In case you missed it on Facebook, we got a letter yesterday that Caleb has been invited into the GATES program at his elementary school. GATES is the gifted and talented program at school. The letter indicated his particular area of strength was in math. No surprise there for my analytical little guy.

Then, as he was working on his homework last night, Caleb asked me, “Julie, can you make up poetry just on your own?” (Yes, the nerdy English major in me was thinking, “SCORE!” until the nerdy English major in me remembered that I’m really not a poetry person.)

“Are you asking ME if I can do it, or just if people can in general?”

“You. I know I can. Me and my friend did it today.”

“My friend and I, you mean.” (Yes, I am that Mom.) “That’s great, Caleb. What was your poem?”

[Insert Bad Mommy comment here, because I don't remember the poem, but it was AWESOME about rainy weather.]

“That’s a great poem, Caleb! Are you studying poetry in class?”

“No. We just wanted to see if we could do it.” (Nerdy English major heart just bursting with happiness at that.)

And yes, we spent the next several minutes coming up with some fun little poems.

I think it’s time to pull out our Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky books…

And now, for the bragging to commence.

The Beginning Band played 3 pieces that they took to contest at (of all places) NRH20, where they earned a Superior Division I rating. They were fantastic! (videos below, I promise)

Between two of the pieces, some awards were given out and students recognized. First, the band director had all of the soloists who received Superior Division I ratings on their solos stand to be recognized (Jacob didn’t participate in this contest, as it conflicted with a basketball tournament that was scheduled far in advance of the contest dates). Then, those students who earned a Superior Division I and received an Outstanding medal (not sure what the criteria was on this, but they were particularly great at their solos, apparently) stood to be recognized.

Next, “Scale Masters” were recognized and given certificates. These students memorized all 12 scales plus the chromatic scale.

Yep, that's my Scale Master Jacob!

Finally, one student in each class (Beginning Band is taught in “like-instrument” classes, so there’s a flute class, clarinet class, trumpet class, etc.) was recognized as Most Improved and one student in each class was recognized as Outstanding Student.

Most Outstanding trombone student, Jacob!

I’m sorry the pictures are so far away, but that’s where we were sitting.

And now, the promised videos. Of course, my camera memory card filled up during the third song, which the director said was the band’s favorite. Oh well, you’ll get the idea. Enjoy!

I apologize for the dead air at the beginning of that one; I learned from it and did better on the next two, I think.

The Assistant Director, and Jacob’s trombone teacher, directed this piece.

If you’re wondering if the little voice you hear sometimes in that video is Sam, you are right. He got bored between songs, so Daddy made a “tombone” out of his program for Sam. He enjoyed playing it.

Me: Sam, do you want to try sitting on the potty?

Sam: YES!

Out came the potty and down he sat, willingly (wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles!). I should note at this point that the potty did come with a little boys’ tee tee guard, but Sam HATES it. I think he’s scared of it, actually. And I don’t really blame him. It’s absurdly tall, so that when it’s on the potty, he can’t get on or off the potty by himself (hmmm…design flaw? or intent? trying to keep those active boys trapped on the little potty?). Plus, I think it has pinched him before. If I were a boy, I’d be scared of that thing, too. So…no tee tee guard on the potty.

I turned around to start rinsing the dinner remnants (I swear the boy was wearing more yogurt than he ate) out of his shirt and hear, “Sammy all wet.”

You guessed it – Sam had tee tee’d on the potty! Or, more accurately, he had tee tee’d while sitting on the potty…but with no guard up, he really tee tee’d all over my bathroom floor, and his hands, and the bathroom rug.

Meh, the floor needed cleaning anyway…and hey, it’s a start, right?

The verdict? He’s in great health, developing and hitting milestones just like he should be. He’s a chatterbox lately, putting more and more sentences together and showing us that he really “gets” things that are going on. He can now (as of today) put his own shirt on, and pull his pants up. (To be fair, he might have been able to do this for a while, but Mommy never thought to let him try it.)

Some fun Sam-isms lately

• Mommy go work.
• Sammy go school.
• I leavin’!
• Sammy birthday! (even though it’s been over a week since his birthday)
• Where Bubba?
• Sammy have boo-boo.
• Awww…look at Sammy boo-boo.
• Sammy go swimmin’?
• Where Sammy big truck? (note: the “big truck” is not the same as the “BIG Truck.”)
• Hear birdies!
• Hear Sunder (thunder)

There are SO many more. And to think, at one point I was worried about his speaking. Silly me, he is, after all, my son! And we all know that I am a well-known chatterbox.

Stats at this appointment: 30 pounds (73%), 34 3/4 inches tall (58%). My little linebacker.

Since I didn’t take any pictures at the doctor (duh), I’ll leave you with a few recent photos from baseball, backyard, and birthday.

Playing catcher at Bubba's game (yes, this is a repeat of a FB picture, but really, can you blame me?)

Looking quite intense at another of Bubba's games.

Blowing out the candle on his basketball cake. . .Okay, so this is really a better picture of Caleb, but again, can you blame me? SO handsome!

Having fun with the T-ball set from Lily, LilySara, and Lily's Daddy.

As you might have heard, someone special in my life turned two a week ago. Of course, we had to throw a party to celebrate such a momentous occasion. Lots of family and friends came and were nice enough to bring presents and join us for hotdogs and sliders and cake and ice cream and playing in the backyard (thank you, Mother Nature, for cooperating so nicely!)

The round of presents that Sam helped with.

THE favorite present of the party. The lawnmower from Aunt Lynne Cookie (and Uncle Chris, Christopher, Will, and James).

You'll notice the birthday boy is missing from these pictures of the rest of the present opening. He was out mowing the yard, where he spent most of the rest of the night.

There were so many adorable moments at the party that I didn’t get on film – all the hugs and kisses between Sam and his best girl, Lily; rides in the BIG truck; slides down the slide on the new (to us) backyard playset; the lawnmower races around the backyard; the backyard baseball game the big kids played. Thank you again, everyone, for helping to celebrate one of the best days of my life, April 27. Here’s to many more to come!

I admit, I was a tiny bit nervous when Mom said their gift wasn’t among the list of things I suggested when they asked for ideas…AND that it was an idea Aunt Lynne Cookie gave them…

I needn’t have been…the BIG truck was a perfect gift, and is still a favorite toy (along with the lawnmower from Aunt Lynne Cookie, but that’s another post).

So excited to get in the BIG truck!

Ready to ride!

And now, I’ll share with you the lovely and oh-so-lifelike sounds of the Big Red Firetruck.

And, just because you know you need some more of that:

You’re welcome. (Really, you can thank Aunt Lynne Cookie for that. I know I do, every. day.

Here’s the box for the pans:

Wilton ball pans

Cakes baked and cooling in the pans:

Cakes cooling on the rack (I was secretly thrilled that they came out so nicely):

And yes, I purposely spaced them far apart on the cooling rack, so as to avoid any anatomy references.

Baseball cake in the works:

This one shows some icing and the strawberry glaze.

Just over half-way iced.

Completed baseball cake:

The lacing really was more red than this looks, but it was as sloppy as it looks. I

Completed basketball cake (sorry, I got too into the decorating and forgot to take “during” pics of the basketball):

Pretty nifty, huh?

Now, if you can’t tell, these cakes are pretty small, so I think we’ll probably put them on a sheet cake or have sheet cake in addition to them. But this non-bakey, non-cooky, non-crafty Momma is pretty darn proud of this test run! (And Daddy tells me they taste really good!)

Lots of play time with Lily's new toys and outside in the sandbox and on the new playset!

And some video of the playset:

One of the biggest hits of the party was the pink Neiman Marcus piano from Lily’s GrandSharon. All the kids loved it (though it took a time or two for Sam to get the hang of the bench).

He did a little better the second time:

And eventually provided lovely music for Lily to read her new books to:

After the presents and playtime and yummy burgers and hotdogs, it was time for singing Happy Birthday and eating cake! And, of course, after practicing ALL WEEK singing “Happy Bir-day, Lily” (and Sammy and Austin, depending on his mood), Sam sang not a single note. . . until after we were all done, when he wanted me to sing “Happy Bir-day.”

Singing Happy Birthday and Blowing Out Candles

Yummy cupcake! Thank you, LilySara!

And after cake, there was more playtime. Sam found his inner cowboy:

It was a wonderful birthday party. Thank you for including us in the festivities. And, of course, Happy Birthday Lily-girl! We love you!

Most toddlers ask for Elmo or Blue’s Clue’s or the like on TV. Sam does like those shows, but 9 times out of 10, he first asks for baseball, basketball, or football on tv. (Here is where you laugh at me for thanking goodness for all those sports channels we pay for – we can usually oblige his request.)

He LOVES watching his brothers play ball.

shots from early season games

He makes every game into baseball. Anything long enough to swing becomes a baseball bat, any ball becomes a baseball, and any hat becomes a baseball “hehmet.” Most mornings he wakes up asking about baseball games, and most nights he goes to sleep telling me about baseball games.

backyard baseball (and a couple more of him watching Bubba play)

But the crowning gem? The other night as I was putting him to bed, I sang our usual night-night songs (the Sh’ma and La La Lu) and as I tucked him in, he looked up at me and very sweetly said, “Mommy, out ballpark.”

“What, baby?” I asked.

“Mommy. Sing, Out Ballpark.”

“You want me to sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’?”

“Yes.”

So, I sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Twice. And he went to sleep a happy boy.