And the winner is....

If you read my previous post, you know that Cole was involved with two projects - a 4-H project and a science fair project. I will not go into the details about the disappointment with his science fair project, but I will say that we really feel that he was not judged accurately and fairly. He was not upset that he did not win the science fair, but he was heartbroken that the judge did not seem to complete the scoring rubric accurately. After the disappointment of the science fair, Cole was scheduled to spend a Saturday presenting his 4-H project on origami at the regional competition. He traveled on a bus (with Mike in the car following the bus) to the 4-H camp to enjoy time with other 4-H kids and complete their presentations.

(These are the kids presenting in the regional competetion from our county.  Cole is towards the right side in a black jacket).

I stayed home with Alex and Anna Grace while Mike and Cole spent the morning playing basketball and hanging out with kids from all over the northern half of our state.

In the afternoon, just before Cole was scheduled to present, Mike called me on the phone to tell me that Cole had changed into his khaki pants, sweater, and dress shoes and was ready to present but then he accidentally kicked one of his dress shoes into the lake and they had to retrieve it with a long stick! His good Sperry was soaking wet!! Thankfully, he had a pair of old Nikes with him to wear, but he definately was not dressed as nicely as he had planned. Mike called me laughing to tell me that Cole kept saying, "It is a good thing that Mommy didn't come. She would not be very happy with me!"

Cole did a great job with his presentation and it did not seem to matter that he was not wearing proper shoes.

He was so excited that he won first place in his category!

We are proud of him for taking the initiative to complete this project, practice it every night, and present it two different times. Public speaking is a life skill that will help him in his future, and he is excited that he won the county level and regional level competitions with his project. Several nights later after the competition, his 4-H leaders hosted a skate night for all of the 5th graders.

Cole is growing up so quickly, but he has mixed feelings about finishing his last few months of elementary school. Even though he is excited to start middle school in the fall, I think he is a little sad to see the end of his elementary school years. He has become involved in producing the morning video announcements for his school and is involved in the safety patrols. We have been talking a lot about how he can be involved in clubs and activities at the middle school, but he is a little sad that he will be leaving elementary school behind soon.