Football

Much to my surprise and pleasure, Colin has recently taken quite an interest in football. One day, while I was watching a Cowboy game, he came and sat down next to me and started asking questions. And he watched the last half of the game with me.

The next thing I know, he is talking a LOT about football. He talked about the Cowboys, he asked who they were playing next, who were all the other teams in football, etc. Since then, he watched several Cowboy games with, although never the full game (usually a quarter or two before he'd get restless). But even when he wasn't watching, he would run into the room every once in a while to check the score and cheer on the team (or not).

What's funny is that 4 or 5 weeks prior to the season ending, another game was on TV with the Minnesota Vikings. For some reason, he really keyed into that team and kept asking me when the Cowboys would play them. I said they wouldn't play unless they both went into the playoffs. Of course, they did end up playing each other in the playoffs. Well, actually the Vikings played - the Cowboys, not so much...

Here are some pics on the boys and me playing around outside, as Colin wanted me to teach him how to juke, spin and stiff arm his way to a touchdown.

Snow.... in Texas??

Although I've lived here all my life, I don't recall ever getting this much snow at one time. I remember some good snow storms when I was younger, but I don't think it was as much as this time (and my mother and brother agree). We got about 9 inches of snow at our house, but my brother had a few inches more.

It was so exciting to be able to build a snowman, have a snowball fight, make snow angels, eat snow (not any that was yellow colored...), and other fun in the snow with our kids. They had only seen just a little bit of snow and even then it was so dry or icy that you couldn't do much with it anyway.

This snow was perfect for making snowmen and snowballs and it was so much fun to watch the boys run around in it. And they weren't ready to come in, even when we knew we'd better get them in to get them warm.

Click here for a link to see more pictures.

School Recognition

At Colin's school, they hold a student rally each Friday morning called Bulldog Boogie, during which they give different types of recognition from teachers on achievements during the week (Kindergarten-Fourth). Also they give out recognition to students who have been an example in a specific character trait that is the focus during that six weeks. At the end of each six weeks, a certain number of kids are recognized in a big way as Top Dog.

While in Kindergarten, Colin always talked about how he wanted to get one of those achievements, as they give the kids a certificate as well as a "dog tag" with that trait written on it. He was especially excited in trying to win Top Dog, as the teachers line up and form a tunnel that the kids go through to get their recognition. However, he never received any of them, which disappointed him greatly.

Not to be discouraged, Colin told us at the beginning of First Grade that he was going to win some this year. True to his word, in September he was recognized for Responsibility. Here is a picture of him getting the recognition in front of the school assembly and then with his teacher, Ms. Klea. He was so excited about it.

In November, Colin received Top Dog recognition. One of us is always present at the Bulldog Boogie, but on that day Noah was sick, so Tammy went to Bulldog Boogie. We didn't know Colin was getting recognized, so she didn't have a camera, which was disappointing as it's a pretty neat event. Here is his Top Dog Award. This is the award that Colin was most excited about (so far) this year.


In February, Colin was recognized for Trustworthiness. He had no idea he was getting recognized and it was quite amusing watching his reaction when they called his name. Below are pictures of him getting his award and a picture with his classmate, Christina.