first day of school!

it's finally here! cameron started 3rd grade, and claire's in 1st grade! MY BABIES!! it was a bit stressful getting everyone ready, with tim at starbucks today, but we managed! poor caloway - he kept asking, "where's my class?" he wanted to go to school so bad, but he's got another year 'til preschool. i'll probably just keep him home for that, like i did for claire. it was exciting starting another year, though, and both kids were happy to begin again. for the first week, at least. ;)

claire's theology

clairely - "is satan the devil?"
me - "yes, he is."
clairely - "where does he live?"
me - "he roams the earth, and is in hell."
clairely - "oh, i thought he lived in texas."

sorry about that, texas!

is it on sale?

so i never really thought about how much i'm telling the kids we have to be careful how we spend our money! it has to be on clearance for us to buy it! well, cameron's been asking for a robe lately, and he saw one in children's place the other day! i watched him out of the corner of my eye, as he picked up the robe he liked, and carried it over to the counter.

cameron - "um, is this on sale?"
saleslady - "no, that's not on sale."
cameron, dejected - "oh, I can't get it yet."

Not another word was uttered on the robe subject! usually cameron wants to know why, and then why on why, and so on . . . but the 'on sale' issue was cut and dry for him. hehe! and just so you know that i'm not a stingy little mama, he will get a robe this fall! when it goes on sale, of course ;)

the buddy is 4!

Caloway turned 4 today! It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital, all 5.8 lbs of him. His legs were so thin, they felt like pencils! This little man has brought so much joy to our lives. His sparkling blue eyes, and infectious little smile have captured our hearts and leave us wanting MORE CALLY! He has been 'the buddy' since day 1, and we can't imagine life without him. 3 kids is definitely where it's at! We celebrated at chuckie cheese, Cal's choice, with Grammy and Grampy, and he got better batter baseball! He has been hitting balls for a week! And today, he got a remote-controlled Wall-E robot, and a new veggietales movie! He was soo excited to see Wall-E!! So happy, happy birthday to the little guy with a big, big heart! I'm going to go find him, and get a BIG, MONSTER HUG!

seven is heaven!

Happy Birthday, Claire! Today she is 7. Where has the time gone? I love my little girl so, so much, I just want to share why I love this sweet little one:

• her sense of humor - claire is the funniest little girl I've ever met! she has the unique ability to be funny without even trying, and she gives us the biggest laughs. The day is brighter and more fun when she is in it.
• her enthusiasm - when claire tries something, she gives it her all! She is the cheerleader for the underdog, praises my cooking, is a true blue friend to her buddies ... if claire's behind you, there's nothing you can't do!
  
• her tender heart - claire feels for you; she looks out for her brothers, writes me notes when I'm sad, draws sweet little pictures for her daddy, and can't wait to crawl into bed with us first thing in the morning, just to cuddle.
• her beautiful voice - claire loves to sing! she sings breathing in and breathing out, literally! there's not an hour in the day that doesn't pass without hearing her sweet little voice quavering through a song. she's right on pitch, and has recently developed a little vibrato - i could listen to her for hours!
  
• her love for Jesus - claire tries so hard to do what's right. she loves to share with me about everything right now, and i pray that continues as she grows. i love laying in bed with her at night, lights out, and just talking about all that's gone on in her day and in her head.

claire has my heart! we are so blessed to have this girl in our lives, and even more blessed that she belongs to us! Happy Birthday to my sweet baby.

george clooney ... on the run?

saw this picture today and couldn't stop laughing ... it's george clooney putting the pedal to the metal after coming face-to-face with his No. 1 fan. i am not making this up!

fresh paint

i painted claire's room yesterday - i found a lovely color called celery sprig. we got her a new quilt set, and i am so happy with how it turned out! i hope the pics aren't too dark ... nani, don't you love the barbie lamp?? we have to listen to it every night! still have to change the bedskirt, and now if only i could get rid of that carpet ...

overheard

with all the political candidates on tv all the time, the kids have been exposed to Obama and McCain. we were driving in the car one day, and a radio commercial spoke about john mccain.

Cameron - "Who's John McCain?"
Claire - "He was on American Idol!"

pink hair

claire and I had a little fun with some temporary hair color! She loved her pink hair!! Don't worry, Nani and Grammy, it washes right out ;) She looked pretty stinkin' cute . . .

shedding its' skin

ok, so cameron came hollering out front the other night, saying he found something on the swingset! When I got there, we found a locust shedding its skin on the bottom of the fort! I must've taken 25 pictures, trying to get a good shot, since it was so dark outside! Check him out ... I was so scared he'd fly in my face, but his wings were still really wet, so I'm pretty sure he was staying put for a little bit! He was gone in the morning, leaving his little brown shell.