June 8, 2008 - Scissor Lessons

Colin got a neat book of pictures to help him learn how to master scissors from Aunt Lissa and Uncle Dan - this one is learning how to cut along the lines of a dog's whiskers (and then cutting the entire picture into itty-bitty pieces :)

June 7, 2008 - one year later...

We can't believe that we have been in our house for over a year already! It definitely feels like home to Colin and I and someday I'll even get to finishing up that trim painting... :)
Finally- plants in bloom after the rough winter! And some new landscaping to the south of the driveway (thanks Papa for the help!)

June 7, 2008 - watching baseball with Papa

Papa came up for the weekend to gather the last truckload of loaner baby gear for Colin's new future baby cousin to drive down to KS and they enjoy watching a few minutes of today's Brewers game on tv (Colin learned new terms- inside/outside and cheered for his favorite team, much to Papa and Mama's dismay.... who are both die hard Cards fans.. :)

June 6, 2008 - Friday night party at Emerson's

Jay and Blake have La Familia over for a relaxing Friday night pizza hangout and Colin gets to play with Emerson, Genevieve and new friends Cole and Taylor (plus all the spoiling of Mama's friends!) Marissa and Colin played baseball (sometimes with a tennis racket!) in the front yard! Colin's going pro by the age of 4!

The weather was beautiful and all had a lovely time (assuming the party carried on after our toddler late night 4 block walk home in the wagon at 8:45 pm :)

June NY trip for Mama!

Mama went to NYC for the weekend before market/work with our friend David who is moving to the big city in the Fall for grad school (exciting!!) We had a blast over the weekend, and Mama even fit in some time to celebrate her birthday with friends during the hectic work week! Mama missed Colin terribly and still listens daily to the cute happy birthday voicemail that he left for her!!Mama out to b-day dinner with the girls and a special appearance by our friend Renee (who lives in ATL)!!

David and Mama taking the subway to Soho (going SHOPPING- what else?!? :)

May 26, 2008 - fun in the yard

Colin had an early evening extravaganza in his yard tonight- first a picnic with Mama and Grammy Mary, then drawing rainbows with chalk and of course, some sports- shooting hoops and riding his bike with Daddy!

May 26, 2008 - lookout point

running fast across the park...

reaching the edge of the steep hill...

taking in the view of the beautiful lake and serenity it offers...

breathtaking, even for a 2 year old...

May 24, 2008 - Colin's view of the world from WI

okay, that is... from this painting on the Richards School playground :)

May 24, 2008- Kite festival at the lakefront

KITES!!!!

hundreds of them, everywhere! (oh yeah, and some balloons :)

The balloon release to celebrate this year's kite festival and noon kite launch! Gramma Mary and Colin on our picnic blanket watching the kites go up, Up, UP and AWAY!

Colin tries to munch on a very LARGE cookie after lunch.. although he gets a piece of it to eat, it's not quite that big :)Colin and the trick kites in the background

We loved the kite festival and it will now be an annual event!!!

May 24, 2008 - lawn mowing

We're taking charge of our lawn this summer and Colin helps Mama mow the lawn

for the first time together for a Saturday morning activity!

May 23, 2008 - afternoon at the zoo

Gramma Mary comes for a visit and Colin and Mama take Friday afternoon off from work/school for a trip to the zoo!

We get to spend time up close and personal with the rhinos (yes, they are even bigger in person), talk with the big cats, chase our shadows and run around having a fabulous time all over the zoo!

May 17, 2008 - vacuuming and wearing big boy pants

Thought I would just condense the morning's ongoings into one post- the first pic being Colin helping Mama vacuum the house before we have our friends over for a party welcoming Mama's friend Stacey for a visit from Iowa. Colin was a big help on Saturday and we had so much fun at the bbq with all of our friends (during which I was so crazy running around that I didn't actually take any pictures, sad!)

The next pics are of Colin trying on some big boy underpants that I bought on sale a long time ago and they surfaced today while we were cleaning Colin's closet. He thought they were the coolest thing and had to put them on and wear them around his room while we cleaned before he got dressed. Needless to say, we still switched back to a diaper before he put his clothes on!

May 16, 2008 - grocery helper

Colin and Mama walked to Sendik's this evening because it was so nice outside and although Colin rode there in the wagon, he walked the entire way home!!! He helped Mama "push" the wagon a lot of the way too :) It was so much fun that we repeated the wagon grocery trip on Saturday morning, but went to Trader Joe's instead!!!

May 16, 2008 - froggy book makes Colin grin!

Colin loves to read his new froggy book where you can match up different parts of the froggy's face to create different characters and descriptions of your creations!

Colin's got a fabulous smile in this pic, shockingly not at all being as silly as these froggy pictures are!

May 15, 2008 - chillin' on the potty

...and he could get chilly fairly quickly without any clothes on!! Colin was practicing sitting on the potty chair tonight before his bath (no actual attempts and I'm not pushing it yet, we're just becoming familiar with the potty chair and Colin loves to use his step stool to sit up on the seat himself). Mama's dreaming of days without diapers!!! :)

May 12, 2008 - building (and being) a lion

Colin got this cool present called 'Toobers and Zots' which are squishy, colorful and fun to build crazy creatures out of... Colin and Papa's first attempt was to make a lion they did an awesome job and Colin roared like his new lion too!

Thanks Aunt Lissa and Uncle Dan!

May 10, 2008 - STL Zoo!

Mama and Colin drove to STL this weekend for Mama's friend Chanelle's wedding (so much fun!) and we fit in a trip to the zoo Saturday morning with Papa, Aunt Lissa and Uncle Dan (with expecting baby! :)

The hippos weren't swimming in the big pool today but Colin loved getting up close and personal with all the fishies!

Mama, Aunt Lissa and Colin taking a rest on a dino's back after seeing the special dinosaur exhibit

Colin's favorite way to travel at the zoo... on Papa's shoulders! He can spot the giraffe so much easier this way!

One of our favorite animals this trip- a forest version of the giraffe, who had an extremely long tongue!!!

May 6, 2008 - Cool Colin

Eating snacks in the car on the way home from school today! Decked out in his shades, of course!

May 3, 2008 - Building w/ Betty Brinn

Colin and I went to the library for the Betty Brinn "building" program today and he had a blast with all of the building materials!

And then we stopped to get some books to take home and read and of course Colin had to put on a quick puppet show of "Where the Wild Things Are"

April 29, 2008 - Colin's pal Cole as a "Weather Kid"

Colin's favorite 3 year old pal, Cole, was featured today as a "Weather Kid" today on TMJ4! So cool! As you can tell, it's still a chilly forecast even though it's almost May...