Want to Spend the Night?

Jessie's friend, Nico Rivera, spent the night last night. They were so cute playing together. Jessie was so excited to have Nico over, although I think he was just excited because we have a cat! Poor Tazzy spent his time running from the kids.

Belt Testing

Grayson tested for his brown belt tonight. I am so proud of him! This was his first time testing as a junior, so he had to do his form without any help from the instructor. He was so nervous and so was I! He sparred two girls and thank goodness he didn't let them beat up on him! I mid-termed for my black belt, meaning I had to break my boards tonight. Thankfully, I did so on the first attempt with my kick and punch. I get my black belt on May 1 and I can guarantee there will be a party afterward!

What Happens in Vegas....

...Stays in Vegas - no, not if you are Angie Huff and you put everything on a blog! Well, I told you how the tournament went but what I didn't mention is the fun we had afterwards. My friends and I stayed an extra night and saw the Cirque De Sole show -'The Beatles, Love'. It was awesome. If you have never seen a Cirque show, I highly recommend it. We stayed at the Wynn Hotel and Casino. Wow! It was really nice. The nicest was not losing any money, just watching my friends sink their hard earned cash into a slot machine!! In the pictures you will see that Cara had too much to drink (one glass of white wine) and fell asleep at the table. Earl stayed at the slot machine and we all tried to immitate the Beatles poster after the show. Marco and I thought we were really funny -

Competition Update

I fared well in Vegas coming home with a second place win in the forms competition and third place in the weapons competition. Michelle took third in forms and sparring and second in weapons. I have to say we represented our school well! We had a great time and got to meet Grand Master S.U. Lee and Senior Master Clark. In the picture is me, our school owner Christy Jackson, our instuctor Earl Shiflett, Michelle, Mrs. Lee and the Masters. Notice the giant medals around our necks! Grayson thought that was really cool.

Taekwondo Mom

Last weekend I competed in Humble, TX in a Taekwondo tournament. Kendall and I rode down in a sweet RV with our pals Marco and Michelle Rivera. Grayson and Jessie didn't go with us and I am a little disappointed they missed out on this experience. I know riding in a RV doesn't seem that spectacular, but this thing was awesome! A 42" flat screen TV, 2 leather sofas, a fully stocked fridge, a king size bed, 2 toilets and a shower, just to name a few amenities. This thing cost more than my house! I guess that is what life is like when you are a former NFL football player. That's okay, we will just live vicariously through them!

I am still in the running for State Champ and I refuse to give up my title! I really hate that my closest competition is my sweet friend, Michelle. Luckily, I continue to beat her in the forms competition but she is very consistent in beating me in the weapons competition. We both compete with the Bo Staff. And sparring is a completely different story. Since my concussion, I have to say I have not done too well sparring. I usually place second or third, but since I didn't place the day I was knocked out, I lost out on a lot of points. Anyway, I compete this weekend in Vegas, along with Michelle, so wish me luck! It's a big tournament and I need all the points I can get!

Other Special Valentine's Moments...

Grayson and Jessie were very happy to start the day on February 14th as both had parties at school that would no doubt leave them buzzing on one of the biggest sugar highs of their lives. I didn't make it to Jessie's school party, but she came home with a bag of loot that proves it was nothing short of fun! Grayson sat next to his newest girlfriend and neighbor, Rachel Hoopman during his entire party. Of course his good buddy Jett was there to share in the excitement. That night Kendall took me to Bob's Steak House for a great dinner out with friends. Not necessarily a quiet, romantic dinner for two, but fun nonetheless!

Father/Daughter Valentine's Day Dance

This was Kendall and Jessie's first year at the Father/Daughter dance. Unfortunately there are no funny videos or pictures to share (Kendall had the camera in his pocket and forgot to use it!) However, I can tell you that Jessie had a blast. And of course she was beautiful as ever. She was so excited to wear a coursage. I am actually saddened by this event as it just foreshadows her senior prom! I just hope she gets to go with a guy as sweet and handsome as her daddy!

Mother/Son Valentine's Dance

For 3 years Grayson has escorted me to the Mother/Son Valentine's Dance. It is so fun. He kept saying this week that he couldn't wait to take me on a date! The theme this year was High School Musical. And like always, Grayson stole the show with his wild and crazy dance moves. I have no idea where he learns some of this stuff. I think the video clip says it all!

A Few Fun Pictures

Moving in to February...

Okay, so I haven't been as good as most when it comes to updating my blog. Let's face it, we're busy people. So, I thought I would take this opportunity to wrap up January and move in to February since it is the 9th day of the month.

On January 26 Grayson's Cub Scout Pack held a Pinewood Derby. For those of you who don't know what that is, let me explain. About a month prior to the derby, we were given a small block of wood, 4 nails and 4 plastic tires and were told to make a car. The idea is to be creative and have fun building this car that would race against the other scouts. There are secrets to weighting the car properly (it can only weigh 5 ounces) and greasing the wheels to make it go faster. Of course, we didn't know most of these secrets since it was our first race. Although we had a month to complete this project, we didn't even start until the Tuesday before when we had to run it on the test track. I actually pulled Grayson out of school at noon that day so that we could work on it! Grayson was very excited because on the test runs, his car came in second place. He just knew he was going to win at the real race. I tried to explain that it is all about having fun, not winning. Yea, right. If you know me, you know I don't really feel that way. But I need to teach my children to be a better sport than me.

Well, we didn't win the race, not even one heat of 48. Grayson had a blast, though. At the end of the race he said, "Mom, it's okay if I don't win 'cause this was awesome! I had fun." What a good boy. So, we sat patiently for them to announce winners. Grayson crawled up in my lap so he could have a good view of his friends getting their awards. When they called Grayson's name as the winner of the Craftsman award, I literally threw him out of my lap in excitement!!!! I couldn't believe it. We came in first in how the car was designed, painted, decorated. I mean, come on, we didn't win but we looked good! The smile on his face was priceless. Now, we have set a precedent. Kendall and Grayson came in 3rd in the father/son cake bake and now to win at the derby was unbelievable. So, whatever the next scouting comptetion is, watch out, I'm sure the Huff's will take home a title - Huff for a Day!!!

Just Having Fun and Being Kids!

Over the weekend we took the kids to a friend's birthday party. Sahaj Shah turned 3 and had a very fun party at Everybody Fits. Both of the kids love to climb, jump, swing, etc. so needless to say, they had a blast!

Grayson Moves Up

Grayson has officially moved up to the Junior class in Taekwondo. I have held him back in the Tiny Tigers (ages 4-6) program for no other reason than to deny my child is growing up! Typically the junior class starts at age 7, but if the little martial artist has the skill and physical capabilities, the instructors like to see them move on up. He is really good at it and seems to enjoy it. I was a little nervous though. His new instructor is Earl Shiflett. Mr. Shiflett is also my instructor and expects a little more from his class than does his former instructor, Mrs. Jackson. Grayson LOVES Mrs. Jackson, but I am glad to see that he has stepped up and made the responsible changes expected of him in the new class.

I Hope I Don't Jinx This...

Jessie wore big girl panties to school today and had NO ACCIDENTS!! I think Dora the Explorer panties are magic. Now, everyone pray that she keeps it up. Whoohoo - pee pee in the potty!!!

Let's Catch Up...

Hi friends. It has been a couple of weeks since my last entry. Our family has been busy. Jessie was in a wedding on January 5. The bride was Lindsey Yaklin (Marks) one of our former neighbors and babysitters. Hopefully I will have pics to post soon. Grayson has been very busy at school, taekwondo and with boy scouts. It is still so hard for me to believe I have a 1st grader! He will be competing in the Pinewood Derby in a couple of weeks.

Kendall and I have been very busy with work. I have been traveling as usual and Kendall is actually out of town this week. So, I thought I would take this time tonight to let you all know we are doing well, just busy. Jessie has been taking taekwondo lately too. Hopefully she will follow in mine and Grayson's footsteps and be well on her way to earning her black belt! It is so cute to see her out there with the other kids giving it her best kick and punch! By the way, I get my black belt on May 1, 2008! Yippee! Anyway, take a look at how cute my baby girl is in her uniform!

Jessie Starts Preschool!

Today is a big day for our big girl. After a hearty breakfast at McDonalds she started preschool at Primrose. I can't believe she is growing up so fast. It was a tough morning for me. For 3 years Ms. Lanette (Ms. Nette) has been her caregiver. To see her walk in to a real school melted my heart. She was immediately greeted by lots of new friends! She didn't want to go in at first, but once Ms. Ann told her she could pick which table to sit at, she went on in. She took her ol' pal "Bebo" in with her for comfort and Grayson gave her a pep talk on what a great time she will have at Primrose. He is such a good big brother!

Their first "assignment" was to look through a magazine and find pictures of objects with
wheels. Since Jessie loves to look at magazines, she should be right at home. I'm sure she will learn lots of new things at school. I can't wait to hear how her day went!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well, it's 2008 and this Huff family is welcoming the New Year with open arms! We've dealt with a lot of sickness lately, and quite frankly, we are tired of it! So, here's to good health in this new year! Cheers!

Our resolutions are the usual - exercise more, spend less money, save more money, blah, blah, blah. I, Angie, resolve to have more fun with the kids this year and to "blog" instead of scrapbook. Thanks to my friends Courtney, Katherine and Rosemond for talking me in to this.

Jessie resolves to start sleeping in her own bed all night (yeah, right). Grayson resolves to "eat more chicken" (too much television for my 6 year old) and Kendall, well, he's not sure yet. What we are sure of is that as a family we will continue to eat dinner with each other, love each other, pray for each other and worship our Lord. After all, without Him all this other stuff is meaningless.

For those of you who are wondering about our blog address - Huff for a day- it stems back to Kendall's family vacations as child. His dad played games with the boys on road trips and whoever won the game was deemed "Huff for a day". That person got to pick where they ate lunch, dinner, etc. A pretty big honor if you are a kid. We have adopted this concept in our house. It's a lot of fun, but then again, the Huffs are fun people. But you already knew that!