It looked just like this...really!

I thought it would only be proper that I add my own account to the previously added message. I did last Saturday ride my very first motorcycle. I had an absolute blast. It's amazing how small you feel on the rode when you don't have a car surrounding you. But it was also very cool to have that feeling like you are more a part of the driving experience.

I didn't have a camera to catalog the experience. So I've included the above picture which is a pretty darn accurate representation of my first time riding a motorcycle........honest. I still have somethings to learn, obviously, but all in all I would say I had a successful first ride.

The Many Faces of Kelsey Woo

Kelsey has some of the most animated expressions. We thought we'd share a few with you. Some are happy and some are...well, she's not happy...but I can't help but laugh. Just a little something to "brighten" your day.

Bekah Mae Mae

Bekah's growing so fast! She's four months old and chewing on anything that she can get in her hands. She's cooing already, laughing at anyone who will make funny faces at her. She is our contented, happy baby. She loves watching the action around her and doesn't mind being left in her swing or car seat for an hour. She's starting to roll onto her sides! So, a whole new world will be opening up for her in about a month when she can roll and scoot. Watch out world! Here comes, Bekah Mae!

p.s. she gave us a bit of a scare the other day when I got her out of bed. The crib sheet had blood under her head. Just a bad nose bleed, but it gave me a bit of a start. None of the other kids had nose bleeds when they had a cold. It looked far worse than it actually was and she never knew the difference.

Motorcycle Gang

With the coming of warmer weather, we've been getting outside a bit more. The kids have dubbed their tricycles "motorcycles" and they love to play on them. No one is safe! Not even the neighborhood cat when the motorcycle gang gets revved up for some sidewalk fun.

Shawn got in on the action and rode his first motorcycle on Saturday April 19th. He got a bit of road rash to prove the encounter but is doing fine. Nothing major. John always reminds us that we have to wear a helmet when riding a BIG motorcycle or his little scooter. I hope Daddy was wearing his helmet.

Spring Projects

One of our goals this year is to have a nice looking home. And I think that begins with decluttering. We've spent lots of time this month taking stuff back to different stores and getting either in-store credit or money back for items we haven't used (or seen for months). It's gotten us quite a bit of credit from our favorite retail store, Wal-Mart. We're going to use that "extra" money for things like curtains that match and garbage cans instead of buckets (Shawn's pet-peeve).

I've been busy making new window treatments for the living room with a pattern we got from a local cloth store. The peach material had already been hanging in the living room as an ugly version of a swag idea. Now, it's a little better and much better at keeping it's original shape after being washed.

We might also be getting new carpet in our apartment soon! So, I'll be working on packing up stuff so they can install that. It would be nice not to step on tacks that are poking through the 10+ year old carpet! The flowers are growing; the trees are trimmed. We're ready for warmer weather!

March Updates

I'm sure you have all been wondering what The Colloton Family has been up to these past weeks. For starters, we have not been updating our blog like we should. But, honestly, nothing all that exciting has been happening. So, some boring pictures to keep you entertained.

The Saturday before Easter we went out, as a family, to get some supplies for something that we had been wanting to do for a while....CHICKENS!!! That's right, we thought it would be a fun experience to raise chickens. So we went out and bought a chicken hutch and pen for the chickens and put in an order for our chicks. They didn't have the breed we wanted at the store, so we had to wait a few weeks to get out chicks.

The kids had a blast playing with the chicks and ducklings. But there were even more excited when we could take home some chicks of our own. We bought six chicks. It looks like 2 of them are for sure roosters. Which, hopefully, means we have 4 good egg layers.

EASTER DAY:
Easter was fun. We went to church, as we do every Sunday, went home and took naps. While the kids and Linda were napping I went out and hid all the eggs we had colored as well as put a few treats out for the kids and Mommy when they got up from their naps.

John and Kelsey had a great time running around and finding eggs. Granted, with kids this young just about every egg placed in a basket lands with an unmistakable cracking sound. Luckily, we had about a dozen eggs that didn't have to turn into egg salad immediately.

We tried our best to explain Easter to the kids. I think John might have gleaned a bit of knowledge from what we discussed, but that was about it. They were more excited about eating hardboiled eggs and candy than having an easter lesson.

Other than that, not much has happened...yet. Stay tuned for more updates coming soon.