Cammo Belt Testing!!!

As many of you know, Ethen has been taking TaeKwonDo for about a year and a half. We missed the last testing because of our move and Ethen's broken arm, but yesterday Lil'man was dressed to impress and kicking major butt at his testing for cammo belt.

He did amazing - even had the compliments of many of the judges so it's not just my bias talking here!

Here are some fun pictures and video I snagged of the event! Happy viewing!

Warming up and sitting like a black belt - this kid is awesome!

Here's the video of Ethen's test... he did amazing! The 4th form (AKA One Step #3 he had NEVER done before... ever and aside from him not turning around at first I think he nailed it!)

password: cammo

Cammo Belt Testing from Brandy Speece on Vimeo.

Here's the video of Ethen being awarded his cammo belt. He's the only one who bowed to ALL of the instructors and shook hands in the proper fashion! Do you think he's happy... check out that cheeky grin of his!!!

password: cammoawarded

A New Belt from Brandy Speece on Vimeo.

Well there you have it - our new cammo belt. This is so exciting. Now we HAVE to get his sparring gear!!! Looking forward to the coming year with tournaments and more testing!

Merry Christmas!!!

Brandy

Good Bye Training Wheels!!!

We headed out this morning for our daily bike ride with one thing different… NO TRAINING WHEELS FOR ETHEN – AT ALL!!!

He was supper excited to ride without his training wheels! He still wants a little “push” to get started – which he really doesn’t, I just hold the bike and when he starts pedaling I let go – we really need to work on him starting off on his own! So here’s some pictures from our ride. There are some pretty big hills that he did very well on – I really couldn’t be prouder of this little guy!

This is on Bonanza Trail – to the left of us is the freeway! Gotta love living in the city! I’m thinking of taking him our riding at Red Rock or SOME PLACE out of the city so we can breathe! (oh my the way – YES – I am riding MY bike while taking these next couple of pictures. It was a little scary!)

Look closely… HE STANDING AND RIDING!!!

WOO HOO!!!

HYDRATE OR DIE !!! (There’s a Marine reference if I have EVER done one!)

With 35% humidity this morning H2O was definitely REQUIRED!!! (yes I know that other parts of the country are 90% but 35% is REALLY high for Vegas ok!!!)

______________________

So later in the day I took Ethen to karate where, out of sheer coincidence, Ethen was the ONLY student for his class. So he had a ton of fun practicing his forms and playing war ball with just him and his instructors!

(He just finished a jump front kick in this picture)

He looks so lonesome!!! But he totally had a blast!

Tomorrow is a whole new day and guess what – in 12 days I get to register Ethen for school!

First day of school countdown: 33 DAYS

Brandy

This and That

Yesterday was pretty fun! We had a great time playing at a new park. All though the city of Las Vegas gave us an excellent example of how NOT to water your grass in the desert. I think it's absolutely hilarious that they harp and preach about water conservation, telling people to water at night so the water will actually soak into the ground and not be evaporated yet; they decide to water the parks during the hottest part of the day! MAKES NO SENSE!!! Ok... off my soapbox!

After playgroup Ethen and I headed to the bowling alley for a quick match! Can you believe this kid beat me! I wasn't trying to let him either... of course he did cheat a little... whenever I would be up to bowl he would run up and cross the foul line so my score wouldn't count! GRRR... The little turkey! I REALLY don’t bowl this bad… On the Wii it’s like 200+ (hehehe). Ethen did fantastic though and even though he cheated!

Final Score 84 - 79

_______________________________________________________________

After bowling it was time for Ethen to get into his martial arts groove! He had color belt testing yesterday and did FANTASTIC!

For Ethen’s age group they test in half steps so he did not change colors just advanced to the next stage of Yellow Belt. He earned his yellow headband and cheetah patch that goes on his belt. We also had a special treat and got to watch Mr. Wong and Mr. Martin Jr. spar – that was actually really great to see!

I was most impressed with a “young grasshoppa” that decided to help Ethen practice his forms, rather than prepare herself for her testing! What a great example she has set for Ethen and all the other students.

Ethen going through his forms with Mr. Wong. He also went through his self defense and one steps. He was the only Yellow Belt testing and one of three Tiny Tigers.

Ethen receiving his yellow headband and cheetah patch. They must bow and shake hands with all the instructors. (left to right) Mr. Martin Sr., Mrs. Baker, Mr. Martin Jr., Mr. Wong.

________________________________________________________________

Because Ethen did such a fabulous job at testing, he sat so patiently for about 45 minutes, we decided to treat him with a movie.

We are pretty big Transformers fans so this was the perfect movie to see. Opening weekend – yikes – there were sooooo many people there! But we had decent seats.

The movie was pretty good, had more language than the previous ones and a little more risqué in their camera angles, but the plot was fantastic!

Brandy

The REAL Karate Kid...

Boy are we super excited for Ethen. He is working so hard and learning some pretty amazing things in Karate. On the 16th he was allowed to test to advance to the next level of orange belt. (For those that are confused as to why he didn't advance to a new color belt, the reason is there are 2 levels for each belt. Undecided and decided.) It makes sense since there is a lot, and I mean A LOT, of information to learn for each belt - so they break it up! Here are some pictures of the event. I would have added the video but they were taking too long to load. So another time perhaps! Enjoy!

Ethen sitting like a "Black Belt" THE WHOLE TIME!!!

Looking like a ninja standing like a "Black Belt"


Look at those forms! (This is the "Outer Forearm Block")

Ethen receiving his headband and patch. Yes it is supposed to be orange - HOWEVER - Winter storms back East prevented UPS from delivering the shipment of Orange headbands and patches on time. He will be getting a replacement after Christmas break.
I was so impressed with Ethen! Even the owner, Cory Martin, came up to me afterwards and commented on how well behaved Ethen was for testing. Normally Ethen is running around frustrating the heck out of Mr. Wong (his instructor). Not this time, he did exactly what he was supposed to do the entire time.

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU LIL' MAN!!!

Today was a busy day for us... Jonathon's company participated in a 5k walk to raise money for Breast Cancer Research while Ethen and I went to his Karate Tournament. Afterwards we met for brunch and then headed for a couple of games of bowling!

I was so proud of my little guy! Here are some great pics of our day, we even had a special surprise this evening. The heavens opened and let loose it's rain!!!

The force is strong in this one!

Ethen patiently waiting for his turn!

Ethen after receiving his medal for competing today!

Ethen with the tournament judges! They were so awesome!

Check out the video of Ethen doing his Orange belt forms! They said he had excellent hand and arm strength! Way To Go Lil' Man!
Password: Tournament

Password: medal

TIME FOR BOWLING!!!!!!

We hit up the Red Rock Casino for some family fun! Ethen did AMAZING! He had been begging me for weeks to go bowling again so we finally made it today. We played two games...

The first game scored as follows: Ethen 49, Me 87, Jonathon 77 (this was a warm up game!)

Second game scored as follows: Ethen 79 (all right), Me 96, Jonathon 101...

Ok so we aren't the greatest bowlers but we had a GREAT time! Check out the pics and video!

Daddy and E... posin'!

Good form buddy!

See that... ETHEN GOT A STRIKE!

We had a nice surprise today! A THUNDERSTORM! Ethen was totally excited to play in the rain! It was very refreshing after all this heat we've had!

Password: rain

Some Oldies But Goodies... and Then Some

Just some older pics that I found on my phone... hate it when I forget to take them off the phone and put them on the computer! I can't believe how small he was! Anyways... here they are... hope you enjoy!

I always knew Ethen had a hard head!!!

A walk to the park

Ethen's 1st attempt at chopsticks

I think he likes his kitchen! My little chef in the making!!!

"I Love Nana THIIIIIIS much!"

This is why I'm not surprised that he would eventually put BB's in his ear!

A quick video of Ethen's last karate class. The kids got to do some sparring and they paired Ethen with his best friend, Lily. These kids are so cute together!

Password: Sparring

Sparring from Brandy Speece on Vimeo.

Ethen Goes Orange

Ethen tested for his orange belt in Karate on Saturday (Sep 11, 2010). It was pretty amazing and he did a fantastic job. Here are a few pics of the event!

Lining up

The Judges

Ethen getting his belt from Mr. Martin

He's so proud!

With Ms. Martin Chief Instructor at Karate for Kids

Ethen with Mr. Wong his instructor

Here's a great video of Ethen getting his belt! Enjoy!
Password: Orange

Getting Orange from Brandy Speece on Vimeo.

1st Karate Tournament

EEEE-YA!!!

Ethen had his first Karate Tournament today! It was fantastic! I sure wish I could have gone but I had a garage sale to work... however, Jonathon, being the wonderfully fantastic father that he is... took him and got some great photos and videos. Ethen had a great time... He was even awarded a "first place" trophy! He's so proud of himself! He works really hard and I can't wait for him level up and get his orange belt! Check out some pictures below!!!

 

 

Ethen with his best bud, Lily.

 

 

 

 

Ethen with the tournament judges.

 

 

 

***sorry unable to upload video right now... will post later***

Ethen and His Karate

For the past few days Ethen has been using the boxes that I have for packing as targets for his karate! He’s such a genius!

 I think he likes karate… what do you think?

Karate

Ethen earned his second knowledge stripe today at karate. They have a great system where they break down the forms you need to know in order to advance into 3 stages, each stage earns a stripe on their belt. Once they have all 3 stripes they are allowed to test for the next belt. SOOOO… Ethen earned his SECOND!

GREAT JOB LIL’MAN!!!