Hair-a-polousa!

We did a little sculpting on Adam's hair this morning. It's "Wacky Hair Day" at school so we decided to go BIG with the "Faux-Hawk"! Let me just say, it took a village to raise that hair people! He actually, sort of, reminded me of Sonic the Hedgehog. He was too cute! Afterwards, he asked me for two tattoos! I had to put my foot down.



The big surprise came when, AFTER doing his hair, when I remembered that Adam has an appointment with his ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat doctor) today. Lovely. Thank goodness I didn't give-in to the tattoo request, huh? Can you imagine the stares would have gotten (and maybe might still get) in the hallways of the hospital? I would have certainly (and, again, might still) got the "what-the-*%#$-kind-of-mother-are-you?" look at least one or twenty times. :O)



I'm just glad that he'll be missing naptime at school today because if that child lays his head on his pillow, for any length of time, it will most assuredly be stuck there for the remainder of the day. We might've had to call-in the paramedics to remove it because I wasn't lying when I said it took a village......there is so much gel, Stiff Stuff, Hair Glue, mousse, and hairspray in that boy's head that if you try to bend one of those spikes of hair, it will just break right off. It took me 10-minutes just to wash the cake-on hair products off my hands this morning. I hope he really likes his hair that way because it might just be stuck like that for the next coulpe of days/weeks.



Here is Adam the Hedgehog:








See, isn't he cute?! Not that I'm ready to rush right out and get his head shaved, mind you, but I do think it looks pretty cool. :O)

As for other family news, Adam is seeing the ENT today to discuss his tonsilectomy on July 7th. Poor little guy has had so much trouble with his tonsils this past year. I know it will be such a relief for him to have them out. He's had to go through 5 bouts of strep and roughly 6 cases of tonsilitis/pharyngitis so it's long overdue.

Gracie is having a blast this summer. She and all the kids in Adventure Camp are going to field trips galore!! She has a busier social calendar than any of us.

Adam will be starting montessori school in the fall (willingly, I hope). I'm sure that, eventually, he grow to like it and I say that only because, ever since taking a tour of the school, whenever we pass the building on our way to Gracie's tae kwondo class, Adam points to it and says, "Hey Mommy, you see that school right there?" "Yes, honey, I see that school", I reply. "Well, that is NOT my school. Right Mommy?" Oui! So far, he's not buyin' into all the "Rah, Rah" talk from us about how GREAT the school is......looks like it might be a rough transition.

Let's see, what else is going on? Oh, Navy, Gracie's beta fish (the fish that has lived for TWO and a HALF years now), nearly kicked the bucket last week. (Un)Fortunately, he has made a full recovery. Yay! (Dang it, so close!)

Outside of that, not much is happening around our house these HOT summer days! It's about 500 degrees here so we spend much our our weekends up at the pool, swimming in soupy hot water - yippee!

Hope you and yours have a heatstroke-free and fabulous Fourth of July!!

Hau'oli la hanau Kalakie!

Translation: Happy Birthday Gracie

We celebrated Gracie's 7th birthday this past weekend and boy, was it fun! She originally wanted to have a slumber party, that is, until she found out about the "No Boys Allowed" rule. That's when she opted instead for the BEACH PARTY BLOW-OUT, Hawaiian-style.....eat your heart out Frankie and Annette! We had sand and surf, as well as tiki torches, leis, parrots, fake palm trees, grass skirts, and Don Ho.....okay, maybe not Don Ho but we did have Tiny Bubbles (in each favor bag)! That counts, right? It was a little hot, not quite as nice as it probably was in Maui on Saturday but not too bad. We rented a pavillion (aka Tiki Hut), which kept us shaded most of the time. However, not enough to keep the frosting from melting off the cupcakes. Oh well, it didn't seem to phase any of the kids so" 'A'ole Nui " (polynesian for "No Biggie"). The kids swam like little fishes and played in the water-spray area. No one got hurt or threw-up so, in my book, huge success! :O)

On a more serious note (to Gracie), I can't believe you're 7-yr old!!

I blinked and you went from this tiny little angel:























To this beautiful little girl:






















I'm so proud of you! You're smart, thoughtful, and kind. You're passionate about everything you do and fearless when it comes to meeting new people and making new friends, singing, acting or performing on stage. I love your larger-than-life personality, your infectious laugh, your beautiful smile and the wonderful hugs you give so freely.

I'm very proud to be your mommy and I love you dearly!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Love - Mommy

The results are in...

We had a great time at the Powder Puff Derby this morning. We had to be there at 8 am to check-in for our 9:30 race. Lots of waiting around and then Gracie's car didn't race until the very end. Needless to say, it was a very LONG two and a half hours until her name finally came up on the racing board.

It was now her "heat". The three cars to race were carefully positioned at the top of the track. In the first race, her car was on Track 3. "On your mark, get set, GOOOOOOOOOO..." - they were off. Gracie's car came in just a fraction of a second behind, taking second place. Then came the second race, on Track 2. Woo, hoo...this time she came in first!!! Finally, the third race. Could she take first place in 2 out of 3? YES!!! Gracie was the winner in her "heat". I've never seen such excitement!

Since Gracie was one of the last 10 cars to race, we didn't have to wait long (thank goodness) for the final results. Gracie's car came in at a very respectible 22nd place. Not too bad for a first attempt at derby car racing. This actually worked out well because if you made it to the finals, you had to report back at 1 o'clock to for the Championship Race, which would have interferred with her very busy social calendar. She would not have been very happy to have missed a birthday party and a trip to Grandma's and Grandpa's house. So, 22nd place worked for us.

You'll notice that there are pictures of two derby cars in this post. Well, that's because you simply can't build a car for one child and not the other so this is a picture of Adam's Superhero Derby Car too. When his time comes to race, he'll be an old pro at pinewood derby design. :O)

It was touch and go there for a minute, ya'll

It's been SO long since I posted that I forgot my user id and password!! Yikes! After 4 failed attempts to sign-on, here I am. Whew!

January, February and March have been pretty dang hectic around the Colwill house. As some of you know (because you were hit-up to order/buy), this was Gracie's first year to participate in girl scout cookie sales. Woo-hoo!!! As a result, we have covered just about every square mile of our ENTIRE town (well not every SINGLE square mile but go with me here for dramatic emphasis), parts of Dallas, and have shipped boxes of cookies as far as Chino Hills, CA (thank you Uncle Gary) and even overseas to the troops in Iraq. Wow!

I'm SO proud of Gracie and the effort she put into selling those doggone cookies. She has peddled over 600 boxes, 88 of which were sent to the troops overseas. On behalf of the soldiers, a big shout-out to K-K and her WBS gang! Thanks so much for all your help too! All in all, Gracie worked her little fanny off and loved every minute of it, especially when the homeowners had a dog or cat. Of course, there were moments along the way where an ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT was in order but, after a stern talkin' to, I quit my complaining and sucked it up for the troop. Hey, I didn't have on the right shoes that day, okay?! My feet were killin' me! :O)

We have finally delivered all the cookies, completed our troop booth sales, turned in the money and, as of Tuesday, are officially DONE!

Words cannot express how happy I am about this. You have no idea! I am already dreading next year as we set the bar too dang high. What was I thinkin'? In hindsight, I would have handled that MUCH differently.

As for Adam, he has been exploring the many complexities of golf. As with most sports, he is quick to pick up the techniques and has already cranked a ball from our driveway ALL THE WAY down the block and across the street to our neighbor's house, that's 6 houses down people!!

Note to self: No more golfing in the front yard, lest we have to start budgeting for future window repairs.

Did I mention that this has prompted a trip to the PGA Superstore? Yes it did and now Adam (and Gracie, right) share their very own set of clubs. I'm sure as soon as our weather is nicer, and busy season (in the graduation business) is behind us, they'll be out on the links with their Daddy.

I don't know if you are aware but tomorrow morning is the Powder Puff Derby folks and this is serious business!! Anyone familiar with the derby?

The participants (all ages of girl scouts) build a pinewood derby car and race it on a gravity fed track. The fastest car wins! Gracie and her Daddy have been diligently working on the construction and design, as well as the aerodynamic-ness (is that a word?) of her "Flower Power Derby Car", as she has christened it - a name I know all you Wii Mario Kart enthusiasts can appreciate no doubt. Well, tonight is the official weigh-in. Once the cars have been weighed in by the racing officials, the cars are impounded until the race day. Can you believe that in the past, people have actually stooped to cheating after weigh-in to make their cars faster and THAT is why they have to impound the cars?! Shameful, just shameful! See, I'm tellin' you, this is serious stuff ya'll!!

Well, gotta go but I'll get back to you soon with the derby results and maybe a picture or two of the "Flower Power Derby Car". Oh, I'll also post about our spring break trip and the beaver tail tale.

Until then.....

Remember me?

Wow, I can't believe its been MONTHS since I last posted!! Time flies and, surprisingly, memory fades because after two failed attempts to sign-on this morning I was really beginning to worry that my last post would be my final post. Seriously, people, it was touch-n-go there for a minute.

Obviously, I need to catch you up on all the family happenings from Halloween through Christmas but first, so as not to be miss yet another holiday greetings opportunity, I thought I was take a moment to wish you all a very Happy New Year! It will be a quiet celebration for us this year, which I welcome with open arms because we've been going, going, going, non-stop since Halloween.

I have to say that 2008 has been a pretty good year for us. We're really fortunate that we've not been too badly affected by the market swings and struggling economy of late, however, I know that has not been the case with everyone reading this post. My thoughts and prayers are with each of you for a much better 2009.

That being said, I decided to sit down and count my 2008 blessings. In David Letterman fashion I give you:

My "Top 10" of 2008

10. Falling gas prices! Hallelujah!

9. The Chik-fil-a Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake. Truly ya'll, a little bit of HEAVEN in a cup! I swear sometimes I can hear the angels sing. Can I get an Amen?

8. Our trip to Disney World - need I say more?

7. Gracie being in the JC Christmas parade! Holla!

6. The wonderful news that we'll be welcoming a new little niece or nephew in 2009! Congratulations JE&H!

5. Seeing Gracie on stage at her very first Piano Recital, in front of an audience of 30 or so parents, standing there with complete confidence and a smile worthy of a toothpaste commercial as she thanked everyone for coming and then announced that she would be playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

4. All the wonderful Dallas Children's Theater plays that we have attended over the year, with and thanks to Kay-Kay. Especially, the performance of "Lily's Purple Plastic Purse", which so happened to be the first play Adam ever attended. At one point during the performance, I looked over at my rough and tumble little boy and he was tearing up at the part where Lily was crying because she'd lost her perfectly purple plastic purse. Such a sweet moment.

3. All the wonderful holiday moments throughout the year - making Valentine's for all the kids' friends, coloring Easter eggs and the always eventful Easter egg hunt that follows, fireworks on the Fourth, birthdays, Halloween, thanksgiving and, of course, the very well appointed gingerbread house we decorated this year. I'll post a picture in the coming weeks or in April, whichever comes first.

2. The single cup coffee maker we got for Christmas!! Shout out to Marv and Betty for this super FAB gift! LOVING IT and just a little shakier as I adjust to the ever-increasing level of caffeine that's flowing through my veins this week.

and most importantly (insert a Paul Shaffer drum roll here)...

1. The blessed gift of waking up every single morning to the sweet faces of my precious family. I love you all and am eternally grateful to God that you are a part of my life and love me in spite of all my (many) imperfections!

Happy New Year to all! Don't forget to eat your black-eyed peas! I'm headed to the grocery store right now!

Look out world, Adam is 3-years old!! Here is how his super special day started (yesterday):

"Aaaaaadam.....sweetie.......wake up, honey. Today is your birthday, buddy. You're 3-years old!" With that, his eyes popped wide open, he stood straight up in bed and said, "I not little anymore Mommy! I big boy!! See?" There he stood, in his Lighting McQueen pajamas, giving me his best muscle-man pose, looking so cute I could've just squeezed the stuffing right out of him.

One year and a whole lot more hair later, here is our big boy:




Now wait just a dang minute....how did THAT get in there?!!















That's MUCH better!!





Happy Birthday to my sweet little boy! You have brought such joy to our lives and we love you crazy bunches!

Your totally devoted fans -

Mommy, Daddy, Gracie, Duncan and Shooter