring at US Open in Vegas all day but didn’t want to let this day pass us by without telling our son Happy Son’s Day!  We are so proud of the young man you are today. You are growing up so fast 💨 and more like a man everyday. It’s exciting to watch you grow and mature. The best is yet to come T. We love you to the moon and beyond!

Elvis Has Entered The Building at US Open in Vegas...

Even though we aren't there this year our friends are keeping us updated on things.  Elvis is at US Open this year but I will have to say the real Elvis would have never been carrying anything...LOL! 

Ari and Belle are heading to weigh in and have already done the test scale and they were fine on their weight so now they are in line for their official weigh in.  They had a little fun on the way to weigh in though.