Happy Birthday Caleb!!!

Caleb is 9 years old today! He is very happy about it - me not so much (more about that later.) It seems like we have been celebrating his birthday off and on for the past few days. My mom and grandma were in town this past weekend so they took him to Toys R US on Friday after school. They gave him a set amount that he could spend. To most kids that would be awesome. For Caleb, it took forever!!! He was so indecisive. (Due to the fact that we are "professional garage salers" it made it hard for him to spend real money on things. Even though our main goal for garage sales is to buy to resell on ebay, we almost always find awesome deals on things we need/want. People are usually so amazed at some of the things we get.)



Sunday was Caleb's friend party. This year he wanted to go Bowling. He had a great time! Here are a few pics of him and some of his friends. Somehow there were some kids I didn't get a picture of, or only got the back of their head.

I thought this picture of Caden with her daddy was so sweet.

Cali did great at the party. She slept for the first half, but then was content to just sit and people watch.

Yesterday on Memorial Day we did nothing for a change. This was the first year we didn't have family in town and have a cookout. We decided to do nothing. Over the past few weeks Caleb has done a massive cleaning out of his room and we have tons of toys he wants to sell at our next garage sale. Yesterday he also decided that he wanted to sell some of his N64 and PS2 games on ebay. I told him that with all that money he gets from the toys and the video games that he should save it all up and he can buy himself a Wii. He LOVED that idea. (Chris actually had several before Christmas that he got at Wal-Mart, but they were selling so high on ebay that he sold them all) So Caleb brought in stacks and stacks of games for Chris to list. If they all sell he will have enough to buy a Wii in just a week or two!

We have a little tradition of taking the kids out to breakfast on their actual birthday. Caleb picked Cracker Barrel. So we were there at 7:30 this morning. Before we left we gave Caleb our present. Here he is reading the note.

It says something like. "we didn't want to get you any more toys since you have too many already so for your birthday you have to give away all your toys, just kidding. . . . we wanted to get you something you could enjoy for more than a few days. . . for your birthday we are giving you and daddy season passes to Frontier City and White Water Bay." He was really excited about the water park!!!

I can't believe he is already 9 years old. I can remember so clearly 9 years ago when he was born. I remember being so excited and so scared all at the same time.

I had wanted to go back and find some of my favorite pictures of him over the last 9 years but there are just too many. The interesting thing is that most of my favorites were not the adorable professional ones - like this one below.

Here is Caleb at 17 months old. I LOVE this picture.

Most of my favorites were the ones that I took when he was doing silly or weird things or just being a boy. Even though the camera wasn't the best or it wasn't taken with the best lighting or angles etc, I love them because I remember how happy he was at those moments. I remember what was going on in our lives at that moment.

Caleb has always had a love for frogs and lizards. Here is Caleb when he was almost 4. He had so much fun playing with frogs (still does).

Here is another set of pictures that I just love. Caleb had just turned 3 years old and Chris was cleaning out and filling up Caleb's little pool in the back yard. I was able to get these funny pictures. Caleb asked to be sprayed with water. I just love the expressions he has on his face in these pictures.

He is trying to get away.

This one below is one of my favorites of the set. He was trying to get away but knew he was trapped. His body position and facial expression in this picture just cracks me up. He was enjoying himself though.

He is completely drenched in these pictures and he is LOVING IT!!!

These pictures almost bring me to tears. I know the days of him wanting to be around us are numbered. Right now I have the best of both worlds. He is very independent and sometimes it seems like he really only needs me as a chauffeur. However he still wants to be around me sometimes. He will still indulge me at times. He lets me hug him and will kiss me if none of his friends are watching. He still likes to cuddle, wrestle and play games with me.

Caleb (at 4 months) and daddy pouting! Caleb 2 months ago.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB!!! I love you SO MUCH!!!