Thankful Tuesday

Hooray for MAY!  Seriously...it has been so beautiful lately and the joy Collin Henry gets out of finding he can wear shorts and a t-shirt to school is really something to behold.  I don't have to do anything for him other than lay out an outfit and answer yes when he asks if it's going to be warm today, and he seriously starts jumping for joy and pumping his fist.  So that would be what Collin is thankful for today!

I am thankful for the following:

Spending time with our sweet Community Group and celebrating birthdays.  Sweet Sam is 1 year old!

Can-Man, Collin and me for a selfie!

All "the babies" as Collin would say.

Easter and all that it entails.  Reflecting genuinely on the sacrifice Christ made for us and the opportunity to spend time with our families.  I helped with Collin's Easter party at school, and we had a blast.

Nailed the ring-toss from six inches away - YES!

Cutest little bunnies, EVER.

Serious about hunting eggs.

Collin insisted on showing me his playground trick while I was there.  His teacher says he has perfected this "trick" and does it over and over as often as she'll allow him.  I love seeing his boyness come out in him!

We spent Easter at my parents' place in Texas, and Collin had a blast.  He spent time with his cousins, got to sleep with Jarrod in the tree-house my dad built and play outside.

Collin & Tins looking out a window of the tree-house

Walking with Mimi in the pasture to see a new, baby donkey.

The only Indian Paintbrush we could find during our joy-ride in the pasture in the EZ Go Cart.

Probably yelling at me to go faster, but look at how cute they are holding hands!  

Hunting eggs together.

Cousins.

Collin and Jarrod spent the night in the tree-house Friday night, and they had a great time!

                 

 Jarrod making breakfast sausage with my dad the next day...

 Picnic lunch in the tree-house.  Perfection.

Posing for Mommy!

Collin loves his "chubby baby", cousin Weston.

Collin and Tinsley matched perfectly on Saturday.  Austin and I spent forever trying to get some cute pictures of them, but Collin was grumpy.  He said he didn't want to stand with Tins, he didn't want to hold her hand and that she was sassy!

 Basically the most adorable picture ever.  These kids should do print adds.

 Collin saw this picture and told me he was MAD here.

 Then he saw this picture and said he was happy here, because Tins wasn't with him.  HA!

Tinsley working it and Collin being a typical man, wondering what the heck she's doing!

When your uncles are gun fanatics, you shoot clay pigeons at your Easter celebration.  Collin actually really loved it!  I made him take his nice shirt off though after seeing a little rust from the fence get on it, so we ended up with this photo...

That's right folks, Redneck Easter right here!

And last, I'm thankful for protection during the storms that hit Arkansas over a week ago.  We were taken care of but so many other people lost a lot.

Sitting in the bathtub together while Daddy stands with the front door wide open and the TV blares in the background.  Thankful for this boy who did what we told him to do and asked very few questions about it.

Oh, Little Rock

We spent last weekend on a mini-family-staycation in Little Rock with Jarrod's family.  It was a quick trip, but so much fun!  We stayed downtown and walked to most places; plus, the weather was gorgeous.

We didn't tell Collin about our plans until Friday afternoon when we had to head to the airport to pick up Jarrod's mom and dad.  We told him Nonne and Papa were flying on an airplane to come see us and we were going to stay in Little Rock.  He was super excited about seeing his grandparents but not so much about staying in a hotel.  He could not figure out why we would sleep there and not our house.  He even asked us if that was now our house!

We had dinner at Flying Fish, which was all of about two doors down from our hotel.  After dinner, we went back to the airport and picked up Aunt Kiki!

Saturday morning we had breakfast downtown and then we walked along the riverfront.  

A lady who lived in the top of the hotel where we were staying told us about cardboard sledding down the hills near the Clinton Library, so we decided to see what that might be about.  We found some cardboard and quickly proceeded to make fools of ourselves.  This was probably Collin's second favorite activity of the weekend!  He thought this was the most fun thing, and he probably would have kept doing it over and over and over.

After a little while, we made our way down to the Clinton Library where they were apparently having a large Easter egg hunt and other activities.  Collin watched a bunch of kids in bounce houses, but he didn't want to participate.

He did agree to sit on the back of this firetruck though.

After this we walked back toward our hotel, during which time we had to stop at this bronze eagle...

And Collin got to experience the closest thing to flying...

We got cleaned up at the hotel and headed back out for lunch at Boulevard Bread Company.  We sat outside in the sunshine and ate while people-watching.  And then it was time for Collin's favorite activity of the weekend - The Peabody Park and Splash Pad.

Collin took forever to get near the water.  With the help of his aunt, he eventually let loose and became soaked!  We all sat here for a long time and just watched him play (and of course did some more people watching!).

He had to wear his undies and his aunt's shirt back to the hotel!

We had dinner at YaYa's Euro Bistro that night, and Collin was passed out in the car before we ever made it back to the hotel.  We put him to bed and he asked me to snuggle him, but before I could even make it over to him he was snoring again!

The sweetest thing in the world.

We woke up Saturday, checked out of the hotel and headed over to the Capital Hotel for breakfast inside Ashley's.

Yes, please.

We were not dressed fancy enough for this place.

After breakfast, we did some running around and ended up dropping everyone back at the airport around 3:30.  Just in time to make it home so we could cook dinner for our Community Group that night.  It was a quick weekend, but such a good time!

Thankful Tuesday

Thankful Tuesday hasn't happened for a while around here, so let's get to it.


Thankful for March Madness!  One day Jarrod is going to shell out the big bucks and take me to the Final Four.  Preferably one where I can sit by W...

Until then, I'll settle for watching the Championship game all by myself while Collin sleeps and Jarrod studies. That way no one can see me fist pump and whisper the words, "YES!" or "Hit THAT!"

This was an awesome dunk!

Thankful for sweet boys and time spent swinging in the backyard on Sunday mornings after church.

Also thankful for a husband who takes new hairstyles in stride...even if his version of doing so includes singing, "She BANG!"  Or that his new favorite comeback is now, "Shut it, Bangs."

Thankful for bunny pictures that make me giggle...

On ponytails and running

Collin insisted when he woke up from his nap yesterday that he needed a ponytail.  I know...it's odd.  What was even more odd was his dad's eagerness to oblige him.  So I spent a good part of my afternoon looking at this: 

I don't even know what more to say.  Other than I think Landry was refusing to take part in this photo for a reason.  Embarrassment.

Now that that is out of the way, let me prove to you just how manly my men are!

Last weekend we participated in a 5k/1k run to benefit a local organization.  Jarrod did the 5k (his first ever), and Collin and I did the 1k fun run.  The race started at sundown, approximately 7:20pm, and it was a Glo Run!  Cutest idea ever.

Everyone was all decked out in neon colors and glow necklaces/bracelets/mohawks.  Yes.  Collin really wanted a glow-in-the-dark mohawk, but his dad refused to shell out for it.  After that ponytail picture it's all a wonder to me...  

Collin did such a great job during the race!  I was worried about several things. 

1. That I might end up carrying him for half a mile (aka, the whole dad-gum 1k)

2. That he would have a meltdown over the fact that Jarrod "ran off without us".

3. That it would downpour, I would end up carrying him for the whole dad-gum 1k and he would have a meltdown because Jarrod "ran off without us".

Alas, none of these things happened!  It only sprinkled for the first few minutes of the race, and I didn't have to carry anyone.  Collin ran the whole time, shouting to me, "Come ON, Mommy! COOOOOOOKIESSSSSSS!!!!"  (I was reading some info to Jarrod before the race, and I read that they would have bananas and cookies at the finish line.  Collin clearly remembered the cookie part!)

Sorry these are all blurry, but the kid was running!

At the end of the 1k, they had "medals" to hand out to the kids who finished.  They had some guy dressed up like Bumblebee from Transformers.  (Or if you're Collin, it's "buzzy-bee".)  Collin flat refused to go near the guy and was pretty hacked off about the whole situation.  Finally, Bumblebee's "helper lady" came over and put Collin's medal around his neck.   

Showing off his "medal", which was a cute little glow-in-the-dark dog tag.

At this point it was straight for the banana/cookie table, and then off to wait for Daddy to finish his race.

Jarrod had a clear time in mind for when he wanted to finish the race, and he beat it!  We were so proud of him.

Eating a banana right after finishing his first ever 5k!

Look at these MEN!  Cuties :)

 Awful group pic... Rain = weird, wavy bangs on me.  And crazy flash-eyes.  Gahhh, the flash!

But I had to include this because Collin totally photo-bombed us, and he thought it was the funniest thing.  Hot dog included.  Yes, the kid ate like a horse after running around a few blocks!

And lastly, Collin's school had someone come in and do Easter-themed photos with the kids last week.  I would normally not really go in for something like this because it has a huge potential to be cheesy, and let's face it, Jarrod doesn't think the picture budget is as big as I might think it is.  We normally only pay for his official "school picture" in the Fall.

Well, I let my crazy mind run away from me, and I reminded myself of the type of luck I tend to possess.  If I decided not to let Collin participate in these, they might very well be the most adorable things ever and then I would kick myself.  There wasn't much of a description.  I was just told that the photographer would be dressing the kids and providing a Spring backdrop and bunnies.  The sitting fee was very small and then you view the proofs to decide if you want to purchase any of them.  So I figured no harm...

That is until I was putting Collin to bed the night he had the pictures taken, and he started to describe to me what he was dressed in for the pictures.  I finished saying goodnight and immediately started trying to find the photographer on Facebook to see if I could find any examples of these bunny photos she is going around taking.

Y'all.  I laughed and laughed.  Jarrod is horrified.  He said I subjected our son to Easter Glamour Shots.  I have a theory though; it's Collin, surely we will think they are the cutest photos ever.  Right?

We will find out tomorrow when I go to view the proofs!  Whether or not I post them on here is TBD. 

Don't worry, Mom.  I'll get you one! ;)

Naked neck chickens & George W.

So incredibly happy it's officially SPRING!  Now, if only the weather in AR would officially catch on...

Last weekend, Jarrod's mom and dad came for a little visit.  Collin asked us every morning when he woke up, and every night at bedtime, if it was Friday yet.  When Friday rolled around and his Nonne and Papa came with me to pick him up from daycare, he was beside his self.  Y'all, he just gushed and gushed over them coming to his school.

Saturday the weather was supposed to be nasty, so we couldn't really make any plans to do anything.  On a whim, we all went out to a local farm so Collin could see the animals and walk around for a bit.  It's so weird for me to be on the city-slicker end of things.  When Jarrod called to ask if we could come out for a visit, the owner stated they are a "working farm", and we should probably wear shoes we wouldn't mind getting dirty. If I had a dollar for every time my parents said to me, "Tell your friends to wear shoes/clothes that can get messy!" 

My handsome men...on a farm...LOVE.

Collin loved seeing all the baby animals, and he was only upset he wasn't able to get closer to them.  He thought he really wanted to hug a baby pig and a baby calf!   Not so much the naked-neck chickens...

Sweetness.

It was a good chance to get a little outside of town though and for me to be able to look up and see a patch of sky without other rooftops in view.

Would you believe I have a photo with a similar background that I used to submit with my resumes?
I'm sitting all peachy-keen on my parents porch with a farm trailer in the background.

Speaking of open sky...  How proud was I when (totally unprovoked) Collin busted out with Deep in the Heart of Texas at the dinner table the other night?!  He really only knows, "The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas", but I'll take it!  Makes my soul happy.

On that note, how giddy did I get over seeing this at the farm? 

You know what else makes my soul happy?  Hilarious things my kid says.  I'm hoping one day we'll strike YouTube gold like this mom:

My mother-in-law brought me a cute book in which to record all of Collin's hilarious musings.  I've already started trying to remember to write down the things he'll surely want to be reminded of when he's 16 and about to leave on a date.  "Remember that time when you called the dog Doo-Doo for a solid year because you couldn't say, Landry?"  "What about the time your babysitter gave you a Twizzler, referred to it as licorice, and you talked all about your "liquor" on our ride home from her house?  Singing, 'Give me my liquor, give me my liquor'."  

Parenting...you can't make these things up!

Febs

Oh. My. Word.
The. Weather.

I really think I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).  When it's my turn for prayer requests at Community Group on Tuesday evenings, I have been known to say the weather in the most pathetic voice.

One day we're doing yard work and Collin Henry is enjoying a picnic in the front yard and the next we are burning through firewood like crazy and praying the power doesn't go out because, well, ICE!

Other things worth mentioning from the past few weeks -

I posted a while back that there was a dead duck in my freezer.  That's because it was special...  Something known as a "banded duck" to hunter people.  Jarrod had the hook-up and got a good deal on having it mounted, so now there is a dead duck in Collin's bedroom!  And he absolutely loves it.  Named it Mr. Quackers. 

Our sweet friend, Kristen Wiley, got herself engaged a couple of weekends ago.  Whoop-whoop!!

Also, we have spent a lot of time cheering for the Harding University men's basketball team.  Collin thinks the student section is just the neatest thing ever, and he copies everything they say and do.

The cutest little clapper you ever did see!

And in case you missed it, we got a significant amount of sleet Sunday night.  Temperatures are supposed to reach above freezing some time this afternoon.  We're going on two days of cancelled school this week, combined with all the other bad weather days we've used this year, teachers and students will be going to school around here until July 4.

He had just slipped and busted his rear, but he thought it was hilarious.