Today, the older three kids had a tae kwon do tournament. My goodness was it an incredibly long day. lol It started with the forms competition. All three of them did incredibly well. Neither of the girls placed this time, but Cole placed for the very first time! He got third place! He was in the yellow belts, ages 5-7 division. He was the only four year old in the competition. He competed against about thirty other kids. You should have seen how excited he was when his name was called for third place! I was just beaming as well. Next came the sparring competition. None of the kids placed, but they had great fun. There was some really tough competition.

I'm just so proud of my kids. They have really stuck with tae kwon do. There have been many weeks that they haven't wanted to go, or wanted to do something else (i.e. birthday parties...there are a lot of them scheduled for Saturday mornings, which is when their class is) but they've made the decision to stick with tae kwon do and put for the effort and dedication it takes to succeed and it's really paying off. I have seen such a huge difference in them since they've started these classes. Self confindence has improved, social interactions have improved, and for Cole, it's really taught him how to stay still and pay attention. He's no longer bouncing off the walls, unable to pay attention to any one thing for more than fifteen seconds. He can actually focus and concentrate on something when he wants to. This is something they truly enjoy and they all plan on it being a lifelong hobby. (Well, it's Emma's hope that it will be more than a hobby...she eventually hopes to teach it and make it her career.)