The Continuing Adventures of Bonnie and Clyde

In 2004, we decided to start Clyde with TaeKwonDo to help address some of his SID issues.  He was 6.5 years old, and Bonnie was adamant that she be allowed to try, too.  She had just turned 4 about two weeks before, and that was the youngest age the studio would allow.

So, they started without any belt at all.  Here’s Bonnie, trying to figure out what the kid next to her is doing.

And here they are, learning the 10 basic movements.

Along the way, I’ve periodically posted some updates and pictures of them climbing through the belts, and they can be found with the TKD tag.

Both kids were ready to take their Black Belt test sometime last year, but between a broken arm, sickness, vacations, and other circumstances that conspired against us,  we missed a bunch of chances to take the group test.  But, we finally made it!

Here they are now.  Big difference!

The first Friday night, the kids were tested on their kicking skills …

like the flying side kick …

and their forms …

and a little sparring.

That was about an hour and a half of the test.  The kids had had a practice earlier in the afternoon, so they were wiped out.  Clyde fell asleep at the dinner table, and Bonnie barely made it upstairs herself.

The second half of the test took place on a Saturday morning about a week later.  They were tested on their forms and their board breaking skills.

They were really impressed by some of the older kids (and adults) who had to break concrete blocks, and walk on glass … and they were glad they didn’t have to do that for their belt.

A celebratory tea ceremony later, they had their new uniforms, belts and certificates.  Congratulations to Bonnie and Clyde!  Not only on the final accomplishment, but on sticking with it.

Both kids have said they want to be instructors, so we’ll see how THAT step of the journey goes…

Despite our attempts to find individual activities for the kids, they usually end up together, somehow.  So, this weekend was unusual for us as they were doing separate things.

As you know, Bonnie is in a multi-level girl scout troop, and this weekend, the Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes went on an overnight lodge camping trip.  Besides gaining more confidence in their camping skill, and gaining great skills in mentoring younger scouts, they had a GREAT time learning about Letterboxing.

My Co-leader and one of the Brownie leaders had hidden some letterboxes around the camp, and the girls had a great time finding them, and using stamps that they had created either in a meeting, or at the lodge. The little “cooties” were a big hit, too.  Of course, it’s not an official camp-out without a fire, and s’mores.

And the camp-fire entertainment.  Here’s Bonnie telling her joke … I love the bandana look for her.

So while Bonnie was being one with nature, and leaving no trace, Clyde was being a force of nature at a TaeKwonDo tournament hosted by Highkicks TKD studio.  He got a 2nd place medal for his Poomse form, a 1st place trophy for the board-breaking (fist, round-house and a front snap kick), and a 3rd place in sparring.  I think he should have placed higher in the sparring, but that might just be parental pride.  Clyde is rarely aggressive at TKD, so this was quite unusual for him.  The adrenaline must have really been pumping!  Here’s a video of the highlights:

It’s good to have everyone home now, though.

I continue to be amazed at how quickly the school year is moving along, and the kids have been quite busy, so I really haven’t had a chance to update.

Due to the soaring gas prices, and the shortening amount of time that we had for activities, we scaled back on a few extra-curricular items this year.  So what are they doing now?  Both Bonnie and Clyde are taking a pottery class.  They finished their cornucopias last week, and we’ll be grateful to use them to grace our Thanksgiving table. The next project involves making Christmas ornaments, which lets me know that I really need to get cracking on shopping.

Both Bonnie and Clyde are still involved in the chess club.  They meet once a week and play practice games, work on chess puzzles, and do some tournament-type play.  It’s almost time to re-up for that, so we’ll see if they want to continue.

Clyde is in his 2nd year of taking a writing class based on the works of the Institute for Excellence in Writing.  The emphasis this year is on growing independence, so Clyde has been making strides in proofreading his own work, typing it in on the computer, and doing some basic computer editing and word processing all on his own.  I need to upload his papers, and will do that soon, to its own tab.

It’s Bonnie’s turn for yoga class.  Here she is doing one of her favorite poses, urdhva dhanurasana:

Both Bonnie and Clyde are still taking Taekwondo classes, too.  We missed some time at the studio because of illness, and missed the last Black Belt test, but we’re all set for the next one.  Hopefully Bonnie’s arm has had sufficient time to grow strong enough to do that board breaking!

In the musical arena, both Bonnie and Clyde are still taking piano lessons with Miss T.  Here’s how I know the Christmas season is getting ready to roll – they’ve started playing Christmas Carols already!  They’re learning to play the Carol of the Bells – one of my favorites – plus some other Christmas medleys.  Oh, I would really be fine if they could just skip playing Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer for just. one. year.

And, of course, both Bonnie and Clyde are involved in scouting.  Bonnie is a Junior girl scout this year, and her troop is preparing for its first overnight event of the season.  Guess we better find that heavy-duty sleeping bag to stay warm at night!  My co-leader, like always, has some awesome ideas for making the trip a fun one.  I know Bonnie is looking forward to it.

And Clyde has finished his requirements for the highest award in Cub Scouting – the Arrow of Light, and received his award at the pack meeting last Friday evening.

So, that’s about it for the extra-curricular activities.  I’ll update the regular school stuff, too, soon.

When I was a kid, school weeks just did not go by this quickly. Especially near holidays. I remember thinking each day was going to last FOREVER. Why doesn’t that work out now? The weeks are going by so quickly! Another week has come and gone and we’re already down to the last 100 days of school, too. Part of me is thrilled. Part of me is panicked. What do you mean I have to start thinking about next year’s curricula soon?

So in our very quickly moving week, Bonnie enjoyed a field trip with the other girls in her girl scout troop. They ended up going to a local yoga studio and taking a kids’ yoga class! They fulfilled requirements similar to this yoga fun patch, and they earned a patch for their vest. The girls had a great time! The instructor is a former girl scout leader herself, so she knew about the scout’s traditions of creating a swap – so she made a swap for each girl, too! Blue ones for the Daisies, brown and orange ones for the Brownies, and green and white ones for the Juniors! Bonnie loves it.

The high point of Clyde’s week was his IEW workshop. They began a new unit -Unit III. They have a few extra weeks to work on it, and I think we’ll need every spare minute as it’s much harder for him than the summarizing from the first two units. I’ll try to put his paper up on another page for you to read, he’s quite proud of it, and was disappointed he didn’t get a chance to read it out loud in class this week. Next time he’ll be a reader for sure.

That’s about it for the week. After a few conversations with the TKD studio, the kids are once again enjoying their TKD classes. We look forward to working towards our black belt more seriously once again.

Meanwhile, this weekend, Bonnie is overloading on birthday cake. She was invited to two separate birthday parties. I’m guessing she is excited, as she was awake at 5AM on Saturday. That’s not a good time for any of us to be awake. Add to that visiting the Rat House (Chuck E. Cheese) first thing in the morning, and you can imagine the meltdown that’s going to occur in about an hour.

Bonnie & Clyde’s stepbrother is due to arrive on Sunday for a week-long visit. They’re really looking forward to it. He’s really looking forward to it, too. He knows he’s going to be helping us move some dirt and landscape the yard. But, he doesn’t realize how MUCH dirt he’s going to be hauling. Like 3 grown elephants worth. Hope he remembers to pack his old shoes.

But Bonnie and Clyde haven’t grasped that it’s more likely that you WON’T.  Currently obsessed with the McDonald’s Monopoly game board, they’re trying to convince me that economically, we need to eat there every day.  “If you don’t eat there, you can’t get pieces.  If you don’t get pieces, you can’t win!”  Way to go, McDonald’s.  Your marketing works even on children who don’t watch TV.

Another busy week has flown by.  Bonnie and Clyde are enjoying practicing Christmas carols for their piano lessons.  That’s right.  Christmas carols.  It’s not even Halloween folks! Though I hope that someone learns how to play O Holy Night, and DH is hoping that they get Linus and Lucy from the Peanuts.  No pressure kids!

Last week was Bonnie’s rededication into Girl Scouts.  She’s officially a Brownie scout for another year!  It was a fun ceremony – the Juniors and Brownies did a skit together to demonstrate the different components of the Girl Scout Law, and we invested a whole handful of new Daisies into the troop as well.  Bonnie was thrilled to receive two new patches for her vest, too:  one with a butterfly on it, and the Brownie Girl Scouts Around the World Try-It.  She loves Girl Scout Wednesdays – it’s always fun to see what we’re going to do.

Art class this week moved on to Mexico.  Bonnie’s class drew a picture of a bird from Mexico, and colored it in with markers.  We were impressed with the amount of detail that went into the wings, etc.

Clyde’s class drew a picture of a boy with a burro – but I’m not sure what he did with it.  So instead, I’ll show you a picture from earlier in the session.  This one was his underwater picture, colored in with colored pencils.

I’ve been told I haven’t done a Tae Kwon Do update lately, so I’ll include a few pictures from last week’s board breaking class.  The studio has gone to a rotational system of tackling the different classes – we have sparring week, forms week, kicking week, etc.  This past week was breaking week.  Bonnie and Clyde always have a good time at it, but it’s frustrating too, as they don’t seem to have quite enough “mean” to get through the boards on the first try.  But I got a few good action shots!

Here’s Clyde with his flying side-kick.

and his jumping wheel kick

Bonnie has the right look for her knife-hand (hard to believe she was twirling ala Cinderella just moments before!)

And her flying side-kick.  Maybe she has a career in the movies?

We closed out the week with a trip to the pumpkin patch, and that was great fun.  But we need to take DH back with us, so perhaps we’ll do pictures then.

I was told there weren’t enough pictures on the blog lately, so I took some at TKD today.  Talk about happiness – Bonnie and Clyde had to spar against one another since there were mostly adults in the class.  Pure joy!  Hitting and kicking their brother or sister and mom wasn’t even mad.

I think Bonnie has the better form, though she’s not as strong.

But Clyde had fun punching his sister, too.  Look at her laugh!  She didn’t realize she could be  hit with the pads on, and it wouldn’t hurt.

After a hard workout, the owner had a little fun with the kids.  I like that they show the kids the fun inside the discipline.

The kids are enjoying TKD – which is a good thing as we are signed up for the next 3 years.  At least we’ll always know what we’re doing for PE.

And it’s official! Clyde is an official blue-belt today. Congratulations!

Bonnie also did well at TKD. She was asked to demonstrate the back kick in front of the whole class.

She did it so well that the instructor rewarded her with an extra piece of colored tape. Yeah! Both kids are really doing well.

The day has finally arrived!  Clyde was able to test for his next belt at TKD – his blue belt.   He thinks he did well – he’s hoping for mostly A’s and A+’s … he remembered his form, and the only trouble he had was board-breaking with his knife-hand.  But he broke it.

We’re really glad he’s stuck with TKD – it’s really helped with his coordination and his focus.

Bonnie had her taekwondo belt test last week, and she did great! I snuck around into the office to take some pictures through the window since we’re not allowed in the testing room.

Here she is … good form …

Still doing her form, I can’t keep track of all the moves. I’m glad she can.

Here she is sparring with another kid. He looked … built. He was solid, LOL. And he kept laughing because she doesn’t spar very fiercely (she’s usually laughing)!

Breaking the board with her bare hands. She got a little help on that one- I can see he’s bending it. But this board is twice as thick as the one she did last test.

And with her foot. Hooray! She’s passed her test.