Caleb– May, 2011

Caleb loves to read and Caleb loves to write. The wheels of his imagination are constantly turning! This afternoon he sat down at the computer and cranked out the beginning of a brand new book. This will be the 3rd book he has authored (I’ll have to post some of his earlier stuff too). When Cam got home tonight, Caleb read us what he wrote this afternoon and frankly, I’m super impressed with what he’s got so far. This is exactly as he typed it today, without any editing:

Chapter One

Jake Moneke awoke on a Tuesday morning to the sound of his alarm. He reached for the snooze button but in his attempt fell out of bed. Now fully awake Jake stood up and turned the alarm off. He looked at the clock. 8.00 a.m. He was going to be late. Jake rushed out of the room and into his Kitchen. He looked around franticly then ran back into his bedroom. He went to his closet and opened it. He threw on the first thing he saw, and ran back into the Kitchen. He grabbed a leftover piece of steak from the night before and shoved it into his mouth and ran out of his apartment and into an elevator. He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the elevator to reach its destination. Finally he arrived at the bottom of the apartment complex and ran out the door. He leaped the stairway outside and landed on the sidewalk. He whistled for a cab and waited. A couple minutes later a taxi pulled up next to him. He jumped in and gave the taxi driver the directions. “Thirty Sixth Street, please.” Jake said. For the next few minutes they drove in silence then the cab came to a sudden stop. “Thirty Sixth Street” The cab driver said gruffly. “Thank you” Jake said as he stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk. “I owe you a million” Jake then turned and ran into a large building with a large sign on it that read: Archeology and Mythology. Jake stepped inside the building. Inside there was a lobby with chairs and tables, and at the end of the room was an elevator. He walked across the room quickly and into the elevator. He waited only a few seconds and then finally the elevator doors opened. Jake stepped out and walked hurriedly to a desk where a secretary sat “You can go right in” She said. Jake kept walking until he came upon a door. He straitened himself out, and then entered. Inside there was a conference going on “sorry I’m late” he said apologetically as he sat down. “Jake, Can I talk to you.” His boss asked. “let’s go into my office.” They both sat down and his then boss begin to speak “Jake, You’ve been coming in late and not being able to work lately.”  “Only the past few weeks” Jake said.  “But how can I know that it won’t happen forever?” His boss said. “Look, Jake, there are a lot of better workers out there, and I don’t think it’s in the company’s best interest to keep you here.” “You’re firing me?” Jake asked.  “Well…” he waited for a moment then nodded. “Well,” Jake stood up “It’s been good working for you… I’ll go get my things” then Jake stepped out of the room.

. . . . .

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Motherhood should come with… Faith. A great partner. A manual? Lots of patience and an extra measure of grace. Motherhood definitely brings a whole lot of perspective to one’s life. It should come with a good play dough recipe, imagination and creativity. Motherhood should be shared with friends. It should come with a sewing machine and patterns to make her children’s favorite costumes. It should come with a way to save, store and remember all the little everyday sweetness that so quickly fades. Motherhood should come with lots of bins and shelves to organize all the special treasures that her little ones create and store. Motherhood should come with a strong heart to bear all the joy, pain, hope, disappointment, fear, and uncertainty.

He will see an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to have it set and put in a cast. Hopefully he will be all healed and cast-free before summer starts!

This song was recorded using GarageBand. They wrote all the music and lyrics, recorded each individual track and learned how to burn it onto a CD all on their own. There’s a lot going on in this song and they have lots still to learn but I am such a proud mom!!!

Cam has been gone since Thursday morning and we miss him a lot! The boys and I spend tons of time together throughout the week- like pretty much most of our waking hours- and we very much look forward to having dad home in the evening and on the weekends. In Cam’s absence, the weekend has definitely had it’s ups and downs.

This picture was from today at Boulevard- one of the “up” moments of the weekend :) Being brothers is so different than being sisters- for many obvious reasons but mainly I see the differences in terms of the physical expressions. My sisters and I would find the smallest couch, chair, bed or whatever and all pile onto it like “puppies” as Cam would call us. Sean and Caleb also are like “puppies” but in a more aggressive way. They are always in constant contact with each other but it’s more like wrestling for who’s most dominant. They love each other more than words can describe but they also find their best/worst opponent in each other. Some days it’s very balanced and then there are days like today…

Looking forward to finishing out our weekend with Cam tomorrow!

Recently I have started to enjoy reading. Now that I can read well a lot more books are available to me. I prefer adventure books with interesting characters and exciting action. Currently my favorite author is Brandon Mull. He wrote the Fablehaven series and the book I am reading now called The Candy Shop War. Since the school year started I have read almost 2000 pages. Here’s a list of the books I have read this fall/winter:

1. Fablehaven 
2. Fablehaven 2 – Rise of the Evening Star
3. Fablehaven 3 – Grip of the Shadow Plague
4. Trumpet of the Swan
5. The Big Wave
6. Old Yeller
7. Johnny Tremain
8. The Candy Shop War
9. The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson