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3/3/07- All the boys (Aaron, Caleb, and Daniel) spent a good portion of the day outside working on the yard. Caleb was so cute using his John Deere Power Loader to load up twigs and branches in his trailer. And Daniel just toddled all around and picked up dirt and enjoyed playing outside. I was busy in the house working on a scrapbook for my great cousin, Ethel, so it was nice to have the house to myself, in a way.
3/2/07- Oh what a night- and I don't mean a great one. Caleb was up ALL night coughing- literally. Poor thing just couldn't settle down and just sleep, and Triaminic wasn't working. When we got up this morning, I called the doctor to get him in for an appointment, because I didn't want Caleb to go through the weekend with this cough and not be able to sleep. He got us in right away, which was great. As soon as Dr. Fox came in the room, Caleb started talking to him. Dr. Fox had a resident with him for the day and he turned to her and said, "Caleb has always spoken clearly and with quite a vocabulary, from the very beginning." Caleb told him that he has a bad cough and he's been up all night. Dr. Fox could tell that it was bad and he checked him out and saw that he had an ear infection! I couldn't believe it! So, we got an antibiotic and cough medicine prescription.
Aaron's dad, Grandpa Collins, was delivering a truck back to Tampa, so he came through and took us all to dinner when Aaron came home. The boys enjoyed being with him.
2/28/07- Tonight, Caleb read a book to me about the sound of short "o" called "Hot Pot." I could not believe how well he did. He read the whole book to me and only needed a little bit of help on words like bubbles and corn. I had him read the book to Aaron when he got home and Aaron was surprised with how well he did, too. I'm so glad he loves to read. I know the more he does it, the better he'll get.
2/27/07- Today I painted the room that the boys will now share. I painted it a light beige/khaki color and it turned out really nice. I moved the queen bed and all my old furniture into the room Caleb has been in, and moved Caleb's bed, toys, bookshelves, and dresser, into the room that Daniel has been in. They have SO much room! We can't get over how huge that room is. They both love it and I'm so glad. Tomorrow I'll have to work on switching stuff between the closets, but once that's done, they should be all set.
2/24/07- Happy birthday, Joey! Caleb's friend, Joey Watkins (Josh and Rachele's son), turned 4 today, so we went to their house for his birthday party. It was great! They had 2 of those HUGE blow-up things, one to jump in, and the other, the Titanic slide. One of the families at church own them and they bring them to various get-togethers. Caleb always has so much fun in them. I still can't believe he climbs up that HUGE Titanic boat, and slides down. I finally did it today, and it's a little bit scary! He loves it, though. Daniel got in the bouncy cage and just loved it. He smiled and laughed the whole time. And if he wasn't in there, he was walking around the yard with a ball, holding it up like he was going to shoot it! It was a great party.
2/22/07- Another beautiful day! We spent this one at home, another picnic in the yard, and then got all the riding toys out and just enjoyed playing in the yard. The boys had so much fun riding their riding toys all over the place. (Check out the video!) It's nice that Daniel is bigger now and can ride in the gator. We just use a bungy cord across their laps, so Daniel doesn't try to get out or fall out. He's our climber. Caleb loves to drive his tractor around and sing, or hum, "Life is a Highway," as he drives. Daniel loves to climb in the cozy coupe car and play with the door and the wheel and squeaky horn. He's still trying to figure out how to pedal around with his feet, but he'll get it. He loves riding around on his Lil' Quad that he got for his birthday. Lots of fun.
2/21/07- The weather is GORGEOUS outside! Very warm, so after story time at the library, we packed a picnic and went to the park at Nickajack Lake. The boys had fun playing- Caleb throwing rocks into the lake, Daniel playing with leaves and dirt- I have boys, what can I say?! I love them so much. I'm so glad I get to spend these special times with them.
2/19/07- Yay! Daddy's home today from school! We all slept in and then had a great "family breakfast," as Caleb calls them, of chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, and grits. It was great. We spent the day just relaxing and playing together. The boys love when their Daddy is home. They just adore him.
After the boys took their afternoon nap, I went to start dinner, and Aaron said, "Let's go to Raphael's," our little Italian place that we love. Well, he didn't have to tell me twice! We got the boys ready and got in the van. We had a great meal, lots of food and great family time. Then, we got on the road to go home, and just as we're about to pass Dairy Queen, Aaron says, "let's go to Dairy Queen- I feel like an ice cream cone." Yay, again! It was very special.
2/18/07- This morning, we went to church at Lakeview, in Rossville, GA, because they had asked Aaron to preach, since their preacher just moved away and they are looking for a new one. Things went very well and the boys were fabulous- I was so glad. Caleb really enjoyed Bible class and was so good during services. Daniel fell asleep and got a good nap. After church, we went to lunch at one of the family's home who has 2 girls, close in age to both boys. They all had fun playing and the adults had a good time visiting.
We went to North Terrace for evening services and then went over to the East Ridge Civic Center afterwards, for a going-away-party for the Thompsons (Colin, Melissa, Ava, and Helena). We sure hate to lose them and wish they weren't moving away, but they'll still be within an hour of us, so that's good. At this Civic Center, they had a gym, and I'm telling you, the boys had a BLAST! I knew Caleb would, but Daniel was so adorable to watch, walking all over the gym, chasing basketballs, and then picking them up and carrying them around, and actually holding them up like he was ready to shoot! He's a natural. Perfect stance and everything, at only 14 and 1/2 months old! I just couldn't stop watching him. Everybody couldn't get over how he would carry the big basketball around- it was almost as big as him! I've noticed Daniel's interest in balls lately at home, so this was perfect for him, having a big gym to go around and play with the basketballs. He's actually started throwing balls at home, and he's got a pretty good arm! They've got a great coach at home- their wonderful Daddy...
2/16/07- Mommy's turn! I could tell when I woke up this morning, I had it. Great. I just laid around and put toys all over the place so I wouldn't have to keep getting up. I had absolutely NO energy. When it came time to make lunch, I was so weak, I actually had to have Caleb make lunch. I just opened a can of ABC's and 123's (which they both love) while I was lying on the couch, and had Caleb press the numbers on the microwave, put the ABC's and 123's in one of those Pampered Chef black, microwavable containers, and had him put it in the microwave, close the door and press start. He did so great. My big helper. Thankfully, I was feeling better by the evening, so I knew it was just the 24 hour bug, like Caleb had. There's nothing worse than being sick and trying to be Mom. The boys were pretty good, though, so that helped. Thanks, boys!
2/15/07- First thing this morning, Caleb says he's hungry for breakfast and wants milk and a waffle! I explained to him that he can't have things like that with as sick as he is. I was glad he had a bit of an appetite, but he didn't want anything like plain crackers or toast, at first. It had been almost 8 hours since he got sick, so I gave him some rice krispies and frozen Sprite chips. He just took it easy the rest of the day. By dinner time, he was back to his old self, and Aaron and I kept trying to calm him down, because he was wanting to run around and jump! We said, "NO! You can't do that know! You'll get sick again!" We knew he was doing better once he was acting like this. I'm glad it was just a 24 hour bug.
2/14/07- Happy Valentine's Day! We went to the library for the Valentine's party and brought the cookies we made and decorated on Monday. The kids made their own cookies there, too, and also a paper bag decorated with hearts to hold all their valentine cards.
Aaron brought home dinner from a lady who makes dinners for people on special occasions, so that was nice, and it was nice to have him come home before church. Caleb acted really funny during dinner, saying he was cold and wasn't hungry. He's like this a lot, so we didn't think much of it. Then, just before we were going to leave for church, he got sick. Glad it was at home and not in the van on the way to church! So, I stayed home with him and Daniel and Daddy went to church together.
Caleb was good for almost an hour and a half, and then he got sick again. And then again. I felt so bad for him. He just burst into tears each time and said, "I don't like throwing up, Mommy!" Poor thing. We decided that he and I would just sleep downstairs so I could be with him if he got sick again through the night. It's a good think I did, because he did get sick a couple times. He woke up saying he needed to go potty, so I went with him, and he ended up getting sick again. Finally, he just said, "Mommy, I'm having a horrible night!" I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time- I just felt so bad for this little guy. This is the first time he's been sick like this. Needless to say, we didn't sleep very well the rest of the night. Hopefully, this is just a 24-hour virus.
2/10/07- Time to head for home! It's been a busy week, but a good week. The boys and I got a great night of sleep, thankfully. We had breakfast, said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Collins, and got on the road by 9:15 Eastern/8:15 Central. I decided to go by my aunt and uncle's house in Dade City. Their always asking us to come by and we're always driving at night and not able to, so it was day and we went! After a quick visit, a look around their place and letting Caleb pull an orange off their orange tree, we got back on the road. Daniel fell asleep for his morning nap and we got to Gainsville, FL around lunch time. I took the boys to a McDonald's, because they had an outdoor playground and the weather was nice. We ate and they played and after running to the bathroom, we got "on the road again."
Just past the state line into Georgia, I could tell they needed to get out of the van again, so we stopped at Exit 5 into Georgia, just before Valdosta, and they had this GREAT bookstore where everything was $2.99 or less and 95% of the books were of a religious nature. They had those little bibles, so I picked up one for each boy. Then, I just kept looking around the store and ended up with a pile of $.50, $.99, and $1.99 books! They were well worth it and the boys were excited about their new bibles. They also had this pack of 10 early reader books that came in a case (the whole case for $2.99!) so I picked those up for Caleb. I can't get over how well Caleb is doing with reading. He knows all of his letters phonetically, and is catching on to the various rules with vowels ("when 2 vowels go walking, the first does the talking & says its name, "e" on the end of a word is silent and it makes the other vowel say its name, etc.) and he is sounding out words
all the time. So, I was excited about this set of books and I knew he would be, too.
Back on the road, boys fell asleep and I had some nice quiet time. Then, Caleb woke up from his nap and we got to have some special talking time. He has been so sweet with me lately, saying, "I love you, Mommy," several times a day and wanting to just sit and talk lately- it's so cute! So, while Daniel slept, we talked. Then, I remembered about the set of early reader books, so I asked Caleb if he wanted to read one of them to me while I was driving. He was very excited and he ended up reading the whole book to me- he only asked for help on a few words, like "caught" and "animals," which are more advanced and tricky. Caleb got to one page and where it said, "I see five sheep" and he said, "I see five seep," and then he paused. There had been several animals mentioned, so I knew it was sheep, but I wanted to see if he'd figure it out. I said, "is there an 'sh' in the beginning?" and right away he said the sound "sh" and then said, "sheep!!!" I was amazed with how well he did with reading the whole book to me. He's done that with the letter/phonics books I get from the library, but I'm usually sitting right next to him and pointing to each word. I couldn't do that while I was driving!
Daniel woke up and we went ahead and stopped just south of Macon at a Chick-Fil-A so we could use the bathroom and go ahead and eat dinner, and the boys could play. We tried to make this a quicker stop than the last 2 stops, because it was really getting late and we were only half way home! They had fun and we got back on the road. They watched a movie for the next hour or so, and then we stopped just before Atlanta for gas and to put pajamas on. Same thing as last time, they were laughing so hard- it was so cute! Daniel was very ready for bed, and sure enough, shortly after we got back on the road, he was out. Caleb played some games on the DVD player that were on his Thomas DVD and had fun with that. He also like looking at all the lights as we went through Atlanta. We got home by 11:30pm Eastern/10:30pm Central, almost twice as long as it usually takes, but, we made it home safely, and we're very thankful for that...
2/9/07- I took the boys to the dr. today, because they have really bad coughs and runny noses. Daniel has been teething and getting his big old molars in, and I know they've been bothering him, but I'm not sure if there's something else going on, and I have no idea what's going on with Caleb, so we just went. We got some prescriptions and just rested through the afternoon.
Grandpa Collins had planned on taking Caleb to the USF opening baseball game, so after a good nap, he was good to go. Daniel stayed with the girls. Claudette's granddaughter came over and we all went out to eat. Caleb was ready to leave the game just as we were leaving the restaurant, so it worked out perfectly. We went back to the house and made brownies, and I got the van loaded up. I had planned on leaving tonight, but Aaron called and said weather was bad and I should wait until tomorrow. Not looking forward to driving during the day, but we'll make it!
2/8/07- Today we went over to Winter Haven, FL to see my Granny and Uncle Tipton and Uncle James & Aunt Cheryl, and Aunt Anita. We all had a great visit and the boys were very cute.
The boys napped on the way home from Winter Haven and then Aaron's brother and wife (Byron and Heather) and son, Jeremi, came over for dinner that night. We had another great visit and enjoyable day.
2/7/07- Play day at the park today with all the other kids of people I went to school with. This was great, because the parents really got to talk while the kids played. The boys had a blast. Caleb loved this slide that's in the picture list. I couldn't believe how many times he went up and down.
We went to University for church this evening, where Aaron went when he was growing up. That was neat, because they have a new building now and we got to see so many people while we were there.
2/6/07- Today, we went to the Lowry Park Zoo, which was really fun. Before we got to the zoo, I decided to go down the road in front of the zoo to go by this little "Kid City" that Aaron took me my years ago when we were dating. I wanted to show Caleb, and if it was open, take him through it. It's just a minature city that they have setup for kids: fire station, post office, library, McDonald's, Dr.'s office, telephone company, real estate office, and a Publix grocery store. The kids can go in each building and pretend to do whatever it is their in. In the Publix, they have shopping carts and the kids can pick things off the shelves and ring it up. At the post office, they have boxes and hats to pretend with. At the McDonald's, they have registers and outfits to try on. It's just really cute! Caleb enjoyed riding the tricycle around the "roads" they had. I was so glad we got to do that.
We went to the zoo afterwards and had a blast there, too. Daniel was just 3 months the last time we were down in Tampa, so with him walking now, he really enjoyed everything a lot more. We got to see just about everything and the boys even got to play in the play area they had. I love the picture of their faces through those little holes in the tunnels!
I had my reunion dinner tonight, which was really neat. Since it was just down the road from Aaron's dad's, I went back and picked Caleb up after his nap and after I ordered my food, because I knew it would be a while. After the dinner, Amanda and Tim and their kids and Caleb and I went to Dairy Queen, got ice cream, and then went to a park and let the kids play. It was really nice and Amanda and I got to talk. Caleb cracked us up while we were sitting their eating our ice cream. He noticed the motion light and said it was like the light from the movie Cars. It took me a moment, and then I remembered the scene where Fillmore says, "I'm telling you, man, every third blink is slow." So, after I said that line, Caleb replied with what Sarge says in the movie, "the sixties weren't good to you, were they?" So funny!
2/4/07- 2/5/07- Superbowl Sunday! After evening services, we went to Applebee's so we could watch the game and eat dinner together before the boys and I headed to Florida. Yesterday, I decided to go ahead and go down for my 10 year reunion from FC- talk about last minute! I had been going back and forth about going, and Aaron talked me into it. So, we had a fun time and then went out to the van to get pajamas on the boys. This was the funniest and cutest thing. Aaron helped get Daniel undressed and I helped Caleb, and they just got so giggly and excited about getting undressed and getting pajamas on in the van, they were laughing the whole time! It was so cute. We said "goodbye" to Daddy and headed on our way. Caleb watched a DVD for a while and Daniel fell asleep shortly afterward. Caleb and I talked after he watched his little DVD and then it was time for him to go to sleep. It's so cute talking with him. He's been saying lately, "Mommy, you just want to sit down and talk?" I love it. I hope he'll always want to do that.
We made great time getting down there. I went ahead and stopped at a rest area to sleep a while, while the boys were both asleep. With stopping, we got into Tampa around 8:30am, which worked out great. The boys were ready for breakfast, so that was good.
Monday evenings reunion event was to gather in a room after lectures and visit. I brought Caleb with me (Daniel stayed at Aaron's dad's) and we picked up my friends, Amanda and Tim on the way. It was great to see so many friends from so long ago. It was a good night.
2/1/07(revised)- Happy February! It's snowing!! We actually have snow! And Aaron has the day off- even better! His principal called early this morning and said, "sleep in and enjoy playing in the snow with your boys." I was so excited about the snow I couldn't go back to sleep, so I spent the morning updating all these stories. I think we're finally up-to-date. Now I just need to keep it up-to-date!
After Daniel's morning nap, we headed up to Monteagle Mountain with all our layers on. Last year when it snowed, we went up to the University of the South in Sewanee and then went to Pizza Hut for lunch. This year, we went to Pizza Hut first and then went over to the university. We had a BLAST! There wasn't a whole lot of snow, but we found one area that had more and played in that and just had so much fun. Caleb cracks me up when he runs through the snow making "tracks" with his footprints. Daniel was so cute this year, because he was actually able to walk, crawl, and play in the snow. Last year, he was only 2 months old and under a blanket while we were outside playing! Aaron tried to make a snowman with the little bit of snow that was there. It was one short, dirty snow man- about the size of Daniel. You can see him hugging it in the picture. Before we left, Caleb and Aaron and I had a snowball fight and it was so fun. Caleb just kept chasing me with a snowball. Aaron caught a few minutes on video- I'll have to post the video soon. On the way home, Caleb thanked Daddy for taking us up on the mountain to play in the snow. To that, Daddy replied, "you are more than welcome, son..." I love our family.
1/30/07- Today, I just enjoyed spending the day with my two boys. We just had fun playing together and being together. I am amazed with how much more Daniel is walking! He is really getting around! It was neat to see the difference from when we left to now. He still crawls sometimes, but many still do after they learn how to walk. My mom calls him a "part-time walker!"
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