Hilarious!! Poor baby!

Collin in his adventure gear ready for the park!!

Spying on him Again!! Still enjoying preschool. 

I'm not sure why we bought a train table because the trains are always on the floor!

Mama and Collin making pizzas on the grill. Collin made pepperoni and pineapple???

 The Clippers championship game in the Mayors box! Thanks Jerome and April!

Our Family Fun Day

Today we celebrated Collin's third homecoming day. I don't think he quite understands what the day is all about. He keeps saying it's his birthday but I guess when you are three any day you get cake is your birthday.

I had a dentist appointment this morning so daddy took Collin to Waffle House, one of his favorites, for breakfast. After my appointment we went to Lynds Fruit Farm to pick apples. When we got there we found out you can only pick apples on the weekends so we drove 2 hours round trip to buy apples. But let me tell you I would do it again in a heartbeat. We bought the Honeycrisp apples and each of us ate one as soon as we got to the car-it was hands down the best apple I have ever eaten in my life! How can those apples taste so different from the ones you buy at the grocery? I'm a little ticked because apples from the grocery will never taste the same so what do we do when apples are out of season???

After that we headed back home so Collin could get his nap in before the evening festivities. He of course, was not thrilled about taking his nap. He told me "Mama, I promise I won't be in a bad mood. I'll laugh at everything". And then he proceeds to start this creepy fake laugh-definitely taking a nap!! And somehow he managed to rope me into napping with him which very rarely happens-that is daddy's job!!

Then it was time for soccer practice.

He has definitely warmed up to the soccer and seems to really enjoy it although he is quite the clown!!

Then we met Nana and Pops at Tommy's for pizza and spaghetti-another of Collin's favorites! After dinner we had cake and then for the best surprise of them all...

Collin talks about Chuck E Cheese night and day, day and night, all day, every day. Who would have known what a monster we would create taking him there?? And it's not so much Chuck E Cheese-but it's what Chuck E Cheese has...

DINOSAUR DASH

aka Running Dinosaurs

He had no idea we were going to go there after dinner. God forbid you even hint that we are going to go to Chuck E Cheese and he starts bouncing off the walls. So we didn't say a word and managed to get in the parking lot without him noticing thanks to the outside lights not being turned on. He was deeply concentrating on something and looked up as we pulled into a parking space and started screaming "Chuck E Cheese, Chuck E Cheese...Can we go in...Running Dinosaur...Yay"!!! I'm pretty sure this was the highlight of the day.

So 2 hours, 120 tokens and 300 tickets later I think we actually wore him out. He willingly walked away from the Running Dinosaur game and played something else-YES!!!

And we can't pass up the opportunity for a photo op on this special day!

I tell you what-whose idea was it to bring the 37 year old kid with us?? Can't he be serious for just one minute?? NO! I'm watching Collin play his game and something catches the corner of my eye. It is my husband at the picture machine taking various "silly" pictures. It was quite amusing watching him look around to see if anyone was looking and then do whatever infantile pose he had concocted in his teenage mind. He forgot to see if his wife was looking though-LOL!!  Next thing you know he sees me watching and we both start cracking up...who let us out of the home??

So after closing the joint down we headed home for one last surprise. We have 21 years worth of gifts from Guatemala in our basement. Every year on Collin's homecoming day he gets one of them. It's really nothing big but hopefully it will be meaningful for him in the future.

 I'm personally looking forward to his 21st birthday to open up the 23 year old bottle of Zacapa-which by then will be 44 years old. I have several, so hopefully one of them has a chance of making it 17 more years!!

The perfect ending to the perfect day was a little more train playing and then Daddy and Collin snuggled in bed watching football!

Happy 3rd Homecoming Day Buddy!

We love you to the moon and back!!

Happy 3rd Homecoming Day!

3 years ago today we brought Collin home! Happy Homecoming Day Buddy! It's your day, let's have some fun!!

Preschool!

Well, we officially made it through the first week of "real" preschool! What I thought was going to be a very difficult situation actually turned out very well. Day two and week one over!


Last year we went to parent child preschool one day a week for an hour just to get him adjusted to the whole school thing. Unfortunately, the schedule for the next year changed and we couldn't go back to the same school. Collin would get very upset any time I would mention the fact that we could not stay with him at this preschool. This would be his first experience on his own with no family and no one that he knows around him. I think I was just as nervous as he was. At the same time, I was really glad for him to be going and excited for him to make new friends and let someone else entertain him for a while-LOL!! But I was REALLY not looking forward to the first week or so because I thought we were in for a really tough ride!

I found a book at Target about a month ago that was perfect for us.

This book has been a lifesaver preparing him for what was to come and honestly I think it made the transition so much easier. We read the book about every night and talked about it a lot. It is really amazing what a 3 year old is capable of understanding. The book is about a little llama starting preschool and his mama dropping him off and leaving. It goes through all the emotions the little llama is feeling throughout the day until his mama comes back to pick him up. In the end he realizes that he loves his mama AND school too!

We made it through meet the teacher and the first day of school without a hitch. Honestly, I was waiting for the hammer to drop but so far so good. He was excited to go back today and seemed to care less when I left. I'll admit, I'm slightly heartbroken that I have to beg him for a kiss goodbye but I really am glad he seems to enjoy school.

I stay and secretly spy on him after I leave and when I come back and he seems to be very active and happy. He loves the trains and books and seems to listen pretty well.

I was a little nervous when I saw they were singing in circle time because he can be a bit of a rebel when it comes to group activities but he seemed to play along just fine...whew!!

While waiting in the hall, I noticed that they have a board that has all of the activities offered in the room that day . I thought I would take a picture of it and send it to Wyatt so he knows what Collin did that day.Collin loves to hear "the story" of your day and his day before bed.

I just realized today that he is in a class of all boys! Can you believe that?? 12 little boys-those poor teachers.

So now that we are past the first week of school without any major drama I am looking forward to what is to come this year. I'm very excited for our day to bring snack. Am I crazy?? LOL! Those are the things I live for. I know, I'm a weirdo! There is a Christmas program that all of the kids take part in and a Christmas cookie sale fundraiser...again, right up my alley. The parents make the cookies and  people order cookie trays for the holidays. Good times!! I don't think I'll join the MOMs club, but who knows. Doesn't really seem like my thing. Plus they meet early in the morning-BOO...HISS!! Definitely not my thing!!

Stay tuned for more Preschool News!!

The First Day of Preschool

Can I just get a normal picture already!?!

In the car on the way to school-still smiling, thats a good sign!

Headed into the classroom. I can't even get him to stop for a picture!

Yay! He found the trains and a friend to play with.

Mama and Daddy peeking in through the window-LOL! He had no problem saying goodbye and doesn't seem to even know we are gone =*( It's bittersweet isn't it? You don't want to have a problem but don't want to see them start to move on without you.

We will see how pick up goes. I know he is going to love it!!

Oh and I forgot pretzels!

The perfect sandwich according to Collin. White bread, tuna, cheese,nacho chip, chocolate mini shredded wheats and orange sections. Yuck! Pretty sure he covered all 5 food groups!!

Officer Collin headed out to take care of the "rooster" problem. 

Having a playdate at the Firefly Cafe with our new friends Olivia and Macy. We almost missed it because  Collin started coughing and ended up puking right as we pulled in the parking lot!! We went home and he said he wanted to go back and meet his new friends so we did! He loved it!

A trip to the zoo with Noni and Pop. 

KC and Collin searching the woods for Kickaboos- more about that later!

Bob the Builder at Breakfast

Running Dinosaurs is Collin's favorite game! He carries around change now just in case we go to Chuck E Cheese so he can play!!

Our first visit to Chuck E Cheese was a huge hit!!

Roasting weenies!!

Mattress shopping!

Sporting the silly bands aka silly ribbons. 

A gift for Collin from a friend at work. After Cribfest he is now known as the nakedest kid known to man. He would not keep his bathing suit on!!

Picking tomatoes has been a very popular activity this summer.