School and Basketball pictures

Both boys recently had their pictures done at school.

Somewhat of a "toothy" grin...but still a good lookin' boy :)

Caleb also had some basketball pictures taken.

So cute.

If you've ever wondered what a four year old would look like with a toupee...

...it might look something like this.

Poor Benjamin was in desperate need of a haircut but I just didn't get to it before he had his school pictures taken. He still looks cute with his little hands folded so sweetly on his knee. Love that boy.

Sweetheart Dance and the Coolest Valentines Box ever!

Every year Caleb's school has a "Sweetheart Dance". It's a Father/Daughter, Mother/Son dance. We went last year, and Caleb was excited to go again this year.

My date and I before the dance.

Let me just tell you that Caleb knows how to sweet talk the ladies...even when the lady is his mom. I tried out my new curling rod for the special occasion and when I walked into the living room all dressed up with my hair curly, Caleb said: "You are so beautiful. Will you marry me?" So sweet. Of course we had a quick talk about why he can't marry his mom! :)

At the dance.

Last year at the dance, Caleb pretty much stayed by my side. This year, he left me in the dust! He was off with his friends almost the entire time. I loved it.

Of course I had to decorate his chair. 

Caleb makes a Valentines Box every year to take to school. One year we did a Batman box. Last year we did a space shuttle. This year when I asked Caleb what he wanted to do for his box, his answer: "I don't know." He didn't have any ideas. I didn't have any ideas. What to do, what to do. Well, it turns out that when you don't have any ideas, you end up making the most awesome Valentines box ever!

Best. Box. Ever.

I love it.

So awesome right! And it just may be the easiest box ever.

We covered a shoe box with red paper. I took several close-up photos of Caleb with his mouth wide open and his eyes all crazy. I had the photo printed at a 8X10 size (for a small box you could do 5X7). He glued the picture on the top of the box. I cut out the mouth. He added the stickers on the sides. Done!

Caleb loved it and Benjamin thought it was hysterical. He kept shoving pieces of paper, Hot wheels cars, and Legos into the mouth. Benjamin doesn't need a box for school but I may just make him one anyway because he liked Caleb's so much. Seriously, you can't look at that box and not smile. You're smiling right now.

And for the Valentines, here is what both boys will be passing out to their classmates.

I got the idea and download here.

I thought these were really cute. They were a bit tedious to cut out. Caleb cut out the capes while I did the eye masks. Cute, cute, cute!

Crazy Hat Day

Caleb had "Crazy Hat Day" at school this week. I found a floppy hat that I had bought a few years ago on clearance. I gave Caleb some crafty stuff and let him decorate his hat however he wanted.

The hat before.

(I don't know why he won't just smile at the camera. He always gives me this silly faces! He's probably so sick of me always taking his picture)

I gave him some pom poms, feathers, stickers, leaves, and pipe cleaners.

His finished masterpiece: Caleb's Crazy Hat

Year In Review

I thought it would be fun to do a quick (yeah right!) summary of the past year. 

January

The year started with some fantastic family photos. Seriously, just gorgeous.

February

We took Caleb to his first wheelchair basketball practice...he was instantly hooked.

March

(This was a busy month, a lot happened during this time.)

We took a trip to San Antonio.

Benjamin said "good bye" to his burp cloth.

And we learned that Caleb's spinal cord was tethered and surgery was scheduled.

April

Caleb had tethered cord surgery.

(That pretty much consumed April)

May

Caleb got to meet Wheelz. Very cool.

And I had a "mommy tantrum".

June

It was the summer of crafting at our house!

It was also the summer of the Slip'n Slide!

I ended the month with some Deja Vu

July

I went to the SB Conference. It was amazing! These women are amazing!

We got ready for the Olympics.

August

Caleb turned 7....I'm still trying to wrap my brain around that!

Caleb started 1st grade.

Bond between Brothers

September

With your help we raised $1335 for the SBANT!

Benjamin got up close and personal with a fire truck.

Benjamin started preschool, just 2 days a week.

October

(an exceptionally crazy month)

The month started off with a "Rough Few Days"...and that's putting it lightly.

Benjamin photo shoot at the park.

We celebrated a Shuntiversary.

Awesome Cardboard Creations.

Pumpkin Patch fun.

November

Caleb had his first basketball tournament.

Spina Bifida Family Camp.

December

Our ADVENTure began.

Oklahoma Basketball Tournament.

A lesson in "Sibling Love"?

My baby turned 4. Unbearable to believe he is already 4.

I think that about sums up our year, well the highlights anyway. Thanks for sharing this journey with us!

1950's day

Today was "1950's Day" at Caleb's school. I swear his school has multiple dress-up days a year, you might recall "Fairy Tale Day" last week! At least 1950's attire is relatively easy. Just a fitted white shirt with some jeans and a black belt.

I did have the genius idea while in the shower yesterday morning to make Caleb's wheels look like records.

:)

Fairy Tale Day: How to make a Dwarf costume...cheap!

Today was Fairy Tale dress-up day at Caleb's school. Caleb mentioned that his class had read "Snow White and the 7 dwarfs", so we decided a dwarf costume would be the way to go. Obviously I didn't want to spend money on a costume so I did a bit of research and found some ideas for making my own dwarf costume.  We decided Doc would be our dwarf of choice.

Here is how I did it:

I bought a cheap .98 cent Santa hat and cut off the fluffy white ball at the end.

I cut pieces of brown felt to fit on the hat and then I used iron-on adhesive to attach the felt.

If you sew you could totally make a felt hat without needing a Santa hat...but I don't sew.

It came out pretty cute.

For Doc's shirt I just took one of my old red t-shirts and turned it inside out.

For the back, I ironed on the "DOC" letters just because I happened to have some.

For the front, I ironed on some felt circles to represent the buttons.

Now for the beard. I knew Caleb wouldn't want something actually attached to his face so I had the idea of using his glasses to "hold" the beard. I just cut the beard out of white felt and attached it to his glasses.

 And here is the finished product.

Not too bad for only $1.50

(.98 cent Santa hat and a few pieces of brown felt. I had all the other supplies already)