Caleb's Mother's Day Present

So for this past Mother's Day, Caleb decided to give his mom a super special present. It wasn't flowers, it wasn't candy, it wasn't a nice dinner out. Rather Caleb decided to give his mommy break for Mother's Day and allow her to go to Destin, Florida for a weekend while he stayed with his grandma. Well...I guess I can't give Caleb all the credit for the idea, since the main reason we were going that weekend was to meet up with my college friend. Nevertheless, it was very considerate of Caleb to agree to be away from his mommy for that time, especially since we had yet to spend a night apart from him. The weekend ending up going fabulous, as we had a great time in Florida and Caleb barely even realized we were gone. When we came home, he was excited to see Sharon - though he looked at me with a puzzled expression as he tried to remember just who that strange guy was. All in all, I'm glad that we were able to take advantage of this opportunity and am especially thankful that my mother-in-law was so willing to Caleb-sit.

Apart from learning to be a bit more independent from his mom for a weekend, Caleb has also been developing some other neat skills. He has developed quite an attachment to the plastic golf clubs we found for him at a yard sale - and he is even learning to hit a ball with them rather than just using them to whack his mom or dad (or himself). Also, he has become quite the mimicker of his mom, as he is already quite meticulous about recycling and cleaning. Though we've been slackers in taking pictures, we do have the one video below showing Caleb's new-found housekeeping skills.

The Big 3-0

I probably should have written this post last week, but I've found it difficult in my old age to even remember that I have a blog that I should be updating. The numerous aches and pains that I'm now encountering on a daily basis make it difficult to drag myself out of bed in the morning - let alone type on a keyboard. Also, my vision has gotten so bad that it is hard to read the words that I'm typing - and I've encountered some difficulty in remembering my password for the blog as well. I'm actually just getting to make this post now, as my failing hearing made it impossible to respond to Sharon's numerous requests to write a post about my 30th birthday. But now, here I am to let you all know that I still don't feel a day older than 29 (apart from the minor issues alluded to above).

For my birthday weekend, my good friend Lucas honored me by throwing a impressive party - complete with fabulous hors d'oeuvres, a gourmet meal, an extravagant cake, and lots of music and dancing for the roughly 200 guests. Although the party was technically a "wedding reception" for Lucas and his new bride Katie - it still was a fun way to spend my 30th birthday weekend. Another fun part of Lucas and Katie getting married on my birthday weekend was that the wedding was in the Philadelphia area - and we got to see many family and friends while there. It was a real privilege to serve as a groomsman in Lucas' wedding - as we have had many, many great adventures together over the years. I'm especially excited for him as he begins this new adventure of marriage with his lovely wife Katie. Following are two videos from the weekend, as I'll blame the lack of pictures on that ever-declining memory :)

Caleb really enjoyed his time with Jen, our good friend and co-RA from Black Forest Academy, who quickly developed a bond with Caleb by sharing her pizza.

Caleb's empathy over his dad now being officially over the hill was quickly eclipsed by his obvious enjoyment of the birthday lunch.