So very thankful

There have been some small moments lately that have made me just so thankful to me a mom. (Ok, so I am always thankful, but these moments have really stood out and I hope to remember them always)

Yesterday, Caleb's teachers decorated the classroom for Christmas. They put up white lights all over the room, along with ornaments and they were playing Christmas music. Stephen picked Caleb up from school and they were playing outside. Well, as soon as they got back inside, Caleb ran into his classroom, jumped up in the air and landed with his arms and legs spread wide apart. "Ta-da!!!!!! Christmas!!!" he proudly exclaimed. I think Little Buddy is excited for Christmas this year!

They also recently made Thanksgiving Handprints for an art project. They had to tell their teacher one thing they were thankful for. Out of everything he could pick, Caleb proudly told them he was thankful for Jesus. What a sweet little boy!

We took Caleb for his first ride on the Macy's Pink Pig. A huge Atlanta tradition. His face was lit up the entire time as he looked at everything we passed. I hope I will always remember the look of excitement and curiosity in his eyes! His favorite part was when the conductor said "All aboard!" He ran to the front seat to begin his trip! After the ride, we went to Chick Fil-a for lunch. I think he may have been even more thrilled with who we saw there - a Chick Fil-A cow, than the Pink Pig!

Sometimes, after I get him dressed in the morning, I will tell Caleb that he looks great. His response? "Whistle at me!!"

Caleb is still talking about the holes in our house and if I mistakenly say "Let's go home," he promptly corrects me and says "We no go home. We have holes in our house. We go to Grandadddy's House!" I think he is ready for the holes to be patched up so he can sleep in his own bed. (We are very very slowly making progress and hope to get a lot done this weekend!)

The small moments make mommy-hood so worth living!

Drying Out

Yep. We are drying out. For those of you who did not see on facebook, Stephen and I had a massive flood in our house. A connecting valve for a pipe under our guest bath sink gave our and the pipe began gushing out water...when we were not at home. It had to have leaked about 1000 gallons of water during the day. It was on the second floor of our house, so it flooded the upstairs hall, soaking into the carpet in every single room upstairs, except for our bed room. It also went down the steps and through the ceiling into our kitchen, living room and laundry area and half bath downstairs. In the end, we will have to replace the hardwoods, ceilings, carpets, flooring in both upstairs bathrooms, the vanity in the guest bath upstairs, baseboards up and down stairs and repaint most rooms downstairs and hall upstairs. We will also need a new couch, tv and some other small items will need to be replaced. Thankfully all of our sentimental items and pictures came out ok. The verdict is still out on the laptop that was sitting directly underneath one of the major leaky spots. Honestly, I think we are just a little scared to turn it on. Said laptop is the home to oh so many pictures and documents! Hopefully, Mr. IT Man (Stephen) can get it fixed, or at least recover the documents.

Not sure when we will be able to get back in our home. I am really hoping to be in there for Christmas, but even at that point not everything will be fixed.

Yes. It is a big pain. We do have good insurance and that is assuring. I hate being displaced from our home, especially during the holidays. However, I know it could be so much worse. The flood occurred on Wednesday, the same day I experienced my first flat tire. We were stressed and worried, but thankful our entire house was not destroyed. As we sat in our hotel room Thursday night, everything was put into perspective with one phone call. We learned some devastating news about a friend and member of our church who was killed riding his bicycle. He left behind a wife and two sweet children. We now keep that family in our prayers and hold on to each other a little tighter. We will also take a flood any day.

So, as we dry out, we still continue to count our blessings. This Thanksgiving, we may not have our home back together, but we still have the people in that home....all together, and that is what really matters the most.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Remember to count your blessings!

Happy Halloween - a couple days late!

Three is a very fun year for Halloween! Everything from pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving (ok, so he refused to touch the insides of the pumpkin for the most part. I finally convinced him at clean up time...), and of course, the trick or treating. He even wore his pirate hat the entire time! Caleb is typically not a fan of any type of hat for longer than 5 seconds!

Trick or treating was a lot of fun this year. Each house we approached, he would look for the "ring bell" and yell out "There is the ring bell!" when he would find it. He perfected his "tick or teat" and managed to score a bunch of candy, most of which he can't eat. Bummer! He doesn't seem to mind when we tell him he can't have something and we were sure to have a good stash of "Caleb-safe" candy on hand to help him re-fill his goodie bag.

I can't believe it is already November. We are in my favorite part of the year and it just seems to be flying by already! I want time to stand still. I want to see the Holidays this year through the eyes of a child. I want to soak each and every moment in and not pass days away without being appreciative for what I have. I think having a child makes this time of year so much more magical, and for that I am so very thankful!

Here are a few pictures from our fun Halloween! Happy November!

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

How you went from this:

to this:

in the blink of an eye is beyond me.

My goodness, my precious Caleb. Time sure has flown. Just over an hour ago, three years to this date you came in to my life. I never expected motherhood to be such pure joy. At three years old, you just amaze me with how smart and talented you are. You love music and will tap your foot or clap your hands to the beat of the music. Just a couple weeks ago, you actually drew a picture of a quarter note and correctly identified it on sheet music. You must be a musical prodigy. :) You also know all of your letters and can count to thirty all by yourself. You can read your friends names and are starting to familiarize yourself with short words as well. You started to tell us your letters (big ones and little ones as you say) at two and a half years old. It really was just so amazing to me!

The things you come up with to say now are also amazing. "What you said mommy?" You are also starting to get into sports. You take part in "playball" at school and your coach says you have improved so much since the start of the school year when we enrolled you in the program. Your daddy and I think you are great at kicking a ball and you have also gotten really good at hitting a baseball off the tee!

On this day, your third birthday, I just want you to know how much you are loved, my Little Buddy! I sometimes go in your room at night and pray over you while you sleep. I thank God for bringing you into our lives and pray that you live a long, healthy and happy life. I pray that I can make a difference in your life...teach you right from wrong, how to be a gentleman, and that you will grow up always surrounded by love. I really do not know how I got so lucky to be chosen as your mommy. You bless me every single day with the most precious smile and sweet little voice. My heart melts each time you tell me that you love me. I would give you the world if I could, as you have given me more than you will ever know.

Happy birthday, sweet Caleb! And many, many more!

Wordless Wednesday...

Ok, so technically there are some words... :)

Remember Me?

I have been horrible at keeping up with this blog lately and I hate that! I love to have the little day-to-day stories written down and I haven't been doing a good job. Maybe I will work on changing that. We will see!

So...what has been keeping me so busy? I did start another blog. It's called 52 Treats I Can Eat. I created it to give me some new exciting things to feed Caleb that most non-food allergic kids get to eat every day, whenever they want. You can find it at www.52treatsicaneat.wordpress.com. I usually put in where I have made substitutions to make it Caleb-safe....so while it is a blog geared towards food allergies, everyone can enjoy it!

Here are some of those silly moments that I haven't been writing down. Sorry for the stream of consciousness writing...just not feeling it today, as I have been doing data entry all morning. (and now spending my lunch typing on a computer....something isn't right here!)

Caleb has transitioned into a new class at school. The first week was a little rough since most of his old friends went into a new classroom without him. Thankfully, he has his friend Ella from his other classes in there with him and has grown to love all the new kids - all girls - as well. He is such a ladies man already. Every morning he runs in and the girls all run up to him to talk to him. His friend Ella is usually the first one to greet him. The other day, she ran up to him and put her hands on her hips, looked out the corner of her eye and said "Heeeey Big Boy!" The next morning....it was similar, only this time she said "Hey Caleb! Are you going to come and get me?" (Yes, he did....of they went to play with their favorite toys together!) One of my favorites happened just about a week ago. He ran into his room, as he always does, and said "Hey Ladies!!" He was so proud and I think he takes his role as the "Man of the Classroom" very seriously. He always wants to be the "caboose" for the day. Maybe so he can be sure to protect his "ladies" as they walk down the hall!

He amazes me every day. I have said before how well he does with his letters. Now he will randomly find a letter in a book or on a flashcard, cup, menu, etc. and say "There is a C in my name." or "There is an S in Miss Sarah's Name!" he gets so proud of himself...and I do, too! :)

He is great at calling the "Dawgs!" You should ask him to say "Go Dawgs" for you sometime!

OH! How have I gone without blogging this huge milestone??? Caleb is officially FULLY potty trained. Day and night time! He has done GREAT! It was about mid-August when he was trained and has done wonderful ever since. He loves being a big boy and going in the potty. Many mornings he will go into the bathroom and say "I stand up. Because I am a big boy!" So nice to not have to deal with diapers any more.

I will try to be better about keeping up with this blog. I need to! I hate for the little funny moments to pass on by without being documented!

Catching Fireworks

Well, the long July 4th weekend has come to a close. It really was a wonderful weekend! We spent the weekend down at the Farm. Caleb's first question as we pulled up to the farm was "Where is the tractor?" And that kind of sums up how the weekend went. He was on the move getting to try all sorts of new things.

Caleb went on tractor rides with his Daddy, golf cart rides, ate MANY peaches (the 4th is the annual peach jam making trip! - more to come on that in a bit., went swimming, ate blackberries fresh off the blackberry bush - turning his mouth and shirt a very dark shade of purple, played in the garden, and,of course, watched fireworks. He loved every minute of it! We went to Eastman, GA to see the fireworks show, and they did a great job! Caleb's favorites were the big ones that look like they are coming right at you in a perfect;y formed ball. He would hold out his hands and try to catch them. He even put some of those "fireworks" in his pocket to save for later. And, yes, the next day, he asked for his pants so he could pull one out of the pocket. This is a picture of Caleb and his daddy playing while waiting for the sun to go down. See his expression?? It pretty much stayed like that the whole weekend.

On to the peach jam....I completed four huge batches of the yummy goodness. I also made a double batch of peach cobbler for everyone to eat. It was so good! We had peach everything, and by the end of the weekend, I had to have pealed over 50 cups of peaches....which is A LOT, and we still have some peaches left over. (anyone have any good peach-something recipes???) Caleb proved to be a good helper and was a master peach sampler by the end of the weekend. He can't get enough.

We took our time coming home from the farm and stopped in Macon to visit their Bass Pro Shops and stretch our legs. It was a nice little outing and Caleb loved watching the fishies in a different store than where we usually go to pass the time when we get Cabin Fever! We got home and went swimming, where Caleb got to learn something else new and exciting...belly flops! Of course the padding of his puddle jumper takes away the sting. ;) The alarm went off this morning, and here I am back at work - don't worry, I am on my lunch break!

I hope you all had a nice 4th of July weekend, as well. Now, I get to count down the days until Beach Time! YAY!!!

So I won't ever forget...

Caleb, you really do make me laugh every single day. Here are a few tidbits of things you have said or done lately that have made me laugh:

• I love how you say sunglasses. "Mommy, I need my funglasses!"
  
• You got your toy phone out the other day and called up your girlfriend Kate and said "Hey Kate! You gotta go potty?"
  
• I was making dinner the other night and told you that you would need to play by yourself in the living room or watch tv. As I was letting the water rise to a boil, I came and sat down next to you on the coach. You immediatly pushed me over and said "No Snuggle, Mommy! You go cook dinner!"
  
• You have a silly laugh that you do when you have forgotten to do something. For instance, last night you used your fingers instead of your spoon to eat your peas. When I told you to use your spoon, you did your silly laugh and said "Oh yeah!" with your hands out to your side. It is the same response every time and I love it!
  
• Sometimes your daddy and I will be talking at the dinner table and you will all of the sudden say "No talking Mommy! Listening ears!!" I think your daddy put you up to it, but he swears he didn't!
  
• You still love the trashman. He is the first person you thank God for every night when you say your prayers. (and you usually thank God for the trashman at least two or three times each night.)
  
• I love how you lay out all your animals across your bed every night. You are allowed to pick one out (this is after they started to keep you up at night, and when we asked you to go to sleep you said you couldn't because your animals were awake). After you pick out one animal, you put the rest in your chair and tell them to all snuggle with each other. (snuggling is your THING! You are very good at it!)


• Every red car you see is Ms. Melinda's car.


• You love to hide, but you always give yourself away. If you want to play hide and seek, you usually see your daddy and will yell out "Hide! hide!" Sometimes you hide somewhere, others you stand really still in the middle of the room with your eyes closed and your hands over your eyes. As soon as someone says "Where's Caleb?" You pop out and say "HEEEEEEYYYY!"


• I love to watch you dance! You have some great moves!


• The other day, you accidently put two legs in the same leg hole of your pants. You were very upset by it. (When i told you how to fix it, you did the silly laugh and said "oh yeah!")


• When you get very excited to tell someone something, your words just can't keep up with you. You can tell a whole story in about 10 seconds, but none of the words can be understood. But, you have the most excited look on your face and you will be pointing all around to tell us about the exciting thing that just happened.

I know there are so many other moments I could write about. I will have to just write them down as they happen because it really is every day that you say or do something that cracks me up. This post wouldn't be complete without the following picture that Ms. Nyssa sent to me from school. You were hot and sweaty, so your teachers spiked up your hair and wanted to take a picture. When they told you to smile, here was your response:

Letter Scavenger Hunt

During the summers, I get off work at noon. I love the Brenau Summer Fridays. It actually helps me feel as though I have a bit of a "summer break." This past Friday, Caleb and I went on a letter scavenger hunt through the mall. He rode in his stroller, I told him what letter to look for. When he found it, he would should out "There it is!" and I would take a picture of the letter. He LOVED this activity. (and now that I blog about it, I feel like a real "mom-blogger" and it makes me feel a little bit giddy.) He has loved looking through the pictures on my phone. Last week I saw a picture of "Alphabet Mystery Box" in one of my friend's photo album. Basically, there is a mat with every letter of the Alphabet and a box. Inside the box is a small toy/item that starts with every letter of the alphabet. The child reaches in a draws out a toy and then places the toy on the corresponding letter on the mat. I have decided (how's this for a "mom-blogger" activity??) to laminate each photo - although, I may take a few new ones so they won't be blurry - onto a mat of our own and create our own version of the Alphabet Mystery Box game. I think Caleb will totally dig it and feel some pride in knowing that he helped make the game! How is that for creativity from this working-mom?

Have I ever told you what a great stay at home mom I could be?? ;)

(Now, before I post I am saying a little prayer that blogger carries over the format I have posted my letters in. It looks great in Preview...but always looks different on my actual blog...here goes nothing...)

Glimpses of the Past

Since day one of starting my job at Brenau University, every now and then a smell, a picture or the distinct creak of the Alpha Chi steps will open a floodgate of memories of my time spent here as a student. As a part of my job of conducting summer camps, I have to do a walk-thru of each building on campus every year before the first camp starts. While a very tedious task, it is actually one of my favorite parts of working here. Why? Well, you will have to continue reading to find out.

I began conducting my walk-thrus this morning. Sometimes, I have to catch my breath or just laugh because if feels as if something out of a movie. Case in point, the long, currently empty and quiet (except for the aforementioned creaking) Alpha Chi front stairway that I walked down this morning. For just a brief moment while I was walking down the steps, the area transformed into a loud and crowded gathering point. I saw Kristen, holding our cordless telephone (not a cellphone!) in her hands, probably talking or singing. I saw Katie and Lindsay in their room at the top of the stairs...Katie with her LONG, flowing locks of blond hair. I could hear Eryn's voice in the background, and saw dried macaroni left randomly in the middle of the floor from her cooking. I also saw Emmie, probably playing some sort of a prank on someone. Most of all, that empty stairwell today was filled with laughter. It was never an easy task to walk up those stairs without stopping. There were usually a few sisters sitting on the top of the steps, and it was very hard to pass them without joining in on their conversation.

(one of the many random things you could find at the top of the stairs...)

(always something to do in the Alpha Chi House)

It's really funny that each place on this campus still smells the same. Yonah Hall still smells the same as it did the very first day I moved into Yonah 101 as a freshman. Not a horrible smell, but just a distinct smell that I cannot describe with words. I can't walk into Yonah 1st without thinking of the fun times I spent on that hall. Man, we sure were carefree back then! Strawberries lined the doors and walls along the hall...we called it the Strawberry Patch because so many of my hallmates joing the ZTA house that year. I can see myself rushing to dance class, having to pass Casey and Melissa's room on the way. Don't let those sweet innocent girls fool you. They were the number one reason that I would SKIP a ballet class! When I did skip ballet, they always had some sort of fun adventure or activity that I would much rather go on or be a part of. So. many. memories.

(porch time)

Many of the halls or areas on campus may look different now, but if I try really hard, I can see it...and it looks exactly the same as it did when I was here as a student. Every year when students move in or out of their dorm, I see my college friends. I see Karri and Amanda across campus...running towards me laughing. I hear Cessna calling my name (I should say nickname, that I still don't like!) from Crudup front porch. I see Laura sitting on the ZTA porch while I am out on the AXO porch, and I do believe we were attempting to have some sort of a conversation from right where we were. I see so many distinct memories that I will always treasure so dear to my heart, and I just hope that those students moving in or out will have similar memories and similar stories when they are my age.

Well, I must get back to work. More walk thru's to conduct. More memories that I am sure will come back to me and make me laugh this afternoon. I am so lucky to have such fond memories of my college days. I truly don't think you can get that at just any college....so thanks to all my "Brenau Girls" for giving me so many things to smile about every day when I "see" you at work!

Wordless Wednesday

If I am not going to take the time to post a nice long blog, I figured I could at least post a picture for Wordless Wednesday...

Isn't he a stud? I heart summer...and I heart my little boy even more!

Out of the Mouths of Kids

I love funny things kids say. The conversation last night at dinner with Caleb was no exception.

The scene: Dinner table. Fussy Caleb who has just finished a growth spurt...therefore, he wants to eat nothing. He starts to play with his food, so we take it away.

Stephen: Caleb, don't play with your food at the table. Mommy worked very hard to cook this meal for us, so just try a bite.
Caleb: NO! I want down. EXCUSED?
Tami: You can't be excused until Mommy and Daddy are finished.
Tami: Do you want your food back?
Caleb: NO! I want to cry!

I love it how he would rather cry than eat. (Yes, that was sarcastic....) But, his statement really did make me laugh!

Smartie pants

I guess I am writing this blog more for documentation. BUT, I am so proud of Caleb! He knows and recognizes ALL of his letters with the sounds they make. I can't believe it! He will be reading before I know it! He sounded out the word "NOAH" at a restaurant the other day. 2.5 years old and "read" his first word!

He also sat through the play that Stephen and I have been working on, "Noah and the One Way Ticket." He LOVED all the music and especially loved the animals. His favorite was the dog! He sat in his seat and danced as each song came on...and in some cases, even sang along!

He is growing up so fast and amazes me every single day! He seems like he might be a soccer player one day. He loves to kick the ball! I know nothing about soccer, but I have to say that the little guy has some good form when kicking that ball...especially when he kicks it hard, complete with sticking out his tongue!

Oh, and he has a fascination with the trash man and dumpsters. He LOVES Friday mornings because he gets to go outside and watch the trash man. The trash man now looks for us when he makes his stop at the house and always waves and says hello to Caleb. It totally makes Caleb's day. I admit, I will be so proud, even if he decides he wants to be a trash man when he grows up! ;)

He is Risen!

If I could describe a perfect Easter Sunday, I would list every second of our day yesterday. It really was perfect. Every moment from the excited look on Caleb's face when he came downstairs to see his Easter Basket to concluding the evening outside under the stars with wine and snacks was absolutly amazing. God sure did provide a beautiful day for Easter this year!

I do believe that Caleb is very fond of the Easter Bunny. Where many kids start to kick and scream, Caleb was in awe! We went to Lake Lanier Islands for their Easter Brunch this year and the highlight for Caleb was the fact that the Easter Bunny walked around the room where we ate lunch. Any time the Big Bunny was semi-close to the table, Caleb would shout out "Come Here Easter Bunny!!" He hugged the bunny, gave him high fives and enjoyed all the Easter Eggs that were given to him. Dare I say, that Caleb might like the Easter Bunny better than Santa?

Spring has certainly arrived and we have enjoyed it...except for the darn bumble bees and pollen that has already turned everything in sight yellow! We have been eating outside, playing outside and we have even already brought out the swim suits to play in the sprinkler. Yes...it is already that hot in Georgia. Today, the high is 86! Here are just a couple pictures from our weekend.