Collin's First Race of the Year

Yesterday morning, Collin and I went to his first race of the season...a 1K race benefiting the local woman's center.  The adults were scheduled to run at 8am and then the kids at 8:30am.  Because the race started right outside my office, I thought it would be fun for Collin and I to get there before the adults started to watch from the 19th floor (my office floor) so he could see the Start and Finish line and watch the runners. 

Collin loved the idea of going to my office first.  He liked looking out the window at all of the vendor tents and asked what they were there for.  We hung out and watched the adults line up and then start running later when it was time.  Then, we went to the restroom before heading out so Collin could line up and get ready. We walked through the vendor tents before heading to the Start line.  He saw all of the free food and I told him that this was one of the reasons people liked to race.  He saw the donuts and really wanted one.  I mentioned that he was about to race but he could have one if he thought it would not slow him down.  Of course, he still wanted one. 

Eating his donut

He ate the donut as we walked to the Start line and asking lots of questions:  "How long will I have to run?  Will you be running with me?  Will there be other 6 year olds in the race?  Will people be watching me?"

While waiting for the race to start, there was a guy dressed up as Flash Gordon leading a warm-up session for the kids.  Collin was not interested in doing this which was not surprising.  He wanted to know when the race would start.  I told him to pick a spot to line up and wait for the announcer to start the race.  He picked right up front.  Good choice Collin!!  While waiting, we took a few pictures.

Would have been a really good picture if the guy in the back had not walked by.  :)

I love his smirk on his face.  What is he up to?

He is lined up on the left side.  Great spot!

With Flash Gordon

He was ready for the race to start but decided he wanted me to run with him.  I thought he might ask so I did at least wear my running shoes.  While waiting for the race gun, I told Collin that he needed to run faster than Flash.  Flash heard this and got into race position...so did Collin. 

The race gun was shot, I looked back over and Collin was WAY in front.  He took off fast!!!  I ran as fast as I could and only caught up to him when he slowed down and said his tummy hurt.  I said it was probably because of the donut and maybe he started running too fast.  He continued to run but MUCH slower than he did...but still faster than most of the other kids.  We rounded the corner, I told him the finish line was right in front of us and he started to run faster.  It was fun to run across the finish line with him.

See?  Told you not many other kids were around him.

Roundin the curve and headed to the finish line

When we crossed the finish line, all of the kids got a huge medal.  Collin really liked having this because he knew that I had some like this. 

See that couple kissing in the background?  He asked why they were doing that after the race.  I said that he looked happy for her and maybe this was her first race.  He was not really listening to this explanation because another lady had crossed the finish line and was spitting on the ground.  He wanted to know what she was doing.  I said that she did not feel good and was throwing up.  With that explanation, he wanted to keep watching.  "Why is her spit pink with stuff in it?"  Um....OK, you are getting to too much detail.  At this point, I was already next to her giving her my water and looking for a Aid.  Later, Collin wanted to know why I was helping a stranger.  I said that she was feeling sick and needed someone's help.  Because her mommy and friends were not here, I thought I would be nice and help her.  He was good with this response.

We spent some time walking around to the different vendors checking out what they had.  Collin did want another donut, which he got, and then more water.  He spent the rest of the time in an inflatable play house playing with other kids and having a great time.  We were not in a rush so I hung out and watched him have fun. 

Later he wanted to know when he could race again.  He was excited to know that his next race was next month.  I found one in April too.  I'm glad he his enjoying this.

Go Texan Day at School

Collin was not looking forward to Go Texan Day at school because he had to dance with a girl.  I knew they were practicing a few dances and songs for the parents to watch during the Go Texan school program.  Collin did not care if we went or not because he thought we would tease him about dancing with a girl.  He kept saying, "Don't talk to me about her or say that I will marry her!" 

When I was laying his clothes out the night before, he asked if everyone else would be wearing a cowboy hat .  He did not want to be the only one.  This did not surprise me that he asked about this because he does not like it when he looked different or if the other kids where not doing it.  I said that there were be lots of kids wearing hats.  If they didn't, then he could put his hat in his backpack.  I said he will want to bring it and be happy that he did.

The next morning, I had to go to work so Daddy planned to watch the singing and dancing.  Based on the pictures Daddy took, it looks like they both had a great time.

Clayton and Collin acting goofy

Here is their serious smile

Getting ready for the performance

Look at Daddy in a cowboy hat too!!!



 

Here are the videos from that morning.  Collin's dancing partner is Elizabeth that he knew from Pre-K.  She is in another Kindergarten class this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valentine's Card

It's been a busy few days so I have not had a chance to post about Valentine's Day yet. Daddy and I were in Vegas for Valentine's Day and the weekend while Grandma H and Mimi watched Collin.  When we came home from our trip, I found Collin's Valentine's Day cards from school on the kitchen island mainly still in his homemade Valentine's card holder (made out of a cereal box).  I was shocked that most of the candy was still with the cards.  I also found the card he made for Daddy and I....and Burke.  I thought he did a really good job with his writing.

"You are going the wrong way"

I was in charge of dropping Collin off at school this morning.  It was a bus day but I thought I would go ahead and drop him off at the school.  This would give us a few more minutes to get ready and get out the door.  The morning was going smoothly and we were ahead of schedule.  Now, that never happens.  I was waiting for the excuses to not stop watching TV or playing a game.  Nope, Collin was great!  Burke was a challenge to get in his crate but that was not unusual.  We STILL were moving along on time. 



Collin and I loaded up in the car.  He asked if I was walking him to school when we get there.  I said that I was going to drop him off where the walkers are picked up.  He did not say anything after that.....until I passed the light to turn on the street to go to school.  I heard, "You were supposed to turn there.  You are going the wrong way."  I said that I was trying a different route rather than explaining that I would have to pass the school drive way and turn around further down the street because there is a no left turn rule in the mornings...which is what we would have had to do if I turned down the street that Collin just told me I missed.  Here is how the rest of the conversation went:



Collin:  "Well, you are still going the wrong way"



Mommy:  "This way will take us to school, too, and maybe faster"



Collin:  "You're wrong.  The other way is definitely faster"



Mommy:  "This way is easier and less turning around"



Collin:  "No it's not.  You have already turned twice and we are still not there"



Mommy:  As we were turning into the school driveway, "See, we are here.  That was really easy"



Collin:  "That way was still longer.  Plus, I don't want a stranger opening our door".  The 5th graders open the passenger doors to let the students out so the parents don't have to park and let the kids out.  Helps speed up the process.  So, he was telling me that the 5th grader was a stranger.



Mommy:  "Well, you might not know them but they are 5th graders at your school.  It's OK"



Collin:  "They are strangers"...as we parked and the 5th grader was opening his door.



As least I did get a kiss after the morning debate.  Starting the day off right with some simulating conversation with The Boy.  That's always fun and memorable.  As I retold this one to Daddy, I had a smile on my face. 

"Let me give you an O"

I picked up Collin from school.  When we got inside the house, he gave Burke a hug first as usual.  I was in the kitchen making Collin a snack when he came over to me and said, "Let me give you an O".  Yeah, I know.  What's an O?  What creative game is he making up now?  I asked, "What's an O?"  He said, "I'll show you" and then gave me a hug.  He then asked me to bend down so he could give me an X.  You guessed it....and X was a kiss.  I love Collin's X's and O's.

Later, I read an email from the teacher which did explain how he knew about X's and O's.  Because Valentine's Day is this Friday, they are learning about friendships, Valentines and, apparently X's and O's.

New Friends

Last night, we were invited to a neighbor's house for dinner.  I have known Isa and her husband, Herman, for a few years now and really got to know Isa through Team Wonder Woman last year.  She has been wanting us to come to dinner and last night worked out great. Daddy could not make it because he was out of town.  He will have join us next time.

We arrived and Collin was shy.  He clung to my leg and did not want to talk to Maria Teresa, their 5 year old little girl.  He stayed by my side and went to the kitchen were I planned to help with dinner which was salmon, risotto and salad.  He snacked on the appetizers while we talked.  Maria Teresa kept wanting him to play in her playroom.  I did walk back there with him but he really did not want to play with "girl toys".  He did stay back in her playroom and did not want to come out when it was time for dinner.  Guess he liked her now...or at least found some toys to play with. 

They were having so much fun that they both did not want to come out to eat.  I was fine with this because Collin is not a big dinner eater anyway.  While the parents were eating, the kids did come out and started laughing saying that there were fireworks in the other room.  I found out later that the "fireworks" was the picture that kept showing on the computer screen saver in the office.  They were being really quiet later and we noticed that someone turned the movie The Croods on.  No wonder they were quiet but did seem to get alone.

After the movie, they did come out of the playroom to eat.  Collin found my phone and started to take pictures.  I did make him wait until he finished eating.  While the adults had dessert (the kids were not interested in ice cream....I should have known they were up to something), the kids were apparently taking lots of pictures that I noticed as I scrolled through my phone later.  I was actually glad Collin did this because he captured some memorable moments from the evening.  We will have to do that again sometime....our treat this time. 

Isa looking in the frig for the homemade yummy dessert

This was Collin's favorite appetizer - veggie chips.  He ate all of the green ones.  It's at least a way to get him to eat something green.

Cute Maria Teresa.  Nice job with the picture Collin!

Mommy wanting her camera back

The mommies

Funeral, Ninja and "Not" a Sleepy Boy

Collin had a busy day Saturday which really was not unlike any other weekend day.  He and I attended a funeral for one of our neighbors in the morning.  Because we had just gone to Grandma Filla's funeral, he was aware of what a funeral was.  However, this time, this was really a memorial service and not a funeral.  So, his first question was were was the lady?  He could not see her laying up front.  I explained that she was already buried with just her family watching.  Then he wanted to know now long we were going to stay.  I said 30 minutes not knowing how long the service would be. It did seem like it was moving along though.  When it came time to sing, Collin did try to see a few words and wanted me to move my finger along the lyrics as I song.  Eventually, the service was over and Collin did really well. He wanted to know where the cookies were so we walked to the sanctuary where the refreshments we already set up.  He selected two brownies and wanted to go.  I said we at least had to say "hi" to Mr. Don before we left and we did.

On the way home, I stopped by a dollar store to see if they had something we could use to make his Valentines for his class and they did. They also had this a Ninja head cover, vest and sword.  Because Collin was so good at the funeral service, I thought it would be good for him to have two sets of these so he could play with a friend when they were over.  He still loves to play dress up.  He was SOOO excited about the Ninja stuff that he immediately put it on when we got home....and did not want to take it off.  Best $3!

We did not have plans the rest of the day until we learned that Oliver and Lucy, with their parents, were going to see the new Legos movie.  Collin was excited to hear this and wanted to go so we bought tickets too (ugh...terrible movie!).  I could tell that Collin was tired so I made him at least lay down with me so he would not fall asleep during the movie.  For 10 minutes, all I heard was "I'm not tired!" as he was rubbing his eyes.  Well, OK, just lay here....eventually, he did fall asleep. Daddy came in to check on us and I asked him to put a towel under Collin.  As he was moving him around, Collin talked in his sleep and said, "I'm not tired!" and then fell back asleep and started to snore again.

He had a great time at the movies sitting between Oliver and Lucy.  I enjoyed looking over at him and hearing him laugh.   At least he seemed to enjoy the movie.  As soon as we came home, Daddy and I had to leave for a 50th birthday party.  Mimi was at the house to watch him and spend the night because Daddy and I were leaving in the morning for the first race of the season.  I was on a team with Oliver and Lucy's mommy.  I rode the bike and she ran.  We did end up getting 1st...by at least 5 minutes and were estatic with each of our times and performance.

PJ Day at School

Not sure why but it was PJ day today at school.  I did have to double check the email from the teacher to make sure that I was not off a week.  Plus, Collin did say that he was to wear his PJs today.  He picked out which ones he was going to wear so he would not wear them the night before.  At least he picked out some that matched since he does not like to match them at night....but who cares at night in the house.

Mimi and Nancy spent the night because Nancy is heading back home today and Mimi is taking her.  Because I planned to work from home, I thought they would enjoy having lunch with Collin.  I also thought Collin would like seeing them one more time.

When we arrived, his class was already lined up getting ready to walk to the cafeteria.  I saw him smile when he saw us walk by to check in at the front desk.  When we made it to the cafeteria, we got up from the table to sit at another table with more room.  Clayton was there with his Daddy so I thought it would be nice to sit by them.  Davis and Beckett joined us.  At first, Collin was paying attention to Mimi and Nancy but then he was not interested in any of us.  He would not even answer some of my questions.  We did not stay the entire time because we were getting hungry (we did not have time to pack a lunch or stop by to get one) and Collin did not seem intested in us beinf there.  He did sit still for at least these pictures:

100th Day of School

For the 100th day of school this year, Collin was instructed to decorate a shirt using 100 of any item he could think of.  For two weeks, I have been asking him what he wanted to decorate his shirt with.  I don't think he really understood what this really meant or why we were decorating a shirt.  I really did not either.  I don't remember celebrating 100 days of school. 

Finally, we had two days to decorate his shirt.  For a working mommy, this is tough to have projects like these but at least we had two weeks notice this time.  Thank you!  Anyway, during lunch two days before he had to wear his shirt, I went to a party warehouse store thinking I should be able to get some ideas.  I did finally find a bag of 145 pirate coins.  I thought we could glue these to his birthday shirt I made in some sort of pattern OR let him glue them wherever he wanted to on the shirt.  That will work!

After dinner that night, Collin and I set out to decorate his shirt.  First, he pulled out 100 of the coins making a row of 10 on the kitchen island.  I separated them out in rows of 5 and we counted again.  I did not want him to lose interest in the main purpose of the coins so I asked where these should go on his shirt.  The birthday shirt had his name on the front and a large chocolate cupcake with a "6" in the middle of it.  He put a pile of coins in his hand and then put them all around on the cupcake.  We hat at least 60 coins left.  I turned the shirt over and said we could use the back.  He wanted to put them in no particular order all over his shirt.  I did talk him into a design which he was fine with.....100 in a diagonal across the back.

Here is the finished shirt.  The kids at school loved it.  They kept asking him if he was really rich because of all of the money on his shirt.  Daddy and I had a bet that half of the coins would be off of his shirt when he got home.  Only two came off.  I was impressed!  I was also surprised that it was not dirty because there is no way to wash it.

Good Day at School

Collin really is trying at school.  I think there are some days that he might be more tired than others which does not help with his focus at school.  These are the days that he could come home withough a sticker and a note about why he did not get one.  He has had a good streak fro 2 weeks but there have also been some "ice days" in there.

Today, I was happy to receive an email from his teacher that stated:

I promised Collin that I would email you two.  Collin is having a SUPER day!  He is being a great listener, getting his work done, and being respectful.  I am very proud of him.

 

 

Daddy responded with,

 

 

That's great.  Thanks for the email.  I know he know you email us and he always seems worried you are going to tell us when he does something bad.  So, I am glad to hear he is doing great.

 

I will be sure to let Collin know how proud I am of him when I get home tonight....just before we start working on his Sight Words.  See what kind of mommy I am?  :)

Bye Grandma Filla

Funeral Pamphlet

Grandma Filla passed away early Monday morning last week.  Hard to believe that a week has already gone by.  We were so fortunate to have the extra year we had with her since her diagnosis.  I am also happy that she is not in any pain and is in a beautiful, peaceful place with her love, Lee.

Her funeral was this past Saturday.  I told Collin about grandma dying (he has been asking for months now checking in with one of us to see if she has died).  He immediately started to cry.  I talked to him sweetly saying that this is a good thing and that she is not in any pain.  Did he agree?  He shook his head to say "yes".  When he finally came up for breath, I asked why he was so sad, and he said that he would not be able to see her (understandable) and that he would not get to watch the TV in her room (he loved to visit and did not want to leave because of the TV and the toys I would bring with us each time).  He stopped crying and seemed to be OK. 

I did not mention grandma again until Saturday morning while getting dressed for her funeral.  He asked a few questions about what happens to her now (she is in Heaven) and where will she be sleeping (in a comfortable bed next to grandpa).  He was excited to see Timmy, not Leah because he says she is really mean, at the funeral and wanted to know if other kids his age would be there.  I told him that I did not think so but I was not sure.

When we arrived at the funeral home and walked into the room where grandma was laying, Collin wanted to go see her.  This was REALLY hard for me but I walked over with him.  He commented that she had a really nice rag over her hands (this was a lacy handkerchief) and that she had really bright red lipstick.  "Grandma does not wear lipstick".  He then asked if this was going to happen when I die, "yes, my family and friends would come see me one last time", and if this would happen when he dies.  I gave him a similar response.  He then saw Timmy and Leah towards the back of the room and went to sit with them and play.  Most of the people there did not recognize me with my new short brown hair.  I could tell because I would smile and walk towards them to say "hello" and their expression was one of "who is she, I cannot remember?" 

During the service, Collin would whisper questions to me, "When are we going to put her in the ground", "What are we doing after this?"  or "You said she was in Heaven.  You were wrong.  She is right over there" as he pointed to her laying in the coffin.  Then, he kept looking up at the ceiling.  I asked what he was doing and he said he was looking at grandma because Heaven was up in the sky.  I really needed that smile because it was almost my turn to get up and read two poems Aunt Nancy wrote from grandma. 

After the service, we walked outside and followed the hearse to the grave site.  Collin sat in Mimi's lap most of the time while the pastor and funeral director talked.  Then, the ladies all placed yellow roses on grandma's casket before we stepped aside so the lid could be put on.  I don't recall seeing this done at other funerals but it has been awhile (since grandpa and Chris's grandmother over 11 years ago).  We stepped back for the casket to be lowered to the ground and then, one by one, we each picked up the shovel and threw in a little dirt.  Timmy and Collin wanted a turn and liked doing what the adults were doing.  We then watched the bulldozer load the remaining dirt.  Collin and Timmy sat with Aunt Nancy or Mimi asking questions about what the bulldozer was doing and watched until the men were finished placing the headstone back in place. 

After the funeral, we went to the church for refreshments.  We were all really hungry by then.  I was hoping for some food but there were only desserts.  The kids LOVED this though.  Collin picked out only chocolate chip cookies.  Leah took one of everything for her and then went back in line to make a similar plate for Mimi. 

After refreshments at the church and family pictures, we went to grandma's house to unload the plants and flowers.  While there, Collin stayed in the car to continue watching his movie.  Well, the battery died so Collin and Timmy enjoyed watching Pappy and Daddy "jump" the car.  Collin wanted to know how the cables made the car work again, why was Dustin in Mimi's car (the one our car was hooked to) trying to drive it and why were Daddy's hands all dirty.

The car finally started and we went to dinner.  It was like old times except grandma was not there.  We will really miss you grandma!

Christmas at Chelsea Gardens

Having fun with the family hanging out in grandma's room

Grandma's 87th birthday lunch