New Belts

Brian and Honor both have been enjoying the work-outs at their new Taekwondo school. The coaches work them very hard (very, very hard!), but they are always laughing and having fun too. Brian has had taekwondo before, in Cairo, but the school here started him at white belt again. They’re young and it’s all good review. Brian wasn’t concerned as he didn’t feel it was a negative. Review, work hard, and there’s a chance he’ll move up faster than new students. They had their first exam today, and he has already jumped one belt! Honor only went up the one, but she did a great job and she’s not jealous, she knows that Brian has more experience than she does. I like that they work so well together in class, and I really enjoyed the fact that they got to test together today.

Warm up…

Then Brian and Honor get ready to test first.

They start the poomse (form) together, although Brian left Honor behind on this as he’s much more confident with the movements.

They had to demonstrate their kicks and punches.

No boards to break, but they had to demonstrate their abilities and strength against pads the instructor held.

Finally, their new belts were presented.

Honor earned her white with yellow stripe, and Brian jumped to a yellow belt. I am so proud of them both!

News

As in many ‘new’s. You know, many new things. Ok, lame title, but I'm feeling lazy today.

Earlier this week I finally met a friend, who I have never actually met before, but have known for several years now. We first met, by blog, long before either of us knew we would be meeting here in Amman. Donna, of Email From The Embassy, (please visit, read, subscribe – you’ll be glad you did) is as wonderful in real life as she is in blog form. She probably thinks I am liar now though. I know that I’ve blogged about how pleasant the weather here is, and yet she arrives in a heat wave! Heat made tougher by the fact that everyone is running their ACs and the power is flickering worse than we’ve ever seen it here. Sorry Donna, it really does cool off, and the power is usually much more sane! At least the sky is beautiful blue… it’s nice to re-discover that color, isn’t it?

Speaking of crazy electricity… it seems many are having appliance issues these days. It does go hand in hand. Our water filter died, as did the oven. Neither died quickly though, which made us all suffer. Facilities would repair them, they would work fine for a few hours, then die again, only to be revived the next day. Finally, both were declared officially dead, and replaced. Look! A shiny new stove! Although like the last, it doesn’t quite fit in the space. There’s a concrete base that is a tiny bit too small and so the stove must be set up about 4”. Good thing I’m tall enough to reach… I only receive minor burns.
Also, school has started. I wasn’t organized enough to get first day of school photos this year. I was pleased to just get them to the bus in time! But here is a first homework of the year photo. Pixie is a great supervisor.

Not that they need school to learn everything, they’ve been having fun with a science experiment book and Brain Pop (an animated educational online site that the kids really enjoy).  They recently did a simple experiment with ice, salt and string, The salt makes the ice stick to the string so you can pick up ice cubes. I need to really start paying attention now, when they come in and ask “Can I have this, this, and this??” This experiment was pretty tame, but … maybe I better find that book and read it too?

Yes… Pixie is supervising again. She is a very educated cat.

Speaking of learning. Yesterday was the first day of Taekwondo classes for both kids. They had a wonderful time in class. The coach had them working out very hard, but they were laughing and having fun too. Honor had only ever taken a few classes, and never tested for a belt, although she remembered a lot anyway. Brian had tested to blue belt, first stripe, but as he has been out of practice for over a year, the main instructor said to start with white belt, and Brian would quickly work up and test soon, skipping belts until he caught up again. Brian was good with this. I think it took some of the pressure off of him to remember everything at once! I was pleased to see he kept the flexibility that he’d worked so hard to gain in his previous classes.

Another new thing, which is actually an old thing that broke but is now newly fixed, is my label cloud. Yea, it’s silly, but I like it and I’m glad I fixed it. Besides, I don’t think anyone really cares about or uses the tags, except me, so turning it into a simple toy might give it wider appeal. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do with the layout of my blog. I’ve messed with it a little, but I’m not satisfied yet. Expect it to alter a bit in the future as I try to clean things up a bit.

And one more photo before I end this post… what happens when you leave the potato and onion bin open in your house?

If you don’t know, I have a couple of cats who are willing to investigate for you!

Blue plus red

...is not about purple. At least not for this post. This post is about Taekwondo testing, and our son, of whom I am always so proud, who tested recently and earned a red stripe on his blue belt. He went into this test with a little less confidence than for previous tests, but with an attitude to do his best no matter what. He did his best, and he passed!





A video of his poomse:


and breaking his boards:


I hope we end up in a place with a good TKD school, or other martial arts, where ever we live next. I don't want to push Brian to continue any sport. It should be his choice, but I hope he continues with martial arts. It's a healthy discipline and he's doing pretty well with it.

... and it's only 9am

So, after a night with several 3am-ish mommy-calls from Honor, I wake up wanting to chuck the alarm out the window because my head hurts so bad I think my eyes should explode. Not 'might' explode, but 'should', because that might make them feel better. I remove the cat staple, struggle out of bed, and plod to the shower. At least the water is hot.

The kids are little logs, but they get moving alright... with extra tickles. Squealing doesn't exactly help my headache, but that's ok. Got them aimed towards clothes, shoes, teeth, hair, etc. Go out to check cats.

One cat has been having litter box issues, so we've been confining them to the area where their box is for awhile now, especially at night. Last night, after weeks of being good, we'd let them have free roam. Well, not only did I have three spots of kitty barf greet me this morning, but a pile of poo, 4 feet away from the litter box. Grrr! Back to jail. (and clean-up time for me)

Ok, breakfeast was served, kids ate... had to re-aim them at getting their stuff together multiple times. I tell Brian to get his Taekwondo outfit and he gets his notebook and forgets his glasses, etc. We are all having one of those days. They start a "Am not! Am too! Did not! Did too!" exchange at the table, but fortunately got past it quickly, and were even being very sweet to each other when divvying up who got to open the door and do the elevator buttons.

Out the door, around masses of boxes and movers in the elevators, we get to the car - fortunately the exit gate had NOT been blocked by the mover's truck (this time) - and we made it, mostly on time, to school. Brad and Brian hopped out and ran in while I parked - somewhere way off down the road from the school, with Honor. She has a little extra time to get in.

As Honor and I walked in, Brad walked out saying Brian needed his hair up for Taekwondo. He said his byes, and hiked off to neverland to try and find the truck and get to work. Fortunately, I found an elastic in my purse for Brian, but sweet little Honor said that he could have one of hers (she had a braid with two elastics) if I didn't have one (I'll have to tell him that). I had one, and we ran over (and up the stairs) to Brian's class - made Honor's day, she loves seeing Brian's class. As I tied his ponytail, I remembered that he has class pictures today. And remembered that we forgot the envelope and money!

O my.. well, I got Honor to the playground with her class, grabbed a photo envelope from the school office, and.... found I didn't have the proper change! Neither did anyone else (and I asked about 10 other moms). Fortunately there's a bagel stand on (the other end of) campus, so a friend and I got bagels, I got change, and I delivered the envelope. I rode home with my friend - today was not a good day for walking.

I'm having my bagel and TWO cups of coffee - and tylenol - for breakfast. Hopefully things will become more sane as the day goes along...

Karate

The kids were invited by their cousin, Kira, to attend her Karate class. What a great way to spend some time together!! Both kids were excited to go, although a bit shy about the new people and new techniques. The instructors were awesome though, and made the kids feel very welcome. The interactions, of student to instructor, were different, and the Karate techniques were different from Taekwondo, but similar. Although both are young students (and nervous), they were able to keep up enough to enjoy the experience. Thanks Kira!!

Here are the three cousins during the beginner's class. Kira is a brown belt, but she assisted this class. Brian is supposed to be a blue belt, not green, but, while I managed to get their uniforms in the suitcases, I forgot to pack their belts! I always forget something important - when we traveled to the US with a first stop at Disney one year, we found that I had forgot to pack pants for Honor. We also found that while Disney World sells many many T-shirts, they do not sell pants. Nor does any place in downtown Disney, Orlando. We made do with the pair she wore, the spare in her backpack, and the Minnie Mouse dress we bought her! Comparatively, forgetting the belts this year was minor... Kira loaned the kids her old belts.
After the beginner's class, was an intermediate class. Brian participated, but Honor decided to sit it out and goof off with Aunt Nancy.
Brian works on his blocks and his 'angry face' with the intermediate instructor.
You want me to spar with who?? The instructor paired the cousins up for some practice and Brian wasn't sure what to do!
He tried! and we think he held his own pretty well.
Hope you are enjoying karate camp Kira! We miss you guys already. Thanks (to you and your coaches!) for including your little cousins in class.

I can't resist

More Taekwondo pictures. But I am so proud of the kids! Honor is working very hard and listening well to the instructor. Brian is getting more flexible, stronger, and confident. I love to watch how intense they are when they work out like this.

It was another 2-hour class day for Brian. At least there was another blue belt there so there was less pressure on him. Honor got her new uniform and immediately went to change.

After class, two tired kids begged to go out somewhere to dinner. Class, plus 8 hours of summer camp activities before that, I was worried they'd be very tired, so we compromised. We'd go to the club for dinner, but a quiet, short dinner. No pool. No playground. Then home to bed. They thought that was good and so that's what we did. They were very tired. Barely had them in bed before they were asleep.

(as always, you can click on this slideshow and go to Picasa to watch this slideshow)

Twocando Taekwondo

Honor has been fascinated with Brian's taekwondo for awhile now, especially so since his last test. She is too young to start taekwondo as an after-school activity at CAC, but I was able to sign both kids up for a summer session at a nearby community center - with the same instructor that teaches at CAC! How is that for consistency?

Brian actually got more than he bargained for - although I think he enjoyed it, and he did very well for a surprise change of roles! The beginner's class was first, and when the instructor saw Brian, who had already changed into his uniform, he came to me and said that this class was 'too easy' for Brian. I explained that Honor was there to have her first class, and Brian was signed up for the intermediate class that followed the beginner's class. (Same day, one after the other. Consistent and convenient!) And so, Brian found himself drafted to be the teacher's assistant... a surprise responsibility that he handled very smoothly.

First thing about Taekwondo is learning how to stand still and quiet - and listen to your instructor! This signals that class has begun. Honor's been practicing - maybe a bit too much.
Then they learned to bow, to show respect to one another.
Next was a chance to tell their names and ask questions. He asked the kids, "Why are you here?" All of them are 4 and 5 years old like Honor, and they really weren't sure how to answer! He wanted them to say, "For taekwondo class.", Then, "Why take taekwondo?" Honor's answer was "Because she watched her brother". This wasn't a serious quizzing, this instructor is great with the little ones and he was just getting to know them a little.
Brian led the beginners in running, and demonstrated all the different styles of running and moving they do. Sideways running, backwards, etc. He also had to count in Korean as the teacher demonstrated moves. He got a good workout. He also learned to really pay close attention to what he was doing. The teacher said that as a yellow belt, he cut him slack, but as a blue belt, he'd give Brian push-ups if he forgot a detail, like giving a yell before starting a move. Brian had to do push-ups once.
As part of teaching the kids a bit about how to punch, and how to give a loud yell, the instructor went child to child and had them shout and punch him as hard as they could in his chest. They thought this was great fun. Here's Honor's turn to give him a few punches. (I know, she's mostly hidden, but I was sitting out of the way.. using the old camera, and no flash to keep from distracting the class - I tried!)
Honor is quizzed on her right and left, and told to give a powerful shout as she punched the target.
Punch!
I think Honor really enjoyed her first lesson. She wants her outfit though. After a full day of summer camp activities - swimming, playing games, art, etc. - plus an hour of Taekwondo, Honor was tired. We still had to wait for Brian's class though.

Brian's intermediate class started about 10 minutes after Honor's. Brian had only a short time to catch his breath! The workout the intermediate class did was grueling. Mostly aerobic. Lots of running, plus some strength exercises. The last 15-20 minutes was kicking. The instructor held a target, the 6 or so people in his class lined up, and, one after another, over and over, did kicks, kicks, and more kicks. They all looked exhausted after they were finished. Brian had also had a full day of camp activities as well as two hours of taekwondo, and I am surprised the poor kid managed to not fall asleep in his dinner!

Brad called after we ate, and both kids told him Happy Father's Day. They told him a little about camp and taekwondo. They also told him about two new toys that arrived in the mail for them today - extra special toys that they earned for themselves. Then they were done. Before I could even finish talking with Brad, they were demanding to have their hair brushed, etc. so they could go to bed! Now THAT is tired!

Blue Belt!

Brian took his Blue Belt test in Taekwondo Thursday afternoon. He's been practicing very hard and it really showed. He passed his test easily!

Here's a slideshow of photos from his test:

A movie of his 3rd poomse - a series of movements he has to master for this belt:

The sparring section of his test:

and the breaking of the boards. One kick (which I mostly missed), one punch, and one ?knife-hand? strike: