A Stroll Through The Years!

Recently I’ve taken pictures from years gone by and more current and added text to them for T. We are going to have them printed on thick poster board so he can hang them on his bedroom wall once we revamp it. He wants to get rid of the bunks and get a full or queen sized bed. He informed us recently that he’s not a little kid anymore and wants a big kid bedroom. #changes #growinguptoofast 

Home Sweet Home

We drove home today after watching almost all of T’s teammates fight. Left Fort Lauderdale at 1 and got home around 1:15am with driving through rain, making fuel stops, and food stops. Made pretty good time. So thankful to have someone I can switch off with when driving those kind of distances. Goodnight all. Hope everyone had a very happy and safe holiday.  

Fight Day Results

T lost second match of fighting  25-19. T didn’t listen like he should have to his coach the first two rounds of the second match and started really listening the third round and just about came back and beat his opponent. He needs to really work on listening to his coach and doing what his coach tells him to do. Had he listened to his coach the first two rounds like he did the third round he would have won the second match. He would have still had a match to go to get to medal rounds. So no medal this time but another hard lesson learned. Now for more training and getting ready for Cadets next year. 

Here’s how T’s bracket went:

Fight Day

T’s in holding getting ready for the day with his coaches. Pray for God to help him do his best today as he competes. Going to be a full day with many of our kids fighting today so say a prayer for the team as well. 

Just saw T’s bracket and as usual he has a tough brack. Just pray. Pray for him to stay calm, have good energy, and fight his best. 

Happy 4th!!!

Weigh-in

T made weight. He was 63.2. On our scale I think he was 63lbs so their scale is a .2 off from ours. He’s so serious when he weighs in though. 

This is him waiting in line for weigh in to begin. 

Here he is officially weighing in. He was so happy to have that done and over with. 

AAU Picture of T

This was taken just before T did his forms and it was taken by AAU staff. 

Workout

Getting a workout at the Y while I rode the bike to get my workout. Otherwise he’d be sitting being bored🤣🤣🤣. He likes the workout equipment.

My “Ham”. 

Pictures with his Team Members who medaled and Coaches

Master Wasiu, T, and Grand Master Tadjou (Gold Medal Olympic Coach from the Ivory Coast). 

Forms 2019 AAU Nationals

6 competitors in T’s bracket. Double elimination. T brings home a bronze medal 🥉 his first time out doing forms on a National level.

Russell the AAU Raccoon. 

T with Master Calvin his stretcher. 



T’s name in Chinese lettering on his competition belt in honor of GMaster Cann. 

Forms Day

First time doing forms at a National event. We figured he qualified in forms why not participate. Praying he does well. Praying for God to help him do his best in his performance.

AAU T-shirt

T with his AAU shirt and credentials. He’s so excited to be back in Fort Lauderdale for AAU Nationals.

#CarolinaKicksMatthews #WeCannWeWill

Training Earlier

The team is still getting as much training time in as they can to be even more prepared for when they fight this week. 

Stretcher Master Calvin

T’s stretcher from back in Matthews, and he’s not your typical stretcher, he’s so much more, has been asked to be at Nationals this year so T is going to have the benefit of being stretched by him several times this week. T isn’t the only one getting in on it though. I had a session and I really understand how much better it makes you feel now that I’ve done it too. T absolutely loves Master Calvin and getting stretched. Even Scot is having a session with him. Here are a few pics I was able to get. Sorry there aren’t any of me because I’m the photographer in the family and I was the one getting the session done...LOL! 

Prayer for The Team

Please keep Carolina Kicks in your prayers this week. They will be honoring GMaster Cann this week at the AAU National Championships. It will be an emotional week for our team because this is their first time going to Nationals without her. The team carries her memory with them everywhere they go. We all miss her everyday. Sometimes I think the parents miss her more because we know the depth of the knowledge and wisdom this woman had with competing. She knew so many people. She had so many connections and could always work any situation out. We’ve all been learning how to move on and do everything we do without her. She did so much and we feel it everyday. As we move forward we realize more and more just how much she really did do. She was loved deeply by everyone her life touched. There’s no replacing someone like her. We will always remember and miss her greatly. Thank you in advance for keeping the team in your prayers as they go throughout this week competing. With her being honored it will make her death fresh for the team again so prayer will be so very much appreciated. 

My Prayer for T

Saw this on Fearless Motivationals Instagram Page. 

As an elite athlete this is always my prayer for T. He’s been working so hard this past year. He has improved a ton. I’m always praying for God to meet him where he’s at and help him be the best he can possibly be in this sport that he loves so much. And for everything he’s been working so hard for to work for him. That everything clicks for him and he’s a beast when he fights. That nothing or no one stands in the way of him accomplishing his dreams and goals. Please pray with me this week for T as he competes. He wants to be like Stephen Lambdin and do this sport he loves so much to the glory and honor of God. He also wants to honor GMaster Cann’s memory because without her short presence in T’s life he would not be where he is today with regards to his sparring. It was her persistence in helping us see that he needed a better situation for his sparring training. God brought her into our lives at just the right time because we were reevaluating if we wanted T to remain where he was and wanted him out of a bad coach and athlete situation that just wasn’t working for our son. Their personalities just didn’t jive. Now T’s where we know God wants him and us to be and he loves his team and coaches so very much. #CarolinaKicksMatthews #WeCannWeWill #GMasterCannGoneButNot4gotten 

We Arrived Safely

After a 12 hour drive and getting checked in, unpacked, groceries bought and put away we are now in for the night to get rested up for a busy day ahead tomorrow. We have one tired boy and two very exhausted parents who took turns driving down today. 

Earlier as we were driving though we had rain come straight for us. Check out the picture I got:

It cause such flooding on the roads that an suv hydroplaned and flipped upside down. Praying the folks in the vehicle are alright. There were many hands on deck trying to help them get out of the vehicle. I’m just so thankful for the Lord’s hand of protection over us as we traveled down today for Nationals. T does his forms on Tuesday and his sparring on Friday. Will post results as I have them. Tomorrow T trains with his team and gets checked in for his forms competition. It’s his first time ever doing forms at a National event. Looking forward to watching him and his teammates perform and fight this week. #WeCannWeWill 

July 4th Fedora

T got a July 4th Fedora to celebrate at AAU Nationals with this week. 

Doing some training with the fedora on. 

T’s Last Private Training Session Before Nationals 6/25/2019

For Nan Nan!

I hope you get a good laugh out of this. It made me think of you because of how Scot, Elaine, and Jeff have talked about how well you can do this.