8 years old

If I had to point to the one single moment that changed my everyday life, in the most incredible and tangible way, it would have to be the moment Caleb Wayne Skow was born. Becoming a mom for the first time was the most life-changing moment I've ever had. Having a baby somehow instantly changes you--changes you on the inside and out! I can't believe it has been 8 years since that moment!

Caleb turned 8 years old yesterday! We have been celebrating since Saturday, when he had his football party. He had a football party last year, but when I asked him what he wanted, he decidedly wanted football AGAIN! I LOVE so many things about this child, and one is that he is easily entertained!!

The party was super fun. We had all of our family in town (we have the MOST AWESOME family EVER!) and he invited over some of his closest buddies. They ate cookie cake, opened presents, practiced football drills and then played a rousing game of flag football. Caleb was in heaven!

I have really enjoyed looking back on these "birthday posts" and remembering sweet things about each of the kids. So, for this year, I'm going to do...

MY FAVORITE 8 THINGS ABOUT CALEB WAYNE....
1. I love that he already loves the Lord, and thinks of Him daily.
2. I love that he has a kind, gentle and sensitive spirit.
3. I admire the ways he is so accepting of people and friendly, no prejudices.
4. I adore the way he loves his sisters! Best Big Brother EVER!
5. I love that he loves music-- he is an awesome dancer and singer!
6. I cherish the fact that he will still snuggle with me, and give me hugs and kisses.!(please God, let that continue forever!)
7. I love that he is funny! He makes me laugh every day!
8. I love that he loves to play football and shoot nerf guns, but he also loves to read a good book and watch Tangled with his sisters!

I am so blessed to be this kid's mom. Thank you God for all the amazing blessings that you have showered upon him in his first eight years. I pray that your Grace and Mercy will continue to cover his life, with safety, good health, kind friends, and a growing faith.

He requested 'cookie cake' this year. It was super easy and super yummy!

Chowin' down and having some intellectual conversation. :)

He was blessed with awesome presents...but his best reaction was to his new iPod shuffle.

His three favorite guys...Daddy, Uncle Clint and Uncle AJ were the heroes of the day!

Seemed like all the boys loved 'warming up' this way! Too cute!

Happy as a lark!

Serious strategizing!

the birthday boy and his Pawpaw, working on Legos together. Precious!

We are so blessed to celebrate birthdays with all of our family!! Love these people!

The REAL birthday...a quick, but fun celebration at church!

Family time

The Skow Fab Five have had an awesome start to our New Year. We had a really blessed, but busy Christmas time, and we are still mourning and adjusting to life without our Segners. But so far, this year has been very low key, simple and slow for us. It has felt so weird! We have had a true "holiday" from our normal, busy lives. For the most part, aside from school and work, we've just been hanging out, relaxing at the house and enjoying some wonderful family time. It has been SOOOO NICE! Things are just now amping up again...with ballet, and small groups, and MOPS and guitar lessons, and work and soon...baseball AND soccer!? (God, help us!) But because we've had this awesome break, I am honestly looking forward to getting back into the crazy swing of things and enjoying the adventures that are in store! Here are some fun pictures of the cute and silly things the kids have been up to! I love these crazy hoodlums!!

New uses for a garden box: makes an excellent battle field for army men! :) Caleb played for HOURS yesterday, building tunnels and forts in the dirt, and strategizing epic battles. So fun!

I love this dirty kid.....I love his imagination and his love of dirt!

crazy face

This was before Ellie's "date" with her Aunt Tracy. They accidentally wore matching outfits! Pretty cute!!

These girls were apparently planning on a crazy ride,
because they both wanted to wear helmets! :)

Too cute!!

the three amigos....now minus one

God has been so good to me. Tonight I heard the song "Amazing Grace...His Grace flows down and covers me...." I LOVE that song. And it is so true! His amazing, beautiful, unending Grace flows down on me all the time. And one of the most awesome ways His Grace has blessed my life in the past couple of years is by giving me two friends who have become my sisters and partners in life. God brought each of these awesome women into my life through church, but my friendships with each of them grew individually first. And then, God provided opportunities for the three of us to spend time together and...Voila!! A perfect combo!

Holly and Kari are the kind of friends that build me up, challenge my faith, share my burdens and celebrate my successes. They have seen my ugliness, and they still love me anyway. And we can be SO silly together! I love it!! All three of us happen to be really awesome singers and dancers. :) Each of them is similar, yet very different from the other....and so together, they pretty much make up the perfect pair. But now....Kari is gone. She's not really gone, but she's moved 8, 507 miles away. And tonight, I miss her terribly. She, her awesome husband and her four crazy, sweet kids have gone to heal the hurting and save the lost. So, I feel like I can't pout too much about her leaving. But at the end of the day, I'm still broken hearted.