Today 3 years ago my boy was born!

Caleb James was born Feb 28th, 2007! See how he has grown!!

The day he was born! His first birthday, second and third!

What JOY he has brought to our family! Caleb James WE LOVE YOU beyond words.

This is a prayer I was given by my father after his father passed away. It is simple and beautiful.

A Prayer For My Son; Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength. Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain." ----General Douglas MacArthur!!!!

Silver white winters that melt into Spring....

These are a few of my favorite things! Here are some pictures of the crazy winter we had this year. We spent Christmas in the Northeast with my parents and had plenty of snow there, and then plenty our own here in the beautiful Midwest! The first 2 pictures were taken today(Feb 27th) when it was in the 50's but felt like 70's!! Great to be back outside in the sunshine with my kiddos!

Hang Time

Khloe our 5 year old daughter went to her first basketball clinic this fall/winter! It was for little girls 5-9 years old called Hang Time. The Women's Basketball staff puts it on to teach the beginning basics of basketball. Drills, dribbling, shooting and FUN! Khloe had never even picked up a basketball before this clinic, surprising because of her Daddy I know. Anyway she was off to a rough start but being the kids she is, she was willing to learn and eager to please. Last night was the last clinic. Khloe was sad about it but there is plenty of basketball to go around, this will not be the last time! She and the other girls played basketball games, Khloe's partner was her FAVORITE player Janae #11. They ate cookies, drank punch and got autographed programs, posters and balls, even a t shirt. What a GREAT night!! She even got her picture taken with the girls on the team. This little girl was in heaven!! After her final Hang Time, we went up to the IM building on campus and watched Daddy play in an Alumni basketball game. He was the leading scorer with 25 pts ;) Caleb and I were along for the ride as usual. He spent most of the night jumping up and down the stairs and bleachers. Only a matter of time before he is on the court I assuming...

Khloe's Final ORU Hang Time

Snakes, snails and POOPOO tales...

What is it about little boys and POOP? My son Caleb was potty trained at a very early age and I think tracing back that is where his obsession with poopoo began. Maybe it is because that was the first time he was ever made aware of it?! When ever it began is not the point, the point is now, does it ever go away? I would say Caleb talks about poopoo at least 10 times a day. He adds the word to songs, when counting or saying his ABC's he adds poopoo to the mix usually some where between 7 and 10 or E and F (picture #2 above Caleb singing about poopoo). He calls me into the bathroom to look at his poopoo and when he smells anything bad or good it is always poopoo!! If someone talks about it he always laughs. In fact saying the word is actually how I get him to smile in pictures. I just don't understand how it seems like this love of poopoo was genetically predisposed because he has an XY instead of an XX chromosome. I must admit whatever the reason I do find it a little bit funny. Not when he talks about it in front of my husbands boss, his Sunday school teacher or random strangers we meet in line at the store, but when its him and I. Maybe I don't mind it because I love to see him smile whatever the reason. I love to hear his laugh and see the way his eyes squint, his nose wrinkle and his mouth open wide filled with a hilarious little giggle. I guess if it takes talking about poopoo to have those moments shared with my son I don't care what we are talking about, because to me a childs laughter is the sweetest sound in the world!

My knight in shinning Nike's

UGH...is how I have to start this whole story! My husband travels the good part of the year because he is a College Men's Basketball Coach. November to March I am married to the game, or as some call it a Basketball Widow. I LOVE basketball, but I can't always say the same for the traveling schedule. After 6 1/2 years of marriage I pretty much have it down though. I start preparing my children days in advance that Daddy will be leaving and we will be taking him to the airport. Then from the time of kisses and hugs good-bye at the airport we are talking about when he will be coming home, usually Sunday after church.

I always try to schedule fun things to do when he is away. For example every road trip Khloe and Caleb get to sleep with me in the "big bed" every night until Daddy gets back. I take them for milkshakes and we rent movies to watch at night! It makes the time without him go by a little faster. All of that is the fun stuff, however when you are left to being a single mom from Wed-Sunday every other week, sometimes every week, not so fun things are bound to happen.

For instance the garage door breaks and you can't get the car out for 2 days or the furnace breaks and it is the dead of winter, or your 2 beloved dogs get into a dogfight and one has to be put to sleep or the WORST ice storm since 1919 hits and you are without power for 9 days!! I am usually left to fend for myself and my children when things go wrong BUT today I had my knight!! I pride myself in being relatively independent. I can fix a running toilet, press the reset button on the garbage disposal and change light bulbs. However there are those time when you need your man. When that pickle jar just won't open OR when your 9 months pregnant with your 2 children in rush hour traffic on the busiest highway in your city and you get a FLAT tire!! That was me this morning.

Of course we were taking my husband to the airport for his third to last road trip (but who's counting). I was driving when all of the sudden CLUMP....weeeezzzzz. I panicked hands at 10 and 2, Kyan"Pull over baby its fine. Keep going your doing great!" Cars whizzing by. I get over to the side and he pats my shoulder and said "You did great don't worry, I'm gonna fix this." "Don't worry I'm gonna fix this," I have heard that more than a few times in my married years to Kyan and boy am I glad when those words come out of his mouth because 100% of the time HE DOES one way or another!

After humbly looking at the car manual he got all of the tools laid out on the side of the road and hustled his 2 children and wife out of the car and safely put us on the side of the road, something the kids thought was pretty cool. In a matter of what seemed like seconds. The flat tire was off, the new tire was on and we were getting back in the car, merging onto the highway with a new tire and minutes to spare before his flight left! He was our hero once again! It is in times of crisis that we often see what people are made of. When everything or everyone around us is panicking or loosing hope we look for a leader, someone to tell us "Don't worry I'm gonna fix this" I am so glad I have a husband that does. Changing a flat tire doesn't seem all that grand but it is the little things to me that prove he will be there when the big things hit. Today...well and everyday he is my knight!

Valentine's Day

This year Valentine's Day was so fun! We were all together as a family which is unusual being that Valentine's day is in the middle of basketball season! It fell on a Sunday and we went out for breakfast at our favorite spot BBD2! It was actually snowing when we pulled out of the driveway but melted away when the sun came out in the afternoon. I learned from a friend (Katie Levell) how to make little delicious treats called cakeballs! Using red velvet cake, cream cheese icing and white almond bark we made these perfect Valentine's Day treats! It was so much fun listening to music (Micheal Buble, Kyan's new favorite) putting on our aprons, baking and rolling to make something we all would really enjoy! Here are a few pictures of our perfect Valentine's Day together!!

So here's the thing...

I have tried everything from photo books, to scrapbooks, to journals, to baby books to everything else in between to track my life and keep my memories close. All of my attempts have ended when I realized I have FAR to many pictures to afford a photo book, not enough money or time to finish a scrapbook and that I am a much better typer than writer.
Life blows by me... literally. Everyday memories are made and lost. Words are spoken and forgotten. Moments come and go. I realize for myself that if I do not in some way keep track of these moments they will be lost and forgotten. So here I am again trying to find a way to keep all these moments, words spoken and memories made, FOREVER. Not just for me to have and hold but for my family, for my children, for my husband, so that when we find we are loosing memories and moments of our lives we can stop and look for just a second and realize what and ordinary, extraordinary life we have.