An encore for all of Caleb’s fans. Yep, he’s still singing.
- Home Life & Family
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August13th
Encore
Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family, Spiritual
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July12th
Caleb the Worship Leader
Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family
Caleb is crazy about all kinds of music, he loves to play his guitar and drum. If there were a Guitar Hero or Rock Band game for toddlers, he would be a pro. But his favorite music is worship music. He runs around the house singing worship songs all day, and he often insists that I sit on the floor and play his toy drum while singing the song of his choice. I have no talent as a drummer, so it can be somewhat challenging to play and sing. He also likes for me to play his Fisher-Price toy guitar which plays a few songs while singing his current favorite worship song, this, as you can imagine, can also be difficult. However, Mommy on the toy drums is no match for Uncle Allan playing the real guitar and singing. Caleb could sit and listen to him for hours; every time that Allan finishes a song Caleb calls out another one for him. He thinks Allan is his own personal worship DJ.
We haven’t really tried to teach him any worship songs; he just picks them up at church or from the music we listen to in the car. We are always surprised by what he knows. Every week or so he gets a new favorite. For a while his favorite was “Refiner’s Fire,” then it was “How Great is Our God,” then “Praise Adonai;” yesterday he woke up singing “Come Into My Heart, Lord Jesus,” and today his new favorite is “Holy is the Lord, God Almighty.”
I’ve been trying for months to videotape him singing, but he always refuses to cooperate. Finally, today Casey got some great footage. As you can see, he is using the wooden spoon as his guitar. He’s going to be a wonderful worship leader someday; I just hope he learns to stand still a little first. And yes, we’ll be getting him into music lessons as soon as he’s ready.
Watch the Video
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May27th
Congratulations, Billy!
Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family
My baby brother graduated from high school last week. If you’ll indulge me once again, I promise to keep the Billy-bragging to a minimum in the future. But I can’t write this post without mentioning that Billy was an honor graduate and a National Merit Scholar. I’m proud because he is my little brother, but he was also my student. Of course, I think he’s the smartest kid ever, but he’s also one of the most God-seeking men I have ever known. He’s heading to Wheaton College this fall, and we are all going to miss him terribly, but I can’t wait to see all that he will achieve. Looking at all of these graduation pictures reminded me of another graduation picture from the not so distant past. I guess he’s grown a little since then.

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May21st
Meet George
Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family
For Caleb’s birthday, Uncle Allan and Aunt Lindsay gave him a Curious George doll. Caleb has been infatuated with Curious George ever since a friend gave him one of the books last fall, and he loves to watch the Curious George movie. When he opened the present, it was love at first sight. He and George have been inseparable since that moment. George has almost become another member of our family. He goes with us everywhere. George has been to Target, Community Bible Study, Walmart, Grandma’s house, house church, and bible class (these are the places that we frequent). George has been introduced to all of our friends, who were of course delighted to meet him. I have almost felt like George has become another child to me; I wash his shirt occasionally, clean him up when he’s dirty, and I even had to stitch up a hole in his tummy.
I realized how attached I have become to George yesterday when we nearly lost him at Kohl’s. We had been shopping all morning with George and Caleb in the stroller; when we left the store and started to get in the car, I realized that George was missing. We rushed back in the store and searched for him everywhere; I even asked a couple uninterested clerks if they had seen him. Just as we were about to lose all hope, I found him lying on the floor in the home goods department. What a relief!
My only comfort during all of the searching was that we have always tried to do our best by George. We have tried very hard to teach him about Jesus (through his various trips to bible study and church). Yesterday morning, before we left for the store, I walked into the kitchen in time to see Caleb put George in his booster seat, look him straight in the eye, and say emphatically, “Obey God!”, which is something I’m sure George needed to hear. I only wish George would give Caleb the same reminder from time to time.
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April27th
Birthday Boy!
Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family, Parenthood
Today my sweet little Caleb is two years old! I cannot believe that two years ago today I was holding him for the first time. He was born at 3:43 in the morning after over twenty hours of labor followed by a c-section, but he was worth every second of it. He was such a beautiful baby; every once in a while he does something that reminds me of the baby he used to be. I miss that baby, but this little boy is pretty fun too.Now he is the most active toddler that you can imagine; he runs all over the house playing with toys or dancing to music. Occasionally he can no longer contain the huge burst of energy bubbling inside of him, so he just erupts in loud yells or laughter. He did this yesterday at Chick-fil-a; everyone thought it was funny that he was so excited to eat lunch.
He loves to show off how good he is at jumping. Anytime he feels that he might have an audience he gives us a little jumping show. He also likes to throw his body on the floor with complete abandon; it’s almost a game to see in what strange position he will end up. This game scares his momma a little bit.
It has been so much fun to watch him learn to talk. He calls himself “Cay-bee,” and can say anything now. His favorite sayings are “Cool, dude,” “Go, Billy, Go,” and “Oh, man!”
He also loves music. He sings all kinds of songs, some made up and some real. He amazes me at the songs he picks up. The other day he started singing part of the song, “Purify My Heart.” It’s been weeks since we had sung that song, but he was singing, “to be holy.” Now he can sing, “I choo to be holy, se apa for you my mater;” yes, it’s precious. The words aren’t always right, but the tune is exact. A few weeks ago, he started singing the “Happy Birthday Song;” we couldn’t figure out where he had heard it because we hadn’t been singing it. Then I remembered that one night when he was in his bedroom playing, one of us had sung it in the kitchen as a joke. A few days later the song was still floating around in his head. He also likes to sing the Jack Johnson song, “People Watching.” He asks for “moosih” all the time. If a song ends in the car, he starts asking for more before the next song starts.
His other favorite thing right now is Curious George. One of our friends got him a Curious George book for his birthday last year. It is his favorite book to read. The Easter Bunny brought him the Curious George movie this year, and he asks to watch “George” every day. It is so funny to watch him watch the movie, because every time he acts like it is his first time to see the movie. He always says “Oh, no!” when George gets into trouble. Maybe he feels like he has a lot in common with George.
We are so blessed to have this little boy in our lives. I can’t imagine how we lived without him. He is the most precious blessing God has given us. Thank you, God, for Caleb!
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March17th
Fifth in State!
Author: Casey | Posted in: Home Life & Family
This weekend we all went to see Billy wrestle in the State Tournament. This was only his first year in wrestling, but he did amazingly well! I was blown away by all of the huge guys he was wrestling and beating! Since his school can only have one wrestler per weight class, Billy had to move up to the 171 LB. weight class, but he weighs about ten pounds less than that. So, he was essentially wrestling guys that were heavier and stronger than him, but he still beat them. AMAZING!
Billy’s last match was excellent. He pinned his opponent in the second round with only one second left on the clock. We were all yelling and going crazy, and Caleb even got in on the action. It was a lot of fun.
Billy, we are all very proud of you. Way to go!
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March8th
Week of Snow
Author: Casey | Posted in: Home Life & Family
This week we have had some very interesting weather. We woke up on Tuesday morning to a blanket of snow on the ground, which melted by Tuesday afternoon. Then on Wednesday, the temperatures were in the 60s. Finally, yesterday it snowed all day! It didn’t being to stick on the ground until around lunch time, but after that everything started looking so pretty.When Caleb woke up from his nap, we all went outside to play! Grandma and Granddad came over to help us build a snowman. Caleb kept trying to tackle the snowman and knock him over! He’s a wild man! We had a lots of fun running around in the snow and throwing snow balls at each other. Caleb even threw a couple of snow balls at me!
I grew up in Houston, Texas, so I rarely ever saw snow. I do remember it snowing one time when I was a kid and my sister and I gathered up all of the snow in the front yard and back yard, and we had just enough snow to make a snowman about a foot tall! So, anytime it snows I always get pretty excited.
Now that we’ve gotten our obligatory snow for the year, I’m ready for spring. Bring on the warmer weather and the pretty flowers! Thank you God for all of the seasons!
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February18th
A Caleb to English Dictionary
Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family, Parenthood
For those of you who may find yourselves attempting to converse with a toddler in the near future, here are Caleb’s translations of our own English words and names:Ma-ma = “Momma”
Da-da = “Daddy”
Be-ew = “Boo”
Da-dad = “Granddad”
A-na = “Allan”
In-cee = “Lindsay”
Bi-bee = “Billy”
Popsh = “Pops”
mmmoh = “more”
peeez = “please”
gee (hard “g”) = “again” and, sometimes, “read”
sosh-osh = “sorry”
caow = “car”
hep = “help”
a-duh = “all done” or “all gone”
jooz = “juice”
da = “up” or “down,” depending on the circumstance
hosh-osh = “hungry”
soosh = “shoes”
baw = “ball”
tsit = “sit” (he yells this at Boo)
Bie-boo = “Bible”
Ga = “God”
Amen! = “Amen” (He loves to yell this at the end of a prayer, as if he is thrilled that “being quiet” time is over.)
no-no-no-no = “I’m not supposed to be doing whatever I am doing at this moment, but I’m hoping that if I communicate to you that I realize I am not supposed to do this, then you won’t realize that I am actually doing it.” -
February14th
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family
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February4th
Billy the Monster
Author: Mary Beth | Posted in: Home Life & Family
Here is a video clip of Billy at his wrestling match last weekend. He made the sports segment of the news! To be honest, wrestling isn’t too big in the south, so I don’t know much about it, but this clip is amazing to me! I can’t believe that that blue and green monster with the rippling muscles is my baby brother! The man yelling for him is my dad.









