80 Years

My cousin's and I threw a surprise 80th Birthday party for my Grandpa this weekend and it was a blast. My Grandpa has had an incredible 80 years of life and we were able to share in all of those memories together as a family. The whole Stark clan can really put on a great party. Here are some pictures from the night. The theme of the night was "Drive-In theater" which was a usual past-time for the family growing up.

Wedding Day

Last weekend on September 4, my cousin Jess got married to a wonderful man named Chad. It was a beautiful day and I was very honored to be part of the very special day! Unfortunately, Collin was sick that whole weekend, so the rest of my family could not be with me to celebrate the day.

My cousin Sarah said it right, Collin has taken out his "horns" lately. He has just been a tad bit hard to handle, especially at night. He tends to want to be pretty aggressive with punching, biting and pinching. I guess the Terrible Two's have finally set in. He is great during the day, it is just at night when those "horns" come out the most. I think it has been tough on both of us trying to transition into me going back to work and Collin not being able to stay at home during the day. Hopefully we will both get back into the groove of things soon!

Collin can now get into the refrigerator and freezer, so that has been interesting. He also loves to play with Play-do and ride four-wheelers.

Having fun this week!

Riding a four-wheeler with my neighbor Kolbe. Riding a jeep with my cousin Lana.

Exciting News

Collin has officially started to pedal!!! Yep, we were at our neighbors house again yesterday and he was watching the other two boys pedal their bikes and then he started to! It was a great sight to see! We have been having a full week of playdates, which has been a lot of fun!

Day 2

Today was packed with playdates... First a playdate with our neighbors Keaton and Kolbe and then a playdate at a fantastic park with Gavin. All of the playdates tuckered Collin right out! He had a great nap today and fell asleep early tonight.

Favorite Picture

This is one of my favorite pictures from the summer! Collin is riding a ride at Bay Beach saying cheese as I take the picture of him. Oh yeah, he can say "Cheese" too.

Day 1

Day 1: Monday
What Collin and I did during our last week together before I start back at work again.

Took a 3 mile bike ride

Went to play in the park

Went swinging

A couple recent photos

I know!

I know that it has been forever since I lasted posted, but honestly I wasn't even sure if I wanted to blog anymore. I have been updating my Facebook status and thought that was enough, but my heart has been tugging at me to keep up with the blog as well.
Where to start....
Collin is TWO now and it is still hard to believe! He is growing like a weed! He is 3ft and 1in. tall and weighs about 34 pounds. He is not fully a terrible two, but he does have his moments. Lately it has been his pinching that has been a problem. When he doesn't like something, he surely lets you know by pinching. He is very talkative and loves to say: "be right back"
He also says:
Truck
Train (one of his favorite toys to play with right now)
Car
Puppy
Hi/Bye
What's that?
Boat
Baby
Ba Ba (ball)
Poop
Pee
Bear
Cow
Giraffe
We have started potty training but because Collin wanted to start. He has been on the toilet many times but has only pee for Dave once. Things tend to happen when Dave is around. Must be a guy thing!

I will be staring work again in a week and Grandma's will be watching Collin, which is truly a blessing! Dave has been busy at work lately and has been loving the fact that Harvick is in first place for points in Nascar. My guy Carl is in 6th, so there has been some good competition in our house lately with Nascar.
We were able to take a very long vacation this summer, which was awesome. We started with a Starke family reunion in Montello Wi, then to WI Dells and then to the LaCrosse area. The entire time camping with my parents and our travel trailer. The West part of our state is just beautiful! Collin loved camping and was a true sport with it! He is definitely an outdoors type of guy.
Well hopefully that gets you all up to speed as to what is going on in the Arneson household. Until next time....

Collin's 2 year old Pics

I know that Collin in not officially 2 years old yet, but we went to get family professional pictures today and thought it was close enough to call it his 2 year old pics. Take a look... It sure was tough to get Collin to cooperate after a few pictures, but I think they turned out great!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Yesterday was Collin's second time participating in an Easter Egg hunt and he did awesome!! Every year seems to get easier and easier for him. It was a lot of fun. Collin's cousins Logan and Lana were also at the hunt.

4 Wheeling

Here Collin is playing with his 4 wheeler he got for Christmas. I know that I was behind with pictures and videos, but hopefully I made up for it tonight. It is really tough to get on the computer and upload pictures and videos becasue it takes time... one thing that I do not have much of!

Macayla's First Birthday Party

Macayla celebrated her first Birthday on March 2 and here are some pictures from the party. I can't believe that she is 1 already!! It was a very fun day! Yes, that is Collin with a Tu-Tu on his head:)

Floating down the Lazy River

Water Park

Here are some pictures from our water park experience a few weeks ago. Collin just loves being in the water and going down the water slides.

Here are some updates:

• Running more gracefully now
• Saying many more words like: thank you, welcome, and bless you
• Climbing everything
• Eating with a fork and spoon
• Brushing his own teeth
• Playing very well with matchbox cars
• Putting his hat and coat on

Play Time and Bed

Here is Collin playing with some whipping cream!

A little messy:)

Collin's Bunk Beds. Here is his desk too.

It is really nice because it has rails all of the way around the bed.

Sickness, Sickness and more Sickness

It started as a cold, then a double ear infection and then the flu! Yep, that is what has been going on around here... Collin has been sick:( Not only Collin but Dave and I as well:( Let me tell you, it is very hard to care for a little one when you are sick as well, but God does give you the strength! I know that I still have to get pictures on here of Collin's new bed, but time has been a little preoccupied right now.

As a family, we are excited for Nascar to start back up again and for winter to be over. Collin keeps saying more and more. His latest has been "all done" and he still says "puppy" and "Bye" a lot. Collin has also been doing a lot of gross things lately. I tell him all of the time, " you just wait until you are older and I tell you all of the gross things you use to do as a toddler!" Like for example: play in the toilet, go in the garbage, lick the bottom of shoes (seriously where would he ever get that idea?), dig in his butt, and more. Do other toddlers do these things?? Or is it just Collin?
I hope that sickness hasn't found any of your households!

BiG BoY BeD

Collin managed his way out of the crib one too many times and now is in his Big Boy Bed. Thank goodness Dave and I bought him a bunk bed set before he was even born and had everyting ready to go knowing this day would come soon. He slept in the bed for the first time last night and it went great!! He seems to really like it. I will post some pictures soon.
On a lighter note Collin has a cold, which is a bummer.

Hard to Believe

I don't know about you... But it is hard for me to believe that it is 2010. 2009 was an amazing year with watching Collin grow and learn and spending another wonderful year together as a family. I have so much to be thankful for! Thank you Lord for all of your wonderful blessings!

Some things that Collin does now.

• Signs more, water, and all done
• Says Daddy and football ( I am still trying to get him to say Go Pack Go)
• Loves to say Puppy (his favorite word)
• Goes to the fridge when he wants milk
• Lets us know when he is ready for bed (9:00)
• Sings the ABC's (just not the whole thing)
• Enjoys playing kitchen (his big gift for Christmas this year)
• Still loves to turn wheels
• Loves hanging out in the "heated garage"
• Loves to put on shoes that are way to big for him

More Christmas Pictures

This is a pair of PJ's that Collin got, but do you think that they are a little too BIG??

Lana playing "Princess." Lana is walking now!
This was about the best we could do to get all of the kids in the picture...

Collin and Great Grandma..