Our Tiny Tiger

So, have you been checking the blog to see what happened in Chase's life today that was such a big deal???? Come on, you KNOW you were! Here, let me give you a few hints...

1) He loves the movie Kung Fu Panda
2) He is now an official "Tiny Tiger"
and
3) check out this picture


Yep, you guessed it! Chase has his first karate class today! Actually it's not karate, it's another form of martial arts, but I'll have to get the official name from Jeff because I cannot remember it for the life of me!

When we did tumbling last year Chase liked it but the class was not very organized and it was more like an hour of playtime than an actual class. When Kung Fu Panda came along Chase loved it and started mimicking the moves. We discussed martial arts and figured that Chase would probably enjoy it and kind of put it on the back burner for later. Then during the Christmas break I saw a small flier laying on our counter. I picked it up and it was from a small martial arts studio that recently opened here in our tiny town. They were running a December special where you got a free uniform (hey, that's $50!) and no payments until January. Neither of us know how the flier got on the counter, but we decided we should check it out.

We went by to watch the Tiny Tiger class and although Chase was watching intently, he was pretty shy and I wasn't sure he'd be willing to go out and work with the other kids if we weren't right next to him. The obnoxious know-it-all mom that felt the need to coach us on everything really didn't help the situation, but I smiled and reminded myself that some people are just well, obnoxious! We had to make a 6 month commitment and we were wavering, but a call to Duchess for her opinion and we were in. Rockin' Duchess is even paying for the class as a Christmas present... she is so awesome! So we signed the contract and waited for the New Year!

During our wait we talked about the class and how fun it would be for Chase. We really wanted him to participate without it being traumatic so we did our best to talk it up and make a really big deal out of it. You know, all the cool kids were doing it! Rockin' MeMaw hemmed Chase's uniform and today we made the big debut! Chase did awesome! There are four other "Tiny Tigers" and all of them have been in the class for some time. Chase was a little shy but fit right in and did everything he was instructed to do. They work on respect and safety, which I really like. Miss. Sophie, his instructor, makes sure every "Tiny Tiger" has a big buddy (not sure if that is an every night thing or not) and Chase went with his right away. He had so much fun and really picked up on everything very quickly. I was VERY proud of him!

He will have class two nights a week for 45 minutes, which seemed to be just the right amount of time. I guess when swimming starts back up we'll be a little busy since that is also two nights a week, but who cares as long as my Doodlebug is happy and learning!

Unfortunately, we are behind the students during class (so they will concentrate I suppose) so most of our pics are back shots but they are still totally adorable. The girl with her arms around Chase is Miss. Sophie, she was about to present him with his belt. Right now he is a white belt, but will take his test to move to his next belt at the end of the month. So, ready for more pics???? (sorry, had to take the city out on a couple, don't want wacko people hunting us down!)

They also have homework, that kinda cracks me up and makes me smile. This month they are supposed to memorize the following things:
1) their name - check
2) the city/state where they live - check, check
3) their phone number - since we don't have a home phone I guess we'll use my cell
4) their address - man I wish we had a shorter address... poor kid!
5) their parents names - check, check
6) who is nice to them - Chase told me his Mommy and Daddy are nice to him, so check, check!
7) why they tell someone thank you - Chase said he does this when someone is nice to him, check!

And just in case you were wondering, AF did not make an appearance. I hate when I have no control over things! Ugh. My RE's office says give a few more days and we'll go from there. 4 previous cycles and I've never had a problem, praying I don't have one now!

Have a great evening and here's one more cute shot for the road!






**I am grateful for
1) Tiny Tigers - Chase loved it!
2) Duchess is always there for us
3) Memaw is always there for us
4) Duchess made it to New Orleans safe and sound
5) bills are paid (well most of them!)