Yellow Belt

Two weeks ago Zach tested for his next belt which is the color YELLOW (for the Sun as he says).  Last week we found out that he has passed!  They were going to do the belt cermony on Friday night but we were going to the Sam Houston game so we knew we were not going to be able to make it.  But tonight they after his class he received his belt.  We are so proud of him!

Here are some pictures I took during class..

This is a medicine ball, they were trying to get them to keep their hands up to guard their faces so they were making them keep this above their head while doing squats.. Zach wasn't so good at this.. he was not wanting to do the squats and was complaining of the ball being heavy.. it was cute when I caught him doing it half way I made him start squating.  He is so funny!!

Congratulations Zachary!!!

We have an Orange Belt in our house!

Tonight Zachary received his orange belt for Taekwondo.  He was very excited about getting this belt.  He has worked hard to get it and we are very proud of him!

Before the ceremony started..

I couldn't get the best picture of him getting his belt but he went down the line of coaches and they all congratulated him.

After everyone got their new belts it was time for the Blackbelt ceremony.  The lights were turned out and the new Blackbelts were put in front of everyone.  Each of them received a candle and then one of the coaches read a saying to them that was written by the first Grand Master.

Ms. Halifex went to each of them and gave them some words of wisdom.  She is a World Champion and a great coach.  We found out that she will be leaving after next week, we will really miss her!

After it was all done the kids were able to get the coaches to sign their new belts and take pictures.

Our new Orange belt!  We are so proud of you Zachary!

Zachary's first real Belt testing

Today was Zachary's first time to test for his next belt in Taekwondoe.  He has been so excited since he start taking classes!  He has thought since the beginning that he was going straight to black belt.. but we have explained to him that it just doesn't work that way.  About a month after we started they had their first belt testing the teacher thought we should wait for him to test but wanted us to bring him so he could see how the testing would go.  You may remember that was when he got this pin for leadership.  So this time when they annouced testing we knew he would be able to test for real!  He did so good today he was loud and he did everything with all of his might!  We will have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to find out if we get to move to orange or not.. keep your fingers crossed for him!

Here are couple of pictures I took of him on Tuesday with my new lens! More about that later!

This is him getting his red stripe on his belt which signifies that he is ready to test.

One board becomes two!

Today at Taekwondo Zach's teacher asked him to come up in front of class.  So Zach did and she gets out this plastic board and tells him to hit it as hard as he can so he does and he "breaks" it apart, she puts it back together and tells him to do it again so he does... then she grabs a small wood board and tells him ok break this.. and in a sec.. he DOES!  He was so excited and so were Brenden and I as we watched him.. of course he did have his thick hand things on so he didn't hurt his hands.

I was so excited and proud of him!

Sorry no photos or video.. I tried to get my phone out to video it but he was too fast!

tae kwon do - Leadership seminar

This weekend Zach's Tae Kwon Do school had their 4th anniversary party, as part of that they had a few seminars with a 5th degree black belt name Mr. Pino.  They had one class for future leaders and it was by invitation only.  They told the kids that if they worked hard they could have a chance to get an invitation... well Tuesday at the end of class Zach teacher asked him and one other little girl to come up...they invited him to the seminar!  He was SO EXCITED.. he had be talking about it and hoping he would get invited.  So Saturday we woke up early and Zach would ask like every few minutes is it time?  Finally it was time so we went and he had a blast!  He taught them a portion of a routine and taught them to kick better.  He was really great with them and in the end he showed them a small routine and when he jumped in the air he got up so high!  It was a great experience for Zach and we were glad he got invited.  After the seminar was over they had a bounce house, food, dunk tank and cotton candy for all of the kids from the school to celebrate their 4 years.

Taekwondo

I haven't put anything on here about Zachary taken Taekwondo.  He started right after baseball finished and has loved it.

This was taken his first day.

We have taken Nolan with us and gotten our "V" patch.

Zach and Nolan

and Now today was his first time testing was offered..so I emailed to see if he should be considered or if we should wait for the next time.  They suggested that since he had been going long maybe he should wait for August but they wanted us to bring him so he could see what happens.  So I took him up and they let him do everything that the others were doing.  I was quite a bit aways from him but I could hear him doing the yelling they ask them to do so I knew he was working hard and I could see he was giving it everything he could.  At the end of the test the teacher called Zachary up.  I figured she might have a couple of nice things to say and then he would get another star or something (he got two gold stars for getting all A's and 1 B and all E's and S's on his report card).  So she tells the students that Zachary had not been training very long so he was not testing today but she was very proud of him because he was giving it 110% today and he really could have probably tested.  She said that he was loud and did everything so well.  She said I have something for him... she said they have pins that they got from the Grand Master but they are to be given out to people who they think will be future leaders.  They are not pins they give out very often..but that she felt that Zach had deserved it.  He was grinning from ear to ear.  I was busting inside so proud of him! 

Sorry the video is sideways I'm not sure how to turn that around....we are SO PROUD of him!