"I don't need a star"

We have not worked on Collin's chore chart for a few months because we have been busy.  We started working on the chores again this week including some new chores.  One that was previously included was for him to put his dirty clothes away in the hamper.  He is not very good at this.  I try to leave them on the floor or wherever he leaves them when he takes them off.  If he does his chore, he gets to put a star by the chore for the day.  If not, he gets an X on the day.

Tonight while he was getting ready to take a bath, he announced, "Mommy, I don't need a star to put my clothes away.  It's OK if I get an X."  HAHAHA  He did not want to put his clothes away....and he didn't.

Bike Eating

This was Collin Thursday night eating dinner.  We never have his bike in the house but it was in the house from earlier this week.  Wednesday night, he rode it around in a big circle through the kitchen, living room, dining room, and office.  We did not mind and it kept him busy.  He did the same thing Thursday night as well before eating dinner.  Mimi was over because it was her usual Thursday night to watch Collin.  She was getting his dinner ready which was a lunchable and juice.  Instead of getting off his bike and sitting in his chair, he got off his bike, moved his chair out of the way and rode his bike right up to his spot at the table.  He then started eating dinner.  Mimi, Daddy and I thought it was too funny...and let him continue to eat this way.

Mornings with Collin

Collin has not woken up in the mornings earlier than 7ish am for the last several weeks now.  Because of this, I have been able to get ready in the morning and leave the house without disturbing my guys.  I do give each of them a kiss on the cheek before I leave.  However and for who knows what reason, Collin has woken up before 6am the last two mornings.  His bed time has not changed and he has not woken up in the middle of the night.  Whatever the reason, he is awake and ready to play.  Because he is so awake, he is not interested in laying on my closet floor with his pillow and "guys".  He wants to play in the playroom, ride his bike or watch a movie.  Yesterday morning, he was content to start eating breakfast and watch morning cartoons.  I am sure this helped Daddy out because he did not have to mess with breakfast.  They had time to ride bikes a little before leaving for school.

This morning, Collin was not ready to eat and did not want to play in his playroom.  I was planning to change the purse I was using after I got ready for work.  I thought this would occupy him to help me take the stuff out of my purse and put it in the new one.  I know, I know....a little crazy because my stuff could have ended up all over the floor.  Nope....Collin did great.  When he found the cash, he counted it (not the dollar value but how many bills) and then put the 1s, 5s and 10s together.  He also organized the contents by their color:  I had black, red, pink, white and money as categories.  Who knew!  Then, when it came time to put the contents in my new purse, I did not know what to expect.  However, I know I did not expect Monkey to show up in the middle section and snuggled under the zipper.  No wonder the purse looked like it was about to explode.  I did have to stop and explain what a few things were but, otherwise, Collin was quiet and happy to play with and help me with my purse.  After rearranging only a few items, my new purse was ready to go.  Thank you Collin!

Kitty Bedtime

Collin still regularly pretends to be a dog, cat or another animal.  Tonight, he was kitty and wanted me to be kitty's mommy.  I thought that would be easy enough because I am already "kitty's" mommy...or so I thought.  What I was required to do was to only speak like a kitty.  Collin wanted me to read his books by only meowing....so I did.  That was hard and fun at the same time.  One book required me to sing Happy Birthday.  Collin recognized what I was singing when I was meowing the song and started to laugh.  Then it was time for kitty to crawl in bed which he thankfully did.  I continued to be kitty's mom and licked kitty good night on the cheek because kitty's don't kiss, they lick.  He liked that I continued to play my role.  I did lay on the bottom bunk for a little while because I was tired.  Instead of him checking on me to see if I was there by either stating simply "Mommy" or "Are you still there?' he meowed.  I replied by meowing back. 

Gotta love the imagination. 

"You Drive Better Than Daddy"

When I was driving to get breakfast this morning, we were barely out of the neighborhood when Collin announced that I drive better than Daddy.  I was in Daddy's car so maybe that's what prompted him to say that.  I asked him why he said that and he said "You drive straight and then turn.  Daddy hits the curb when he is driving".  Way too funny!  Your busted Daddy!

One Tired Mommy!

The weekend was not what I expected it was going to be like but it was a great weekend nonetheless.  I am ready for bed but want to capture the weekend before I forget some of the details.  Most of the weekend was spent taking care of Saige's mom, Kristen, because she had an abscessed tooth.  The infection made her cheek swell and she could barely talk.  I spent the night with Collin at her house Friday and almost Saturday night so I could be there for Kristen.  Good thing I was there on Friday night because she got up a few times during the night and needed my help.  Collin did like spending the night at the girl's house especially because I slept in Linden's bed with him. 

Besides it being MS150 weekend, the family did the following:

• Grandma H met us at the house to go to Collin's 9:15am Saturday game.  Remember that we were at Saige's house that night and morning.  I did pack his baseball clothes and bag so we would be ready to go and leave from Saige's house.  Daddy joined us mid-way through the game after he was finished with the MS150 duties from the morning.  He left the house at 4:15am which is the main reason Collin had to spend the night with me.

Collin running to 3rd base

• After the game, Grandma H, Collin and I went to the mall so Grandma H could buy a few things.  We had so much fun that Grandma H and I returned to the mall after dropping Collin back off at the house.  Collin, Saige and Clayton were going to Monkey Joe's for a few hours to wear the kids out...I mean, so they could have some fun.
• Saige came over later and played a little before we all headed back to her house to put everyone to bed so her mommy could go to the ER and get some help for her pain.  Here Saige and Collin are playing with Playdoh before playing in the playroom and then outside in the sandbox.



Helping open the new jars of Playdoh.  They each picked 3 colors to play with.



Saige is playing with the Monkey and Collin is about to make "noodles"


• Sunday morning, Collin and I got the family breakfast.  He really wanted a bagel and Daddy and I wanted breakfast tacos from "Caco Cabana" as Collin calls it.  I really did not want to go to two different places but would if Collin ate his breakfast.  We went to the bagel place first.  I told him that we would stop if there was not a line, and lucky for him, there was not one.  He wanted a bagel with pink stuff on it..aka strawberry cream cheese.  He wanted to eat it in the car.  I thought it might get a little messy, however, because he did not have much time to eat before Grandma H arrived, I let him.  He did great!  Nothing got on the car seat or on his PJs just all over his mouth.


• Grandma H came to pick Collin up Sunday morning at 9am so that he could help her pick out plants and plant them in her yard.  I heard he had fun and really helped her out.  He arrived back at the house in time for him to take a short nap before he went to baseball practice.
• While Collin was at Grandma H's, Daddy and I laid out by the pool for a few hours.  He jumped in the pool a few times to cool off while I read some magazines poolside.
• I went for a swim at the club (750 meters) and then the grocery store because friends were coming over to the house later.
• We went to Collin's 3pm Tball practice.  He did good hitting and fielding the ball.  We still need to get him his own helmet because all of the ones available are so big on him.
• When we got home, Saige came over to play and then the Tirados (Nicole and Matt and their kids, Kyana, Madison and Jessica) came over to play and eat dinner.  The kids had a blast in the sand box and blowing bubbles outside.

What a weekend!  We are so blessed to have great friends, have a house were we can entertain at the spur of the moment and such a wonderful family. 

"Mommy, why do you have lipstick on?"

Saturday night, Daddy and I attended a gala.  We were invited by a good bike shop customer of ours.  It was a black tie event so I was excited all week to see Daddy not only in pants but in a tux for the evening.  I have never seen Daddy in a tux, not even for our wedding.  The theme was also "The Gatsby" so Daddy wore a black hat with his tux.  I had my hair put up in a french twist.  Later, I did wish that I had styled it down.  Daddy agreed because he said he really loved my long hair worn down. 

I finished getting ready first and walked out of our room.  Collin saw me, stopped what he was doing and asked me, "Mommy, why do you have lipstick on?"  I wear lipstick but it's close to the natural color of my lips.  Last night, I had on bright red lipstick I got when we were in Las Vegas last time.  He had this huge smile on his face while he stared at me.  He knew I was going somewhere 1) because Mimi was already over and 2) I was really dressed up. 

When Daddy came out, he had an audience of Collin, Linden, Kristen and Mimi.  They came over to see Daddy in his tux.  He was a hit!  They took a few pictures of us before we left for the evening.  Later, Mimi told me that we looked like we had just gotten married when we were in the car about to drive away.  Speaking of in the car, Collin wanted kiss after kiss because he thought it was funny to get my red lipstick on him.  As we pulled away, he had this huge grin on his face while he was waving bye.  Guess he was OK with us going out last night.  :)

Awwwwww.....