The Pot of Gold!!

After years of training, three hours of testing, waiting by the mailbox to hear the results and lots of overall anticipation . . . Baby Boy was finally presented with his Black Belt this weekend. 

The ceremonial group included fourteen Junior Black Belts from the childrens' class and two adult First Degree Black Belts (That's what Baby Boy is - YAH!). 

Of course, this is really just the beginning.  Baby Boy has informed us all that the only thing a First Degree Black Belt really wants is . . . a Second Degree Black Belt, LOL.  Never satisfied.  I wonder where he gets that?  (The correct answer to that question is "From Mom #2."  Don't mess it up, there will be a test later.)

Here are a few memorable moments.

Congratulations, Baby Boy!!

Have a fantastic week!

Until next time . . .

Black IS Beautiful!

I know, I know.  I haven't been around much and there's a lot of stuff I need to catch you up on. 

I don't want to bore you with all of my pathetic excuses my entire life saga, so let's just jump right in and leave the dirty water under the bridge where it belongs.  Shall we?

Baby Boy finally got the chance to test for his Black Belt last weekend. 

First, he ran a mile . . . but I don't have any pictures of that because when people start running miles, I get the strong urge to sit down and have a cold beverage.  It was delicious, oh, and Baby Boy ran the mile in great time too. 

Then he did 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups.  I forgot to take photos because I was too busy daydreaming about 20 years ago when I used to be able to do push ups and sit ups . . . when I came back from my short stint in La-La-Land, I looked up to find . . .

Baby Boy's instructor trying to kill him . . . 

 . . . then he got away . . .

. . . then he tried to kick another instructor in the face, but they forgave him . . .   

. . . because he broke a bunch of boards . . . some with his feet and some with his hands.

After that he did some two-on-one sparring which is when two Big Black Belts beat up on my little Baby Boy and try to see if Mom #2 and I can stay in our seats and pretend we're OK with it.  Mom #2 was OK with it.  I covered my eyes and started crying.

Then we had to go home and wait by the mailbox like it was the Saturday after payday.

We just got our letter.  Guess what?  HE PASSED!!!  So now he's officially a Black Belt.  The award ceremony will be in a couple of weeks, so he can't actually WEAR the black belt yet, since we didn't pay for it they didn't give it us yet, but we're super duper proud of him.  He's been working very hard.  Hurray for Baby Boy!


Sooooo . . . now that the awkwardness is over, I guess I'll get back to posting more regularly.  Hopefully I still have a few readers left.  ;-)  


Until next time . . .

Gettin' Down Town With Mr. Brown!

Baby Boy earned his brown belt in tae kwon do this weekend!

First he did some punching.
I've trained him to look at me whenever he hears a camera click ;-),
I hope I don't get him killed, LOL . . .

. . . then he wrestled a 250 pound guy to the ground . . .
(That's Mom #2 in the background with the video camera - GO COWBOYS!)

. . . then I got to present him with his belt (since I pay the HEFTY monthly bill) . . .

. . . then he had to stand and listen to a 30 minute lecture on, well I'm not sure on what, because I may have dosed off, LOL . . .

. . . and finally, we all got to celebrate! Our final picture on our way out the door to go get a delicious steak lunch for all of Baby Boy's hard work.

The man in the black uniform is Baby Boy's instructor, he's an awesomely patient man, and simply a saint at heart. I hope there's extra fairy dust in heaven for him. The other people are my little sister and my parents, who are playing nice for this family event, which I really appreciate.

Congratulations, Baby Boy!


I hope you all had a great weekend as well.


Until next time . . .

My Son - The Genius!

Baby Boy had his belt testing at tae kwon do this past weekend. He did very well, remembered all his forms, etc . . . BUT the highlight of the whole event, for me, was when he showed off his great big home-schooled brain! Mom #2 and I were pumped up for hours afterwards!

The audio is a little distorted, but if you pay attention, you get the gist of it.

Until next time . . .

Parental Pride In A Purple Hue :-)

Baby Boy earned his purple belt in tae kwon do last night. I'm so proud of him - here's a few photos and even a short snippet of video of how the evening went.

Baby Boy bringing home the bacon!

Mom #2, Myself, Baby Boy and his instructor after the main event. I apologize for the quality of the photo, my sister took it and . . . well . . . she got the book smarts.

Just one of those Proud Mommy moments I wanted to share!



Until next time . . .

Busy Bees With New Adventures And Loving It!

We've had a very successful week. We've really been trying to stick somewhat to our schedule without being so rigid it takes all of the fun out of everything. I am slowly but surely learning balance. That's my new mantra, "All in due time, and with appropriate balance." Lord, help us all. LOL.


We completed our writing assignment on To Kill a Mockingbird, much to Baby Boy's delight. The writing is his least favorite part of anything we do in our home school program. I keep explaining to him how wonderful and fulfilling it is to be able to express yourself clearly and artistically via the written word, but as of yet, he hasn't bought into it. Of course he's actually pretty good, so that frustrates me even more, but what are you going to do? As Moms we're trained to just wait until our young find their own way in life. I try to apply gentle pressure and guidance, and I hope the rest will work itself out.


Baby Boy learned some pretty impressive take down moves in tae kwon do this week. I have a little film, but it isn't of those moves. I usually try to get some photos or even a video or two on the "down low" so as not to interrupt the class. What you see here, is what transpires when a group of teenage boys realize they are being filmed. It's extra silly, so view at your own risk!

Somehow, we also did get to our art project this week. We actually finished the last in a 7 part series of lessons on Color Theory. This week we learned about shading with color. Of course you know I have photos. So without further ado, let me present to you . . .

. . . Shading With Color . . .

By Baby Boy


and


By Mom #1

I did promise Baby Boy that if/when we moved out of the sticks and closer to a town, which we have, we'd get out and do more things with other people. I'm a bit of a recluse and really like wearing pajamas, so that's a promise I will have to work to keep.


So, with that in mind, we tagged along with a homeschooling field trip group and saw a beautiful exhibit at a local art museum called The Virgin, Saints and Angels. If you know me at all, then you'll be aware that I don't really do groups, but since with this particular one I am able to pick and chose what I want to do buffet style instead of honoring a full-time, long-term commitment, then I feel somewhat safe. Also this is a nice inclusive group with no nasty discrimination against people of different religious beliefs, different races, different family lives, or any other differences that seem to reek havoc in our quest to find nice home-schooling families to socialize with. Afterwards we walked over to a social spot and Baby Boy played pool, air hockey, and bowled for a while with some of the other boys. It was a pretty good time. I think we'll have to give them another try in the near future.


We also attended a Barack Obama rally last night that lasted very late into the evening. His speech was so commanding and inspiring. There was music and dancing and a great time was had by all. I'm not going to post any political opinions here, as this isn't that kind of blog, but I did want Baby Boy to experience a little piece of real live history. Whether Barack wins or not, I think it's incredible that a black man has made it this far in the election for the president of the United States. I really want Baby Boy to understand that, when I tell him he can be anything in the world he wants to be, I mean anything. I want him to dream the kind of dreams that have no limits.


Well I rambled on much longer than I intended, as usual.


So, until next time. . .


Smooches!

First Few Days Back To Business, Baby Boy's Accomplishment, and ONE SICK MAMA!

I've been meaning to post regarding how the weekend and first couple of days of school have gone, but I have been feeling pretty icky the last few days. I've been trying to go on as if I'm fine, and in a way I am, but not really. You know, Mom sick. It's not a pretty sight. It goes something like this:

The anatomy of my Mom illness . . .

• Woke up Sunday Morning feeling congested and scratchy throat, but mostly all right. Took a mucus breaker-upper pill and Tylenol. Went about the day as usual.
• Went to bed Sunday night, got minimal rest. Head and chest congestion doesn't like the laying down position.
  
• Woke up Monday morning and felt like a truck ran over me. Took another mucus breaker-upper and Tylenol, pretended to feel fine, but really felt yucky.
  
• Went to bed Monday night and got ABSOLUTELY NO REST. Head and chest congestion continues to insist I sit up.
  
• Woke up Tuesday morning practically obliterated. Drug around the house all day. Still have not admitted I'm sick. In fact, to all who ask, I insist Mommy's fine and continue to do household chores, cook dinner, and take Baby Boy to tae kwon do practice.
  
• Let's not discuss last night. The words are not PG. I'll just say this, I actually had tears.
  
• This morning, I am admitting to all who will listen, I AM SICK. Luckily I have the best kid in the whole wide world, because he woke up by himself on time, got dressed, fixed himself breakfast, helped me set up the humidifier, reminded me when it was time to take my medicine, and got ALL of his his schoolwork done without me even looking up today. He ROCKS!
  

I think I'm taking the rest of the week off, but I did want to post a few of this weeks accomplishments. I'll keep them brief less I become contagious via cyberspace. Mom #2 called and said her mom is sick and so is her brother, my mom's also under the weather, so whatever it is must be ricocheting from the heavens. Don't inhale while you read this. And don't say you weren't warned.


On Friday, Baby Boy got his blue belt in tae kwon do. He was the only person in the whole martial arts studio working on his particular form, so he got to show it off all by himself in front of all the other students and their families. I was really concerned he would be too nervous and mess it up, but he performed like a champ. I was such a proud mom. I would post a picture, but my camera's batteries died right in the middle of filming. I was so upset with myself for not packing extras that I cried all night about it, but Baby Boy said he forgives me and he'll remember it forever anyway because he was so scared. He was raised well. ;-)


On Sunday, in preparation for the week that apparently is not meant to be, we watched our movie from our Movies as Literature curriculum. This week was Emma. I have to tell you, this is not a good one for me. In fact, excuse my language, but it sucked. Now I have said many times, that I am not a big lover of classics simply because they're classics. If a movie is good, it's good for all time. If not, well, it never will be. This movie falls into the latter category. The language didn't sound like poetry, it just went too fast and I didn't know what was going on half the time. I hear it's based on a novel, so perhaps I should have read it first, then I would have known what to expect. Needless to say, Baby Boy and I were not amused. I didn't get the original of this one and the remake was frankly wasted on my entire family. I reviewed the literary elements we are supposed to learn from this film, determined we can learn them another way, and made the executive decision to ditch it. I know quitters never win, but this time it simply could not be helped. I told Baby Boy it's probably because I'm feeling a little under the weather. In a better frame of mind, I probably would have toughed it out. He didn't waste one minute hopping on his bicycle and getting it to the mailbox before I changed my mind. Oh well, I couldn't even help him with the discussion questions, because I had no idea what we had looked at for two hours either. So sad.

Anyway, next week we're on to The Philadelphia Story. Wish us luck.


This is getting too long, especially since there are no pretty pictures to look at, so I'm going to sign off, make a call about a meal, and relax my pain away.


I hope you all are well. I hope soon I am too.


Smooches!

Money's Still Tight, But We're All Right.

I know it’s been a while since I last posted, but we have been so busy with so many different things.

As previously mentioned, Mom #2’s former employer stiffed her on her paycheck, so we have been in quite the financial bind. Well, it has been a well kept secret that this is the third job in a row we have taken and been stiffed on the pay. This is NOT GOOD. I don’t know if we have an invisible ink tattoo on us that says “We Work For Free” or what, but we’ve been very unlucky with work lately.

Anyway, after many days and nights of praying, weeping, and gnashing of teeth, we appear to be heading into the light. After a little “financial rodeo” we have wrangled together enough money for this month’s bills and a tentative plan to get next month lived through…this is not ideal…but it’s ok for now. Frankly, this is better than I have felt in a while and I’ll take it!

Baby Boy was supposed to complete his phase testing at tae kwon do this past weekend, but we had a little minor health emergency and he wasn’t able to complete the entire series of tests. We had to miss classes all this week, and it looks like we’ll be missing classes again all next week as well, so I’m not exactly sure when he will finish his testing, but he will. He loves tae kwon do, and he is getting very good at it. The phase testing will move him from the beginner program to the intermediate program. Here are some photos of what he was able to complete.

Speaking of Baby Boy, he is going to have a little minor surgery on Monday, and I’m not sure how long he’ll be “down for the count.” We’re hoping it’ll be a quick recovery, but the truth is that you just never know. Baby Boy has a way of being the extreme case of everything. He’s tough as nails though, that’s the one thing I can say whole heartedly.

School has gone great these past few weeks. We’ve been getting things done on a fairly regular basis. Report cards (yes, we do grades) came out last week and with the exception of a B+ in math, we’re all A’s in this household. I’m ecstatic! Baby Boy is very bright when he applies himself.

We have lots of things on the horizon; I’ll try to post more often, so I don’t have to “gloss over” everything.

Smooches!

The Good, The Bad, & The Ridiculous!

Oh, Goodness!

I started this blog to share all of the good times with you, not the crappy times. It just seems like crappy times are upon us. So I guess I’ll share. After all, “the truth shall set you free.” So here’s some truth.

Mom #2 was stiffed by her employer, so she hasn’t gotten paid. I don’t know what we are going to do. The “rainy day” fund is dry as a bone. I’m scared to death and very upset at the thought of not having money to pay the bills. In case no one has noticed, Monday is the 1st.

Of course, instead of conserving like normal people, what do we do? Don’t bother guessing…I’ll tell you. We go out for a steak dinner. With the little cash that I had saved to pay for Baby Boy’s bowling next week and the parking garage at the hospital for a procedure he is having in a couple of weeks. I try to be the voice of reason, but it is drowned out by fun.

Mom #2 says that I worry too much and that she has always provided. This is true…but still…a little common sense…it goes a long way. Aye yos mios!

Any who… on to the good things.

We had a great week with school! Baby Boy has been working his little heart out. He’s been putting in extra time practicing for his phase testing in tae kwon do next week. I’m so excited! I’m his greatest cheerleader, and he’s getting more and more awesome every day. Not to mention, WE GOT EVERYTHING DONE! I’m a little bit anal when it comes to schedules, so I love it when we get everything done.

Anyway, I’m trying to keep it brief. In case you haven’t noticed, I am terribly long-winded. I have soooooo much to say, even when I’m not saying anything at all. It is a character trait that I am trying to work on. *Sigh*

I’m going to spend the weekend researching low-sodium and low-fat recipes. Mom #2’s blood pressure has been up a bit lately, so we are all trying to change our eating habits a bit. Wish us luck. Sometimes I think we’re the fattest family in America. Well, Mom #2 and I are, Baby Boy is young, slim, and handsome. Lucky!

Anyway, until next time. . .

Smooches!

Happy Tuesday - Great Kicks!

So far, I'm having a great day today.

Baby Boy made a 100% on his Marine Biology test. I don't know how he remembers all of that vocabulary. It's frankly too much for my feeble mind. I don't remember knowing all of that in high school, much less now. I'm so proud of him!

Also he did a great job in tae kwon do today. He had a few great kicks. I thought I'd share some of them with you, hence the following video clip.

I'm such a proud Mom - Can't you tell?!

Anyway, this day is not over. Just thought I'd pop in to share!

Smooches!