Pirate Colin, Our Growing Boy

Colin is getting so big and growing so fast! A couple of weeks ago, I had to take him to his pediatrician for a follow-up check on his asthma and for a height & weight check. His asthma is doing really great, and the dr. thinks that we can start weaning him off of one of his medications. However, this is a busy time of year for me at work, so we will be SLOWLY weaning him off, just to make sure that he doesn't get sick or have a flare up, which causes me to have to stay & work from home. His height & weight are doing pretty well too. In the last 6 months, Colin grew about 2 inches and gain about 1.5 pounds. He's now a lengthy 40 inches tall and weighs a strapping 32 pounds. He's still only about the tenth percentile compared to other 4 year old boys, but we were excited about the 2 inch growth!

So, after the dr. visit, we had a beautiful December afternoon with the weather and about 45 minutes to kill before we picked up his sister from school. Colin was very cooperative with the dr, so I decided to take him to a nearby park. I call him my "Monkey Boy" because he LOVES to climb on just about anything. In fact, he's growing so much that he didn't want me to "spot" him on anything that he climbed on. He was insistent that he could do it himself and didn't need any help from me. Meanwhile, as I'm watching my monkey boy climb high on some of the equipment, my heart was RACING! I did tell him that I really didn't want to take him back to the dr. if he fell. His grown up response was, "Don't worry Mommy! I won't fall because I'm being careful!"

In between his climbing adventures, we played on the playground that is shaped like a sailboat. Colin loves to pretend to be a pirate. In fact, he said that he was the captain and was talking the ENTIRE time like a pirate. Imagine Colin talking with a deep, scruffy voice...well as deep & scruffy as a 4 year old can get. It was so cute and so funny. Unfortunately, the only camera I had on me was my phone. So, I could only take pictures and couldn't video our pirate adventures. It was fun to pretend with him! I was either walking the plank, being rescued by Colin from the surrounding sharks, or being "tossed around" & trying to not get "sea sick" from his WILD steering of the ship! We were laughing so hard and having such a great time that Colin didn't want to leave! He told me that either Daddy or Mrs. Douglas (our neighbor we carpool with) could pick up Sheridan! But alas, I did finally get him off the playground with the hopes of returning on another great weather afternoon!

Update from Greg

Hi all,

It's been awhile since I posted anything on here so I thought I'd dive in again.

Well, the "family project" of the play kitchen was only a family project for about 15 minutes with Colin until our resident Fixer decided he wanted to watch Bob the Builder fix stuff instead of him actually doing it. Sheridan and Sarah were out so I got the majority of it. Sheridan came back towards the end of the 3 hr task and was more than happy to help screw in some bolts to help finish it out.

I'm long overdue on a report of Sheridan's and my camping trip with the YMCA Adventure Guides. We went to Camp Simpson in south central Oklahoma in October (I think). Sheridan had a great time. We hadn't gotten a tent yet so I borrowed a two-man tent from our neighbors. Talk about feeling like the low man on the tent totem pole! We were surrounded by tent mansions! I grew up using a four-man tent, but these tents were three-bedroom tents...utilized by two people most of the time.

Anyway, Sheridan enjoyed making new friends. We carpooled up with somebody that neither of us knew, but had a good time getting to know them. Sheridan had her first experience with smores and loved them. Although she could only have one, she enjoyed helping her friends make them. Let's see....what else....Sheridan has no interest in shooting, really enjoyed the canoeing, liked throwing water on me for the new member initiation at the bonfire, enjoyed staying up late, and playing in the forest. We had a water balloon catapult contest with other "circles" (groups). Sheridan didn't want to get wet so I stuck her in the back of our group while I got out front to try to catch the incoming water balloon volleys. At the end she emerged with wet jeans from her shins on down after a balloon hit the ground in front of her. :) I just got done registering for the winter campout the 2nd weekend in February at Possom Kingdom Lake. We're looking forward to horseback riding, a boat ride, and maybe some snow!

Merry Christmas 2008

We wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and I had to get a post in on Christmas Day!

We actually started on Christmas Eve with the traditional gift of coordinating pajamas! The kids will sleep in these and open gifts in these in the morning....after our traditional Christmas morning picture in front of the tree!

We had a fun Christmas day that actually began kind of late! Sheridan slept until 7:45 this morning, and Greg and Colin both slept until 8:30. For our kids, this is actually pretty late, and Sheridan was doing great at waiting PATIENTLY for everyone to get up. Then, both kids managed to restrain themselves when it came to opening gifts. They each took turns opening them! We decided this year to buy them a "combo" gift for both of them. They really needed to replace their play kitchen because the oven door and sink faucet have both broken off. This is a favorite item in our playroom that is still utilized by both kids. So the big gift is the kitchen that Greg has decided we'll assemble together as a family. The kids finished opening gifts by opening Santa's last. It was funny to see them YELLING up the fireplace & chimney, "THANK YOU SANTA!" Too cute!

We spent most of the remainder of the day at my mom's house. First, we went for a BIG breakfast and a little relaxation! Then, came home to make our food, cut out Christmas cookies, decorate Birthday cupcakes for Jesus, and shower. Later, we returned to Mom's for dinner and gift exchanges.

Both of the kids received stick horses from their Uncle Jimmy, Auntie Mel & Cousin Elliott. It's definitely a favorite, and Colin took an opportunity to play with both while on Greg's lap. It was pretty funny to watch them.

We hope that you all enjoyed your Christmas Day and were able to spend it with either family or friends. We enjoyed remembering that today is Jesus' Birthday, and that alone is a wonderful reason to celebrate! Merry Christmas!

Santa Visit 2008

We couldn't let a Christmas go by without a visit to see Santa Claus!

This year, a friend told me about the "Santa Wonderland" at the Bass Pro Shops. It's free! They have coloring stations, shooting game stations, trains to watch, stuff around the store to look at, PLUS a FREE 4x6 picture with Santa. Of course, we couldn't pass that up, and the kids seem to enjoy all the other stuff too!

Greg is 35!!!

Happy, Happy Birthday to Greg! He turned 35 today, and I had to do a post on his birthday!

Greg got to spend the day at home and enjoy some alone time and silence, or knowing him, he probably had the radio blaring! After Sheridan got home from school and we had some excitement involving a neighbor, we went as a family to The Keg in Las Colinas for a great steak dinner. Then, we came home, sang "Happy Birthday" to him, ate cake and surprised him with a new clock radio that he can dock his ipod on. We, then, were surprised to find out that it doesn't have AM radio on it, which Greg listens to a lot and even though the store sign said it did. So, after the kids were in bed, Greg spent the rest of the evening online shopping, comparing & reading reviews of other ipod docking radios and bought the one he really wants and that we can afford! Sounds like a great day to me!

Happy 35th Birthday Honey! We love you, Greg!