A Few of His Favorite Things...

Sorry for the lack of updates! Believe me, there has not been a lack of adventures or stories around here- just a lack of new (a.k.a. good) pictures! To make up for it, here's a cluster of some recent photos - and all of his latest favorite things:

1) Toy Story toys:

He even sleeps with his Buzz!

2) Family Movie Night:

We set up a little picnic of apple slices, grapes and cheeses to munch on while we hang out and watch Colin's movie flavor-of-the-week!

3) His hat from Uncle Michael, trips to the library, and puzzles, puzzles, puzzles!

This child is a puzzle-machine! He has an ever-growing collection and has conquered them all- big and small. It's amazing to see how his little mind works!

Treat.

Newport Aquarium

We have been talking about taking Colin to the aquarium for weeks now but it just never seemed to work out. Well, we finally made it today! And it was SO worth it. We are considering annual passes because it is such a great option for a family with young children. They can run around and explore without being out of your sight! And I think it would be the perfect activity for a rainy day.

Colin has this habit of sticking one of his hands in his mouth whenever he gets excited or nervous. Not really sure why, but it's really cute to be able to read what he's feeling! We could tell he was very excited today because he immediately put his hand in his mouth. He was so overwhelmed. After a while the hand was out and he was his usual bubbly, little self! He had an absolute blast. His favorite exhibit, of course, was the NEMO exhibit:

Lots of NEMOS!

Here he is with Chris looking in the shark tank (don't worry, these are pet-able sharks)

He looks like such a big boy in this picture!
A REAL shark. The no petting kind.
There were murals like this one throughout the entire aquarium and Colin got just as excited to see those as he did the real thing. Sorry for the poor lighting, I need a better camera! (hint, hint)

We were very impressed with our aquarium visit. Hopefully we won't put it off as long the next time!

Happy New Year!

Last year on New Year's Eve, we took Colin to see the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo and we decided then to make it into a family tradition! Last New Year's, it was cold and misty. This year, it was 57 degrees! That's my kind of winter!

The lights on the tree and around the pond are timed with the Christmas music. It's very beautiful and entertaining- for littles and adults alike!

No, we didn't suddenly have another little, this is Colin's friend, Inara. They had a blast together! She thought he was hilarious and he was constantly asking her "you alright, baby". Very funny to watch!

Colin's favorite- the elephants. Last year, he called them 'puppies'. 

This year, he couldn't stop pointing out their 'poop'. 

We stayed late enough for the fireworks and surprisingly, both kids enjoyed them. It was a wonderful New Year's Eve! Hopefully every year will be clear and in the upper 50's. A girl can dream...

I was going to do a sampling of my favorite pictures from 2010, but I haven't even started browsing through them, so we'll save that for a later post. Instead, I wanted to share our Family Word for 2011- Prayer. This isn't really a New Year's Resolution, I've never been a big believer in those, it's just a word that our family will focus on throughout the year. Even Jesus encouraged his disciples that they 'should always pray and not give up.' (Luke 18:1) So we will be pondering 'prayer' this year, along with this verse:

'Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer' - Romans 12:12

We hope everyone had a wonderful, safe New Year's Eve! Here's to a very blessed 2011!

'Look at the nations and watch-

and be utterly amazed.

For I am going to do something in your days

that you would not believe' 

Habakkuk 1:5

Christmas 2010 Recap

For Christmas this year, we went to Fort Wayne to celebrate with Chris' family. I got incredibly sick on Thursday (worst headache ever!) but luckily got better in time to enjoy the festivities! On Christmas Eve, we went to church with Chris' mom and her husband and his grandparents. After church, we all went to BakerStreet for a very nice dinner. Then home to bed to wait for Santa!

On Christmas morning, Colin woke up early as usual. We opened the door and he headed out to play with his new toys from Chris' Dad. He walked right by the tree and left his presents from Santa untouched! He had no interest in opening them at all. Until he opened that first one...

Then he couldn't get enough!

In fact, when we did Christmas with Chris' cousins and their flock of kid-lings, Colin was the minion that opened everyone else's presents! Kinda funny. Kinda not. He ended up with WAY too many toys! We spent our first morning at home purging his room of old toys and books to make room for the new ones. He especially loves his new cars and puzzles! The boy is a puzzle machine. 

On Monday we drove back home to Cincinnati early in the morning and celebrated a belated Christmas with my family and my grandma. Grandma gave Colin two of the Martha Stewart kid's chef series sets - which everyone loved! Every piece is a miniature version of the real thing. I can't wait to have him help me in the kitchen with those!

And we will have plenty of time for that since I am off work (except for one day) this week and Colin's school is also closed, making me a temporary stay-at-home mom! I am very excited about the idea. Being away from home has put us a little off schedule so today we stayed in and hung out. But we did venture out for the UC basketball game- it was Colin's first! 

photo op with the big 'o'

what a cheeseball!

LET'S GO CATS!

The Bearcats are undefeated so far this season and beat DePaul tonight 76-60. Colin was a little antsy so we ended up leaving at half time but he really had an absolute blast! And I'm glad that we got to see the Bearcats play in person. It's great to have a good basketball team again!

Glasgow Family Rules

A very fun package arrived for us today- our official Family Rules! Chris and I spent a lot of time thinking over each of these rules and I cannot wait to hang them up. Our pastor shared a message over this passage that really got this whole process going:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.      Deuteronomy 6: 5-9

Write them on the doorframes of your houses. That verse in particular really stuck with me, so we are going to hang our family rules right inside the front door for all to see when they first enter our home. And it will be there for us to see everyday as well. Deuteronomy 6:5 was also the inspiration for our first rule:

Colin couldn't resist a photo shoot:

Next time you come over for a visit, take a look! We already implement most, if not all, of these into of these rules into our daily lives (although Chris likes to argue that I do not always leave my shoes at the door), but it will serve as a nice reminder. And if that doesn't work, Colin will always remind us! He has taken being 'prayerful' to new levels. Whenever we eat dinner as a family and every night before bed, we pray out loud together. Lately, Colin has been reminding us to pray!

We went to dinner with my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend at Grand View Tavern. The dining area was full so they put us in a booth at the bar. As soon as we all got settled, Colin reached out his hands to my Dad, on one side, and Chris on the other for 'pierres', as he says it. We all giggled a little and I said a quick prayer. And again the next morning, he climbed into my lap, put both of his little hands into mine, and asked for 'pierres'. How could a mother refuse? Hopefully the rest of the rules will be as easy to follow! 

Getting ready for bed with 'Dadda'

A Trip to the "Looavull" Slugger Museum

As I am writing this, the little guy is playing independently in his room with the door shut- his new thing- and I am munching on dried apricots- a new favorite snack of his!

This weekend we ventured down to Louisville for a mini-family vacation. It was cold and dreary, not much of a vacation, but we still had fun! My parents treated us to a visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum- a very exciting trip for young boys! Although, I think my dad was beside himself with excitement :) I have been to the museum but have never done the tour- and boy, oh boy, is it worth it! The tour guides do an excellent job walking you through the production process and the overall history of the sport. And as we were walking through, the workers were producing special-order bats for Brandon Phillips, Josh Hamilton, and Dustin Pedroia, just to name a few! Colin was literally entranced with awe! I've never seen him so speechless. We will definitely have to make a trip when he's older.

For dinner, I had made reservations at a restaurant at 4th Street Live. I made them earlier in the evening on purpose to avoid the crowd and, sure enough, the restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived. As the hostess was seating us at our table, I asked for a high chair or booster for Colin. She looked at me and said "We do not have any. This isn't a child-friendly place." That would have been nice to know when I made the reservation and mentioned that we had a small child! Nevertheless, we sat Colin in a chair and made sure that he was careful with his straw while we enjoyed our meal. Other than a trip to the potty, Colin sat in his seat the entire meal and was very well-behaved! I could not have been more proud!

He was extremely easy all weekend. I was a little worried about how the museum trip would go with someone so young but I think they made the tour interesting enough even for him! Can't wait to take him again when he's older- but we will probably skip the restaurant :)

1-2-3 BLAST OFF!

I have been working on A, B, C's and 1, 2, 3's with Colin for awhile now. I count when we are going down the stairs and back up again. Sing the A,B,C's in the car. Everything and anything that can be counted is counted. And any quiet moment is a perfect moment for singing the alphabet or listening to them on tape. 

Still, I get nothing. The kid will literally not repeat any of it. Although, he has started saying "1-2-3-blast off!" which I'm pretty sure is due to his repeated viewing of Toy Story. 

Then we had a break through moment! We were playing together with a wooden puzzle of numbers 0-9. He laid down the '7' and I said 'seven'. Without missing a beat, he blurted out (out of nowhere!), "seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven" -as if he's been saying it for years!

My jaw dropped! The little stinker refuses to say "one, two, three" but has no problem with seven through eleven. Well, we gotta start somewhere! Wonder what other knowledge he's hiding in that little mind of his?!!