Fun and Reading

Not much new going on here.
I sent the boys to Miami to see Dave's parents this week.  I would have gone but it is apparently an arm and a leg to board two big dogs.  An arm and a leg.

They also had all the fun and I had none.  Okay, that is not true. I did have fun- I worked on sewing a couple of tops... but ran into a problem with pleats.  Looks like Imma have to wait till Mama B comes to visit some time.

Dave, Nico, Mike, and Gay had a little bit of an adventure; Mike stepped on the business end of a sting ray and ended up with a barb in his foot.  Apparently that hurts a lot.  Nico's comment was that he was glad that he didn't have a bad run in with nature.   He also made friends with the kids of Mike and Gay's friends.  Which is great, because its nice to have friends wherever you go.

Yesterday I picked up Nico's report card- all Ws ("well developed") except for a pesky inability to count and number to 100- which I think is strange, because the boy can do that.  So I gotta figure out a way to get into that.  Also, he is reading like a champ.  It's been fun reading books with him- taking turns reading different pages and sections.

We're really looking forward to spring soccer season starting tomorrow!!  Nico is looking forward to showing off some of his new moves.

Nico's Spring Break

CPS spring break started last week.  I took the day off so I could hang out with Nico and let Dave work.  We ended up at Lincoln Park Zoo- ostensibly to check out the new macaques.  We ended up not making it, since it was a bit chilly and I was optimistically dressed. 

We ended up seeing the black bear, some monkeys, the sea lions, tigers, and cervals.  The best part of the zoo is that it is completely free- so if our trip ends up getting cut short because Nico is too focused on checking out the gift shop or we underdressed, I don't feel bad leaving after only being there for 2 hours.

The mask makes me pretty happy.  

Basketball Season

Do I even keep this blog anymore?

I know.  I know.  I have no good excuses.  So I won't.  We have a lot of ground to cover, so Imma break these up into a couple of different posts.

Nico's basketball season ended.  He had so much fun with it.  About half-way through the season, one of his coaches (Ira- the one in the middle above) asked if Nico wanted to hang out and play in the session following ours.  Well- we're a coaching family.  We know what is up.  So, we did- and Nico loved it.



Nico is #7 in the grey above.  We're working on him not running away from the ball.  Turns out, this is the same in soccer as in basketball.

The best thing that Ira told us?  He told us not to focus on the baskets- at some point, all the kids' shooting abilities will likely even out- and average shooters are a dime a dozen.  Ball handlers?  Now, that is a different story.  A good ball handler?  In demand everywhere.  Which is great, because one doesn't have to be very big to be a good ball handler.