Sleeping good at night

I am thankful that school is out tomorrow and we will finally be on the airplane Friday morning.  My brain hurts from trying to keep everything straight....visits with friends, teacher gifts, wrapping, packing, toffee making, the list goes on.
We decided to have a last minute birthday party for Reggie since he didn't really have one last year.  I told him there were no funds since he went to the Seahawk game, so it was basically a large play date.  I was cracking up....those kids take Pokemon VERY seriously!  I was hoping they would stick with that, but because it had been raining for a few day, the kids were ready to be outside and decided to play lightsaber and nerf guns.  There was about an hour left and I was praying no one was going to get hurt.  They definitely had a great time and I am glad he got to hang out with his buddies!

Sunday was a big day....we went to the Foster Wonderland and the kids did activities and got a few presents.  They got their picture taken with Santa (a very young santa!) :o).

After we left there, we visited K's mom in rehab.  He hasn't seen her in over 2 years and I didn't know how it was going to go.  He was a bit hesitant in the beginning, but then warmed up.  There's been a lot of questions and statements since, that tell me he has been thinking a lot and it is hard to know how this impacted him.  The only way I know if it was good is if he asks to go back, so time will tell.  Later that day, we had a visit from Kelly, our past respite provider and that was fun the catch up and visit with her for awhile.

This week, we went to an amazing light show.  I don't know how this person did it, but he had the Frozen movie playing on a screen and the lights were synced with the music and he had water shooting up on cue.  It was quite impressive, but I have to think with all the noise and traffic his neighbors might not be so cheery!

And last night, K had his school performance where the kids sang songs for us.  He did a great job and looked so super cute!

 Here he is with his teachers :o).

Happy 11th Birthday Reggie!

Well, it has been quite the birthday for Reggie.  Our gift to him was a ticket to the Seattle Seahawk/49er football game.  It was his first game and although the crowd was a bit intoxicated and belligerent, he still thoroughly enjoyed himself.  It really helped that Seattle completely dominated!!!

While at the game Reggie and I (Dad) had the privilege to be around an interesting crowd.  There was one guy in particular that was dressed in cowboy gear and he had his 8 year old son next to him in a Seahawks jersey??  Not sure how that happened considering that he was a 49er season ticket holder.  Needless to say he out wore his welcome as he nearly got in fights with all the surrounding 49er fans and was removed from the game while his 8 year old son sat in their seats.  5 minutes later the security guard came back and got his child (very sad to see).  It was interesting to see Reggies reaction and how he handled the chaos.  I asked Reggie if he understood what was happening and he said yes and was very focused on the game trying to ignore what was happening.  It justs reminds me of how important it is to set a good example for our children as they hear everything!  One more small thing that happened at the beginning of the game.  49er fan comes up and asks Reggie and I for a pen.  After telling him we didn't have one, he pulls out his own pen that has Richard Sherman's face on it in which he had turned it into a voodoo doll and was looking to stick it as this was his ritual for Thursday Nights Game.  After 3 quarters of play, I looked at the guy and told him that was a bad idea and that it back fired big time as Sherman picked off Kapernick twice during the showdown.  We had a great time, and the outcome was awesome of course.  Now we'll cheer on our team and see if they can get it done this week against the Eagles.

 He wanted to go to Red Robin for his birthday, so we headed there after opening his presents (we celebrated on Sunday because he had a swim party today).  He couldn't decide which present he loved most.  I have to say, everyone really gave him things he wanted....Seahawk towel, Comic Book Bible, Pokemon movie (that Khalif bought him at the thrift store for $.27!), a new down jacket, the new Wimpy Kid Book (which he already finished), etc.  You can see Khalif was very excited about the present he gave Reggie....

Tonight the swim team celebrated Reggie's birthday at Mountain Mike's Pizza (not really....it just happened to be the year end party).  It is always fun to hear what the coach says about the kids.  I was surprised that Reggie got best freestyle.  Apparently, that is his stroke and the coaches are really hoping he sticks with swimming!

We have noticed that Reggie is changing a bit these last few months.  He is starting to get a bit of acne on his nose and a few hairs in his pits.  Along with that has come some attitude and the realization that at 11 he knows it all and feels like he can freely say no to our requests.  It is unchartered territory for us dealing with him and it seems to come in waves, so thankfully, we have time to recover in between these behavior changes.  He loves God is still a super good kid and has such a big heart.  He loves Pokemon, playing with friends, drawing/writing, reading and FOOTBALL.  He really is quite a unique personality and it will be fun to watch him grow and see what path he takes :o).