Our Little Samurai

Zachary began taking karate lessons in August

of this year. I hadn't posted pictures before now,

because we wanted to see if he liked it or not.

We started out taking him for a little bit of discipline reinforcement,

which that has helped SOME,

but he really loves it!

Zachary is the youngest child in the class at 4 years old.

You are supposed to be at least 5,

but most of the kids are between 7 and 12.

He does pretty well for his age,

but he might need to keep it up for awhile

before I put him in any UFC matches!!!

After training for a couple weeks,

Sensei Michael Booker presenting Zachary with his

first-level belt.

(He thought he was BIG stuff!)

You can't tell it from the picture,

but they are couting to 1o in Japanese.

(Daddy was proud, because Zachary learned

it faster than the older kids!!!)

Getting ready to do a Front Leg Front Kick

(He has a little problem keeping his hands in guard position)


Learning to to a Forearm High Block

Rear Hand Chicken Neck Strike

Zachary mostly partners with his buddy Christian,

because of their similar size.

I thought Zachary did exceptionally well

in these wheelbarrow races!

MOVING UP IN RANK

Zachary, Skyla and Kennedy

stretching out before the big test

Trevor and Kennedy helping Zachary

put some finishing touches on his required kata.

Bowing in...Let the testing begin!

Zachary bowing to the Sensei

awaiting the results of his test.

HOORAY!!! He passed!

(He was really tired and was all over the place.

We thought for a minute he was dun-fer!)

Shedding the old belt

Waiting at attention as Sensei promotes the other students

Our Little Samurai...

Ki ai!!!

(I left this picture file large so you can click on

it if you want to read his certificate)

Football Season

Football season is in full swing now.

And in our house, it is our favorite time of year!

The Moose's spend many days (and nights) watching our favorite sport!

(Sorry Amanda, when I do the blog, FOOTBALL
is our #1 sport...not basketball.)

We spend most of those days at Appalachian or Newton-Conover High School, but occasionally we make it to Tennessee as well.

(This season, however, Zachary is the only one that made that cut!)

Grandma, Granddad, Uncle Eric & the kids

Hey dude! Where ya goin'?

Oooooooo

The Moose Herd



Zachary and Daddy passing the football
(He missed this one obviously)


Ooh yeah! He made this big catch though!
50/50
He's got a better record than T.O.!!!





Go Mountaineers!!!


Throwback uniforms on Solid Gold Saturday

YES!!! My daughter...the nun!

My worries are nearly over!

Around here, we EAT...

...and SLEEP football

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE

Two of Zachary's (and Daddy's) favorite things....

Marching Bands and Football

Who's that face in the crowd???

Michael & Rebekah's dog, Laney,

getting in on a little Vol action

Nanny, Aunt Rebekah, Uncle Michael,

Laney, and the only Moose to make the cut!

No matter where or what they are,

Zachary LOVES inflatables!

I know one little boy that is hot and tired!

Big time in Neyland Stadium!

Uh huh! Krispy Kreme on the way home...

(Zach, your hat's on upside down!)

The Football Doughnut


Aaaaaannnnnd...
We're done.

Bittersweet Days

As we hit these bittersweet moments, we start to realize

more and more that our babies are growing up!

On August 24th, Hannah Grace starting eating food!

(Not very appealing food, but...)

I can't believe Daddy's Little Girl

is 5 months old!

Where does the time go???

Hadn't even had the first bite and she's already excited!

Mmmmmm, yummy!

Now give me some more!

BIG BOY SCHOOL

As school went back in session,

Zachary went to "Big Boy School".

It was sad for us to take him from Abernethy Methodist's

Day Care, but it was time to move on.

He started the "More At 4" Pre-K program

at Claremont Elementary School.

I wasn't quite as teary-eyed as Mom was,

but it just makes you take a step back

and wonder when it was, exactly, that your babies grew up.

Ready to go!

Officially a Claremont Bear

Yeeeeee!!!

Come on, Mom, let's go!

Entering the Pre-K Zone

His wonderful teacher, Ms. Teri...

...and her equally wonderful assistant, Mrs. Jonas.

Zachary and his new friend, Quentin.

They LOVE their class!

Old Soldiers' Reunion Week

As most of you know, Newton hosts the

"Old Soldiers' Reunion Week" festivities.

We always have a great time, looking at classic cars,

city vehicles, and, of course,

THE PARADE!

Funny...Hannah Grace doesn't seem quite as excited as her brother.

Zachary and his friend A.B.

Dancin' in the street

Music on The Square

with Grandma and Granddad

PARADE DAY

My little Mountaineer!

The end of the Old Soldiers' Parade.

Can't wait until next year!

Monster Truck Time!

On August 15th we traveled to Charlotte

with our friends, Michael, Kelly and Camden Hollar,

to Lowe's Motor Speedway

for the Monster Truck Bash!

We all had a great time!

(Even Amanda!!!)

To Zachary, "The Stinger" was

the Transformer "Bumblebee",

eventhough they look NOTHING alike!

Zachary...Camden...

"Why so serious?"

It was pretty warm that night.

But even for strawberry frozen lemonade

Zachary couldn't take his eyes off the action!

Woo Hoo! Yeah!

Too much excitement!

Quick trip to McDonald's after the show

for some Chicken McNuggets,

and they're out!

Good night, boys.

More Tweetsie Time

This trip to Tweetsie, on August 3rd,

was Hannah Grace's first trip to Tweetsie.

She looks like she had a good time!

Zachary with his cousins Alex and Ike

And AGAIN on the Twister.

But this time, without any adults!

What a blast!!!

Howdy, partners!

Ridin' the rails with Grandma

They had a dog show that day, too.

Check out the high flyer!!!

Let us out!

We PROMISE we'll be good...

...until next time.

Whew! What a day.

Can we go to bed now?

Pool Days

Zachary got to spend a lot of time at the pool this summer.

He even made a new friend!

We are sooooo proud of Zachary!

He learned to swim WITHOUT his swimmies!!!

Now hang on, son...I'm not sure about what's going on here!

Ahhhhhhh

Time for a little chillaxin'!