bubble mowers and bruises

it's been a random week around here...in case you couldn't tell from the heading. for mother's day, caleb got a bubble blowing lawnmower. i know that mother's day gifts are supposed to be reserved for mothers, but having an ultra cool toy that works both inside and outside, makes my job as a mother a little bit easier. for only $15, caleb and i have had a blast mowing the driveway and carpet. and the very real lawnmower sound it makes drives jack crazy...always a bonus! caleb has been trying very hard for the past week to run. until yesterday, it was cute. he waves his arms trying to get momentum and picks up pretty good speed. his feet don't quite leave the ground which is where his problem lies. yesterday, we were playing ball in the church gym (an afternoon favorite) and caleb took off running. no ball, no nothing in sight to trip him and he fell...face first onto the wood floor. of course there were tears, but thankfully, no blood. he had a small bump on his forehead, but it quickly went away. later that evening, i was getting dinner ready and caleb was hanging out with daddy. once again, he took off running and fell...face first in the kitchen. this time, there was blood. he bit his top lip and it hurt pretty bad. poor little guy, 2 bad falls in 1 day! despite the bruise across the bridge of his nose, he's right back at running again today. you may call it stubborness, but i call it dogged determination :)

water baby

today, caleb and i had yet another first. we went swimming :) our friend paula and her two sweet boys, elijah & ethan, invited us out for free swim time at the y. after the inaugural pack of swim diapers was opened, we plunged right in. much to my delight, caleb didn't wimper once...in fact, he absolutely loved the water! true to form, caleb pretended the kickboard was a car and made the car noise for 10 minutes straight. we stayed in the water so long that his little toes started to get pruney. fun times!!!

a few of our favorite things

since i uploaded the photos in the wrong order, this list is dave letterman style... number three on the list, but number one in our hearts, is jack. he is such a good puppy...a little, okay, alot stinky, but a good puppy. it's so sweet to see caleb play with him. he loves to throw the ball to jack. i have been amazed that jack will restrain himself long enough for caleb to toddle around and throw the ball (usually on top of jack's head). jack has even stopped attacking the ball when i tell him "no!" and lets caleb pick it up to throw again. it's so sweet to see my boys play together. a close number two, is the church bus. caleb has learned the word bus. or as he says, "BUH." you have to imagine the s...it's silent. he requests to go see the bus at least once a day. since we live less than a football field length from the church parking lot, i almost always indulge his request. it's good exercise for a little guy and his momma. tops on my list is neo-to-go. it's convenient and healing all in one little package. i promptly went out and purchased some today after caleb got his first ever skinned knee. he only shed a few tears. i was so proud...okay, a little weird, but still proud!

family fun in franklin

this is the good stuff! riding in style this past week, we had made plans to attend one of the famous street festivals in franklin (just south of nashville). we were pretty bummed when we awoke to rain on saturday morning. however, around lunchtime, the sun made an appearance and we decided to venture forth. after we were lucky enough to find a parking space (who knew that you could cram so many cars into so few vacant fields?), we were greeted by the wonderful smells of food and the sounds of country music (we do live in nashville, would you expect anything less?!). franklin has an adorable downtown. in fact, the street vendors detract from it's architectural and historical beauty. however, seeing all of the local (and some not so local) merchants displaying their crafts was the best window shopping ever. there were quite a few things there that i wouldn't mind seeing on mother's day-hint, hint :) alas, tom and i minded the budget and didn't purchase anything...shocking, i know. caleb was in a relatively pleasant mood considering we didn't leave enough time to walk around before it was nap time. the highlights of the day for him were riding on daddy's shoulders, the balloon, and the mikshakes! who knew that 15 month olds were so proficient with straws? given his gene pool, we should have!!! just glad he didn't give himself an ice cream headache.

songs for saplings

recently tom and i decided that we would like to look into different methods for catechizing children. while searching monergism.com, i stumbled across an unexpected resource: "songs for saplings." seeing that caleb is (almost) 16 months old, music is the perfect tool for getting God's Word into his heart. he loves to dance and clap to all types of music so i try to keep the cd going during free playtime before his morning nap. the first cd, titled songs for saplings, is geared for toddlers and pairs the letters of the alphabet with a word and a corresponding scripture verse. for example, a is for keeping me as the apple of Your eye, psalm 17:8. pretty juvenile you say? try this one, e is for the word of the Lord endures forever, 1 peter 1:25. awesome stuff...and i typed all of that from memory! the cd's work, i learned something :) i bought 3 more of the cd's entitled "questions with answers" even though they are geared for pre-k and early elementary age kids. i highly recommend these resources. check out the website at www.songsforsaplings.com. you can listen to snippets of a few of the songs...and don't worry, they aren't cheesey and vary in genre/song style. one word of caution, when i received our cd's from monergism.com, the envelope had been split and all four cases had been cracked. i wasn't too happy. but, b/c i downloaded them into itunes and my ipod, it wasn't too big of a problem for us. monergism.com was couple dollars cheaper, but you might want to consider ordering them directly from the manufacturer if you want the cases in one piece.

first trip to the zoo

not the greatest choice in lighting, but two cute boys: ethan & ephraim i tried to keep his head covered, but caleb had other ideas nashville zoo at grassmere leigh, ethan, and ephraim invited us to the zoo today and we jumped at the chance. it was caleb's first time and i think he enjoyed it. i say think because i'm pretty sure he spent more time looking at the other people than the animals. although he did perk up when we saw the elephants. they were big enough to distract his attention away from the crowds-ha! the nashville zoo is located on an 200 acre plantation called grassmere. it is expanding to fill all 200 acres with greenspace, exhibits, and parking (which it desparately needs!). the current exhibits/habitats are very "natural" looking and pretty. can you tell i'm not zoologically inclined?! we didn't get to stay too long because nap time was quickly approaching for all the boys. hopefully, we'll get to take another trip soon. thanks leigh, ethan, and ephraim, we had a great time :)

backyard adventures

today was such a beautiful day that caleb and i went for a walk around our yard and did some exploring. we have two lilac bushes!!! i was super excited and cut a small bouquet. it smells woooooonderful. we also have a dogwood tree that has started to bloom. as we were making our way into the front yard, i noticed some tiny purple flowers growing underneath caleb's bedroom window. we walked over to take a closer look. i picked one and gave it to caleb. he promptly tried to eat it. after he discovered that it wasn't to eat, he waved it around a few times, dropped it, and proceeded to walk all over the remaining tiny purple flowers. poor flowers :(