I have so Much to Tell You,

but too little time.

If you notice my first countdown clock to the right, you will see that we only have four days until Mattie May's next competition. And it is going to be her biggest one yet! I will try very hard to post our goings on while we are there, but I know we will be so very busy.

And I still have two post on two previous tournaments I need to finish up. But my time is running out!

Tomorrow will be a day of travel and I am hoping for some rest on Wednesday before we really get down to tournament business, but since this is our first trip to the open, I really don't know what to expect.

Please pray for us as we travel and for all the competitors to do their absolute best.

Until sometime,

God Bless!

The Unexpected Donation

Some things in life are unexpectedly expected. There are certain things that most children are going to try that we as parents and grandparents hope that "this" child won't do it. As is such for our Mattie May.

What she did has been done by thousands, no millions, of children before her. Some children do it just once, others do it several times. Some will just do it to themselves while others do it to other children. Katie only did it once, to herself, on Christmas eve at 6:30 at night. That is one exact moment I will never forget.

Mattie May, for some reason, decided to do it to herself, yesterday.

This is something you don't see very often,

Mattie May with her hair down.

She loves her long hair.

I love it because I can style it in so many

different ways.

Yesterday for some reason,

she climbed up and got the scissors down

from their storage place while she was at karate.

This is how she came home!

YEP!

SHE CUT IT!

RIGHT AT THE HAIR BAND OF HER

DOG EAR!

So glad it was only her hair.

So thankful she didn't fall on the scissors

while she was trying to get them.

So glad my hairstylist is also my

fishing buddy and best friend.

I called her just as she was leaving her shop and

declared we had a hair emergency!

She told me to head to her house!

Michelle assessing the damage.

She even had to have a picture to show her

coworkers.

Getting her prepped.

Putting the remainder in a braid.

(More on the braid later)

Katie was doing OK until here...

One final cut and the braid is gone.

Yep Mattie May,

It's really gone!

Now to shape it up.

Some final touch ups...

and Viola!

cute and sassy,

just like Mattie May!

Now back to that braid, It was just long enough to donate to Locks of Love. So because Mattie May decided yesterday to do what so many children have done before her, she will be helping another child. We are so blessed that she is healthy and all that hair will grow back.

Until next time.

God Bless.

For Such a Long Week, It Sure Did Fly By

I have been trying so hard to get pictures from Mattie May's tournament last weekend off my camera, edited a little bit, and posted on this blog. My heart has been into that this week as much as my heart was into the tournament last weekend. I am getting there though. Hopefully I will be able to get them on here this weekend.

No tournaments for her this weekend. Frank and I have our last regional TBC tournament on Sunday. It is going to be hot and windy so I'm sure I won't have many good things to say about that!

Frank and I have also been up to something else that I plan to tell you about in a few weeks. Yes, it does have to do with our trip to Orlando and Cocoa Beach, which we leave for in about 11 days! I am so ready for the trip. It is going to be a fun one! I can't believe I had never been to Florida until this past January and now I am already headed back that way!

I hope you all have a great weekend. Have fun, be safe and keep praying for rain!

God Bless!

Karate State Championships - Austin 06-04-11

Last weekend we headed back to Austin for, you guessed it, Mattie May to compete in another tournament. Not many from our dojo went this time so Shihan rode with us and split the cost of the hotel too. It was a nice trip. We were able to do some planning for the US Open coming up in a few weeks.

Of course Mattie May went to sleep in the car and slept the rest of the night. Saturday morning it was up and at 'em bright and early. It was unusual but this tournament didn't start until 10:00 AM, so we had time to watch a few cartoons before we headed down to breakfast.

I'm not sure who is more entranced by the cartoon...

Shihan or Mattie May!!

This was another tournament in the Givens Recreation Center. Nice but crowded. Even though it is a smaller tournament, we had to stake out a spot to spend the day!

After quite a delay, they finally called for Mattie May's division in kata. This time she was the ONLY girl competing!

kata

Watching the first contestant.

Bowing to the judges

She had been at karate camp all week
and the work she has done really showed.

Nice, high kicks

I love that she doesn't get intimidated by the judges

Um, splits are a bit off,
we will make sure she stretches more next time!

Second place!

Great job Mattie May!

Your second trophy in kata!

Way to go!

A short rest then on to sparring

Shihan ordered her a sparring vest and it came in before we left. I wish we would have left it at home! She had not practiced in it, but we let her wear it anyway! Shihan put it under her gi trying to get it to lay down a bit more.

Yes, she looks like a little line backer!

But this is karate not football!

She came out strong and put the first four points on the board,

then he kicked her in the chest and it didn't hurt so she left herself open!

It was all over after that!

Believe me, she will either practice in the vest or it will be left at home!

Oh well, she still had her name called!

Third place sparring!

Yay! First time she has won two trophies at one tournament.

We are all very proud of you Mattie May!

Keep up the good work!

She now has points in all three regions of the AOK!

We had planned on having a bit of a break before the US Championships and the US Open, but this Saturday, she will be competing in Midland at the Matthews brother's tournament. It is a fun tournament for the kids, and I do believe I heard Po (Kung Fu Panda) was going to be there along with some other super heros!

Hope you have a great rest of the week! Until next time,

God Bless!

More of our trip to San Antonio

Remember this post when I said we did more during the weekend than just karate? Well I am finally getting around to posting some of our "other" fun.After the tournament, we headed to the zoo. If you have never been to the San Antonio Zoo, you don't know what you are missing.

It is fantastic!

Once there, the first order of business was food. We were starving!

Yes, hot dogs are the food of champions!

Then Mattie May and Katie went to feed the birds.

I stayed outside with the drinks (they are not allowed inside with the birds.)

Then we saw some reptiles...

and some amphibians.

After the zoo, we decided to walk to the River Walk and the Alamo.

I am trying to get Mattie May doing karate in front of different landmarks. So far I am not having the best of luck. In Austin, she would not cooperate in front of the Capitol and she didn't have on her gi in front of the Alamo.

Oh, well, she looks cute anyway.

After walking and talking about the Alamo (it was closed already so we couldn't go in), Katie treated us to a carriage ride.

It was so nice and relaxing. Mattie May had a blast.

This isn't a good picture,

but this is Hannah, our horse.

Mattie May choose her because she had braids and bows!

After our ride around part of the historic area, we had supper... at Hagen Das Ice Cream! Yes, when you are with Lolo, ice cream counts for a meal.We walked around in the front of the wax museum. Mattie May wasn't really impressed by the few figures that were in the lobby, but she did find this nifty machine and her mom treated her to dessert! LOL

Not the cheapest dessert she's ever had, but it was just to fun to watch it being made.

Then we walked the 1/2 mile back to the hotel, bathed and hit the sack. Sunday was going to be another busy day.

After breakfast at the hotel, we enjoyed a full day at Fiesta Texas. I only got to ride one ride, but Mattie May rode the RoadRunner about a gajillion times. She loved it. The three of us split a hamburger and fries for lunch and then walked to the water park to meet up with the rest of our group.

Mattie May waiting for one of the boats to pass by.

Katie and Mattie May in the Texas pool.

The kids are in this somewhere...

and their fixing to get really wet!

Again, I didn't get to do much, just sit back and relax,

but the girls had a really good time.

Katie went off with some of the older kids to ride some rides and

Mattie May spent the afternoon in the kids pools having a blast with Rayven and Noah.

Two tired little super heros! LOL

Everyone was having such a great time that we left much later than we entended, but it was all worth it. Mattie May slept all the way home and Katie and I talked and sang and talked about the weekend all the way home. Sometime it's just fun to be by ourselves and think about our blessings.

Until next time.

God Bless!