Way Back Wednesday - Look kids...Big Ben, Parliament

Big Ben
Parliament

We arrived in London at 8:40am, dropped our stuff off at a hostel and headed out to find some food. We ate something not so great - I remember because I was pregnant and finding good food was very important to me. It was a place that LOOKED like Kentucky Fried Chicken...um...not so much. I was/am SO thankful that my mom got to join us for the first 2 1/2 weeks of the trip. It was nice to have an extra hand for the kiddos, since Matt was very busy leading the college kids. Thank you Momma!! My mom and Collin are here in front of the River Thames.

We then headed out on a Walking Tour of London. It was FANTASTIC!! Tour guide - great! Scenery - great! Jet lag - not so great. But it was SO smart that we had so much walking to do - otherwise we would have all been in bed.

See this tired boy here...it's because he stayed up most of the night flight watching cartoons. But he was a trooper. It was SO exciting to be in London! Wow! What a fantastic city! We had an early dinner - also a "not so much" meal and returned to the hostel to go to sleep. The Hostel: GREAT for college kids! Our room included 2 sets of bunkbeds on the 3rd floor. The window had to remain open because there was no a/c and bonus - no screen on the window. Collin and Katie were not allowed to even go near the set of bunkbeds that were next to the window. They shared the bottom bunk on the opposite wall. We DID have a bathroom in our room (the college kids had to share a community bathroom). Our floor was covered with our 4 suitcases - we just stepped over them.

Great day! Exciting! Exhausting! Emotional! - well the emotional one was me not liking my food choices, I mean, Jackson didn't like his food choices.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Chubba Chubba

Also known as: Tubba Tubba, Jumpin J, Tooter Too, Jackson Matt-Matt, Little Buddy Bud
Oh the rolls...love them! And I love me some babies just out of the bath! So sweet...

Adorable...I'm in love.

My Collin turns 7!

February 20, 2003 - what a super-great day!! Collin has blessed our life so much. He is a smart boy, imaginative, dramatic, fun, silly, creative. He is a great big brother and a super son. We are so proud of him.
Collin chose Cinnamon Crunch bagels at Panera Bread for breakfast. We then headed out to see "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" (excellent for 7 year olds and up by the way, not so much for 4 year olds or sleeping 3 month olds).

Jackson gave Collin an animal book. Jackson is saying, "Will somebody please put me to bed, please?"

Katie gave Collin a Harry Potter broom, a golden snitch, a chocolate frog and some Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Collin could NOT wait to try the jelly beans...his first flavor-mashed potatoes...not so excited that they actually have the strange flavors. As a side story...we had BK at our house last night and one of the kids at our house found Collin's jelly beans and took one out of his bag while Collin wasn't looking. She apparently didn't like the flavor and threw it down (I found it on the carpet later). After I threw it away, I wondered what flavor it had been...ketchup! Well, no wonder she threw it down. We have found several more hidden around his room on the floor - apparently she didn't like any she tasted. Collin has laughed and laughed about his "stolen" jelly beans and is not even sad he didn't try delicious flavors like grass, pepper, gravy, etc.

Mommy and Daddy gave Collin a Shutterfly book called "Classical Collin". It's a nice little story Matt made up about Collin and the Greek gods. While we were in Europe last summer, Collin wanted his picture taken with ANY statue that was a Greek god. So we compiled those into a book and Matt wrote the story.

Sniff...sniff...can't believe my baby is 7!!

Open House

Mrs. J and Collin - he ADORES her!
The librarian and Collin - he ADORES her as well!

Collin the mad scientist - I ADORE him.

Ok - you know I'm a saver. I mean I save stuff. Precious stuff. Like papers my kids bring home. And Valentine boxes. Rumor has it that I have saved like 5, but truth be told...there are 2. Anyway...I will save this great booklet Collin made for Open House. It says...

"Abe Lincoln was a great American because He freed the slaves. He tells the truth. My dad is a great American because He likes History. He liks to play games with me. My mom is a great American because She takes care of us. She cooks good food. My brother is a great American because He's a good baby. He Never crys at night. My sister is a great American because Shes cute. She dosint say "th" she sas "f".

Oh my goodness. I LOVE it. I'm saving it! Scrapbook here it comes. Well, it will get in there when I get to 2010. Still stuck in March 2008.

Sister Kate

Pajama Day at SSS! And Katie slept in different pajamas and put these on in the morning because she "changed her mind." That is Katie's favorite phrase these days.
The fabulous Jungle Animals class leading chapel. This song is a SSS favorite...Down on Grandpa's Farm.

The cow - he makes a sound like this: moo-moo.

Oh dear. Now I'll be singing this all night.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

The Winter performance at Fine Arts Institute: The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Collin is the boy.
The cast of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

Will have to ask Collin what play this is...I've already forgotten...working on little sleep here...

Mrs. Ronna and Mrs. Delise - Collin's adoring fans! Thank you for coming!

And Jessica! Collin hearts Jessica! Thank you for coming Jessica - one of our favorite Vienna kids!

Princess Tea

Here is the lovely princess and her escort.
Katie chose to wear her "Sleeping Beauty" dress (her favorite of all the princess dresses because it is PINK...the girl loves PINK). She also wanted to pair her favorite princess dress with her favorite shoes: her soccer shoes.

I was agreeable. It wouldn't be MY choice to wear to a tea, but it wasn't my tea to attend. And I was thinking, "That is SO my Katie - a princess dress and soccer shoes!"

But as a princess often does...she changed her mind... and put on her black dress shoes. And after a full evening of shooting mice into a Cinderella carriage, making a princess tulle hat, and playing Kiss the Frog, this fine escort came home and...

still had time and energy to love on this masterpiece.

Something I'll call "Way Back Wednesday"

Here is documentation of our thrilling drive from OKC to Dallas to deliver the pups to my sister. THANK YOU sis for taking care of them for 7 weeks. Oh the things we do for family, right?

Mack and Swirl were so excited to get in the car and then drive for 4 hours to my sister's house. But since my sister lives on 5 acres and our puppies were used to a VERY small backyard, they were not only glad to be out of the car, they were also excited for a place to run. I don't think they stopped running for over 30 minutes. I think they want to live with you sister dear.
Collin, Katie and cousin Chandler - all cutie-patooties

Collin had the bulk of his book colored BEFORE we loaded onto the plane.

Katie worked off some of her high energy by doing a dance.

On the plane...what a LONG flight. Both kids full of high energy.

Asleep - without the Benadryl.

Collin watched cartoons for most of the night flight and then FINALLY slept.

So I've decided that every Wednesday I will post some pictures of our big trip. That was the point of starting this blog to begin with you know...Here is Day 1. I should be finished by December 2010!

My Valentines