Driving Mom Home after Celebration Dinner…

T drove us home tonight after we had a celebration dinner for his straight A’s again. My boy is becoming a very good responsible driver. So proud of the progress that he’s making. We’ve had many talks this past week after a friend of mine was in a terrible accident and a 13 year old lost their life. Then another young lady a couple days later had a fatal accident and lost her life at 20 years old. Many many talks about safe driving habits and watching out for the other knuckleheads on the road as well. 

T is Almost Done with School…

T still has a little bit of math to do then his EOG’s next week and he will be done with school for the year. He has been working hard to get things done. Here’s his report card for the subjects he’s completed. 

This report card is generated from the classes he takes through AOP Monarch Online. I will have an official one to share once he’s totally done. 

More on The Trailer Upfit…

First coat of bed liner. 2nd coat coming soon. 

Final Coat of bedliner. It’s looks incredible. Scot has done an amazing job. 

Memorial Day....

Today we want to take a moment an honor a family member on this Memorial Day.  He was lost before Scot was born but we still feel the loss just that same.  We are so grateful for all those who have served and lost their lives so that we may continue to live in freedom.  We never ever want to take that for granted.  

Taping off the Doors…

T taped off the doors for his dad because that’s on the list to prime and paint this week as well. 

Two Coats of Light Gray…

Two coats of light gray are on the walls. This got done yesterday. Today Scot preps the floor to get it ready to do the Bedliner on the floors tomorrow. 

Cut in For Trailer…

Scot cut in the primer and put primer on the foundation side of the trailer. These are the steps towards getting it ready to put the equipment into the trailer. This all happened yesterday. 

Primer Cut In Above ⬆️ 

First layer of Primer above ⬆️

Second layer of primer above ⬆️ 

He's Catching His Dad...

I got this photo yesterday.  He's catching his dad.  Hoping he does before the year is out so that we can move him up next year to a new weight division.  I don't see him being able to stay in the weight division he is in now with all the muscle he is gaining.  

Our Good Luck Charm...

T put one of these in the van and now we have one in the Subaru.  We jokingly refer to it as our good luck charm.  We couldn't find the one that we had in the van so at the last tournament we picked up a new one.  T is doing so great with his driving.  We have already had the conversation with him that he wasn't getting his Level ll license until we felt he was absolutely ready for it even though the law tells him he can get it at 16.  

There are 3 stages to getting your drivers license now.  Stage 1 is a Level 1 which is a driving a permit.  You hold that one for a year.  Level 11 allows you to drive by yourself during certain hours and you can only have one other person under the age of 21 in the vehicle with you while you are driving.  You hold it for 6 months.  I personally think that should be longer.  Level lll is a step away from their permanent license which they hold until they are 18.  With it they can drive anytime.  At 18 they receive their permanent license.  So I'm guessing the inexperience charges to insurance happens when they get their Level ll and Level lll licenses.  We are bracing ourselves for what those charges are going to be.  I told Scot that we should talk to our insurance guy and find out so that we can start putting money back for it...LOL! Everyone has warned me that the charges are much worse for guys than girls.  

I've had two people I know that were in horrific accidents this week and lives were lost.  In the one accident a 16 year old boy was racing with his headlights off at night.  My friend was making a left hand turn with her son and his girlfriend in the car with her.  Her son is in ICU fighting for his life and his girlfriend died.  The other accident was the daughter of a mom I know from our homeschool group.  Her daughter was 20 years old.  She made a bad judgement call taking a left hand turn and got plowed into by a dump truck and died instantly.  Suffice it to say that we are being very careful with T and talking to him a lot about being a safe driver because it's better to arrive late and safe than not arrive at all.  Sad part is that he has to watch out for all the other Jo Knuckle Heads on the road.  So we are teaching him how to be a good defensive driver and I may sign him up to take some defensive driving classes too.  There's so much more that he has to deal with driving than we ever had to deal with when we learned to drive and we want him as safe as he possibly can be on the road.  

Talk with The Coach...

We had one of the best talks last night with T's Coach/Master.  We are all on the same page moving forward.  T walked away feeling so great about the talk and is looking forward to getting to work and doing his absolute best for Master Doug at Nationals.  Looking forward to watching them work and train together in the weeks ahead leading up to Nationals.  Here's a pic of T and Master Doug from Tuesday night talking things out as he was training.  

 

We Had To Do This…

So long story short we had to give the 2014 red Subaru Outback back just before the 30 day buyback guarantee was up because it had an engine issue😱. Now we have a 2018 blue Subaru Outback and it is way nicer than the red one was.  Praying it doesn’t give us any issues at all. 

We Have a Beaver...

We saw a beaver in our yard yesterday but he ran away before I could get any pictures but today I was able to get some before he ran away.

Got These Yesterday...

We took T and Ari to the park after belt testing yesterday and got these pictures.  

More Pics From Before The Dance on Friday...

Here are some pics that I missed sharing from the dance on Friday.  T is so incredibly handsome.  I'd say that even if he wasn't my kid😊.  

Belt Testing Yesterday at CORE...

T and Ari helped out with belt testing yesterday and got to be there to support one of their teammates, Isaac, who earned his high blue belt.  So proud of these kids and the leaders that they are becoming.  These kids look up to them so much and it's great that they are stepping up to help.  

Dance Time…

T and Ari are off to their first dance together. It’s the end of the year 8th grade dance. We got some really great shots. Check them out. 

Our New Trailer for the Business...

We bought this today and can't wait to get it ready for the road and working for our business😊.  

 

Next Stop Nationals…

The next stop for T$ is Nationals. Should he earn a medal at Nationals he will earn a spot for going to Grand Prix finals and a spot for Team Trials. He is going to be working extra hard between now and time for Nationals so that he can earn those spots. We know he can do it!  

We will be talking to the coach soon to form a plan moving forward for coaching T at Nationals and other events. Pray the talk goes well. 

Pics From USA Taekwondo East Grand Prix...

Here are some pics that I got from the event.  T had fun and learned a lot and is going to continue to learn even more to grow and be an even better fighter.  So proud of this kid.  He didn't walk away with a win but he learned a lot.

He walk out to the ring with confidence (see pic 1) and with his fight face on.  He was ready to meet the challenge of this competitor.  He fought hard and barely lost to him.  

He, however, needs to work on his communication with his coach though and make it even better than it already is.  T knew this competitor well from watching him over and over again through the years.  His coach didn't though.  His coach was asking him to do moves that if T did them would've been countered in a really bad way before he could even do the move.  He wanted to listen and do what his coach was asking but he also knew his opponent well from all the fights he's watched him fight over the years.  These are things that T needs to communicate to his coach about.  Good communication is important and he's told us he's gonna work on being better about it.  Coaches can't coach well if they don't have knowledge of what you have knowledge of.  That knowledge has to be shared.  T could've won that fight and if they meet again, which I'm sure they will, he will be more ready than he was this last time.    

Results….

T lost his first match. He fought good and the score was kept very low. His opponent didn’t beat him by much so next time he’ll get him for sure. Studying the rest of the fighters in his division now. We knew he’d have a lot of learning to do this year though being in a new division. 

At Venue…

T is ready to fight today. He’s in a great mood. Win or learn he’s gonna have fun today. 

Shots of Tonight’s Workout…

T worked out with the team tonight and got to discuss the game plan for T for fighting tomorrow. His first fight tomorrow is a kid that has been in his division since youth but they have always fought on opposite sides of the bracket and never fought one another. Tomorrow T gets that chance. He is so excited. 

T had Beignets Today…

T had Beignets for the first time in his life today. They are called Italian donuts at Olive Garden where he had them. He got them for free for his birthday 🥳🎂🎉😊. He shared them with Ari, Belle, his dad and myself. 

Made Weight!

T had to be 51kg = 112.4lbs. He weighed in at 50.1kg = 110.4. Weigh in has been so easy since we don’t drastically have him cutting anymore. Happy kid right now. Eating a snack but fixing to go get Olive Garden. Fight day is tomorrow. 

First day of Driving…

On T’s first day of driving he has driven in 5 states:

1. NC
2. VA
3. MD
4. DE
5. PA

He has done amazing 🤩 today!  He’s driven a total of 2 1/2 - 3 hours of the drive to PA for the tournament😊. Just another accomplishment to add to his accomplishments😊🥰. 

Got His Permit…

T got his permit and is starting the drive to PA😊. Dad’s in the front seat and I’m not n the back…LOL! 

Happy 15th Birthday T$!!!

Happy 15th Birthday to our amazing son T$ (affectionately called that by his teammates and coach).  We hope this is your best birthday to date!  

T has grown and changed so much since last year this time.  He is taller than me now and loves to call me shorty...LOL! He is almost as tall as his dad now.  Of course both of us are vertically challenged...LOL! T will be getting his permit today.  After that we leave to drive up to PA for a USA Taekwondo Tournament.  Between our business and his Taekwondo we live a very busy life.  At least we can say life is never boring.  

T has had an amazing year with his new coach and team.  He has had a great year of school as well.  He is maintaining a straight A average in his schooling.  He trains hard, works hard on school and works with his dad every chance he gets to earn some extra spending money.  It works out better for him to earn money this way verses getting a job where he has to be there certain hours.  We don't want anything interfering with T accomplishing his goals.  His voice has changed a lot since last year.  His face looks very different but that is mainly because of the braces on his teeth.  He has a girlfriend who is also an elite athlete fighter in Taekwondo.  If he has his way it will be his only girlfriend.  We'll see.  He became a dad of 2 Guinea Pigs last week.  He has done awesome with them.  He has quite the set up in his teen cave now between the Guinea Pigs and his gaming systems...LOL!!  

Life moves fast and if you don't make time to take it in and enjoy every moment of it you will miss the good things of life altogether.  Cherish every moment you have with those you love because you can't get those moments back.  Happy Birthday Son!!!  We love you to the moon and beyond and are so very proud of you!!!  

T has Received his Credentials…

T received his credentials for the upcoming tournament tonight. Donna does the art work on them and she knocked it out of the park as usual. 

Compression Therapy…

Along with T’s cryotherapy we’ve been doing compression therapy to help his body recover and be ready for the upcoming tournament. Here’s what compression therapy looks like. 

4 Years Ago v Now...

T has changed so much in four years time and I just had to share.

One Last Time...

T was on his dirt bike for probably what will be his last time yesterday.  We are fixing to sell it because he has outgrown it.  He really needs the next stage bike but he now wants a four wheeler.  That's all he's asking for for Christmas this year.  We've already told him that it may not be possible but we will certainly try to get him one that he can have fun on with his girlfriend.  When they aren't fighting at Taekwondo events that's their favorite thing to do.  Hoping by this time next year we can get set up to where we can go to a place we found about an hour away where we can go camping in an RV and take the toys because they have a spread of land that is just for dirt bikes and four wheelers.  Folks go there all the time to camp and ride.  We have friends that are there most every weekend.  That's how we learned about the place.  Here's a possible one last picture of T on his first ever dirt bike.

USAT EAST GRAND PRIX....

We travel to PA on T's birthday.  He weighs in on the 12th and fights the 13th at USAT East Grand Prix.  He is excited for this opportunity and expects to learn a lot.  He has been working through a small injury from training but it won't keep him from fighting at this event.  It's just minor but he isn't training right now to let his body rest and recover for the event.  I mean really if he's not ready at about two weeks out from any tournament then he's not going to be ready.  He has trained hard and is looking better than we have ever seen him in his fighting.  Win or Learn we are so very proud of this kid!