Fire Trucks!

This was the first year I let Caleb have a say in what kind of birthday he wanted. Normally, Mark and I just think of something fun and we go from there. Since Caleb was turning the manly age of 5, I thought I would ask his input.

Mom: "So Caleb, if you could choose your birthday party, what kind would you like to have?"

Caleb: FBI!!!

Mom: (I should have guessed that one) "Hmmm... what would your 2nd choice be?"

Caleb: Fire Trucks!!!

Mom: (thank goodness! Fire trucks I can do!) "Ok Caleb, thanks for your ideas!"


Fire trucks were the name of the game on Saturday. Aunt McMolly made Caleb's cake (like she does every year) and she never even bats an eye at my requests. Elmo - no problem, pirate ship - piece of cake (Ha!), bugs - bring it on, fire truck - do you want it standing upright or laying on it's side? She's awesome!

This is the only present-opening shot I was able to take because my batteries died (of course) and not one single grandparent brought theirs! (yeesh!) Luckily my friend Diana happens to carry everything (including the kitchen sink) in her purse so of course she had a camera and extra batteries for it when it died too! Caleb got a 5 dollar bill and I can't tell who's more excited, Mark or Caleb.

The day we celebrated Caleb's birthday just happened to be great-grandma's birthday too! Happy Birthday Great - Grandma!

After the gift opening came the fun part. We all headed over to Fire Station 2 for a tour of the big rigs.

Fireman Dan was our man.

We went through the station and out to the garage where we got to see the ambulance as well.

Caleb got to lay out on the gurney and even be hooked up to the heart monitor. Isn't he cute, my little plucked chicken?

Fireman Dan let all the kids shoot water out of the hose and try to knock down a cone. They did this again and again and again...

Caleb's 2nd favorite police officer (his daddy will always be #1) even stopped by to say Happy Birthday.

Fireman Dan finally turned the water off before we dried up a well and invited the kids to climb around inside the fire truck.

That concluded our trip to the fire station and we wrapped up the party with cake and ice cream. Caleb swears this was the best birthday ever but he did ask why the FBI never showed up. I told him I had to use the bathroom and could he excuse me for a moment? Mark and I tucked the boys into bed at 8:00 and I tucked myself in at 8:32. What a day!

5 years ago today...

5 years ago today...

God gave us you...

to make us laugh ...

to make us smile...

to make us appreciate...

to make us cherish...

to make us teach ...

to make us cry ...

to make us treasure ...

to make us give of ourselves ...

in ways we didn't know we could ...

to make us love without reservation, without holding back, without counting the cost to ourselves. 5 years ago today, God gave us you.

God made dirt, so dirt can't hurt

Boy, n. : a noise with dirt on it.

Ahhh... spring is here. At our house, spring means outside projects. The boys (all 3 of them) love to do "projects" and this one happens to involve lots of dirt.





Mark is putting in a fire-pit area to the side of our porch. He dug up the grass, smoothed the dirt and then put in some boundary rocks.

The boys wasted no time in setting up camp.

The men spent all day outside working in the dirt -putting in a new place for the rasberry's.

Caleb took care of some ants with his "bammer". I tried to tell him it is actually referred to as a hammer and his reply was "Why, it doesn't say ham?!". Makes sense to me - bammer it is.

While Mark tilled up one of the garden areas, the boys supervised.

Since they worked so hard, we let them roast some hot dogs. No marshmallows - Mom is lame and didn't buy any, but Owen did hug me and tell me I was still the best teacher (just apparently not the best mom anymore!). You can always count on him to make you feel better.

I tried to get a picture of Owen with his hot dog but I swear he wouldn't hold still for more than 2 seconds. If he wasn't dropping his hot dog in the dirt, he was running from the smoke or teasing the dog or trying to poke something with his roasting stick. Caleb is much more like me - nice and calm and always concerned with getting his dinner.

Before you ask where I am and why do I never do any work around here, let me assure you - I have cleaned up enough dirt from my floor, bathtub, laundry room, walls and ceilings that I could grow an indoor garden if I had the notion.

After looking at the new ring of dirt around my tub, I asked Caleb why he got so dirty. His reply - "God made 4 years old that way Mom."

Smart Aleck.

Born To Hunt

Mark and I went out to the new hunting lodge in Pilot Rock. There were amazing mounts of animals all over the place. . . and from all over the place. I didn't even make it out to the shop or the garage.

In the middle of my picture taking one of the owners of the lodge yelled at me. How rude - I know! She told me to get busy and help her cook her son's (my husband's) birthday lunch. The nerve of some people! After we all ate Mark's birthday lunch the men congragated outdoors for Caleb's first shooting lesson. Caleb is almost 5 now and Mark thinks it's time to start teaching him gun safety.

This is the same gun that Mark learned how to shoot on. This is even the same gun that Mark's Dad learned how to shoot on. Caleb was so excited and proud of the fact that he was old enough to be outside with the "men". (Poor Owen was broken-hearted inside the house with all the girls and his cousin Gabe. I had to distract him with some dinosaurs and candy.)

(Please ignore the beer box - it was a moving box, I swear.) Caleb is showing me that he hit the target and he kept saying "I really am an FBI agent!". Good grief!

More G-men doing the men thing.

Happy Birthday To You!

Happy Birthday to the one who:

wrestles with us

builds us forts

plays in the dirt with us

teaches us to explore

shows us how to enjoy nature

models for us what a man should be

reveals God's wonders to us

keeps us safe

loves us unconditionally!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Fiddle-dee-dee

Well, it's book review time. I have been busy, plugging away at my book list one at a time. I have been sidetracked a few times by other books (most notably the Into The Wilderness series, which is 5 books long!) but overall I have stuck to the list.

Before I give my humble opinion please remember - this is only my opinion.

Gone with the Wind - I have never encountered a more vain, selfish, childish or self-centered creature than Scarlett O'Hara. That being said, I loved the book. There was something to it that made me keep picking up and reading it. I don't know if it's because I was charmed by Rhett Butler (who I adored) or because I wanted to see if Scarlett would ever grow up. Whatever it was, I thoroughly enjoyed the book (even the ending Mom!) and am now waiting impatiently for whoever has checked out Scarlett from the public library to bring it back so I can conclude my, oops I mean Scarlett's, love affair with Rhett.

His Dark Materials - This review was a little harder to think about because it is actually 3 books. Being a fan of fantasy novels, I enjoyed the first book The Golden Compass quite a bit. The second two however, I just didn't like that well. They both had their moments where I was like "Really? You're going to go there?". There's the whole anti-God thing going on that I didn't care for, as well as the fact that the books (spoiler here so don't read on if you are going to read the books) ended with the world being better only after the two (early) teenage children go off together and are intimate. Hmmm.... I read how many awards and accolades these books received and I just couldn't muster the same amount of appreciation.

Rebecca - This book started out a little bit predictable and boring but then it added a twist that I liked. It really illustrates the point that perception is reality and it was a fairly quick and easy read.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - I couldn't stop laughing while I read this book. It is so funny. Arthur (the human character) has just found out that his planet has been destroyed and he is thinking about the things that are gone forever. His family - he has no reaction. His supermarket - no reaction. New York - no reaction. Every Bogart movie has been wiped - that gives him a nasty knock. McDonald's hamburgers - he passes out and wakes up to find himself sobbing for his mother. I'm telling you - the book is hilarious and contains no serious thoughts at all.

*I did try to read Catch 22 but I slowly found myself going insane so I had to put it down. (Seriously, that book was crazy and all the characters are absolutely nuts! )

Aunt McMolly

My sister-in-law is the farmer woman that I want to be. Aunt McMolly's farm has horses, chickens, rabbits, ducks and sheep, not to mention dogs and cats and a trio of kids thrown in for fun. Uncle Bill lives there too but we all know the farm is truly Aunt McMolly's.

Yesterday we got to celebrate Aunt McMolly's birthday. Caleb and Owen love any birthday and they have been known to invent birthdays just so they can sing the song. Owen finger-painted the wrapping paper and Caleb helped me wrap the present.

No one would hold still for me so most of my pictures were blurry. My little Kodak Easy Share doesn't handle movement very well.

I love birthdays too but the best part was to come after the cake and ice cream. Aunt McMolly had brought one of her bunnies to see Dad. Dad is a retired vet (think animal not war) and he is our animal doctor hero. We all bring our animals to Dad. This bunny is Belle and without her fur she is actually really tiny and light (and very sweet - the kids all pet her and love on her).

Belle had an owie on her tummy. We all watched in awe as Dad got ready to take care of it. It was like being in ER - the excitement and anticipation was high. We all held our breath as Dad shaved the area.

Here is Belle's owie. A fluid filled sack or cyst of stuff.

Dad got to work.

I wanted to keep taking pictures of the whole process but Aunt McMolly started feeling Belle's pain and had to go put her head between her legs. I took over holding Belle and then when it was all over Aunt McMolly came back for her baby. Belle promptly peed all over her - I think it was payback for deserting her in her hour of need! All in all, a very unique birthday party!

Happy Birthday Aunt McMolly!