Visit to NWA

On the weekend of May 21-23, we drove to Guy and Julie's house in Centerton. Mitch took the afternoon off and we hit the road around 1:30. Julie is having knee surgery in a few weeks and we knew it would be awhile before we were able to see them again. We made pretty good time and the kids were doing fine on the trip, but we were getting hungry, so we stopped in Alma at Braum's to get a bite to eat. We got the kids a chicken strip meal and let them share it. As usual, Ainsley did most of the eating, but we offered some to Will. We were not paying much attention to him, when suddenly Will said "I want a tator tot" and reached for a chicken strip. We didn't correct him, but he put it in his mouth and took a big bite (big for him). Mitch and I looked at each other, amazed. Will continued to take several bites of the chicken strip throughout the meal, even after the rest of us had finished. We had to let him keep eating. This was a very big deal for Will, who has major eating issues (we called it the "miracle at Alma". That's a whole other post. Anyway, after he finished, we got some ice cream similar to a DQ Blizzard and got back on the road. We got to Guy and Julie's house around 8:30. We kids were very active after a long trip, so they danced and jumped around, did flips, and generally burned off some energy. They were both very sweet to Shepherd. Ainsley is still very interested in him and you definitely see her "mothering" tendencies come out. She even shared her beloved Brownie Bear with him.



Shepherd is 5 months old now, but here is one of my favorite pictures of him - when he is about 3 months old. It looks just like my dad to me here. I know he would just eat Shepherd - and Will and Ainsley - up!

Shepherd looks a lot like Julie's brother and nephew Elliott, but looks a lot like Guy and my dad at other times too.

On Saturday we got up and went to the Farmer's Market that is held in downtown Bentonville each week. Mitch got some sugar snap peas. The kids played in the fountain and then we headed over to a nearby park.

We had packed a picnic lunch and took turns eating while the kids played. They had a great time and were not ready to leave, as usual.









That evening, we went to Julie's nephew's birthday party. William was turning 3. They had a huge bouncy castle. For most of the party, Will, Ainsley and William were in the bouncer. They had so much fun! Those things are worth their weight in gold at a birthday party! We had hot dogs and a yummy birthday cake and they played some more. It was nice to visit Julie's family and they always treat us and our kids like their own. Mitch got in some snuggle time before bed from 3 very tired kids.



On Sunday we went to church with Guy and Julie. We left Ainsley in the nursery's 2 year old room. She was not too sure about that at first, but the couple who was keeping that class had an older daughter - maybe 7 or 8 - who kind of took Ainsley under her wing. She ended up doing fine. Will came to the service with us. We found a seat on the back row near the door, just in case! The service that day honored their graduating seniors. Their youth choir sang lots of numbers, they had a slide show with pictures and videos of each senior (along with some video from their parents) and then had 3 seniors speak about their testimony. I enjoyed all of the special things, but the service ended up being very long. Will did really well, though. I was very proud of him. After almost 2 hours, Mitch took him out to the playground and a few minutes after that, with more of the service left to come, we all decided to leave. We went back to their house, ate lunch and packed up to leave. It was a busy but good weekend!

A Day at the Park

Last weekend the weather was perfect for taking the kids to the park. We got the kids dressed and headed to Mellar Park. There were several other kids and families there, but it was not too crowded and all the kids got along fine.



They have 2 playgound areas plus swings and monkey bars. Ainsley was better suited for the smaller playground equipment, but of course she had to try to do whatever Will was doing.


Ainsley has recently learned to slide without holding somone's hand. She was still a little hesitant about going down independently, but she eventually did it. Will made friends with a little girl named Haley and a boy whose name we didn't get.



They both had a great time and hopefully we'll get to go back often this summer!

Ride 'Em Cowboy

On the weekend of April 30 - May 1, Hope Landing hosted it's second annual Hope Landing Championship Rodeo at the Union County fairgrounds. This is a big fundraiser sponsored by several local businesses with some of the proceeds benefiting HL. Participants come from all over. There were 8 major events, including bareback riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, saddle bronc riding, team roping, barrel racing, and breakaway roping.




We had never been to a rodeo before last year, and we left last year's due to a thunderstorm soon after we got there, so this was the first real rodeo experience. They had kids from HL carry the flags announcing each event. Will carried the flag for the Bareback event on Friday night.

We brought Ainsley with us Friday night. She did great and had a great time taking in all the sights and sounds. A Christian group called the Glory Riders performed both nights. There was a rodeo clown called Pork Chop, who kept the crowd entertained. Will's friend Michael did a Therapeutic Riding demonstration Friday night. Kristi Lowery, (one of the founders, COO, and one of the OTs) explained what TR is all about while Michael demonstrated on the horse.




On Saturday night, Will did a Hippotherapy demonstration while Kristi explained it to the crowd. Will currently does Hippotherapy during one of his OT sessions each week at HL. Hippotherapy is a therapy session that uses the horse just like you would use equipment. Will rides a pony named Rio. There are many benefits to hippotherapy, but some of the goals Will has with regard to the horse are: increased balance and core strength, increased muscle tone, better sensory processing, giving verbal instructions, following directions, etc. Will rides backwards, on his hands and knees, laying over the barrel of the horse, and even standing up!







Will espescially enjoyed the calf roping and the "bucking horses" as he called them. He went around for the next several days telling everyone that he was a cowboy! Hopefully it made some money and the crowd had as good a time as Will did!

Ainsley Brooke Colvin, age 2

Ainsley's birthday was a few weeks ago and I wanted to document what she's like at age 2. So, here's a glimpse of what she's like right now.

Dear Ainsley,
Happy 2nd Birthday to our sweet baby girl. You have grown up like a flash. We say that you were not a baby for very long, and that is entirely true. You act very grown up for your age in many ways. You are sweet, funny, lively, curious and particular. We have many nick names for you, including: Ainsy, Ainsy Belle, Ains, baby girl, sugar plum, sugar dumplin, and sweet darlin' baby girl (this is your daddy's).

You weigh about 26 lbs, are 34 1/4 inches tall, and wear a size 5 diaper. You've always been tall and thin. You have long arms, legs and fingers. You have a wide foot, and narrow shoulders. You wear a size 24 months or 2T clothes. Your hair has gotten much longer and thicker over the past year, and you have sweet curls in the back, particularly when it's wet. Your eyes are blue but look green at times. You still have 2 big dimples (the first thing your daddy noticed when you were born). You still suck the first two fingers on your right hand, although not as often. I don't mind you doing it at night because I know it's your comfort (and because it's just about the last "baby" thing you do). You have recently gotten your last two baby teeth, your top canines.

You are a good sleeper at this point. You take a 2-3 hour nap each afternoon. You go to bed around 8:00 or 8:30 each night and sleep til around 9:00 each morning. Sometimes you go through spells where you wake up crying and it takes both of us to settle you down. We hate those times because we don't know why you woke up and don't know how to settle you down. We hate to see you so upset. Your bedtime routine consists of a bath with Will, lotion and pajamas, brushing teeth, and then settling down in the rocking chair. Lately you have been a "momma's girl" and only want me to put you down. We get your constant sidekick, Brownie Bear, a few blankets, and some books. We read (sometimes 8 or 9 books!) and then you lay across my lap and want me to sing "Rock a Baby" (Rock a Bye Baby) a few times. Then you sit up and put your hands together and we pray. You pray for everyone in the family (you even remember Papaw Butch) but you always ask to pray immediately for Guy and Julie and Shepherd. Then I lay you down, tell you I love you, blow you a kiss, and leave the room. You are still in your crib and never try to climb out although you easily could.

Every morning you have "O's" (cheerios), a cereal bar, milk, and sometime yogurt bites and dried apples. You are a very good eater. You love fruit, bread/carbs, cookies, and you will eat most veggies and meat, although sometimes a little prompting is needed for those. We have to hide food from you or our own eating from you sometimes! You drink lots and lots of milk! We're working on utensil use and drinking out of an open cup.

You LOVE books!!! You used to literally chew holes in them (we thought you were part goat) and although you don't do that anymore, you still are kind of rough on them. You love "Bible stories", Very Busy Spider, Brrr, Hatch, Little Red Hen, The Night Before Christmas (and any Christmas books), Chick Tock, Flutterby, and a whole host of other books.


You love airplanes and are keenly aware of them right now. You can hear and see them before anyone else. We never doubt when you point to the sky and say that there's an airplane up there. You also love playing outside! You recently learned to slide without holding someone's hand. You like playing on the swingset at Papaw and Mee's house, running around in our back yard, blowing bubbles and drawing with sidewalk chalk. Even though you play hard outside, you like dressing up in dresses - and you love new shoes! You point your foot in front of the mirror and admire your new shoes with the biggest smile on your face. This scares your Daddy a little bit!


You love Zoro, the neighbor's dog; you talk to him over the fence and look for him out your window before going to sleep. It bothers you to have a bug in the house. You cannot rest until it is gone (you say "Shoo bug!") or until we make Daddy come kill it!

You like Sesame Street and know all the characters (you love SS books as much as the show). You like to watch some of Will's favorites too like Curious George and SuperWhy. You also like the Winnie the Pooh characters and know them all by name as well.


You have quite a vocabulary and are repeating everything you hear. It's fun to have little conversations with you. You ask, "what happened", "what Daddy doing", "where Will go", etc. You don't forget anything. You look forward everyday to getting to "go pick up Will" from pre-school. Your favorite phrase right now is "Ainsy do it!" You are very independent and want to do everything yourself. You can buckle yourself into your booster seat at the table and insist on trying to buckle your car seat as well. We are introducing potty training and recently bought you a potty shaped like a frog. You like sitting on your "frog potty" but have not had success on it yet. I'm sure that will come soon.

You enjoy playing with other kids. Your friends inlcude: Lottie (you call her "Lolly", Sophia ("Phia"), Libby, Harrison, and Carly. Your Sunday School teachers always tell us that you are a good girl!

You bring lots of fun and joy to our lives and we love our Ainsy Belle!