25 Books of Christmas

Last year I created a 25 day advent activity calendar to progress the kids toward Christmas. Each day we opened up an envelope and got to find out what fun winter/Christmas activity we would get to do. We did everything from making Christmas ornaments and cards to visiting Santa and driving around looking at lights.

This year, with me and daddy both bogged down in school work, and Thanksgiving happening so late in November I just didn't get us that well prepared. Fortunately for me, Grandma came to the rescue.

This year Grandma, (my mom), took it upon herself to pick out 25 special books, some from her childhood and some from mine, wrap them up, and number them. Each night before bed the Dart and Arielle get to take turns unwrapping a book and hearing a new story before bed. The best part is that she decided to leave a little note attached to each one as to why she chose that particular book.

So today is day 11. Tonight's book:

Other titles so far have included:
The Little Engine That Could
Church Mouse Stories
He Bear, She Bear
Ten Little Rabbits
Green Eggs and Ham
Baby Mickey's Book of Opposites
Piglet Does a Very Grand Thing
And Little Critter When I Get Bigger.

I have to say the best part is seeing the looks on their faces as they open the book. Its amazing to watch them get so excited to have new stories to read.

Dart insists on going to bed with the new book and reading it until he falls asleep. Generally, that means that Arielle gets to go to bed with the book from the night before.

Thanks for the great gift Grandma!

Litteral much???

Last night I made some very yummy turkey meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner.I mean it smelled good through the entire cooking process. I was super excited to eat...

However, Dart and Arielle weren't as excited as I was.

It could be because they just don't understand the joy of food like I do.

Then again, it could be that they both ate 3 large bowls of  mac and cheese for lunch.

Either way they DEVOURED their mashed potatoes like they were going out of style. The meat loaf....well not so much. I really don't know why. I swear it was GOOD!

Finally after 20 or so minutes of trying to convince Dart that he needed to try his meat loaf the conversation went a bit like this:

Me: "Son, are you going to finish your dinner?"

Dart: "Can I have more potatoes?"

Me: "After your eat some meat loaf I'll get you some more"

Arielle: "More?"

Me: "You guys just aren't going to touch your meatloaf are you?"

It was at this point in the conversation when Dart reached down and poked a big hole into his meatloaf with his index finger.

He then looked at me with a completely straight face and said: "There mom. I touched my meat. Can I have some more potatoes please?"

It was at this point that I realized I had completely lost the entire conversation for the evening. I gave both kids some more mashed potatoes and we went on our way.

I think it is safe to say that my kids are WAY, WAY, WAY to smart for their own good and I am completely sunk for the rest of my life!

A sick princess and a sweet talker

Arielle has been sick this week. This is the first time that she has ever come down with something like this and let me tell you it has not been a walk in the park.(Not that I expected sickness to be)

She has had a cough that has made her sound like a baby barking seal. And to top it off she has had no voice. Any time she tried to talk she sounded like a squeaky little mouse. On on hand it is SUPER CUTE! But on the other hand I felt horrible about it. There is nothing worse than having your sweet baby sick and nothing you can do about it.

However, she is feeling much better today. The cough is almost gone and it looks like she will be in the clear soon....except for the 2 teeth that are coming in.

Recently Dartanion has decided that the best way to get what he wants it to sweet talk me. The conversations usually go something like this:

Me: "Bedtime is coming up soon. Just be prepared.
Dart: "Can I watch just one more show please?"
Me: "Sure I think there is time for that."
Dart: "Thanks mom! You're so pretty! Very pretty!"

Needless to say the kid usually gets to watch just one or two more shows! He even manages to get a candy here ant there when he sneaks in a kiss once or twice!

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!