Tournament, Take Two!

Caelan helping with scorekeeping while awaiting her turn to stage.

We've accomplished our second karate tournament in as many weeks . . . this one proved more challenging (to me, but mostly AFTER the tournament :)

Graysen finishing up his form

Graysen's group

We awoke at the 7:00 hour once again (shudder!), and drove two cars to drop Buck's vehicle off at work. He then drove us the remaining couple of hours to the tournament location. Once we arrived, he and I had to pay as "spectators" which is different than last time, but it was at a school this time, so that's pretty standard for athletic events.

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Brennen's group

The first challenge was seating--they only had half the bleachers pulled out, and we're a caravan of six with enough gear to fill a van, clothes, and a cooler. Eventually, after getting the kids changed into their uniforms (locker rooms were a new experience ... they couldn't imagine changing in the general *room*--they still all opted for bathroom stalls :), we found a section that we kind of squished ourselves into. There were only 8 rings, so things were moving a little bit more slowly, but we got to see some of the XMA (I think that's what it's called) performances, and they were very interesting! Loud music, yelling, flips and throwing dangerous looking weapons around . . . interesting! Caelan was asked to come and help with some of the scoring in one of the black belt rings, so she went off to do that.

Two medals!

G$ went to staging first. His ring was across the gym from us, so we had to sit on the floor to watch. He tied for third on his form (Gab said he missed a couple of lines; the kids have a hard time not being oriented the direction of the mirrors at their karate school, it kind of throws them off). In the *form-off* (IDK what it's really called :), he finished in fourth place. Next he won his first sparring match and moved on to eventually compete for 3rd place. 

Gab sparring a district champ

At this same time, Brennen had been staged on the opposite corner of the gym. I missed his first go at form, but Buck said he tied for first . . . well, then so did another kid. B was in a three-way form-off while G was trying to get that 3rd place sparring medal. G ended up in fourth, and was pretty bummed, but kept his temper which was awesome! 

B accomplished third after a second run through his form, cool! At this point we also discovered that having a cup (you know, the boy kind) was a requirement? B has never had a cup on ever, did not know they existed. Boy was I glad Buck was still there to buy one off the merchandise table and help the kid shimmy into it (or however that works) in the locker room! After that bit of hectic was settled, B competed in his sparring match, where we discovered (not in his favor) that a jump kick to the head is worth three of the five points needed to win. It was over so fast, B was so sad :( Buck was just getting read to leave, I'm glad (again!) he was there for both boys.

Gab's group

Oh, why was Buck getting ready to leave? Well, this is day 9 of his current work "week." He needed to be to work by 4 p.m. to work til 3 a.m. Our karate instructor offered to drive Buck to work, so we could finish out the tournament if it ran late (it did), and so we wouldn't have to drive two cars half way across the neighboring state. To make it even crazier--he got home at 3:30 this morning, and volunteered to come back to work at 11 a.m. so that he can have the upcoming blizzard days off (since our vehicles are not very blizzard-worthy).

Back to the tournament . . . it's now, 2 in the afternoon, no one has eaten, and Gab's being called to staging. B's group was so enormous, that he had to sit there (in that terribly uncomfortable new cup :) for HOURS. In fact, Gab's group was done with awards and pictures (and even lunch) long before B's group wrapped up! In the meantime, I'm ring-running . . . here, there, back and forth . . . whew! 

How cute is Little Buddy helping with the judging panel?!

Gab taking her job seriously

Gab's ring ended up right next to B's, so that was great! G$ was able to sit with a little guy from Colorado that he met, while watching other kids compete in B's ring, which meant I could watch him too :) Gab looked great on her form and ended up tied for second! At the form-off, she ended up with 3rd, but really liked the girl who got second, so she was happy about it :) In sparring, she looked much more determined than at the last tournament. She was able to knock the District Champ out of the bracket by landing a two-point head kick just as time ran out, which gave her a one point advantage and the win! In the championship match, she landed three kicks to the head (2 points each) which quickly got her over the 5-pt mark for the win! Yay!

Gab ran to get lunch, but was two bites into her sandwich when a black belt lady said, "We need you to help in the rings!" Graysen already was running points for competitors in another ring, so she slammed down her sandwich and ended up writing scores/record keeping in the ring that would be her sister's :)

Caelan kept trying to get the black belt girl to fight back :)

Winner winner, chicken dinner!

By this time, Cae was in staging (and then out of staging, and then back in staging)--with one other girl. An orange belt (that's like the first belt after the belt they give everybody to start ... that's the belt I got, lol :) They did manage to pull a 60+ year old brown belt into her group, but she was automatically eligible (well, each of the three of them were because they were the only ones in their divisions) for first place. Of course, C was disappointed that it wasn't real competition. She scored all 9.9s--a perfect score--in her form (officially recorded by her sister :). For sparring, they grabbed a third degree black belt, who basically let Caelan score points on her. But logically, she couldn't fight back; she was ranked three times higher and then some! So, C was bummed, but she got another first place medal.

Fun that Gab got to bestow Cae's medals :)

All of this took til after three in the afternoon . . . C finally got to eat, and by this time, her stomach had started hurting--8 to 3 with just a snack at a competition is kind of a long time. The boys started taking apart mats while I was taking pics of Cae's tiny group (Gabby got to award her the 1st place medals). I was proud of the kids all being willing to pitch in and help in whatever ways they were needed! It was good experience learning a different side of how tournaments work, and good for them to practice being helpful when they're available to do so!

Double first place

The boys got to be involved in the closing ceremonies, while the girls went to change back into their regular clothes. G$ became utterly fascinated with the idea of a protective cup and has talked of little else, despite his brother's assurances it's not the coolest thing ever :) He thinks if he gets one, he'll probably wear it every time he goes to karate class, and asked if I thought he could get one tomorrow if we go to have a lesson. Funny kid!

Gab got to be in Cae's group picture as a judge/record keeper :)

We got all our gear packed up as it was starting to look a little dusky outside, and yesterday I guess, was beautiful, in the 50s? So began the long drive home . . . I figured a 1/2 tank of gas got us there, so a 1/2 tank should get us home. I was mostly right :) The gas light came on as it got really dark. I planned to drive through a burger joint on the way into town, but the exit was completely blocked off! This had me exiting another up the road, which would have been fine . . . except for the train. We got stuck at a red light for a LONG time as the train slowly moved closer. By this time we were 2.5 hours from the last bathroom, super tired, super hungry, and super out of gas. We randomly picked a restaurant that we could reach around the train and headed straight for the rest rooms. We were seated a few minutes later . . . then Caelan started to cry, and Caelan is not a crier.

Good helpers, getting the "rings" taken apart and stacked

Her stomach hurt so badly that she was sobbing with her head down on the table, and still no waitress. We decided what were going to order, the boys were coloring and still no waitress . . . I said, "Let's just leave. It's ok. We're 15 minutes from home, we'll just go." So we walked out :) She was dizzy and not feeling well at all, and I knew she was just super lacking in calories. I had to get gas, because we got stuck in the traffic left over from the train (for like 10 minutes for two blocks, ughh!!), so I had her dig through the cooler to get a juice smoothie and a snack bar. She started feeling better as I rolled into the gas station.


I'm not a happy night driver, and I hadn't eaten anything but 2 cookies since we left the house at 8 a.m., so I had a screaming headache now at 6 p.m. (Buck had made me his famous choc chip cookies the night before, I'm so glad I packed us each one--oh, and I ate his because he left early :) We decided to drive through a sandwich shop . . . we were third in line, another delay, but whatevs, at least no one was crying and we had a full tank of gas. When it was finally our turn and I got my order, I counted, because I always do . . . and we only had four sandwiches. So I had to re-order the missing sandwich and pay again and wait again. 

Hooray! Good job Crew!

We finally got home and just flopped down at the table. What a day! My headache never really went away, but it did back off by midnight. I couldn't wait up for Buck so I went to bed. The whole time, Chauncey was super stressed out. He knew we left with Buck, but Buck did not come home with us, so he must have figured we accidentally left Buck someplace :) He stared at the exits and whined off and on for hours. I mean, how do you explain inventory to a dog??

Overall, it was a good day . . . but I'm glad we're not signed up for another one of these good days 'til April ;)

Air-Field Trip

See what I did with the title there? Yeah, yeah? :) 

I don't know, it's too early for me to blog. Usually I say it's too late, but I'm letting the kids finish up some of their pre-school work, and keeping myself busy til they're ready to get into lessons. I made a super sweet "to do" list spanning the next four months. I'm trying to finish up January. Technically blogging isn't on the list, but I am a fan of doing stuff, writing it on the list, and then crossing it off as if it was there all the time :) I feel so accomplished that way!

Anyway, back to the post. We were working on our official half-way through the school year day, when I received a text invite from my neighbor to go to the local airport with another homeschool mom and herself (at least that was my interpretation of the text). I declined because the field trip was in the middle of our guitar lesson. Well, then our guitar instructor texted (seriously, what did we do before text? I never talk to anyone anymore :) to say he thought maybe he was getting the flu and didn't want us to get it too--AGREED! So, I texted my neighbor back and accepted her invitation. We'd tried to go out the airport and look at the war museum attached to it when we first moved here, but it was closed during opening hours :) Oh well!

We arrived to a jammed parking lot and 50 homeschool kids and parents!! I misinterpreted big time, lol! But it was fun to see people I see often at church and karate who are homeschool families too, I don't actual "know" them, but now I know a little more about them :)

This trip was right up Brennen's alley! He's talked about being a pilot for years! They all got to sit in a real plane, mess with the real gears, see all the real parts move (while the moms shivered on the tarmac and tried to take pictures with frozen fingers :) My kids all hopped in with neighbor kids, so I was out there snapping pics for four plane-loads of pilots!

Inside the building, the kids got to see a repair shop, ask questions about the little single-engine planes, and talk to two pilots in training (for their commercial licenses). It turns out, B can start earning hours toward his pilot's license NOW! What?! He's one excited kid!

We also got to tour the WWII museum, and B of course thought to bring his camera. I was impressed by how much info he absorbed, when I thought he was absorbed in photographing the guns and the planes :) After the museum, we went inside and saw the weather room and an upstairs room with a view of the landing strip. The lady in charge did a great job explaining things to the kids. I learned some things too! 

B came home with a folder of info, including a mini guide to getting your pilot's license. Last I saw it was on his bed, I guess he's not letting that information out of his sight :)

We don't participate with any homeschool groups, it's just not my thing. But this was pretty neat! I guess the gal that arranged it just set up a fb page and posts details of tours, and then whoever wants to shows up. I dig this arrangement! And I think my kids enjoyed it too :)

A Spot of Color in a Winter White World

We received a box of goodies from Cali Gramma, and have just now been able to dig into it to utilize some of the fun items inside. The kids colored these bright, stained-glass window-looking pics while I finished up some school reading. Isn't it nice to have a little burst of color on a winter's day (did you hear we're getting up to 16 inches of snow next week? WHAT?!)

Guitar Repair 101

We had a string snap, a bar loosen, and a key stabilizer bend . . . two of the three we've managed to fix so far, with a little text help support from our guitar instructor :)

The Saga of the Loom

Caelan spotted this cool, oversized loom while we were clicking around on Amazon one day. I secretly ordered it for her, even though I had to pay shipping (I never pay shipping if I don't have to!) Because I ordered so early, it arrived in a reasonable amount of time--then took up a huge amount of closet space (the box was gigantic!).


Hardly had it hit the closet when I noticed Target was selling the same product online for HALF THE PRICE plus a buy one get one 50% off. Okay, I don't like to be on the bad end of a deal, but I figured returning in, getting a replacement, all that wasn't worth my time in an already busy time of year.

So she opens it Christmas morning; it was one of her "big" gifts from mom and dad. She gets it all out of the box, super excited to start using it . . . the dowels are missing. Those dowels that the yarn wraps around on the sides so that the loom can be used. She opened a useless gift!!

I contacted Amazon, waited a couple days, and was told to contact the toy seller directly. So I did. A WEEK later (after I'd called to confirm twice, because the first guy wasn't sure he was able to do what I was asking--you know, get the parts we needed), they finally shipped the replacement (this was early January).

The replacement arrived . . . in a manila envelope. It was a dowel. A long skinny, pointy dowel set. So . . . we got one. And an envelope with a hole in the bottom. So I called again (this was my fourth call). The customer service people (I know them both by name :) were very kind, but not able to do much expediently. This time I asked the wrap the replacement more wisely, and please give me a tracking number so I can let her know that not every truck that rolls through our neighborhood might FINALLY be her chance to use her Christmas gift. I mean, sheesh!

About mid-January, I received the email saying the second replacement had shipped. You saw in the picture above how the replacement arrived, lol! In a big box with a whole lotta bubble wrap (think they were tired of hearing from me? :) 

She immediately got to work on her weaving, though she started with a wee project . . . it's not like she's also got a little knitting business, has decided to try latch hook rug making, and has several cross-stitch projects going . . . quite the crafty girl!

Tournament Time

At the last minute, Buck's work schedule got rearranged to include a late shift involving chicken oven replacements and fork lift driving. So he arrived home last night round about 1 a.m. By 7 A.M. (you just can't shout digits can you?), we were up and packing the van for tournament time (I know this seems normal to most of you, but our kids handle their own breakfast while we try to complete our sleep til at least 8--or if you're me, 9:30 ;)

G and his friend S! S did really well in his form . . . it was fun to have a buddy to cheer for!

The whole process was brand new to us. We'd attended our own club's mini-tournament against other kids in our club, but this was big time . . . competitors from as far away as Carolina and Kentucky! Several of the parents Buck talked to said this was one of 30 tournaments they'd signed their kids up for THIS YEAR! Can you imagine how many they've been to in the past? Yowza! But for us, it was number one, and we were glad to have a couple of club buddies and instructors to show us how the whole thing works. I'm so glad Buck was able to go too, because the arrangers take the kids out for staging (organizing them by belt color, age, etc.) in a big hallway. Sometimes they'd sit there for 30 minutes, an hour . . . Buck went with the boys and another dad friend, and I stayed with the ladies. 
Dad selfies in the staging area :)

The girls got to experience the opening ceremonies where everyone stood from highest ranking black belts to the newbies with their white belts in the back. We also discovered a new career or at least volunteer opportunity for C--national anthem singing to open karate events! ;) She wasn't invited on stage this year, but now that we know it's an option . . . .

C is looking at me, and Gab is right next door . . .

Can you still see the girls? :)

Mysteriously all the lights went out for a couple of minutes, and then the kids started coming in by group. We were super stoked that G's group ended up just to the right of where we'd stowed all our gear, and B's group was directly in front of "our" section. That's when things started getting crazy!

These go with the descrips below, but I can't get them to line up right . . .

Brennen sparring

Gab got called to staging while G started his form (a memorized series of movements that they learn and perform to earn their belt promotions; I think they've been taught 4 or 5?). Buck ran back as B finished his form and both boys geared up for sparring. The kids in B's division were tough--thick--and super aggressive! It was a huge learning experience for B, and he was pretty disappointed that he didn't progress further in that side of competition. His buddy F utilized his height (and his ability to kick to the head for 2 points each time, just ask C's jaw from before Christmas ;) to compensate for the other kids' sturdy experience. F walked away with a 2nd place finish in sparring, which B was really excited to cheer for! 

G sparring

At the same time as B was sparring, G$ started the first of three matches. His ring was also more intense than home club and he found himself facing some mini-state and district champs--again, this was his first tournament. 

As G earned a place in the third place qualifier, Gabby started her form in the ring behind him (boy, did that work out great?!) Meanwhile C was called to staging, so Buck was running all over the place while I did my best to photo everything happening inside the ballroom. He arrived back in time to watch Gabby, and said he got teary-eyed because she isn't a fan of competition in any form, but she was doing her best. Very cool!

Gab ready for her form (see how close they were to each other?!

In the meantime, Little Buddy was mad--he had lost the match for 2nd and only had a minute to compose himself for the 3rd place round. He felt that the judges were giving points unfairly, but everything happens so fast it is really hard for the judging trio even to keep track of all the moves. By the third place match, he was a little ball of fire and that other boy needed to defend the daylights out of himself. Unfortunately, G was so fired up he kind of let his technique slide, which left him open for a couple high-scoring hits. He ended up losing by one point, and being a fairly emotional kid, was pretty devastated. He managed to smile for awards and pics, but he needed some dad love for sure!

Awards were happening for B as Gab was gearing up to spar and C was working on her form--happily also within photo distance, two rings over from Gab, kitty-corner from B. 

Brennen was very excited to learn he'd earned second place in his form! The scoring is all done by hand (the judges score on a 9. scale, however many fingers pop out is the .5 .6 .7 etc., so it is really hard to keep track after nearly a dozen boys who's 9.? added up to what). He did a great job!

B is on the far right, next to his friend F, who is actually closer to Gabby's age :)

C flying through her form :)

Caelan also did a great job in her group, which was admittedly smaller, but super tough girls. Her events went quickly because there weren't so many competitors to run through. She ended up with a 3rd place in form and started her 1st/2nd place battle for sparring as Gab was fighting back-to-back rounds for 3rd. She got kicked really hard in the head, and doesn't often wear her glasses when she fights (contacts are on the to-do list for karate and swim next month :) She was also hesitant to hit with power because she didn't *know* the girls and didn't want to hurt anyone. All that to say, she was an emotional fighter, but a far different emotion from her littlest brother :) She ended up in 4th place, and got a big hug from the girl she'd been chatting with all morning.

Meanwhile, Caelan got a leg sweep from a tough little cookie and hit that carpeted cement floor HARD! The judge asked if she was okay, but she just popped right back up like it was nothing. I can only imagine the bruises and aches she'll have tomorrow on her right side. The girl she was up against was like a prize fighter. She knew she couldn't manage C's long legs, so she got in close and just wailed on the sides of her chest guard. The judges had to break them up a couple of times. I tell you what, between wanting to cry for the disappointment the other three felt and seeing her, very bravely, getting knocked around--whew! IDK if tournaments are for the mommy side of me! ;) I'm really glad Buck was there, he was having so much fun, and it was a lot of fun to see the kids put into practice what they've worked so hard to attain. Oh, and so Caelan ended up with 2nd place in sparring!

The medals are super heavy, and the place is written on the ribbon. We brought a cooler of food (which was a good idea) and extra clothes (which was also a good idea, but *mom fail* need to remember to help the boys pick white boxers for future competitions :)

There's another tournament, much closer to home, coming up soon. We'll see if we have any takers :)

Dad photo bomb ;)