Other Happenings this month

Ok, I admit it, I am just a bit partial to the baby and his birthday this month. Well, he and our trip to Disney aren't the only fun things happening at the F-Troop ranch...

Weekend before last, the kids all participated in a Demo at our church festival. This is the second year that they were involved in this, and this year, the pressure was on. Having only about 8 hours of practice to learn the whole Demo and execute it well wasn't enough of a hurdle for these kids. They also had to do all of this on the same weekend as Homecoming! This was Bean's first "dance" and we wanted it to be a special time for her. The rules she had to follow are listed below. But back to the demo... The kids also had the knowledge that another TKD school was going to be there, so their Demo had to be 100% on! I personally would have crawled in a hole to die with that much weighing on me, but not the kids. Nope. They are made of stronger stuff than I!

They pulled off an almost flawless performance. A few board breaks were missed, but even those looked good!!

That night, as I mentioned above, was the homecoming dance at one of the local high schools. Though Bean is home-schooled, she does enjoy the company of some really great girls that attend our public high schools. Bean's Dad and I decided that though we'd truly like to keep her locked in her room until she gets married, we'd go ahead and let her attend the dance with the following rules in mind.
1. Do not speak to any boys.
2. Do not look at any boys.
3. Do not give your number, address, email address, etc. to any boys.
4. Do not let your friends give out your number, address, email address, etc., to any boys.
5. Do not dance with any boys.
6. Stand against the wall and watch your friends dance, but don't even think about it.
7. Have a great time!

Ok, so we are a bit overprotective. Did I ever mention that we are thinking of letting her date...ON HER HONEYMOON??!!

I mean really, how much contact with the opposite sex does a future nun really need??

All kidding aside, Bean had a great time. She even stayed away from the boys and enjoyed dancing the night away with her girlfriends. It was a joy to watch her transform from her Black Belt TKD, kick-bootie self into a beautiful, elegant young lady... that is NOT allowed to talk to boys!! (ok, future priests are allowed to speak to her, if they pass our interrigation)



Did I also mention that there is another homecoming this weekend at the other high school in our town? I don't know if her father and I can take it...

Another highlight this month was this past weekend. Lem and Bean attended a open TKD tournament. This was a first for them as we have only been to our former association's tournaments. I was a bit nervous about letting them go, but figured it would be a great learning experience for them. Their Aunt Mickey Miss and Mr. M picked Bean, Foo, and Lem up early Saturday morning (after a late night of watching a local production of "The Odyssey") and they headed to the tournament. A few hours later, I received a call to let me know that my sweet little Lem had taken First Place in Forms. Shortly after that, Bean called to tell me that she had placed Third in Forms. And a bit after that, Lem called to tell me that she had won First place in Sparring. Foo did not compete this time, but he was wishing he had by the end of the day! As you can see, the trophies are a bit on the tall side. Obviously a mother was not on the trophy planning committee. I mean seriously, where does one keep these things???

We are very proud of the girls and their accomplishments. I only hope they know how much we love them.