Caleb's first gun

While we were home, Shawn's dad gave Caleb his first .410 shotgun. The stock extends for when he gets older.

bubbles

The kid is afraid of bubbles.

I tried them one other time and he just sat there, not moving, crying. I figured I'd try them again last night. He started screaming (stiff again, of course) and I had to drain the bath water and refill it. Once I did that, he was a happy camper.

(Tough guy pose)

Show me your teeth!

Saying Goodbye

As I try to write a little something about my uncle, I am at a loss for words. The unexpectedness of his death is still unbelievable. The thing we hate most, is that we are not home to spend valuable time with of our family. Something, that we only truly realize when tragedy happens. I am thankful that we were able to spend a few days with him at Christmas and I cherish those big hugs he always had for me.

For me, the greatest moment of this weekend was being able to witness what a great man he was in the eyes of friends and family. The line of red and black jerseys from the football team and the tears of young men as they passed my Uncle Joe will be etched in my memory forever. To me, he was just my uncle, my mom's brother, my grandparents' son, my Aunt Sharon's husband, stepfather to three cousins, and 3 grandchildren. To those boys, he was a mentor, coach, friend, someone they looked up to for guidance. I learned more about who he was and the legacy he now leaves, from the over 1,000 people that came to pay their last respects. To say that he will be greatly missed, I think, is an understatement.

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit".

Psalm 34:18

Caleb's best friend

The dog we love to hate......and Caleb's best friend.

He calls for him first thing in the morning (after dada, of course) and is beginnning to learn how much fun it is to torment him. As much as Wrigley drives me crazy and as many times as I've suggested we get rid of him, he really is a great dog and watching how much Caleb loves him tells me, I could never get rid of him.

snow, snow and more snow

They were forcasting snow yesterday and I didn't believe them. If you even mention freezing rain or snow the whole city begins to freak out. (Which means the Playdate place we were to take Caleb so Shawn and I could have a Valentine's Day date, closed - they did the same thing to us 2 weeks ago too - where are this kids grandparents when you need them!!?) I went to dinner last night with a few girls and no snow. But before we went to bed we looked outside and guess what, there was snow!! We woke up to a little over 4 inches, which is huge for this part of the country. Of course, I was excited, so we ate breakfast, got bundled up and ran outside. Wrigley was loving it, but Caleb was a little less enthusiastic. We don't have snow clothes for him, so we started layering. Socks, footed pjs, thermal shirt over that, fleece pants, lined nylon pants, ziploc bags over his feet with hair ties around his ankles (to keep the snow out) and then another pair of socks over that...winter coat, hat and socks for gloves. Now, we're ready to play! We were also without a sled so Shawn rigged up a clothes basket. (I know, kinda redneckish:o) Or "hillian" as we call it back home!) Whether Caleb had fun or not, me, Shawn and Wrigley had a lot of fun! I guess we'll just have Valentine's Day dinner and a movie here at the house after Caleb goes to bed.

Kelly, across the street, started early on his snowman. I think he did a pretty good job!

I tried to get Caleb to eat snow, but he wasn't interested.

We're getting old!

15 years ago, today, this guy and this girl became boyfriend and girlfriend.

Now look at us!

Don't let dad know you're playing with this!

A man purse.......

.......in pink!

Funny faces

I was hoping to have a really great post today about the "Super Bowl Champs", which was supposed to be the Colts......but we won't talk about that :o(

We were able to get outside for a whole 20 minutes today (it's only 40 out) and blow off some steam. I'm not sure if Caleb really makes all of these funny faces or if I am just taking really bad pictures. I thought they were still pretty cute.

(Look at all that spit!)

Sick again

Well, we ventured out to the doctor again this morning. I kinda thought it would be a waste of my time since all the symptoms of teething and an ear infection are the same - except for the 102.8 temperature (another tooth just popped thru a couple of days ago). But, he has one. This time it's in the left ear and the one he had a few weeks ago in his right ear is still lingering. So, she gave us some new medicine to try and a referral to an ENT. This is what he looked like after he woke up from his nap this afternoon.

Another day with a temperature

I'm kinda over this sick kid thing.......

.....or maybe he's just playin' me!