Mystery Reader

Every Friday morning, there is a Mystery Reader at school. Each day the kids receive a clue about the Mystery Reader to try to guess who it is. This week Dad was the Mystery Reader and the clues were:

• I drive a black truck
• I can grow a mustache in less than one minute
• I have been to 40 states
• I like rap music

Friday morning, Dad and I showed up at school at 8:30 which is when the Mystery Reader is supposed to appear. The teacher opened the door and Dad walked in. Just before, he had put on a sticker mustache so he could resemble one of the clues he gave. Apparently, he has been wearing this mustache on Tuesdays when he volunteers at the library.  The kids love it but the Librarian and told him he can't do it every time because the kids get really excited and stirred up.

Dad was a hit as the reader. The kids got all excited when he walked in, Collin especially.  Collin felt special because he got to sit up front right next to Dad. The book dad chose was Telephone which has a bunch of birds sitting on a telephone wire playing the telephone game. He did a great job of reading to the kids and they were laughing and I really enjoyed the story.

After he finished the book, the kids got to play two rounds of the telephone game. The first phrase Dad choose was "I like to eat chocolate ice cream" and by the time it came back around it was "someone said something". This got the kids laughing really hard. The next time they really figured the game out. Dad started with "I drive a Jeep" and it ended up "I peed in my pants". You could tell when the change because it kids started laughing halfway through as the secret was going around.  Dad thought it was funny and laughed with the kids.  So much fun.....

For some reason, I cannot load the great pictures we were able to get from the morning.  I'll keep trying.

Wardrobe Change

I just walked into Collin's bedroom to give him another kiss good night. I noticed that he pulled off his PJ bottoms and threw them on the floor. This used to occur infrequently, but he is doing it more regularly.  If he wakes up enough to pull his PJ bottoms off, maybe he is not as heavy of a sleeper as we thought. Does this mean that he is too lazy or tired to get out of bed and go use the potty?  He did have a dry night last night and was happy to show me this morning.

Dream Interrupted

Collin is still not consistent with wetting bed at night. Dad wakes up in the middle of the night to get Collin up to try to go the bathroom. Most of the time,  he is not successful because Collin is so tired and in a deep sleep. The other night after this happened, I could hear Collin go back to bed and then come into our room. He then told Dad, "You interrupted my dream. Now I cannot remember it!" He was really upset. Dad told him to go back to bed and try to remember where he left off on his dream.  I could hear Collin tell him that he already tried that. Within five minutes or less, everyone was back asleep... Except me of course.

Music Class

Because it Colin loves music and on the advice from his music teacher at school, we signed him up for music lessons at a local business. The kids learn to play guitar piano and drums. The lessons are six weeks so they at least learn about the instruments and can determine if they like one more than the other. From there, Collin can take lessons on a specific instrument if you would like. After his first lesson, he said he really like the guitar. After his second lesson, The piano won.  He even pulled out his music notebook when we got home to show me the notes on his paper keyboard that he can use to practice. I'm glad he is excited about music. I cannot wait to see where this will take him.

First Soccer Tournament

Saturday, Collin participated in his first soccer tournament.  It was a cold, wet day but that did not stop the kids from having a good time.  We had not done this before but heard it was really fun for the kids and a great way to practice the soccer skills he has been working on.

Dad got there early to set up two tents for us to use while we were there.  The tents were necessary because there was expected light rain later in the day.  Also, it was between 38 and 40 all day with a light wind.  That did make for a chilly day watching the kids play and practice.  We were the all day because the first game started at 8:30am and the last game ended at 4:30pm.  We did leave for a quit lunch and to get warm before spending the afternoon back in the cold.  Despite being cold and rainy, Collin played really well.  He did score several goals and helped the team win their third game. 

 

Collin is in the black cap. 

Congratulating the team for a good game

Coach talking to the kids befor ethe last game.  Can't you tell how cold it is?

Sitting around the heater trying to stay warm between games.

Do you think Dad is a little cold?  Wrong, look how bundled up he is.  He said he was "toasty".

Collin and Davis showing off their medals.

The entire team excited about their 3rd place and medals. 

The team did great.  They won two games and lost two games.  We did not know until later when we all went to dinner that the kids won 3rd place.  The organizer of the tournament showed up with their medals.  They were so excited and very proud to show them off. 

We had so much fun getting to know the parents and watching the kids play that we are sure to do it again.

Report Card

Collin improved in every category on his recent report card.  He improved most in Spelling which we have worked really hard on.  He now even gets the bonus word correctly which is a word they have not practice in class.  The teacher said on his report:

Collin is a great student.  He's made excellent improvements in all areas, especially reading and writing.  Way to go Collin!

Here is is report card which does compare his scores from the last report.

We have not celebrated before but thought that he had improved so much and is still really good about working on his homework, that he and I got ice cream.  Dad did not join us only because he thought we were nuts for wanting ice cream on a 37 degree day. Nuts, yes, but it was still really good ice cream and fun hanging out with the Dude.

He was so happy to be eating ice cream - chocolate with gummy bears.  He favorite these days.

Keeping Dry

Collin was doing better with staying dry during the night when he started wearing boxer briefs to bed.  He also was good about going potty before getting into bed.  For the week, he might have been wet two or three times.  That is much better than every night.  So, we thought we were getting somewhere and found a solution to the bed-wetting.  In the last several days, he is back to wetting the bed every night.  Some of this is probably because he is tired from playing hard this weekend and school starting again this week.  I noticed he was snoring extra loud several of the past few nights. 

Last night, Dad noticed Collin's bed was wet around 4am.  He woke Collin up and Collin immediately said his bed was wet.  So, that tells us he knows his bed is wet but he is not getting up to go potty or to tell us about his bed.  Dad is going to work on this with him more for the next several weeks to see if there is improvement.  Collin has an overnight camp this summer so we want to do what we can to make some progress before then.

Hugs and More Hugs

Collin is very huggie these days.  I get hugs in the morning, when I come home, when he takes a break from playing and several times when it's bed time.  I am enjoying these hugs and the attention.  It's not just with me though.  Dad is included in these hugs. 

New Truck for Dad...and Tears for Collin

Dad's Tahoe was getting old and needed $1,500 in repairs. He needed to decide of he should get a new car or repair his current one. Because of the end of year deals, he looked around and test drove a few vehicles. He really mosses being in a truck and finally decided to get a Silverado. Collin went with us to turn in the Tahoe and pick up the new truck. When we told him what we were doing, he started to really cry hard. This was not expected at all. He said he was crying because he was going to miss the third row. What?  That as not been in the Tahoe in months and only used a few times. He was worried about how we were going to go to Memaw's with his cousins. Yes, we have done that but only twice in the 5 years years we have am had the vehicle. After describing the truck and what we might like about it, he was still crying and not happy about turning it in.

The tears did stop when he got inside the truck and saw all of the new features and the room he had. He also liked that the truck was black like the Tahoe. No more tears or talk about the truck in the last few days. Maybe we are in the clear?