Sparring

This week Sunshine was moved up to the next Tae Kwon Do class. It was time and she and I had been talking about moving up, maybe going and watching a class or two so she could get a feel for it. It is the same instructors but the class moves much faster and is just a bit more intense. From a Mom's perspective I could see if she didn't move up she would start to stagnate, wouldn't learn as much. But at the same time, the class includes older kids with green and blue belts- so I understood why she was hesitant.

Anyway, she moved up this week and had a smile on her face the WHOLE time. I sat back and watched the grin and my heart sang. They ran laps and she smiled. They did drills and she smiled. And then they did sparring.

Since she doesn't have sparring equipment yet they had flags they had to pull from each other's belts.. but she smiled the whole time. The whole time! She did get to watch the other kids spar in their sparring gear so she could see what it was like.

After class I asked her, do you want to spar? And she said "Oh Yes!"

And so, I am buying my gorgeous little daughter sparring gear. Somehow I always thought it would be hockey gear and I'd want to jump off the bench and hurt anyone who touched my little baby.. but no, we're skipping that and going right to hand to hand combat.

She loves it and I see her smile and so I can wrap my brain around it... but my heart... is conflicted... it sings at watching her enjoy it and skips a beat when I realize what she is doing.

I suppose just another one of those challenges we face as parents... the letting go and the holding on and finding that balance. But if you read about a woman from the stands at some Tae Kwon Do match taking out a kid.. send bail money... it is probably just me!

The Fall

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. There is something about the change of the season, the gorgeous colors on the trees and on the ground. I love waking up and needing to put on warm fuzzy socks and my fleece. Even though many people think of Spring as the time of rebirth- fall, for me, is that door closing, leading to a new opening.

I wish at these moments that I had a deck and could sit and watch the water and have a cup of tea. But I am lucky enough to live close enough to the water that I can go and enjoy the water and the beauty of fall.

Even as the fall arrives- this gorgeous flower is still alive and thriving.

This gorgeous tree in all different stages of autumn.
I love sunsets and sunrises... so beautiful.

Thoughts.. thoughts.. thoughts...

Been a bit.. been busy, been out of town.. and I've got about 3 different blogs halfway written in my head.. too many thoughts spinning around in my head to break them all out individually.

But I'll get there.. soon.. don't give up...

Birthday!

Sunshine recently had her birthday parties and her actual birthday. What fun!

This year for the first time I actually had her kids birthday party some place other than my house. It was a stretch for me, but when I did the math, it ended up being cheaper than all the food I would buy and my time.

So we had it at a movie theater and watched The Game Plan, which was a big hit with the kids. We had popcorn and cake and ice cream. All and all a fun day.


The family party was a bit more subdued but still fun none the less, a nice BBQ in the backyard and some more wonderful presents.


And finally, the cupcakes for the classroom.


I would say it was much more of a birthday weekend than a birthDAY.

Happy Birthday Sunshine, thanks for being born!

Cousins

Last year Sunshine and I took a trip to Florida, to visit a friend and some family that live down there.

I can not for the life of me tell you why I felt so compelled to do this trip, but I just knew I needed to.

It was an adventure with a capital A. Traveling alone with a child caused me a heightened sense of anxiety and also caused me to stop and enjoy things just that little extra bit.

Seeing my cousin who I hadn't seen since I was 13 which was only like what 2 or 3 years ago was a blast! We reconnected and have been in touch regularly since my visit.

Well, she came to visit all the way from Florida and it was a great time. We are so very similar in so many ways and yet so very different in others. Some say we look like we could be sisters.

We spent one day just the two us having fun cousin bonding time. It was wonderful.

Her nice little sports car.. never been in one of these before. It was a blast!

At my favorite beach in the state! I love this place.

I love this sign.. no Street girls or sailors.

A view looking up from the car as we drove.. what a day!

Demolition Derby

This weekend we attended the demolition derby. Always so much fun. My cousin from Miami was up, so we dragged her a long, a bit of a stretch for her.. but it was fun all around.

Nothing better than hearing your daughter cheer for cars to loose their tires!!

See even adults have fun at these things!

This would be the loose a tire cheer!

Dancing to YMCA on a big tire in the infield.

Yes that would be Frosty on top of that car.

Running in the Woods

What more can I say... running through the woods.. makes me smile...


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