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October 27, 2002
October 27, 2002
Collin is two days shy of 16 months.
Greetings and salutations everyone!
Sorry I skipped last week’s entry but I was up to my ears in notes, homework, research, and studying. I’m taking a Black Studies class on Saturday mornings from 9am-1pm and this week was midterms. I not only had a 100 question take home test to complete, but two essay questions to write, a term paper to finish up and a huge in class test (all essay) to study for. Whew! I never thought I’d see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I did at 11:43pm Friday night! Saturday morning rolled around, I handed in my papers and took my test. Talk about relief. I walked out of class feeling like the weight of the world had just been lifted off my shoulders. Three weeks of class left, with only two actual lectures left because the last class is finals. The last few things I have to complete are a final test to study and prepare for, an in class presentation to give, and working on (more like starting – yikes!!!) my current event folder. This class has definitely been hard but I have learned so much from it and I really like my professor. He’s very “professor-ish” if that makes any sense. It makes it difficult to study when I have to wait until Collin is sleeping. With Mark working his crazy over time the last two weeks, it’s been past 10pm before I could sit down for some quiet time and get out my books and notes. By then I’m so tired, all I want to do is pass out! I’m thinking of taking my Biology class this winter (God help me!) but I haven’t made up my mind yet. Three classes left and I’m on my way to a university. Two years after that and TADA – I hope to be finished! I swear, the day I walk across that stage with my bachelor’s is going to be the day I celebrate! I have an associated degree in Medical Transcription/Medical Office Technology, but that isn’t my passion. My passion is to teach Elementary school. Ever since getting my associates, I’ve been SLOWLY trying to get my bachelor’s. Since my most of my classes I’ve already taken were strictly medically related, there wasn’t much to transfer over so I had to start from scratch again. That’s why it’s taken me so long. For a total, I have 108 credit hours of classes and have taken and completed 30 classes! I just to keep reminding myself that it will all be over soon.
We went to the pumpkin patch (Vala’s) last Saturday and had a great time. It was a little cooler (in the low 50’s) than we would have liked it to be, but it was still a very fun-filled day. We met Mark’s brother and his family, over at their house early afternoon, and then headed on down to the patch. It was one that we had never been to before and it was huge with so many fun things for kids and adults to do. We walked around, ate funnel cakes, picked a small pumpkin for Collin, and enjoyed the sites. We were there for over 2.5 hours and still didn’t get to see everything. It was the perfect fall day. Cool and crisp and the smell of burning leaves/wood in the air. We took an entire roll of pictures, which I have yet to get developed. When I do I’ll post them to Collin’s website. The only bad thing about the day was that Collin was fighting a nasty cold so his nose was running like a facet and he was a little under the weather but he still has a good time. At one point he wanted to get out of his stroller and walk around. The “roads” to walk on aren’t very flat, mainly dirt with a bunch of cedar mulch so it’s very uneasy walking. I put Collin down for a second and he took off to go look at a large wooden cutout of a scarecrow and crows. He stepped off a small incline and went head first (with feet sticking up into the air) into the mulch. Poor little guy cried his eyes out (runny nose then being totally out of control!) and ended up with two cuts on his forehead and one on his nose. I felt awful! He recovered well and we headed on down the “road” to look at something else fun. The pumpkin patch was really a blast and I can’t wait to take Collin back next year!
After leaving the pumpkin patch, we headed on back to BIL’s house so Mark could install some PC game onto their computer. We stayed there for just a short time, since Collin was in need of a serious nap. We had Mark’s niece (Erin 10) and nephew (Connor 8) stay the night with us so we all piled into the car and head back to our place. We settled in and enjoyed a fun night. We made our own little individual pizza’s, rented “Charlie Brown’s The Great Pumpkin”, made caramel apples and Halloween cookies. I love doing stuff like this with the kids and they really seem to enjoy it. I try to make it really fun and even send them little invites in the mail to make it really special. I’m good at doing stuff like that. Several years ago I found out that the kids had NEVER been camping so I made a “Camp Aunt Jennifer.” I sent them a cute little invitation in the mail and made signs to put in the backyard. We pitched our large tent up in the back, grilled out our dinner, made smores and even told ghost stories. I can’t wait until Collin gets a little older so I can start doing those types of things with him. I just know that we will have so much fun as a family. I love the holiday’s and I try to make them “fun and crafty” and special. I have so many special memories when I was growing up, that I want Collin to have the same.
Yesterday, (Sunday), my side of the family got together in my hometown (most of them still live there) to have a big family fall/Halloween dinner. It was a soup and sandwich type gathering with tons of yummy and fattening desserts. Whenever my family gets together, there’s always food! LOL! We did it yesterday because it would have been my Grandpa Alex’s 73rd birthday. When we left town I took out some flowers to put on his grave. Collin slept the whole way home, which I was happy about because he ate so much “junk” during the day he actually threw up a little when we got in the car to go home. I kept a close eye on him, but he still managed to get several handfuls of potato chips and two of my cousins “slipped” him some Oreo’s. Grrr! His little body just isn’t used to eating like that. I try not to be a stickler on the holidays, but I certainly AM the food police for Collin on regular days. One of my other cousins actually chewed me out because I wouldn’t let Collin have a drink of soda. I was like, NO WAY! I draw the line somewhere and soda was it. There is no way that I’m having my 15 months old child drinking soda. To me, that just doesn’t seem right. He doesn’t need it in his diet and I don’t want him having it. That is one “sweet” I will not budge on. Anyway, we ate good homemade food, laughed and had a great time. We drew names for Christmas – kids in one hat, adults in the other. Our next gathering is for Christmas, which we’ll celebrate on Dec 21st, here in our city. I’m really glad about that because we always drive to our hometown for celebrations. It’s only a little over an hour away but in the winter when it’s cold, icy and snowy; I’d rather not have to drive Collin a long distance.
Today we went to the zoo’s annual Halloween party. It pretty much turned out to be a dud. The idea was neat, but Collin was just too young to participate. For starters Collin wasn’t able to take his morning nap because the dog next door kept him awake. Instead of waiting out the barking fit the dog was having, we just decided to get ready and go. We were meeting some friends there (they have twins, one boy, one girl who are 14 months) and thought it would be best to get an early start. I stopped at Wal-Mart to get some film (which, by the way, I forgot to get because I was making a mental note of together things to pick up and the place was a complete madhouse!) it had been raining all morning and Collin was really getting restless and sleepy. It wasn’t just rain, but cold POURING rain, the kind that hurts when it comes down. We got to the zoo only to see that everyone and their grandmother’s were also there. It was cute to see all the little kids dressed in costume but the crowd was almost too much. Kids were waiting in line for 20-30 minutes just for a small candy item. Mark and I both agreed that Collin didn’t need candy and we certainly weren’t going to press our luck by making him wait in line for 20 minutes. Collin went as Spider-man (again, when I get the pictures developed, I’ll be sure to post them) and everyone was commenting on how cute he was. If I must say so myself, he did make a pretty handsome Spider-man! Since the rain wasn’t letting up, we decided to just stroll around the Lied Jungle, which Collin has always liked. After about 45 minutes of that, we headed on over to the Tree Top restaurant and had some lunch. By then Collin was rubbing his eyes and practically asleep so we decided to head on home. The boys are both taking naps as I type – sounds like a great idea!
Other than that, things are well. I’m excited for the upcoming holidays and can’t wait to decorate for Christmas. Collin is really getting into saying “wow” when he sees something really exciting or something that lights up so I’m way excited for him to see the Christmas tree this year. I’ve started a jump on shopping and have already purchased several gifts. I hope to be done by Thanksgiving! Mark’s 32nd birthday is next Saturday but he’ll be out of town playing at a wedding reception. We’ll probably celebrate it the night before, just the three of us. I got him a couple of DVD’s and I’m going to do up Collin’s handprint this week in plaster for his gift to daddy. Mark has been working major over time every night for the last two weeks and it looks like he’ll have to continue to do so for the next couple weeks. He’s been working from 8am-8pm Monday-Friday, then playing in the band on Friday and Saturday. He’s been really upset that he hasn’t been able to spend as much time with Collin has he’d like. He has the mornings and sometimes the evenings, if Collin hasn’t already gone down for the night, but it certainly isn’t much. Mark usually gives Collin his bath at night, but he’s missed out on that lately too. Collin has grown really attached to me and will start crying if he thinks I’m leaving the house without him. Although the extra fat paychecks will REALLY be helpful, Mark’s looking forward to when this entire mandatory over time business is over. I will too – I’m getting lonely eating dinner by myself every night.
Tuesday night we are going to my old place of work (I’m still friends with several people there) to take Collin to the annual Halloween open house. They do lots of really neat things for the kid’s, give out candy and decorate the place to the hilt! Then Thursday night we are taking Collin to a couple of friends’ houses for trick or treating.
One other thing to note is that Collin’s language has bloomed! He’s saying so many words now and completely understanding everything we say. He’s language is very good and you can understand him when he speaks. Before too long he’ll be saying sentences.
I’ll get those pictures developed soon! Have a fun and SAFE Halloween everyone! Keep an eye on those little punkin’s!
Until next time,
Hugs, Jennifer and Collin
PS. No time to proof read - sorry!
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