little one update

Caleb: This boy is growing up and sometimes I look over at him and can't believe how tall and grown up he is getting. Caleb has been so great with our chore chart system this summer. He has been positive about my attempts at summer school. We love having him home so we can play together more. Matt and Caleb are starting a new hobby of flying model airplanes. So to prepare, Matt bought a flight simulator for the computer to practice before they get the real thing. Caleb really enjoys this. Caleb is playing baseball and is has been having fun for the most part. Last Tuesday he had his first experience with bullying with someone on his own team. But this has been a good learning/teaching opportunity for all of us. I was pretty upset by this (mother instincts kicking in) and wanted to go find the kid (or his parents) and give them a piece of my mind, but as we have talked about this experience and discussed why people are mean and why it is important to not be mean I am glad I didn't act out of anger. My sister Gwen helped me a lot with this subject, she being a teacher has great insights. Her main point to Caleb was that if he doesn't like something that is going on he can stand up for himself and stop the situation because he is a strong kid. I wasn't able to see all of this going on because my line of sight of the kids in the batting line was blocked by other parents. After the game I saw Caleb being chased by this big kid from a distance and was trying to figure out if they were having fun until I saw the panic on Caleb's face intermingled with nervous laughter. The kid saw me looking at him and quit, so he must know he was being a punk. We are definitely going to sit where we can see what is going on. I hope he can learn more good from sports to out weigh the bad. Caleb is such a fun kid and his sense of humor is developing. Caleb is so cute with Cora and is always trying to make her smile.

Luke: This guy is our little cutey and still makes us laugh with the funny things he says.

• The other day it was getting ready to rain and Caleb told Luke they needed to get ready for a flash flood, so they got their life jackets on and Luke was thinking a river of water was coming so he was getting worried for Cora and I and told us to stay inside and he would lock the doors so we wouldn't get washed away.
• We went for a walk on the river trail and the boys found some giant pill bugs and Luke had one climbing up his shirt and he is looking at the bug and tenderly says "the bug likes me."
• The boys caught a small bird from the park (against Matt's advice) they brought it home and put it in a box in the garage. Luke said "I want to tease my bird" by showing it a homemade bird balloon we had made that day (I am sad to report the bird didn't make it).
• Luke was talking about something Jesus had made and said "Jesus got tired of doin that. It was a lot of work so he needs people to help him."
• Cora was in her bouncer and Daisy (the dog) licked the top of her head Luke: "Mom, Daisy licked Cora" Me: "where" Luke: "Right here on her fur."
  

Cora: What a sweet happy baby. Cora has found her fingers and prefers them to a pacifier now, and will not take one. She has outgrown swaddling. Her hair has a slight auburn tint to it. She smiles and has started squealing to test our her voice. She'll be four months on Sunday.

btw: these pictures are from our film slr, and I got the pictures put on a cd and the quality is poor. So frustrating.