Tae Kwon Do

Katie has wanted to take Tae Kwon Do for a long time.  She has seen and participated in many Tae Kwon Do demonstrations and had expressed interest in taking classes.  After seeing yet another demo last spring, we went to a demonstration class at a local TKD school and she had a great time!  They offered a summer camp and we signed her up to give her a chance to try the TKD before signing her up for long term classes.  It was awesome.  The only downside of the camp was that they taught all of the moves but didn't really focus on when to use them or the respect and discipline that is taught as part of the classes.  The instructors were impressed by Katie and they thought she was a natural.  We went ahead and signed her up for classes and just last Wednesday she had her first graduation from white to orange belt.  She has also been recommended  by the instructors to start black belt training and leadership training, two extra classes that she can take.  We have a meeting with the instructor next week to determine whether she is right for the classes.

I'm such a proud Mama!

Katie's favorite part, yelling REALLY LOUDLY!  AYAH!!

Fierce tiger Katie!

One of my favorite parts, Katie learning to sit and watch respectfully, like a black belt. :)

Receiving her orange belt.

I LOVE watching this guy teach Katie and the other kids.  I feel like I can learn so much as a parent and a teacher from his calm focused approach to teaching.  He is everything I could want in an instructor for Katie.

My proud orange belt!  Go Katie!

Time to catch up!

Time is flying!  So much has been happening and the pace is picking up now that we have entered my favorite season, FALL!! :)

We have lots of plans for this fall including a trip to the State Fair, the pumpkin patch for play and pumpkin picking, Halloween parties (a LOT of them!), trick-or-treating, and LOTS of yard work.

Here's a little round-up of what we have been doing for the last few months.

In July Katie started first grade!

She loves her new teacher and is doing fantastically in school after a slightly bumpy first month.  Her reading is off the charts awesome and she has started reading chapter books like the Magic Tree House and the A-Z Mysteries all by herself.  We even had a Mother/Daughter reading day one afternoon.  We sat on the screen porch together some weekend afternoon in July or August and each sat in a chair reading a book.  It warmed my book loving Mommy heart! 

Christian has been learning and developing as all little ones do.  His current desire is to learn to eat with a spoon.  

As you can see, he still needs a little work...

Fortunately, Katie is a little more practiced!

Christian is movin' and groovin'!  He is crawling and cruising, pulling up and climbing, but still not walking.  This photo, taken in September, was taken just after I turned around found Christian, totally full of himself, standing in the middle of the coffee table.  I wasn't fast enough to snap a picture of him standing but got this one right after he plopped down.

 Can't wait to go to the Fair tomorrow!