Adventures Of A Tuesday

Today was a busy day. Collin helped mommy take care of cousin Ella by entertaining her. She really enjoyed Collin pushing her in the swing! We didn't have enough "C" batteries for the swing, so Collin scrounged through his trains and found enough of them to get it going. When Ella was done with the swing, he grabbbed the screwdriver and got them back out himself..he wanted to make sure they got back into his choo-choos! Collin also helped make peanut butter cookies. They are very yummy and it was the easiest recipe I have seen for them yet. Here it is:

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 C smooth or crunchy peanut butter

1C sugar (and sugar to roll dough in)

1 egg

Mix ingredients together and roll into 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Press down with a fork in a criss-cross style. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are golden brown.

What Collin is doing now: playing with his choo-choos!

Collin's New "Froggy" Towel

We had a very busy day today. We joined cousin Chloe, Auntie Jen, Mackenzie and her mom, Valerie for a fun time of bouncing at M*nkey J*e's! The kids had a great time as they bounced until they were hot, sweaty, and hungry. All three kids were very brave as they each tried new things this visit, especially Chloe and Mackenzie who braved the BIG slide several times. It was cute to watch their expressions as they slid down the very tall slide. They even went down a few times on their bellies! Collin got brave enough to go through the maze this time. Once he gained confidence, it was hard to get him out! He braved one of the big slides this time as well. It was the perfect indoor activity for such a hot day!!

Tonight we went over to visit aunt Stephie, Leslie, Kamryn, and now "officially" uncle Brian! Aunt Stephie just got back two days ago from her wedding in Jamaica, and we were able to view the wedding video and see lots of photos. It was a beautiful ceremony in a gorgeous setting. They had a great time, but are glad to be home, and we are glad to have them home. We get to help them celebrate the occasion in two weeks at their wedding reception!

What Collin is doing now: watching The Little Mermaid..one of mommies favorites from her "younger" days.

Little Professor Gives A Phonics Lesson

As I was making supper tonight, Collin occupied his time by playing with his word maker. It sticks by magnets onto the refrigerator. This is a great way for him to be in the kitchen with me, which is where he usually wants to be when I'm cooking. He enjoys working with letters and making words according to the letter sounds he hears. Collin was playing as he usually does and I was paying attention to the food on the stovetop and talking back and forth with him all the while and not really noticing what he was doing with his letters. All of a sudden he says "look mommy" and I turned and looked at the fridge and he had all of the red letters seperated from the other colored letters. He pointed to the red letters and said "those are the vowels", and then pointing to the other letters, said "those are the consonanats". My mouth hung open as I realized he was right! This is not something I had been working with him on. He maybe picked it up from his new LeapFrog video about school, but I have to confess, I have not payed close attention to it so I'm not sure if that is where he got it from or not. Either way, he's got it!

He's also been saying a new phrase today. He says "check it out!" He has also been very interested in conversations. After I get off of the phone, he will ask who I was talking to and what I said, and what the other person said. It can get a bit annoying, but I'm glad he's curious.

I'm hoping to get some swimming photos up soon because he loves the pool!

What Collin is doing now: whining for ice cream (because lately he's a bottomless pit)!

Play date with Chloe

Collin had fun with his cousin, Chloe, today. We went to our local community center where the kids had fun on the playground. We came back home and they had fun in Collin's toyroom, and the two played really well together. It was cute when they read books together on Collin's bed. Our family jokes that Collin and Chloe have a love/hate relationship. Their personalities are the same in which they can both be stubborn and want things their way. But, if you set the ground rules with both before playtime begins, they play great together! It helps the summer day to pass more quickly for Collin when he has a playmate or we have an activity planned, like going to the pool. Speaking of pool, Collin and Chloe got to play in Grandma and Grandpa's pool after lunch. Collin had a great time, as always!

What Collin is doing now: he's tired from all his activity this morning and napping!

Lovin' some strawberries!

Collin's new favorite fruit is strawberries..fresh, of course! He likes them best rinsed and left whole with the top cut off. Thanks Grandpa Danny and Grandma Darleen for the fresh batch last week!
We hope to go swimming soon..it will be Collin's first time. Stay tuned!

What Collin is doing now: playing with his remote control choo-choos.

Finally a swingset to play on!

Collin helped Daddy assemble his new swingset last weekend. Pawpaw helped and after many hours in the sun the swingset, complete with treehouse, is complete just in time for summer!

The Graduate!

Collin graduated from 3 year old preschool last week. He is officially a 4 year old preschooler! Time has flown by so quickly. It seems like yesterday that I took a timid Collin to visit the preschool room shortly after we came home from China. He quickly became acclamated to the school routine and grew to LOVE his school friends and especially his teacher, Ms. Brianne, who is in the top photo.

In the last photo, Collin and his school friends thought Ms. Brianne was so funny talking into the microphone. She would announce someone's name and Collin would shout "you're so funny!" Collin is looking forward to attending preschool all day, every day next year. He especially looks forward to spending his days with Ms. Brianne. Mommy looks forward to having him with her in the building so she can "peak in" on him every once in a while!!

What Collin is doing now: taking a much needed nap!