Happy Halloween!!

Unlike last year, Collin knew what Halloween was about and did not change his mind several times trying to figure out what costume he was going to wear.  He went as Savage Revenge which is a bad guy from Star Wars.  He wanted me to dress up as well so we looked through the box of costume stuff we have collected over the years and come up with something that was acceptable to him.

We met the Jurek girls and Clayton, took a few pictures (that Linden would have nothing to do with) and then took off to the start of the parade in the neighborhood.

Saige, Linden, Clayton and Collin

Geisha, Iron Man and Savage Revenge

Following the leader to the parade start

While waiting for the parade, Collin got his picture taken by the photographer that was set up at the corner and also picked out a tattoo. He saw a few of his friends from class and was not shy walking up to them to talk.  I was proud of him to see that.  He then got thirsty and WAY too antsy for the parade to start because he wanted a drink....now!

Black cat tattoo

Not sure what I am here...Spider Momma?

He looks so old in this picture!

There were so many people there that they did not all fit in the camera window.

Once the fire truck arrived, the parade was ready to start.....and so was Collin.  We all walked several houses down the street and ended up at the house that was loaded with treats for the kids.  They took the time to get something to drink and eat before heading off to trick-or-treat.  I walked with Collin last year so Daddy walked with him this year so I could head back to the house to greet trick-or-treaters.  Collin was grouchy for some reason so I thought he would not last too long anyway.  He lasted longer than I expected and they came home just as it was getting dark.

Thirsty boys

Collin wanted to help me pass out candy.  He thought it was fun the first three times or so but then got annoyed with the door bell ringing so much.  The treaters lasted for another hour and then it was time to get ready for bed.  He was not too hyped up on sugar so the did not take too long to focus on getting back to his room to read books and get in bed.  After four books, he let me put him in his bed and give him a kiss.  He did not say a word as I left his room and then did not get up after that.  He must have had a great time tonight because he is OUT!

The Three Amigos

Collin, Clayton and Saige are best buddies that also happen to play on the same soccer team.  They are also cut-ups and have fun with each other.  It's a wonder that they even focus long enough to play the game.  For instance, here are a few pictures of them waiting for the team soccer picture to be taken:

Here is a good picture of Team Zebras! Aren't they cute?



Soccer and Birthday Parties

We had a full day running around to a soccer game, two birthday parties and now a friend, Clayton, spending the night. 

Timmy's birthday party and Collin's soccer game started at the same time.  Collin really likes playing soccer so we went to the game so he could play the first 30 minutes before we left for Timmy's party.  Even though the other team was scoring goal after goal, the Zebra's (Collin's team) was playing really well together and did not let the goals for the other team discourage them....probably because they don't realize what the goal means and winning or losing at this point.  Collin was SO close to scoring a goal once but he kicked the ball a little to the left and missed the net.  He had great command of the ball and did not lose focus while he was playing.  He was having so a great time that I did not want to have to pull him out so we could head to Timmy's party.  I knew he would have fun there too and would not want to miss it.

Huddle and prayer before the game begins

Collin in position

Collin in front trying to to keep the ball away from the other team

Trying to stay with the action

There goes #3 helping a team mate out and to turn the ball around

We got in the car and dashed to Timmy's birthday party.  Before going in, Collin wanted to change out of his uniform and cleats.  He is very concerned if others will make comments about what he is wearing or if they will be doing something different.  I knew this and was prepared for him to want to change.  We quickly changed and joined the party just as Timmy was blowing out his candles.  After cake and ice cream, the kids played pin-the-badge-on-the-Dalmatian.  Collin was close but a little too low.  Timmy then opened his presents.  As with his party last year, Collin was right there with him checking out the new toys/presents.  Timmy got tired at one point and let another friend open his presents.  I was happy to see that Collin did not want to take the present home that we gave Timmy like he did last year.  Of course, he liked it because he picked it out. 

Timmy and the fire men that hosted the party

Because Collin arrived late to the party, he missed getting to see the fire truck...or so we thought.  The fire men were happy to give Timmy and Collin a private tour of the driver's seat and the compartment in the back which the rest of the kids did not get to see.  The boys loved it and asked lots of questions.  They even got to push the button that turns the lights on.  They REALLY liked that.  Even Leah wanted to be included.

The boys in the front of the truck

Leah giving Collin a hug

They were trying to make the lights turn back on

Mimi wanted pictures of her grand kids after the party.  Now Mimi, do you really think that a 4, 5 and almost 2 year old are going to be still for a picture?  I clicked as many times as I could before Timmy took off to play with the water hose.

After grabbing lunch with Timmy and his family. we headed back to our house for Saige's birthday party which was at her house.  As soon as we turned on our street, Collin saw the bounce house in her front yard.  I pulled in the driveway and that kid unbuckled as fast as he could.  I thought for sure he would have been tired from what he had done already for the day.  Nope, not when there is a bouncy house that needs to be jumped in.  He, as usual, lasted the longest in there and only came out because I made him when it was time to sing to Saige.  He was fine when he saw that there was a cupcake and cookie waiting for him.  No, he did not eat the icing but he is a chocolate cake kid now.  Last year, it was vanilla.  This year, it's chocolate.  Then...not time to waste when he finished.  Time to jump again.  They jumped even after it got dark.  We finally pulled Collin and Clayton out of the bouncy house after 8pm because the boys needed to start settling down for the evening. 

Collin and Clayton played in Collin's playroom before it was time to brush teeth, put PJs on and get in bed for movie time.  They decided on Toy Story 3 which they are watching right now.  I hear talking in there at it's 9:45pm.  Guess it will be a late night for at least three of us in the house.  Daddy already went to bed 15 minutes ago.  It was a long day for everyone.....but a great one!

Jumping!!!

After running too many errands, Collin and I went to the indoor trampoline place.  He and Daddy have done this before but this was my first time.  I assumed it would wear me out....and it did!  He and I jumped, tumbled and bounced around for over an hour.  Towards the end of our time there, Collin tried to do a flip....and did it!  He was so happy about doing a flip, he did it over and over and over....at least 20 times.  He was so proud of himself and said this was his favorite part.

Look at him go!  Mommy did not do too bad herself.  I am sure I will be sore tomorrow for the bike ride.

Pumpkin Patch #2

This morning, Collin went on a field trip to the local pumpkin patch with his Pre-K class.  I took the day off so that I could participate in the fun outing (and knock off a lot of other things on my long list to do). 

It was so fun to watch the kids quickly figure out where they were and disburse through the pumpkins.  The girls knew what to do and started to look for their pumpkin.  The boys did not care and climbed on the wagon, wanted to sit on the saddle and pick at the hay bales. 

The kids also had a good time putting their face in the wooden board that had pumpkins painted on it.  They were getting rough and pushing but had fun.

Collin happy that it was his turn to put his face in the pumpkin hole.

"My turn, my turn!"

Collin took his sweet time to find the perfect pumpkin.  To him, the perfect pumpkin is the one with the longest stem on it.  Nope, not the biggest or the one with the most bumps, it's all about the stem.  He did have to stop and check out every pumpkin that was oozing stuff out of it.  There were not that many because the person was cleaning these up.

"Mommy, this one's heavy.  We don't want it, right?"

Such a happy little boy!

He did it!  Found one with an exceptionally long stem.  Time to stand in line now.

I helped the teacher with the kids getting their money out to pay for them and write their name on the pumpkins.  Collin helped me by putting the pumpkins in the wagon to take back to school.  He would run off and then come back to help a little more.  He even help Elliot find a pumpkin because it was time to go.

Sure is a lot of pumpkins to decorate.  That's William's green one.  He just had to have it.

Before heading back to school, the class stopped to take a few pictures near the pumpkins.  They posed seriously and then really liked making funny faces (I missed that one).

1st Pre-K Parent Conference

We met with Ms Hansen this afternoon to talk about Collin and how he is doing in class.  Her summary report was "Collin loves to make his friends laugh.  We are working on following directions right away.  We are also working on keeping our hands to ourself.  Please continue working on recognizing letters and sounds."

Oh really?  Collin is a "cut-up" in class.  I know exactly where he got that from.....nope, not his Daddy.  I love to make people laugh and feel at ease.  I like the be the center of attention...when I want to be.  This is how Collin and I interact in addition to joking around with each other.  My little jokester is taking that to school with him and I should not be surprised.  I am not surprised that he pushes Ms Hansen's buttons and does not always follow directions.  For example, she says that she will ask him to stop doing something and he will do it just one more time OR she will ask another kid in class to stop or do something else and then Collin will do the opposite of what she is asking.  This is not regularly but enough for her to point it out to us.

He did really well understanding parts of a book, sentences and other questions related to books.  He also did well with numbers, colors and shapes.  None of this surprised me because he is interested in learning these things.  He DOES need to work on his letters, both lower and upper case.  I am not surprised by this at all.  He has never been interested in writing or working on learning about his letters.  She gave us a few suggestions and we will start working on these more to see how much he improves the next time she tests him.

Red Ribbon Week = Crazy Hair Tuesday

To promote Red Ribbon Week at school, a drug prevention campaign, the kids get to wear something different than usual to school each day this week.  Monday, Collin wore his shirt inside out.  He thought it was funny especially because the other kids where doing it.  By the end of the day however, the tag at the bottom of his shirt was bugging him.  "See how the tag keeps hitting my arm when I swing my arm by it like this?"  This comment was close to 8pm when we were headed back to his room to get ready for bed.

Tuesday, the kids could wear a hat or have crazy hair.  Thinking that most of the kids, if they even participated, would wear a hat, we thought it would be fun for Collin to have crazy hair and spike it up really tall.  He has so much long hair on top, that it should stand at least 3 inches above his head.  We borrowed some gel from the Jureks to have it for the morning.

Daddy and Collin played around with the gel that morning.  At first, Daddy did a mohawk which Daddy said looked REALLY cool but Collin did not want to wear his hair that way.  "Will the other kids have hair like this?"  Remember, this kid is really concerned about what others will think and what other kids will be doing or saying to him.  So, Daddy tamed it down a little but it was still crazy hair.....even compared to the bed head  that Collin sometimes has in the morning.

They drove to school so that his hair would not be messed up from the helmet if they road the bike.  Here are a few pictures of Collin just as he got out of the car:

Later, I asked Collin what the kids thought about his hair.  "They laughed.  No one one else had hair like mine."  He was really said when he said this which made me sad but I tried not to show it.  We talked more and I found out that the other kids, as we suspected, wore hats and did not have crazy hair.  We did not talk about it much more because he had moved on by this point.

Wednesday is crazy sock day.
Thursday is neon, bright colors day.
Friday is Halloween shirt day.  I guess he better have one by then.