Running Without Dad

We continued a yearly tradition this year of going to run in the Avon Eagle Run. Levi has run this either 4 or 5 times now. They put on a very nice kids run, every kid gets a shirt and a trophy and plenty of food (pizza, fruit, cookies). They also have face-painting, clowns, and a DJ. "Rae" warmed up by doing the limbo, the chicken dance, and the macarena.

I've run the 5-mile race the past couple years, but was on the sideline this year due to my hernia.

"Levi" took the race pretty seriously. He started conservatively and moved his way up. Around 1/4 mile he was about one third of the way back, poised and ready for the frontrunners to start fading. By the next time I saw him, with less than 1/4 mile to go, he was moving into 3rd place. He passed one more kid but finished 6 seconds behind the winner with a 5:21 time for the short (we think) course.

"Bess" started off with "Rae". She has learned that running is more fun when she takes it easy, runs steady, and doesn't try to compete with her older brother. She ran even all the way and finished in 7:14.

Rae took a few walk breaks but still finished in 7:48. After the race, she said "I would have run 7:14 if Bess would have stayed with me."

Partent-Teacher School Conferences

I think it's important to be involved in my kids education. Besides reviewing their work on the nights that they are with me, another thing I always do is to attend their school conferences.

Conferences were scheduled for last night for first grader "Rae" and fourth grader "Bess". Both girls are doing great in school and this was more of a way for me to meet their teachers and help them to understand more about the girls than a time to express any concerns.

Rae is reading very well, much better than last year, and her teacher says that her ability in math is outstanding. She does have to work on staying on task and not daydreaming.

Bess is also doing great. She is concerned that her time away from class for her ABLE or advanced classes is causing her to fall behind in social studies and science. Her teacher believes she is doing fine in these subjects but agreed to give her a little extra attention in these subjects when she returns from her advanced classes.

"Levi" didn't have conferences as he is at a different school. He did try out for a travelling basketball team on Monday and Tuesday and he was not selected, so he was a little bothered by that.

Because of the tryouts, I didn't get the kids on my usual Tuesday night. Because of the conferences, if I would have brought them to our house last night we wouldn't have gotten home until almost 9 PM, just in time to go to bed and get up early the next day for the ride back to their mom's. So I decided it was in their best interest to just spend some time with be before conferences and then head back to their mom's for the night.

I picked them up at 5:30, we had dinner at Bob Evans, and then I took them back to their mom's before my first conference at 6:45.

Saturday With Dad

Since my son stayed with his mom an extra night last weekend (for a birthday party), and since I allowed their mom to pick up all 3 a couple hours early last Sunday, I was able to pick them up for a few hours today, even though it wasn't my weekend.

I picked them up at 10:30 AM and we had an indoor soccer game at noon. Our first stop was at WalMart, to pick up some Propel water bottles. On the way in, some local Cub Scouts gave us a flier. They were collecting for a food drive and wanted us to pick up an extra item. I let the kids each pick out something to give for the food drive.

On to the soccer game, where we lost 11-7. "Levi" played goalkeeper for the first half and then scored 3 goals in the 2nd half. "Bess" also played well.

After that we went to lunch at a neighboring franchise from where I work. The kids enjoy eating there, so it was a pretty good lunch.

After that, I let them have some of the candy they got last week trick-or-treating, before I drove them back to their mother's.

It was a nice day.

Weeknight With Dad

I had my kids overnight on Tuesday. This was our first weeknight since school started 2 weeks ago. School started on a Tuesday and then the next week was Labor Day. Since both of those weeks were 4-day weeks, I agreed to have the kids on Sunday night (not a school night) as my overnight.

So I left work at 4 PM for the 1 1/2 hour commute to my kids' mom's home. I got there right at 5:30, and my cell phone rang. Their mom was calling to say she was just leaving work to get the kids. It's a long confusing story but apparently they were supposed to be home with a sitter but the storm door was locked so they couldn't get in. They finally arrived about 5:45.

I quickly got the kids and their backpacks into the car and we were on our way. We had soccer practice at 6:30 and we were a little late. Also, on our way, their mom called to tell me that Rae had left her blue folder in the backseat of her mom's car, it wasn't in her backpack.

So then after soccer, we went home and I heated them up some dinner while Levi & Bess did their homework and all of them got showers. We had macaroni & cheese, hot dogs, chicken tenders, & garlic toast. And some delicious chocolate pie for dessert. Rae told me she didn't have any homework and her mother had her folder so I didn't check her backpack. Mistake!

It was nearing 10 PM when I got them all tucked into bed.

I got up at 6AM and got myself around and dressed. I got the girls up at 6:30 and Levi at 6:45. Their mother had said for them to be ready at 7:15 AM. They all got up, got dressed, and had breakfast. Rae then went to put her lunch in her backpack and showed me her red folder, which had some math homework in it. Oops!

The homework involved cutting and pasting numbers so of course we didn't have time to get it done. Their mom arrived around 7:30 to pick them up. I explained the situation but she must not have understood because she left and then came back to tell me that she would be sure to tell the teacher it was my fault that Rae didn't finish her homework.

I had already planned to email the teacher to explain the confusion and to let her know that I would make sure to check Rae's backpack in the future, regardless of what Rae or her mother told me.

Baby brother Gabe did wake up just before they left, and they were all 3 happy to see him, as they hadn't seen him in over a week.

Weekend Without Dad (Oops!)

Our new shared parenting plan calls for me to have the kids on the weekends corresponding to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Friday of each month. I misread or misremembered and for whatever reason, thought I would have the kids on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd weekends.

Since they weren't expecting me, nobody was home at their mom's when I got there. After a couple tries, I got her on her cell phone and she (correctly) let me know it was her weekend. I disputed her at the time.

I did get to talk to each kid on the phone, wish them a good weekend, and let them know I love them. Then I made a small purchase (to prove I was in town that night). I drove home and re-checked the paperwork to discover that I was wrong.

Saturday after our soccer games, I called and left a message, saying that their mom was right and I was wrong, and letting the kids know how their soccer games had gone. Sunday night I called again after another game and talked to the kids.

It's kind of a bummer. "Levi" had never missed a soccer game in the 9 seasons he has been playing. Also, it was picture day for the soccer teams and we had planned to let each kid pick out something special, like a t-shirt or bobble-head, since this may be their final season of playing soccer in my community.

I'll see them on Tuesday. It's been a long time (over a week). I miss them.

Rec Olympics

I took the kids back to their Mom's community today so that they could participate in the "Rec Olympics."

Stepson Nolan came along and participated also.

The kids all did really great! Rae was in with a big group of boys and girls age 6 and they only had 3 events: Obstacle Course, Long Jump, and 60 meter run. Rae had fun and earned a participation ribbon.

Levi and Nolan were in a group of about 15 boys ages 9-10. They are both 9. There was a kid named Seth that won 4 of their 5 events. The only person to beat him at all was Nolan who took 1st in the swimming event. Levi placed 3rd in swimming and 2nd in the Long Jump. Nolan also finished 3rd in the obstacle course. I don't think any other boy in their group earned more than 1 ribbon.

They also participated in the 60 meter run and a basketball shooting competition, but the rims were lowered to 8 feet and both boys are used to shooting at regulation 10 foot rims so the lower height messed them up.

Bess was really the star of the day, finishing 1st in 3 events among girls 7-8. Bess won the swimming race, the obstacle course, and she must have beaten all the other girls by about 2 feet in the long jump.

It was a nice day, inexpensive (only $7 per kid and they got a t-shirt). It cost even less for me as their mother signed them up! The kids got some exercise and we all had fun!

Cavs 99, Lakers 90

My son Levi and I had a great day on Sunday. We had found out on Tuesday that we had won free Cavs tickets from Eric Snow and his Full Court Fathers program.

We both dressed in our wine and gold on Sunday and were up early and ready to go. After church we rode the RTA downtown. We had lunch (teriyaki chicken) at the food court in Tower City, and walked over to The Q.

About 2 hours before the game, we met Julani Ghana of Pro Sports Community Consultants. Julani was our host for the day. He works with Eric Snow and other pro athletes on community relations type projects, in this case, the Full Court Fathers program.

During the early warm-ups, we sat on the very edge of the court and watched the Cavs shoot. Initially, Sasha Pavlovic and Daniel Gibson were shooting. Later on they were joined by Shannon Brown, David Wesley, and Donyell Marshall.

We had brought a few basketball cards to get autographs. We were also given a gift book with a Cavs T-shirt, Cap, Autograph Book, Pen, Pencil, and Key Chain. Gibson and Brown, both rookies, each approached us as they were done shooting and signed autographs. Our host Julani noticed that Marshall was getting ready to leave the court so he took Levi over and got an autograph from him also.

Eric Snow came out and posed for pictures, chatted a little, and signed autographs. What a thrill for Levi and I.

About 15 minutes before the game started they moved us into some temporary seats off the court while the players came out for their layup lines. Shortly after that they moved us back onto the court, but to a different spot, to watch the players finish their warm-ups.

After that, we were taken to our seats, very nice corner seats about 20 rows up. We watched the game, which ended up being a great game. Lebron was off a little but Sasha Pavlovic had a great game. Z scored a bunch and Eric Snow played well while he was in, including a steal and basket that seemed to come at a critical point in the game when the Lakers were gaining momentum. Kobe scored 36 and seemed to hardly miss a shot. The final score was Cavs 99, Lakers 90.

What a great day and I have to say thanks again to the Cavs, Julani Ghana, and especially Eric Snow!

Free Cavs Tickets!

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Eric Snow has a program called Full Court Fathers where you can fill out an application about your relationship with your child. Throughout the year they pick a few and give them free tickets to a game, plus a chance to go on the court before the game for pictures, autographs, etc.

Last night just got the news via email that my son Levi I got selected to go to this Sunday's game against the Lakers! We are both very excited.

It was a day he would have been with his mom so I had to ask her first. But when I called, he got on the phone and, before he had any idea about the game, told me he got some new basketball cards. He got Lebron and Wade, but his favorite was a card of Kobe on the West All-Star team.

Obviously his mom agreed to let Levi stay an extra night with me and attend the game.

This is really great for us because, as in most divorced households, money is tight. We went to a game earlier in the year against the Atlanta Hawks. We had fun but the seats were pretty high up, and it still cost $80 for 4 tickets. These free tickets will allow us to go down on the court before the game for pictures and autographs with the players.

This will be a day neither of us will forget for a long time! Thanks to the Cavs and Eric Snow for this opportunity.