Growing up....

Arielle is growing up fast. Just yesterday a neighbor commented on how she isn't looking like a baby anymore and she is really starting to look like a little girl. On one hand I'm excited to see this transition but on the other hand I am a bit sad. Within the last week her little personality has really started to come through. She is so funny. She does some of the silliest things then she will laugh at herself. The way she interacts with Dart is amazing as well. It's neat to see them finally communicating with each other.

Some days are good and some days she is still a little fussy but I supposed that's the life of a 15 month old isn't it.


Dartanion made an announcement this afternoon. While walking to bed he made a comment about how many kids there were on a show I was watching (19 Kids and Counting) I told him, "Ya they have  a lot of brothers and sisters."

He stopped and said to me, "Mom, I need one brother and two more sisters. I am already a brother but I need to be one again."

I just looked at him and smiled. I guess we will just have to wait and see what God has planned for us, won't we?

Big brother burdens and a playdate

Last night while we were getting ready for bed Dart, Arielle and I were practicing saying fun words.Throughout the course of this Dart would say something silly and then Arielle would try to copy him.  After a few minutes he looked at me and said, "Mommy, sister likes to copy me doesn't she?"

I replied, :"Yes son she does. She watches you and see's what you do. When you make good choices she see that and she will try to make good choices too."

He continued on half playing with toys and half picking them up and putting them away. Finally, after watching Arielle follow him into the closet where the toy boxes are he came back to me and he said, "I need to make good choices more so sister will to. Its an important job to do."

If only he can hold on to that thought as they grow. Please continue to be a good example for your sister to follow.


Today Dart and Arielle had a friend come over to play. For 2 whole hours Dart got to share his toys with someone a bit closer to his own age. Arielle tried to play with them as well but between needing a nap and just not feeling well she spent more time following me around than actually playing with the toys.

During said playdate Dart and S saved the world from the bad guys, raced through the house to see who was fastest, and downed and entire box of mac and cheese. It was the most fun that he has had in a very long time.

When it was time for S to go home it was like Dart's whole world was crashing down. Nevermind, that S just lives next door and that we see her several times a week.Or the fact that he was over at her house just yesterday for 2 hours. No, when he had to say good by today his world came crashing down.


Then again, maybe it was because as soon as she left it was time for a nap.

Dart and S watching Wild Kratts

Name change and new direction

When I started this blog I did so with the encouragement from my mother. On an almost daily basis I was calling her to tell her of something else funny that Collin had done or said. It was getting hard to remember all that he was doing and as much as I was trying to I just couldn't keep up with it all, even on facebook. Not only was Collin way to smart for his own good but I was also very pregnant with Raelynn and we were preparing to make a life changing move.

So with that, the original "Epic Adventures of my Genius Son" was born. And then RaeLynn was born, we moved cities, states, and time zones and I got busy. I have been VERY bad at keeping up with writing and recording what has been going on with my amazing little man. And for that I apologize to those of you who looked forward to reading what crazy shenanigans Collin was getting himself into in our new little world.

Once RaeLynn started getting active and somewhat verbal my mom reminded me that I would need to start a blog for her as well since all the world would want to know what she was up to also. And I hated to admit that she was right. I just kept thinking, "I don't have time for the 2 blogs I currently have. How am I going to create and maintain another one?"

So I came up with a brilliant plan. I'm not. For the most part everything that goes on around here takes place with both of them participating anyway so why not combine the two and make it a bit easier. Thus the new title and direction of this particular blog has been established.

My goal is to update on the kids at least 2 times a week but I'm not going to make any promises. Sometimes the post will be about something they have both done together and sometimes I might post 2 stories in one day to give each one a bit of spotlight. Either way, it will all be right here!

I hope that the stories I am going to be able to tell will help to lighten up your day and keep you updated as Collin and RaeLynn, or better yet, Dart and Arielle as they will now be known, (mostly because I think its fun to call Collin Dart and so does his grandpa!) grow and learn in this crazy world.

The Many Faces of Collin.

Late one night I was sitting up and I came across an album my mom has on her Facebook page. It was titled: The Many Faces of Collin.

And that got me thinking: And I decided we should all see the many faces of Collin for ourselves!

Collin's Favorites

While I was sitting down getting some work done I over heard a conversation between Collin and daddy today that was really fun to listen to. The conversation was all about what were Collin's favorite things.

This is what I learned are Collin's favorites:

Color: Blue and Pink
Food: Chicken Nuggets and French Fries
Drink: Tea and Apple Juice
Toy: Superman and ALL his Ninja Turtle toys
TV Show: Spiderman
Movie: Superman (Man of Steel, he just saw that in the theaters for the first time Saturday Night.)
Friend: Jackson and Jack
Underwear (don't ask me why this question came up): Superman and Batman
Sport: Baseball and Football
Place to go: A movie theater and wal-mart ( this kid is nuts!)
Time of day: Bed time (I don't think I really believe that one!)
Story: Superhero story and Batman story
Bible Story: David and Goliath
Candy: Superman

After hearing this conversation I realized that I need to spend more time talking with my amazing kid. I already knew a lot of these things but to be honest there are several on that list that I had no idea about. Stay tuned as I continue to add to this list in the next few days!

An afternoon with Daddy

This afternoon, due to unforeseen circumstances, Dusty came home early. He was actually home by about 3 P.M. This was right after Collin woke up from his nap. When he saw daddy walk into the house he was the happiest boy in the entire world.

The schedule for the afternoon was a busy one.

We started with a snack while daddy ate his lunch (he hadn't had a chance to eat yet.)
From there we watched a few T.V shows and relaxed.
Once we got the TV out of our system it was time for me to start cleaning up the kitchen and getting ready for dinner.
That made a perfect opportunity for daddy and Collin to play.
First they caught all the bad guys in the livingroom and got rid of them.
After that they needed to make sure all the bad guys were out of his room.
A hard battle was fought but in the end the dynamic duo of Collin and daddy prevailed!
With the bad guys taken care up then it was time to color.
A brand new superman picture colored by the team is now hanging in the bedroom.

Finally it was time for dinner. Spaghetti and veggies! Yum!
 Bath time immediately followed due to the fact that spaghetti sauce was EVERYWHERE!

The day was topped off with some more snuggling while watching cartoons and a bed time story. All in all I have to say that Collin had a really great afternoon with Daddy.

(I'm not sure who will sleep better after all the adventures but I now they are both pretty tired!)

Happy Birthday to Collin

Well its official. Collin is 3 years old. How that happened I will never know. It seems like just the other day I was rocking him to sleep praying I could get a nap in at some point..


But now here he is:
3 years old
3 feet tall
30 pounds....

wow thats a lot of 3's.

Seriously though he is a great kid. He is happy most of the time. Independent, some time too much so. And he is way to smart for his own good. I love having conversations with him because I never know what is going to come up next.

So in short: I LOVE THIS KID!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLLIN!