Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Yesterday our neighborhood had an egg hunt for all the children. When Collin woke up Saturday morning we had him practice finding the eggs we hid and putting them in his basket. Everytime he picked up an egg he would shake it and try to open it until we told him to "put in" like Mrs. Lorissa does at speech and he would drop it in the basket. When we got to the park Collin was so excited. He saw all of the colorful eggs on the playground and in the bark and was ready to go and get them. As the coordinator was giving directions, Collin took off to the get the eggs. Who needs directions?



Everytime he picked up and egg we told him to "put in" and he did. The limit was 13 eggs per child which Collin quickly got. He still wanted to pick up more so we let him help out two little girls who could barely walk. He was so proud of himself. He was even more excited when he opened the eggs and found they had jellybeans in them. He loves jelly beans and ate them all as fast as he could. After the hunt, the Easter Bunny made and appearance and true to form Collin cried the minute we got close to him. Oh well, maybe next year we will get a good picture of them together. We are so lucky to live in such a wonderful neighborhood with tons of fun kids activities. Collin definitely had a blast!

Easter Bunny 2010

This morning we took Collin to the Avenue in Forsyth to see the Easter Bunny. Collin screamed at the sight of Santa in December so we were not expecting too much. When Collin saw the Easter Bunny from a distance, he was all smiles about him. However, when it came time to sit with him it was a different story. Collin was a little frightened so I sat with him and the bunny at first. When I moved Collin into the Easter Bunny's lap, the tears and screams of terror started. We quickly got a picture and then swooped in to rescue him. Maybe next year we will like him a little more.

Playgroup Birthday Celebration

Today Collin and some of his playgroup pals had a birthday celebration since all of them recently celebrated their second birthday. Patty, Chloe's mom, made the children some yummy cupcakes. She made pink for the girls and blue for the boys. As soon as they got the cupcakes they dug in. They loved them! Here are some pictures of the crew that was able to make it to playgroup today.

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Today would have been Collin's Nana, or my (Brooke's) mom's birthday. She would have been 57 years old today. Although she is not here with us to celebrate, I know she is celebrating in Heaven with her Heavenly Father and all our other family members who are there with her. I miss her so much everyday and have used this day to reflect on my life with her. She was truly the best mother anyone could ask for. The verses from the country song "She's Somebody's Hero" reminds me of her so much. I can only hope I leave the same kind of impression on Collin as she has left on me. For all of those reading who still have your mothers, thank God for them everyday and always tell them how much they mean to you and how much you love them because you never know when they may be gone. Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you so much!

Lyrics to She's Somebody's Hero by Jamie O'Neal

She's never pulled anyone from a burning building
She's never rocked Central Park to a half a million fans, screaming out her name
She's never hit a shot to win the game
She's never left her footprints on the moon
She's never made a solo hot air balloon ride, around the world,
No, she's just your everyday average girl (but)

She's somebody's hero
A hero to her baby with a skinned up knee
A little kiss is all she needs
The keeper of the cheerios
The voice that brings Snow White to life
Bedtime stories every night
And that smile lets her know
She's somebody's hero

oh oh
She didn't get a check every week like a nine-to fiver
But she's been a waiter, and a cook and a taxi driver
For twenty years, there at home, until the day her girl was grown
Giving all her love to her was her life's ambition
But now her baby's movin' on, and she'll soon be missin' her
But not today, those are tears of joy runnin' down her face

She's somebody's hero
A hero to her daughter in her wedding dress
She gave her wings to leave the nest
It hurts to let her baby go down the aisle she walks right by
Looks back into her mother's eyes
And that smile lets her know oh oh oh
She's somebody's hero

Collin's 2nd Birthday Is Under Construction

Collin celebrated his second birthday today with a family construction themed birthday party. Collin is 100% boy and loves all things construction. He loves to look at the diggers, bulldozers, and dump trucks doing road work near our house. After hours of searching the Internet for ideas, I had a construction party planned for him. I decorated the house with "birthday zone" caution tape, orange cones, yellow hard hats with balloons coming out of them and play construction equipment. I even got a personalized dump truck shirt off of etsy.com for the birthday boy to wear. All the guests got construction themed party favors that included a rubber duck for the kids and bubble bath for the adults, along with a cute poem about a construction worker's day I found on the Internet. Collin had the biggest grin on his face when he saw the house. He loved the balloons and wanted the toys we used to decorate immediately. Once everyone arrived we had pizza and then sang to Collin. It was so cute to see Collin looking around the table as we sang with a big smile on his face. He knew we were singing to him and he was the center of attention and he loved it. After we had cake, Collin opened all his presents. He was not very good at this. Each time he opened a new toy he wanted to play with that toy and was not interested in the other packages. We had to speed him along a bit. He ended up with a ton of stuff: Wow tow truck, Honda ride on ATV, Thomas the train characters, a remote control train, ABC learning apple, and the Cars DVD just to name a few. His grandparents also gave him (or should we say Mommy and Daddy) money to put towards his "big boy" room that we are in the process of working on. All in all he had a wonderful day!

Happy Second Birthday, Collin!

Happy Second Birthday, Collin! Mommy and Daddy cannot believe how fast this year has flown by. It seems like just yesterday you were a baby barely crawling and now you are a toddler running everywhere and curious about everything! You have filled our lives with so much joy these past two years and we love you more than words express. We are truely blessed with such a happy, healthy boy and thank God every night for entrusting you with us. Happy Birthday sweet boy!