Collin's Last Day of School

Collin had his last day of preschool last week. They had a little presentation where the kids sang and then the five year olds got little certificates. They also had a pot luck out on their playground afterward.

This is the bus that usually takes Collin to school. Next year we will walk to the school around the corner.

Here he is singing his song with the other kids. Notice that he is doing the right hand motions, last time he didn't really participate.

Collin is showing Peter his playground.

Collin's Birthday

Collin had a birthday this month. I can't believe I have a five year old! We had a little party. Here is Collin and Peter with their friend Shayne.

We had cake.

He opened presents.

Here he is showing off his new skateboard.

Fence Sitting

My little monkey children have decided that their new favorite thing is to climb up our gate and sit at the top, look at the garbage bins, and yell things at people walking past the house.

This is a problem. Not only does it drive my neighbors crazy it is unsafe in so many ways. The worst part is that I caught Collin actually climbing OVER the fence a few days ago. Really, once you get to the top what is the harm in putting your feet on the other side? We are already having trouble keeping him inside since he decided that he could open the front door (and the extra locks I put on it) and go outside by himself at 6am. Also, do you see Peter up there? He has never climbed like Collin but apparently he is a quick study!

I thought perhaps I would blog for advice but as fate would have it our behavior modification consult has finally come through. I have had a school psychologist at my house twice (!) this week making little signs, narratives, and reward charts. We are working specifically on this new safety issue and techniques for me to manage it. Hopefully when we lick this we can focus on all the other inappropriate things that led me to get the consult in the first place!

Just for fun

I just found this site where you can look up campaign donations, by name, city, occupation etc.
http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/
Enjoy!

Camping!

Last night we went camping! I haven't camped in nine years. I lived in a tent in a swamp for a couple of summers during college and backpacked through Europe and after that I had my fill of camping. I also became a wuss. I like sleeping in a bed and having a working toilet and a sink with soap. Des has slowly been stocking up on camping supplies from Target clearances so when the ward announced that there would be a camping trip this weekend we decided to go. It was pretty fun. The boys were a bit hard to keep track of and we did go through a lot of clothes and bandaids but over all I think it was a success.

Collin and Peter had a great time in the tent and especially enjoyed jumping on the air mattresses.

We had a yummy pancake breakfast. Thank goodness for camp stoves - we were only allowed charcoal fires because of the fire risk. Cooking over gas was so much faster.

There were lots of kids around so the kids kept themselves pretty busy.

We went on a little hike (I am out of shape and very sore) down an old road to a ranch house.

We met some riders on the way and Collin got to ride the horse! Peter (my animal lover) is still too afraid of the real thing to have a ride. Maybe someday.

4th of July

Or little neighborhood has a 4th of July parade so we went this year. My Bonnema came over and we walked to the parade. Actually we walked and the little boys rode their tricycles. I thought it would be faster than walking but it really wasn't. At all. We sat near the end of the parade root so it took a long time for the parade to reach us. By the time the Indiana Jones float reached us we were pretty tired so we went home. We had a barbecue and then Des went to a wedding and I took the boys to see the fireworks. Peter's preschool has a pretty good view so we went there. All in all it was a nice day.