106 Degrees! I don't even want to get out of bed with that kind of forecast!!!

He always knows just what to say...

Caleb to Mommy: "Hey! We're buddies!"
I am on cloud nine! I love my dude!

Our Soccer Star!

Caleb had his last game of soccer today! He really hasn't enjoyed it as much as he did earlier in the year, but he hung in and we are so proud of him! I think there are a number of reasons for his lack of enthusiasm: it is supposed to be a team of three year olds yet there were oodles of almost five year olds dominating the field and ball (yes...I am one of THOSE Moms!), it was REALLY hot and lots of kiddos on the field were really clumsy and kept falling over their own feet and crying which freaked out the dude. Any way you put it, Caleb has no interest in another "season" of soccer. We asked him about gymnastics but he wasn't into that either. His choice for fall sports falls right in line with what we had envisioned...Tee Ball! Wahoo! But with that said, our dude rose to the challenge this morning and really got into the game, sometimes. He even took the ball 3/4 of the way down the field all by himself! He is such a big boy and totally amazing and we love him so much!

Go Big Red! We got to take snack today and I had fun with it. I was going to go all out with the cricket and fake grass and all that....but I remembered the audience and figured this would be good enough. It was. Kudos to Heather for giving me the idea of the orange and its decoration!

We saw this a lot...Coach Brent escorting a reluctant dude onto the field and often around the field...

GO DUDE GO!

WAHOO! This part was so thrilling!

He was so excited too!

Most of the time he was digging for rocks on the field....

....he was a good influence and got most everybody on both teams involved. At one point his whole team was digging for rocks while the other time kicked off!

The fruits of his labour.

The victory tunnel. Our post-game tradition. So cute eh!

Proudly showing off his prizes...check out what is in his right hand!

Team Big Red! They really did dominate the season...if we were keeping score that is...

It was a fun game and a great start to our day...despite the horrendous heat and the fact that we were all puddles of sweaty, ant-bitten goo by the end of the game! We cooled off at home and all was well! Caleb has been asking for buddies Ian and Aiden to come over, so we had their family over for dinner tonight. Caleb and I celebrated by making these Rice Krispie Popsicle desserts. I love to find things in the magazines and say "that is so cute! I want to do that. I am sure I can." I really can't. They never look as polished and who knows if they taste like they should. But it was so much fun making these with my dude, who thought adding the sprinkles was the best thing he did all week! He coudn't wait to eat the "chocolate and sprinkles on a stick" (which totally broke our new no-artificial-colour-diet but that happens...mostly on Saturdays...so oh-well)!

Happy Weekend Everyone!!!!

Caleb wanted Daddy to read his bedtime story tonight. I figured it was because Brian had just got home from work. But then Caleb (sitting beside me on his bed) casually put his little hand on my shoulder and gave it a little rub, all the while saying "that way you can rest Mommy." Did I look tired? I love my sweet, sweet little dude!

And I just have to tell you...all day long Caleb would just look at me randomly and say, "I forgive you Mommy." Was I misbehaving? He cracks me up!

July 4th

Okay, so lets just start the show with pictures of the MUCH anticipated cake. You can hardly contain your enthusiasm. I can tell!

This was last year's cake. Fun. Turned out okayish. But I was a little more ambitious this year....

Isn't it a beaut! Totally worth the hype, right! Okay. So there's more to it....

Really. It gets better.

TA DA!

Okay. So there is supposed to be another layer of red and white on the bottom, but I used gluten free cakes which are thinner and I couldn't divide them into thirds...but it still looks like a flag. Right? Next year I will know what to expect and be ready for another shot at it! Anywho, I think it is okay for a first shot!

Thank you dear, sweet Chrystal for sending me the pics and then the instructions! Wish you were WAY closer so that you could try a bite! Calgary seems lightyears away!

Here are some snapshots from the rest of our day. We had a blast playing with my Mom and Dad, my brother, and our friends the Dennises!

Uncle Matt took on Sharkie's persona and chased everyone in the pool...note that he chased a very thrilled Caleb right out of the pool!

Caleb got even.

This is precious Emily, 8 months old, on my brother's old Lunar Lander. Want to see why it made my heart melt?....

...This is our dude on the same Lunar Lander at eight months old. And I am sure that if I tried, I could dig up pictures of Matthew and I on it...thirty years ago...

This was Caleb's first fireworks. We put him to bed, then loaded him in the car (still sleeping) at 9pm so that he could enjoy them. He was so excited and we were the perfect distance away; you could still hear them and see them really great, but they weren't too loud! He has asked me repeatedly today when we get to see them again. Thanks for the heads up Heather and Nathan! Totally worth it!

I have to say, my first July 4th as an am-ur-i-can was loads of fun! It totally helps that as Caleb gets older, he understands celebrations so much better and we love experiencing it all with him! We hope that y'all had as great a day, a weekend!, as we did. Sending you all our love and prayers and open invites to come and visit anytime! Or just send your kiddos! =)

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

Happy Fourth of July Everyone! Our day is off to a great start! Caleb woke up with best buddy Trevor at his side and they went from sleep to play immediately! Tatum joined them a bit later and they were very excited to get their USA tatoos...especially Trevor. Tatum needed a turtle too. It was a lot of fun making them their red, white and blue breakfast (there are blueberries under those bananas!) and listening to their breakfast table chatter. This afternoon we will head over to Grammy and Pop's to see them, Uncle Matt (huzzah!) and our friends. We will play in the pool and bbq and celebrate my first Independence Day as an American citizen in style! Check back later for my dessert surprise (many kudos to you Chrystal!!!!)! Have a blessed day loved ones!!!

(Heather took this picture last year, June 30, at our dudes' first sleepover...our AC had died and we crashed at their sweetly cool house for the night....note their pjs in this picture and the one from today!)

A few of his favourite things....

It is so strange sitting here tonight and putting together pictures from our last week (a snapshot of what we were up to). A week ago Brian and I were feeling VERY poorly and barely functional; huzzah for tag-team parenting! Now we are feeling great, some coughing aside, and I can barely believe how far we have come in a week!

When last Monday rolled around, I was determined that Caleb would not be miserable stuck at home with a sicky Mommy. I wanted to do some of his favourite things and we had so much fun! His Monday devotional was about good judgement and used cookies as an example...so of course, I felt like we needed to make some cookies afterwards! I broke out the shortbread recipe, a fave, and off we went! Can I just say how proud I am of my little baker! He has been in the kitchen with me since before he was a year old and he can now measure, level off and dump in the ingredients! And this day he rolled the dough by himself! He loves to pick out the cookie cutters and cut away too...but how is it, with literally over 100 shapes, that I didn't have the hammer he wanted? How is that?

We also built another fort, because his wish was my command, broke out the felt boards and workbooks and stamp crafts and oh the dancing! CALEB LOVES TO DANCE! His new favourite is The Lad's song, Cable Knit Sweater. We listen to it on repeat. A lot. He dances in quiet time, playtime and at restaurants (like at Babe's today...he got a sticker for participating in the big group Hokey Pokey). I'm not sure he noticed that we didn't leave the house until Wednesday!

One thing I hear from the dude very frequently is "But Daddy lets me do that." You never know when to believe it...apparently licking a knife is one of those things Daddy allows...I have the photo to prove it!

By Wednesday, I was feeling better-ish and we were off on new adventures. We got to load up in the Dennis' van and go to the airport where Caleb gets non-stop thrills from spotting airplanes. We had the pleasure of little Leah coming to spend Wednesday (overnight) and Thursday with us, and Caleb loved to take care of her! He is so nurturing and compassionate! We even had the Towers over for a pool playdate. Another favourite thing!

On Friday Caleb went to my parent's house for Grammy and Pop camp. We missed him sooooo much, but it was our anniversary and he had a blast with my parents. They took him to the airplane museum and he got to pretend he was a pilot and see lots of helicopters. Of course we were thrilled to get him back today and none of us could stand to be apart even for the church service...so he came to big people church with us! I didn't have a purse of activities and he still did MAGNIFICENT!!!!! He wants to come back and that just thrills us to pieces!

The Alford Bed and Breakfast was open for business again today. Trevor and Tatum came back over for a sleepover and Caleb gets to have his best buddy in his room for the night. My favourite conversation of the day was when the two boys declared their mutual affection for each other with "I love yous" and the whole bit! We were amazed at the mess they could all make in three hours before bed (Brian said it was an hour per child) but it didn't take long to clean up and we had too much fun to care even a little!

We have had a great week full of fun adventures and memories to last a lifetime! I can't wait to see what the next seven days will hold!

(This last picture had to be a part of today's blog. We were playing dress-up...Caleb wanted to be a dragon, Trevor couldn't wait to be Buzz and Tatum wanted to be a princess...in a dress-up chest full of very boy-inspired pieces. But I called his Thomas shirt a dress, which she totally bought, and she loved the air force hat because it was "shiny" and some flowery neckware, star glasses and a "purse" totally finished off the look. She was Princess Tatum all night and was sporting the get up long after the boys gave theirs up...she may have slept in it if I had let her! We love you Princess Tatum!)