Great Teaching Today!!!

This is a must watch!!!  Absolutely loved watching this teaching. 

Someone’s Getting A Stache

The boy is going through puberty at warp speed. Growing and changing all too quickly. He has grown 3” this past year and still growing like crazy. Getting hair in the down there, armpits, and now he’s starting to get a stache. So not ready for all these changes. They are happening all too fast 💨. I only noticed when he was close to me tonight but still😳. #myboyisturningintoaman😢

T’s Goals for 2021

As far as training: 

In talking to T  about his goals for this year he rattled several things he wants to work on. His top three goals are that he wants to work on canceling and following up stronger/better, he wants to work on speed and accuracy with his techniques, and he wants to work on overall strengthening his body, especially his knees.

As far as Tournaments:

T has said he wants to win Gold at the big tournaments (US Open, Pan Ams, Nationals) should they be able to have these tournaments.

AAU TaeKwonDo

Happy Monday!  The New Year is a time to set GOALS!  What Are Yours?!  #WeAreAAUTKD #AAUTKDStrong  #newyearnewgoals💯

They have also posted about 2021 Nationals. Here is that information:

T is so excited that something is actually on the calendar for this year. It gives him something to work towards. 

The coaches are so ready to kick it up to full speed ahead with training and so is T. He’s praying and hoping his knees won’t give him too much pain so he can train to be at the top of his game when competition resumes. 

It also looks like US Open may happen sometime between March-May timeframe. We are so excited to see that things are getting planned again. We love watching the competitions as much as T loves competing. 

We are praying for safety for all the kids who compete and their families. We are praying for health for all who will be involved. We are praying for this pandemic to come to an end so that we can go about living our lives as normal again. 

So much to look forward to in 2021. So much to be thankful for coming out of 2020 too. #makeaplansticktoit  #keepGodatthecenter 

NexGen Zoom Training

Today is T’s first day doing some sort of kicking since the diagnosis of the Osgood-Schlatters. He’s just going light trying to see what he can and can’t do with the pain. He’s doing better than I had expected so I’m glad about that. We keep doing the protocol his doc gave us with him. It’s not going to make it go away entirely but it will help the pain level be a lot less so he can continue to do what he loves. 

Better Late Than Never

The boys finally did their ginger bread house today. 

Of course now that it’s done T wants to eat it...LOL! 

Final Moments of 2020

Getting ready to say goodbye to 2020!  Excitement is building for 2020 to be in the rear view mirror. Looking forward to all God has in store for us in 2021😁. 

T’s New Outfit

This is the new outfit we bought for T for Christmas. It fits him perfectly. Not any growing room. I figure he’ll need more clothes in short order with the way he’s growing...LOL! 

2020 Cliffnotes

 2020 at a glance:

We started off the year on a great note with T training harder than he ever has to get ready for the big show at US Open.  Of course before he went to that tournament he went to the AAU GA Championships and double gold medaled.  

He so loved getting double gold two years in a row at the AAU GA Championship.  Next up was US Open where he learned a lot and fought the best we've ever seen him fight on an international level.  While he didn't medal we are super proud of the advancements he made.  He also got to cheer on his teammates.  

While at Disney ESPN in Orlando we decided to have some fun and go to Sea World after US Open was over.  We had a great time having a day of fun there.  The boys rode the wild and crazy rides and I took in all the shows.  From there we went and spent some time with the grands in Ocala and then went back home.  

Once back home T got his 3rd Dan Kukkiwon Certificate.  He actually graduated to 3rd Dan in December of 2019 but the Kukkiwon comes from Korea. 

  

Then the lockdown happened and of course we all know how 2020 went from there.  It's been a crap show since then with things being shut down, businesses closing, etc...  T's training shifted from in person to all online with Zoom.  He hasn't been in front of his coach since February/March 2020.  To say it's been disappointing would be an understatement.  He has hated every moment of it.  Not being able to compete and to have hands on training because of the pandemic has truly sucked on a level that only elite athletes can truly understand.  T's been adjusting because he's had to but he hasn't liked one moment of it.  The good thing to come out of this so far for him is that it has been a big growing year for him.  By the end of January 2021 he could possibly have had a 4" growing year.  He hasn't had a growing year like that since he was a toddler.

It has been a different kind of year to say the least.  Just so he could compete on some level he did the AAU Virtual Nationals in October doing his forms.  He's a fighter and doesn't make any boasts about being great in forms at all.  If it were up to him he'd only every do fighting but in order to continue belting up he has to do the requirements and that includes forms.  Anyhow, he did his forms and won a Bronze for the AAU Virtual Nationals this year so that was a silver lining for him in this year.

During dealing with Zoom training, homeschooling, and in person and virtual tournaments we dealt with having a new roof put on the house that brought about so many issues that if you have been keeping up with all the blogs you know all we went through with getting that done.  Needless to say that we had one issue after another.  Find it on the blog to read about it.

We also had a deck to replace once we got all the roof issues taken care of.  The decking is down but the railings will get put on in the spring.  Just ran out of time to get it done with the weather changing for the colder months.  The three of us worked hard to get what we could done on the deck though and we love how good it all turned out.  

We also replaced our back door, painted our front door, and put new storm doors on the front and back doors.  

We have done our best to use our time of being at home more to our advantage and are taking care of things that need taking care of.  While the pandemic halted things in T's world it helped us deal with stuff that needed our attention.  Keeping busy has kept us not really being as frustrated as so many others have been with the pandemic and all the lockdowns and curfews and things.  

The holidays were a little different in that we chilled at home this year instead of traveling as much as we have done in years past.  While we've missed being able to spend time with our loved ones they have been at the forefront of our thoughts as we've made decisions to keep them safe during all that's been going on in our world.  Sacrificing a little time with them in order to make sure they don't get Covid has been the goal we keep before us.  We want them with us for many more years to come.  It's why we've had limited contact with anyone this year.  We want to keep ourselves safe as well as make sure we don't give anything to our loved ones.  

We are looking forward to 2021 with great expectation of things turning around and God showing up big time for us and all those we love and hold near and dear to our hearts.  We are praying that T can get back to competing and that we can return to life as normal again.  We serve a mighty God who has our best interests at heart and we know that all we've been dealing with this past year is not God's best.  Looking forward to saying goodbye to this crazy year in just a few short hours and welcoming in 2021  May 2021 be better than all we've dealt with in 2020!!!  God Bless you All!!  And Happy New Year!!!

JC Vortex ll Fighter Uniform

This is T’s new JC Vortex ll fighter uniform. The pic with the smile was for me. The other was T’s go to fighter pose.