Life as a Leach

You know how in baby books it asks for favorite foods, toys, songs, etc.? I thought that those of you who don't know Caleb very well or who don't see him very often might like to get to know a bit of his personality. He's pretty likeable! :) What is Caleb's favorite.... Food: hot dogs, grapes, and raisins Drink: water and real milk Toy: cars and trucks, and his ride-on tractor Song: "Bumping Up and Down in my Little Red Wagon" by Raffi Chore: giving Becky water Movie: Raffi in Concert Animal: turtle Character: Elmo Superhero: Batman Stuffed Toy: Tina the Llama, Brownie Bear Game: "Momma? Where's Daddy?" in the car, and the "no" game Playground equipment: swings Activity: playing outside Playmates: Owen and Sara

Hiding behind his red balloon. Sweet little face. Playing on the couch before bed. Big smiles! I love close ups. Caleb puts his turtle costume on almost every day. He's obsessed! This is his "nature" pumpkin made out of items we found outside. He LOVES it! So proud of his pumpkin! Digging out pumpkin goo. This was a little pumpkin he found that he absolutely adored. Unfortunately, it was rotten...but Caleb didn't understand that! We distracted him and made it "disappear!" Peekaboo! Jumping in the hay pit with Daddy Going on a barrel ride with Momma. Popping up behind Momma Reading Daddy's favorite children's book If you are on Facebook, I loaded over 100 pictures today! Since Caleb broke our USB port and we would have to replace the entire Motherboard in order to fix it, we are now having to take our memory card to Walmart to get CDs made. I just got the CD done today and immediately started loading them as soon as Caleb took a nap! You can check...

I forgot to tell you about the jersey saga! Matt wanted a Cooley jersey (Redskins) for Christmas. We found one on Ebay for just $25 + $20 shipping (I found it with just 2 minutes left and made a quick bid so that no one else had time to at the end....great tactic if you are an Ebayer!) It was a hand-stitched Reebok jersey that looked really nice. I couldn't believe my good luck....I should have known better! Now, I get quite a few things off of Ebay. We've gotten baseball tickets, CDs, clothes, our Ipod, etc., and never had a problem. I pay close attention to the fine print and look carefully at the feedback percentage and number of sales. This guy has sold a TON of stuff (all sports jerseys) and has 100% feedback, so I figured it was pretty safe. It came in the mail the other day and I opened it in eager anticipation. Well....you know how Redskin colors are maroon, gold, and white? The stripes on the arms of this jersey are maroon, gold, and pink ! As much as I tried...

Between Caleb's unusual crying spells, Becky's disgusting clear-the-room gas, Matt's invasion of my side of the bed, and my mind filling with thoughts of Caleb's birthday party (yes, I know it is 3 months away!), I am really not sleeping tonight. This is sad, because we have a big day tomorrow (well, later on today...) and I want to be alert and ready for some fun! We are going to the pumpkin patch at Bowles' Farm. They have hay rides, barrel rides (a train made of barrels), a corn maze, a petting zoo, and a hay-jumping pit. We chose this day a while ago based on Matt's schedule, but it is a great day to go! They will be having an antique tractor pull, and we all know how much Caleb loves tractors!!! We also just found out last night that there is a BOGO pumpkin sale this weekend too! If Caleb isn't completely worn out, we will also be stopping by the police barricks for their open house so that he can get a tour of the helicopter--another favorite! ...

I realized yesterday that I have very strong affections toward certain cleaning products. I guess it's my general analness reaching toward every aspect of my life, but I do love to clean! There is a sense of satisfaction that goes along with the smell of a clean bathroom, and nothing puts a smile on my face like a freshly scrubbed toilet!! (I wish I were joking...) So, here are a few of my favorite cleaning products: The Magic Sponge --Seriously, this is my favorite cleaning tool! I have about 8 boxes right now because I go through them so quickly. Mr. Clean is the original maker, but the Walmart brand seems to work just fine! This little diddy gets those black marks off of walls, takes of crayon, can be used as a pretreater for clothes, and I even use it to wipe down the porch railings! Yesterday, Caleb lovingly drew with Sharpie marker all over the kitchen table...yikes! My Magic Sponge didn't fail me though. Permanent marker was no match for it!! Carbona's Laund...

Seriously, I am going to work at the library. Seriously, how fun and STRESS-FREE would storytime be?! I could totally run those kid programs and do all kinds of things to support VSC indicators! My principal said that I would miss seeing the "Ah-ha" moments, but my quick reply was that I haven't had any of those this year anyway! All my kids did today was talk and not do work. It did not appear that any real work or learning was done. I was constantly on them today and spent most of my time fussing at them instead of doing what I'm supposed to be doing. (teaching, in case you weren't sure) To top it ALL off, I was running late from a conference and was late getting home so that Matt could be back up at church by 5:45. I called him and apologized profusely before telling him that I was on my way. Well....someone had parked illegally on the curb behind me and I backed right into her! I then had to go back in and (tearfully) ask my principal to make an announcemen...

On Sunday, Pastor Wagner talked about a Jewish custom where they would make a remembrance pile of differently shaped rocks to help them remember the blessings in their lives. Each rock stood for a specific memory or blessing. Matt and I decided to adapt this idea--especially when I was in an I-hate-my-job mood thanks to last week's conference. We decided to gather rocks and actually write short phrases on them to help us remember! I'm thinking that I will shalack them as well to protect them from the elements. Caleb and I gathered some of the many rocks that are all over our yard. Some are pretty big, but all of them are bigger than your average small rock. We dunked them in water to wash them off (Caleb REALLY liked this part and we both ended up soaked!) and then lined them up on the deck railing to let them dry. We will probably spend a little family time writing some blessings on the rocks tomorrow. Right now, it's pretty much just going to look like a big rock...