A Star in the Making

We are entertained by most of what Caleb does and says, but lately we have been laughing most at his musical talents.  He really thinks he is a rockstar, and we are starting to agree.  Here is a video that we took today.  We took it with our digital camera that doesn't have audio. 

Here is a link to the pictures I put on Facebook of his concerts a few days ago.  :-)  Click here to see them. 

Oh, and since you can't hear the words, he is singing again and again, "eeeellllllbbbooooooooooooooowwww,   eeeeeeeeeelllbbbooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww."

Photo Booth Photo Shoot

So this is what I was doing when I wrote the previous post...one of many reasons why being a mom is so amazing.  I laugh a lot.  

The other day Caleb and I played with the camera on our computer and its program Photo Booth.  For those of you unfamiliar with Macs, it is a program similar to the photo booths you find in the mall...except there are several effects you can apply to your photos.  Here are some shots from our little photo shoot.  We had fun.

 

He really likes looking at his reflection in the mirror...making funny faces and expressions...sticking his belly out and in...talking to himself.  This was no different. 

This was when he started to get freaked out.  After looking at my face several times to make sure it wasn't really distorted, he started to have fun again. 

I like this kid.  I think we'll keep him. 

Being a mom...

is the best EVER.  

Just thought I would share.  :-)

I like him. :-)

Brandon went out of town last weekend for our church men's retreat.  Soon after he left, Caleb and I got in the car to go somewhere, and this is what I saw: 

Isn't he the sweetest?  I am glad he added the "i love you" so that people who see it don't think I put it up for self affirmation.  :-)  I think I will leave it up there for a while.  

More Indiana

These pictures are for my dad.  He asked for them.   Their house has all sorts of wonderful natural light.  Caleb wasn't very cooperative, however.  

Caleb was fascinated by my dad's treadmill.  

He loved spending time with his grandparents. 

Caleb loved spending time with his Uncle Jeff...one of two.  :-)

We went to a Jimmy Buffett concert.  My brother had tickets, and I love concerts and my family.  I  still am not much of a fan, but I had lots of fun with them. 

This is Chicago through our airplane window.  My little boy was yelling the entire time I took this, and the woman next to me ended up taking him from me to calm him down.  What kind of mom tunes her kid out like that...for a picture?  

There were finger prints all over the window, and I didn't realize it until we had passed the city.  I love that town.  

p.s.  Em and Laura, Caleb and I waved at you down there.  Em, I thought I saw your house.  :-)

Caleb's Room

I finally uploaded a few more pictures to our computer, and so here is the one room we have finished. 

This is my favorite room of the house at this point.  It was really fun to do because I have wanted for a long time to use both magnetic paint and chalkboard paint, and Caleb's room offered the perfect opportunity.

I decided to go with a transportation theme in his room because he loves all things having to do with construction vehicles, planes, bikes and cars.  He calls construction vehicles "mo-mos" and planes "sky."  I find it quite cute, really. 

The transportation theme is actually mixed with the alphabet theme from his nursery, but I don't think he minds too much.  :-)

 

Brandon took down the wood paneling in the room.
He got help from some friends (Thanks, Joe, Joe and Phil).
He (they) did an amazing job. 

We also replaced the carpet in the room. 

I did the taping of the road and the magnetic primer.
My amazing husband did the rest.
The blue is supposed to be sky, and the green is grass.
I don't think I am going to take the theme much further,
but if you have any thoughts I would love to hear them. 

I love how much light comes in this room.
I don't even know if I want to put window treatments up.  I like the tree view outside too.  

I painted his closet door with chalkboard paint, and it worked so well.
It took three coats, but he loves it. 

The road is magnetic, and these are little painted wooden cars
I bought at Hobby Lobby and put magnets on the back of them.
Caleb loves these too, and I am planning on making some more soon.  

Up until last night, I had paid no attention whatsoever to what has been going on over in Beijing.  It became pretty clear, however, that we would probably not see any of our friends for a while if it doesn't involve the Olympics.  So, most of our team came over last night to watch and eat pizza...and what a night to watch! 

Yeah, I am hooked.  How fun was the men's 4 x 100 swim?  WOW!  Seriously,  I can't stop watching this stuff.  

Steph, I see what you're talking about.  Hope you get cable soon!  

Love you all!

Do you have Verizon?

A good friend, Holly, let us know the other day that Campus Crusade staff get a discount with Verizon.  We were thrilled because our monthly bill isn't exactly low.  I was really grateful she shared that with us, and so I thought I would share some things I have learned about how to not get ripped off by my favorite cell phone company. 

1) VCAST  -  When examining my bill a few months ago, I noticed a fifteen dollar data usage charge.  I think that's what it was called.  When I called them about it, I found out that the charge was for something called VCast, and I had been paying fifteen dollars a month for it for a year or so.  According to the company, it is automatically activated when you get certain kinds of phones.  It is free for the first month, but then you start paying if you don't cancel it.  When I complained about it, they credited me what I had paid for it for a few months back.  Needless to say, I think it is a scam to get more money from us. 

I checked it out on my dad's phone.  He had been paying it since the summer of '06.  When I cancelled it, they only gave him a few months credit as well.  He never used it once.  Neither had I.

2) Saving Minutes - I am sure most of you know this, but I know that some people surprisingly don't.  If you want to save minute usage on your phone, call your own phone number to get your voicemail.  It will go straight to your voicemail and it is in network.  Don't dial *86 or whatever it is.  :-) Verizon doesn't mention this either. 

Hope this is helpful!  I like saving money.  I especially dislike wasting it.  :-)

Happy Saturday!

C and T...more digital scrapbooking

And a few people have asked me how I do my digital scrapbooking.  I do it on photoshop with the free digital kits from designerdigitals.com and twopeasinabucket.com.  I really, really like it because I don't have to print and crop photos, and it doesn't make a mess.  I really like photoshop.  :-)

Good Times

We had a wonderful time in Indiana.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!  Flying with Caleb was an adventure as always (as seen in Caleb's pants-less picture).  Spending time with friends was so much fun...though I would have loved to see more of them.  Being without a car makes it hard to see everyone, but I will take what I can get.  Caleb (and I) loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa.  We look forward to seeing them again at Christmas. 

Brandon was super busy over the week we were gone.  I will post some pics of his work on our house as soon as I get them uploaded.  :-) 

Back Home Again in Indiana

While I absolutely love the beauty of the Southwest, I have been surprisingly blown away by the loveliness of my home state.  Normally when we come out here, we drive across the country so the transitions in the landscape are more gradual.  This time, Caleb and I flew...so everything is just shockingly green.  

Go Boilers!

So, I am a little excited about Purdue basketball in the fall. I know it's early, but GO BOILERS!  An excerpt from a website... Boilermakers Already Drawing Attention For 2008-09   Several Web Sites have Purdue top 10 for 2008-09.     Matt Painter has a lot of people nationally talking about Purdue basketball.   April 9, 2008 WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - After a second place Big Ten finish and 25-9 record, the Purdue men's basketball team is already getting some recognition from the media for the 2008-09 season. ESPN.com's Andy Katz released his annual predictions for the preseason top 25 for the 2008-09 season. In his poll Purdue is No. 8, the highest ranked Big Ten team. "Mackey Arena is rocking again, and Matt Painter has ascended rather quickly as a well-respected coach." said Katz. Luke Winn of CNNSI.com has Purdue No. 4 in his top 10 poll for 2008-09. Jeff Goodman of Foxsports.com also has the Boilermakers No. 7. The Boilermakers finished No. 20 in the final USA Today Coaches Poll and return all five starters.

Removing the Paneling

As we are in Indiana, Brandon is busy working on things around the house.  This is a picture of the walls in our dining room with the wood panels removed.  The brown stuff is really old glue.  He says it is all going to be a lot of work.  I am excited to see how it turns out.  Thanks, husband.  :-)  We miss you. 

Before and After

Our little man, like most toddlers, hates to get his hair cut.  I don't like the process myself and he won't let me get near him with scissors.  So, we go to Supercuts and he screams for twenty minutes.  His hair grows super fast, so I just let it go forever until it gets out of control and we have to cut it all off.  

So here are two pictures I took of him today:

Brandon's immediate response is usually, "Who is that?"  It takes a while to get used to it.  :-) Hopefully this will help Grandma and Grandpa recognize him when we see them tomorrow.  We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving.  

We own a house!

Well, technically we don't own a house.  The bank owns our house.  They're just letting us live here.  :-)  I guess we own a small percentage of it.  I decided tonight that it's the wood floors we own...and maybe a small portion of the backyard. 

Our closing happened today.  It was almost two weeks after our first closing date, but nonetheless it happened.  After signing a million and two forms, we bought a house.  It definitely wasn't as exciting as I am sure most closings are since we are already living here, but it was still fun. Now...we have some work to do.

But, my part of that work will have to wait.  Caleb and I are taking off on Thursday to go out to Indiana to see my family.  Brandon isn't traveling this summer, so he will remain home...and hopefully start taking off some of that wood paneling that's covering the walls of three rooms. 

NOTE:  All of the pictures were taken before we moved in.  I haven't taken any since...but I will.  

This is our dining room...eating area. It is part of the kitchen.  We are going to paint the panel-less walls a golden color...which I hope is different enough from the existing floors.  We'll see.  We already bought the paint, so there is no turning back. 

 

The above room is Caleb's now.  We are going to go out and order new carpet tomorrow, and I think we might paint the room green with blue and red magnetic stripes.  We haven't bought that paint yet, so who knows what it will end up as. 

The other picture is our backyard.  It is a great size for us, and Caleb is having a great time.  One carport will be taken down and removed by the previous owners. We're not sure what we are going to do with the other. 

 The picture on top is our living room window, and the picture on the bottom is the front yard.  Do you notice the GRASS!?!? And the wrought iron fence is so great for our little boy to play freely on the GRASS!  I am so excited about that green stuff covering our yard.  Have you noticed?  Now to just learn how to take care of it. 

I have taken so few pictures since we have been here, and we have yet to take a picture of the front of the house.  I will put some more up soon, but just imagine a 1960s ranch...with a porch swing that we (I) are (am) hoping to put up soon.  :-)