Maddie had a bad day ~

I think we are going to have trouble!!! In Madison's class they have a color coded behavior system. Green is good...yellow is 1 timeout....Red is multiple timeouts. Madison has managed to get on red twice in the past two weeks. Not good!! Her timeouts are for taking toys and last week she was hitting!! Hopefully she out grows this soon. If not we have a LONG road ahead of us!

Snow Day!!!

yahhhh...we got snow!! We got about 3-4 inches. Just enough for school to close. The kids spent the day outside throwing snowballs and sledding!

Let it snow..Let it snow...Let it snow

Keep your fingers crossed....I am wanting to get lots of snow!!!

Extreme Makeover!

Let me start by saying overall I keep my house really clean...well maybe not "clean" but it is always straight. I don't like clutter and I need organization. With that being said there are two rooms I NEVER tackle. The first is Taylor's room. She is responsible for cleaning it. I feel like she is 9 years old and mature enough to keep it clean. However, Taylor did not get the same "clean gene" I have. She can go weeks without cleaning her room/closet. To the point we can't walk in her room without fear of tripping on something. This week she told Jon and I she wants to "redo" her room. New furniture, new paint, new bedspread. She wants it more "grown up". Jon told her he would consider it, but she needed to clean her room and prove to us that she would keep it clean and appreciate the new stuff. This weekend Taylor and I cleaned her room!!! We cleaned out her closet, her drawers and even under the bed! My daughter is the BIGGEST pack rat ever! But we finished, and much to our surprise her room actually looks decent when it is clean. Of course now the question is if she can keep it that way and prove to us she deserves new furniture... etc???


Next we moved to the playroom...that was an even bigger mess. I am embarrassed to post "before" pictures...but I will only because I am proud of my hard work! Our playroom is one of those rooms...we all just throw stuff in and shut the door. I am guilty myself...I see a toy in my living room...I just throw it in the playroom to get it out of sight. Now, after Christmas it is officially out of control!!! It took us hours....and about 10 bags to Goodwill...but we are done. The girls promised me they will keep it clean now that they can actually sit in there and play.






BEFORE






AFTER

MLK

Below is a school program Taylor was in to honor Martin Luthur King. Sorry it is a little shaky...Talyor is on the second row from the bottom on the right. ***Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom**

MLK

Happy 2009!!!

Happy New Year!!! We brought in the New Year with some friends, at their house. We had such a good time. They have five kids...yes you read that right...FIVE!! We had our three and all the kids got along so good. Craig built a bonfire and we roasted marshmellows and made s'mores! Yummy! We are looking forward to a great year!

Merry "late" Christmas

I have been told that I seriously need to start updating my blog... That should be my New Years resolution to post more often..In my defense, my computer has been messed up and Jon was in the process of fixing it while he was on vacation.


We had a wonderful Christmas here at the Collins house! Very hectic, but a great 24 hours of spending quality time with friends and family. Just to give you an example of our busy day...We start Christmas Eve with Jon's Dad and his(extended)family coming over. We all eat a yummy dinner and exchange gifts. This starts around 6:00pm and lasts until around 11:00pm. This year Taylor had a hard time going to sleep..she tossed and turned until 3:30am!! It may have been all the sweets she ate prior to going to bed OR the fact she was soooo excited about the Nintendo Wii she was asking for. Whatever the case it made for a LONG night!

Christmas Morning we WAKE the kids up around 7:00am (usually Zak and Alison spend the night with us...this year Alison had to work so sadly we were on our own) We celebrate here with our Santa gifts and Jon and I give the kids our gifts to them. My parents come over around 9:00am to see what the kids got. They play with the kids while Jon and I get a quick shower. Then out the door...we are at Jon's moms house by 10:30am for breakfast and more gifts!!! We pack up there and are at his grandmother's house by 1:30pm for a delicious lunch..and you guessed it...more presents! At this point we must come home and unload the car,let the dogs out and if we are lucky the kids get a hour nap in the car.
Finally, we get to my parents house around 4:00pm. Eat again!! Relax!! Open more presents...and this year Jon got the Guitar hero, so we spent the evening playing the guitar. We make it home around 10:00pm. So tired, we unload the car and head straight for bed. Again, it is one hectic day but we have no complaints and would not do it any other way. We are blessed to have such great families to spend our holidays with./>