Caleb's 7th Birthday

Caleb chose to celebrate his 7th birthday at the bowling alley this year.  It was a small gathering, but intimate and fun!

We always have a difficult time deciding many of the details of his party.  Do we have it at home?  Do we invite school friends?  Do we celebrate it during around his actual birthday on December 30th or wait until Mid- January?  This year was no exception.

Unfortunately, not a single friend from Caleb's class was able to attend his party, but we enjoyed time with family and close friends instead.

Because of low attendance, the adults got to enjoy bowling a game also!

Sarah and Chandler

Me Bowling

Chandler and Amanda 

Chandler, Granana with Norah, Caleb, and Chris

Sarah

Caleb

Caleb and Chandler

Peyton and Caleb

Chris, Caleb, and Grammy

Lucky Seven

Top View 

Sarah enjoying pizza with Granana and Norah

Caleb blowing out this seven candles

Peyton and Caleb

Chris, Grammy, and Norah

Norah Walks

Norah took her first steps alone today!  She's been cruising along furniture and such.  She's been pushing around her walk-behind toy.  But today we helped her balance and she was off!

Of course, she'll need lots more practice, but it cool to see still.

First you will see just her feet, then the whole shebang.  The last part isn't rotated properly...sorry about that!

Summery Summary

Let's see...what did we do this summer?

1) We spent a night and day at Great Wolf Lodge.  Totally expensive, but totally worth it.  Here's the proof:

2) We spent 2 nights in Galveston including a day at the beach with friends.

3) Caleb took beginner's swim lessons.  Here is a video to document his progress:

4) Sarah turned 3 years old.  She requested a princess party.  Happy Birthday, big sister!

Quote of the Day

This one brought to you by Caleb...

"Mommy, when we grow up, Sarah and I are going to be polices.  We are going to work at the same police station.  We can give each other kisses.  We can share a police car.  We can have a police dog."

Right now, those kisses are so sweet.  Brother to sister.  One day, he'll be repulsed by the idea of even hugging his sister, I'm sure.

I love that boy!

A Story

The Cactus
by Caleb Freeman

Once upon a time, there was a little cactus that was really healthy, but there was no water.  The next day, it looked like a baby cactus.  And then, it grew all day.  Then somebody found it and they watered it.  And then the next day, the cactus started to look like a real cactus, but it wasn't.  It was a half-sized cactus.  And then it was growing, growing, growing, growing all day.  And then the next day it was a real cactus.  The end.

Further editing and hand drawn pictures to come.  Stay tuned...

Quote of the Day

Conversation with Caleb during lunch today:

Me:  "Caleb, what do you think God made you special to do?"

Caleb:  "To love babies."

Me:  "To love babies?"

Caleb:  "Well, to love people.  Except the bad guys.  Mommy, if a bad guy comes into our house, I will hit him and knock him down.  I will jump on his tummy and jump on his eyes."

I feel safer already.  Thanks, Buddy.

Quote of the Day

This one is brought to you by Sarah, after being released from timeout.

Me: "Sarah, why did I send you to your room?"

Sarah: "Because...I was being...noxious."

For the record, she was not sent to her room for being obnoxious.  At least not today.

Happy Birthday, Jadie!

Happy 33rd Birthday to my fun-loving hubby of almost 9 years!  What a fun time it's been!

Baylor Baseball Game

We've been talking about going to a Baylor Baseball game for a while now.  Earlier this week we realized that their final regular season game was this week.  So, we loaded up the kids and headed out to the ballpark last night.

The Bears had already secured the Big 12 title, so they were giving away t-shirts to pretty much everyone who came last night.  I'm kind of tired of the obnoxious neon yellow (Jadie got a basketball version earlier this year), but it'll be fun to wear it anyway.  We actually got one for Caleb and Sarah, too, and I plan to restyle them to fit the two of them.

Yes, those are beavers on the t-shirt.  You can read about that HERE.  Feed the Beaver!

Since we took all 3 kids with us to the game, I really can't tell you much about the game itself.  I know that Baylor scored 3 runs in the 1st inning and 1 more in the 2nd inning.  I don't know anything beyond that.  We left after the 5th inning, just after the sun finally moved behind the scoreboard and stopped blinding us.  At that point, it was already 8:15pm and time to get the kids ready for bed.  Next season, we'll be working on finding a babysitter so we can actually pay attention to the game.

In case you're wondering where exactly our seats were...we sat on the grassy hill on the 1st base side.  It was awfully tempting for our kiddos to slide down the hill or to run around and play.  I think that made things even tougher on the parenting front.  We'll know for next time!

Sarah's Prayer

Dear God:

Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Caleb and Norah.
Mommy is sitting with me.
Daddy is outside mowing the lawn.
I'm thankful for Jesus' son, Jesus.
Thank you for Mommy's ring and Daddy's ring.
Thank you for Mommy's jeans and my pants and panties and my shoes.

Amen.

Character Development

God has really challenged me this year.  We're only 4 1/2 months in, but I am feeling stretched and unsatisfied with myself.

1.  Almost four months ago, he brought a scripture to my attention.  It was inconspicuous.  It wasn't even a main verse from my study.  But I cannot seem to forget it.

"but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her children." I Thessalonians 2:7

Here, Paul is talking about how he dealt with the believers in Thessalonica.  When I read this, I immediately evaluated myself as a mother.  Am I gentle with my children?  With my husband?  With other believers?  Not so much.  Nope.  Maybe.

2.  Another scripture is one that I have taken out of context a bit, but have applied to my own life.

"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations."  Ephesians 2:14-15

Really, I just took the parts that say, "the dividing wall of hostility," and "the law with its commandments and regulations."   Now, I know that these verses refer to Jesus abolishing the law of Moses and bringing the world under the law of grace.

But...

I began to look at my own laws and regulations that I've been imposing on others.  On my children.  On my husband.  Sometimes we refer to these as expectations.

Have I built walls of hostility with my expectations?  Why yes.  Yes I have.  Abolish them!  Let grace abound!

3.   General things I'm being challenged to change:  Acting or speaking in anger, being head-strong and difficult with my husband, and controlling myself.

Up And At 'Em

Look what Norah did this afternoon.

And last week.

Proof that they don't stay little for long.

Quote of the Day

Me: "Sarah, have I told you how proud I am of you?"
Sarah: "Yes."
Me: "Do you know why I'm so proud of you?"
Sarah: "You're crowd of my bottom!"

I was looking for..."You're proud of me going tee-tee in the potty!"

I wonder what she meant...

Major Milestones

All three of our kiddos are reaching milestones lately.

Caleb, 6 years old

He is reading!  It's been a process over the course of his kindergarten year.  Each week, he learned about a letter of the alphabet and a sight word.  Those sight words have given him so much confidence.  Now he's able to sound out words, even the longer ones.  So far, he's read two books for us at bedtime.  We couldn't be more proud!

Sarah, 2 years old

She is potty training!  I sent her home with Granana on Sunday and she brought her back potty trained on Wednesday.  Mom did say that Tuesday was a disaster, with accidents galore, but Wednesday did the trick.  She managed to stay dry all day, including the two hour drive home.  Way to go, girl!

Norah, 7 months old

She is crawling!  She has her first tooth!  She can (but doesn't always) sleep through the night!   Crawling is a loose term, but she can get from point A to point B rather quickly.  That qualifies in my book!  Her first tooth is the bottom left, and it's well on its way.  No difficulties breastfeeding with the tooth...yet.  As far as sleeping through the night, I find that she does better when she gets in a good dinner of veggies and cereal and a solid nursing session.  I also discovered last night that she may not be waking up in the middle of the night to nurse.  All I had to do was go n and turn her from her tummy to her back when she was crying at two this morning.  Who knew?

Rambling

1.  My coffee is delicious this morning.  Folgers coffee, International Delight individual creamer in Caramel Macchiato, and Sweet N Low.  Perfection.

2.  The King's Speech is such a moving movie.  Tears, cheers, heart swelling.  Colin Firth.

3.  Caleb was late to school this morning.  How do I enforce natural consequences for being late when he's only in kindergarten?  He takes a tardy slip to his teacher, but that's about it.  Where's the sting?

4.  Sarah's with Granana for a few days.  It's nice to have a quiet house this morning, but I can't wait to have her back.  I wonder how the possible potty training efforts are going.

5.  We travelled to Longview this weekend to watch this girl graduate.  Congratulations on earning your Business Admin degree.  And enjoy your FREEDOM!!!

6.  We spent some time with my grandparents this weekend.  Not only do I love the chance to sleep in while someone else is up with my kiddos, but I just love everything about escaping to their farm house. I love looking out over the pasture.  I love watching Granny and PawPaw tag team preparing a hearty breakfast.  I love driving up the red rock driveway.  I love the quietude.  I love the state highways, lined with trees and houses set way off the road.

7.  I need to get rid of this china cabinet.  Preferably for the best price and in the shortest time possible.

Norah Beth- {6 months}

Weight: 14 lbs, 4 oz

Height: 25 inches

Head Circumference: 16 1/2 inches

I think these are right...the doctor used the write them down for me, but now I guess I'm supposed to do that myself.  And I don't...considering I'm undressing her, holding her, comforting her from her vaccinations, and redressing her.  Geez.  So, these stats are at least in the ballpark.

Quote of the Day

Sarah:  "Mommy, I hear fire ants!"
Me: "Do you mean a fire truck or an ambulance?"
Sarah: "Yes!"

Sarah Dressed Herself

She's been dressing and undressing herself pretty well without any help for about a week now.

This morning I couldn't help but laugh.  This is how she came out of her room, so proud of herself.

What a good little Aggie!