THE MOST SPOILED BOY IN THE WORLD.
Mr. Talin Chambers is seven years old today.

Mom and Dad gave him the awesomest present EVER.

A guy in our ward does woodwork, so we had him build Tal a castle for his birthday. He was thrilled.

7 Things About Talin:

1. He is kind and loving.

2. He loves to help others and although unaware of his surroundings most often, he is always aware of those around him and how they're feeling.

3. He loves his family and his brothers.

4. He plays well with others, like seriously everyone.

5. He is the most handsome seven year old I've ever seen. Ever since he was a baby I've had people tell me how GQ he is, and how I need to get him into modeling.

6. He is sensitive, emotionally, spiritually, and has a desire to please and do what is right.

7. Talin is super creative, intelligent, hard thinking and hard working. He loves to build, create and imagine. This kid could be left alone for hours on end and not need anyone to entertain him.

We LOVE this boy and are grateful that he's in our family!

Birthday Party Chaos

Talin turns seven on Wednesday, but we had the big bash yesterday. It was a ton of fun.

The cake.
Bottom layer was chocolate filled with oreo cream filling, and the top was vanilla with oreo cream filling (Amy's recipes). The cake tasted awesome.

While everyone was swimming, poor Caleb had to be strapped down for a feeding. He now has to be strapped into something when he eats, if not he inevitably pulls his tube out, no matter how careful or watchful we are. It's insane.

Swimming Birthday Boy!

Talin loved the cake. Collin tried to tell me that it looked a little pink, and that Talin had wanted the castle to be grey and he was going to be very upset. Needless to say, I got no complaints from Talin. Although we did compromise on the cones. I liked the lighter blue ones on top, and Tal liked the darker blue ones. So after one of my light blue cones broke I compromised with the two different colored cones, although it totally goes against what I believed to be more attractive.

We had the party at the YMCA and shared it with his friend Connor who is also turning seven. So they blew out their candles together and we had a ton of kids there as well.

Enjoying the cake.
After eating cake the kids all went on a Knight's Quest.

First they had to climb the rock wall to find their masks.

Then they had to find their shields. Don't they look so cool?

And finally they found their swords. What's a Knight without his sword?

After they were decked out in their Knight necessities they went to find the enemy.

Poor Tom seemed like a great choice to take their rage out on.

Sixteen kids attacked him.

He was a good sport, but those kids were vicious. I convinced the kids that he was dead, only after I felt he had a sufficient beating.

Then it was time for presents.

And I totally deserve mother of the year after this party. Without Lisa's (Connor's mom) help, this would not have been very cool. She set up the quest and did all the decorations. I thought it was totally awesome, and I think Talin did too.

Delicious

Do you know what else is delicious?
Cake batter.
I have memories of this last pregnancy. Making cake or cupcakes or whatever, and Tom constantly swatting my hand away from the batter. So apparently it's okay for me to eat it all the other times, but not when I'm carrying his unborn child...Hmmm. That might need to be discussed some time.
Anyway, cake batter is really good, and really bad for you, probably why I'm attracted to it. I'm attracted to most foods that are good tasting yet bad consequenting (and yeah, I know that consquenting isn't really a word, but I like the way it sounds. should be a word).
Talin's big birthday party is on Saturday and I'm making a castle cake, which is why my mind is on cake batter today. I'm not great at cake making, but I enjoy it, so I really hope I can make the castle cake to be super awesome. Because I really want my almost seven-year-old to think I'm super awesome.

Easter Day

Easter was great. We had some friends over, ate ham (of course) and enjoyed an Easter egg hunt. The pictures didn't turn out well, I wasn't putting much effort into it, but it's quite humorous how almost all of them are of peoples backsides.

So enjoy.

Talin was running around like a crazy man and kept spilling his eggs everywhere, this was a common site: Talin on the ground picking up eggs.

I love this holiday, and not just for the chocolate eggs, although they're pretty fantastic; I love this holiday because of the reminder it brings us of our Savior and his sacrifice and atonement and resurrection. It's unfortunate that we don't always focus on this every single day, because it's a humbling blessing that should be remembered each and everyday. I just hope that my children remember Easter with their Savior in mind and always remember the ultimate and beautiful sacrifice he made for us.

Happy Easter!

Love,
The Chambers

Good Friday...

...was good.

No school.

A little Ben Hur.

Lot's of sugar.

FOR SALE

1. One healthy (almost) seven-year-old who likes to take the neighbors duck tape and tie up his tree. He also enjoys walking through homes with muddy shoes and leaves tiny lego pieces randomly throughout the house, and constantly proclaims how unfair life really is. 2. Another healthy boy of five who also enjoys walking around homes with muddy shoes. Other hobbies include talking exceptionally loud, insisting on having things repeated to him at least three times before complying and refusing to play on his own unless being entertained by a second party.

3. This little guy is a true delight and would be thrown in for free with purchase of older two boys. He enjoys pulling out trash from the garbage and scattering it in the kitchen, breaking glass plates, knocking over plants and fruit baskets, crawling into fireplaces filled with soot, knocking down baby gates and climbing up stairs and most recently hiding in remote places, like behind couches where he is not easily accessible and difficult to reach. You'll get a real work out with this one, and if you haven't lost weight from his care alone, full refund will be rewarded.

Hearing Aide Status: MIA 3 weeks
Retrieved by Relief Society President in church building

This hearing aide ain't going nowhere!

Run

One of the first things that turned my head towards Tom when I was single was overhearing him telling someone how fast he ran the mile.

Four minutes, twenty-four seconds.

And then he quickly corrects me each time; it’s really twenty-seven seconds. But I like to exaggerate. Twenty-four sounds so much cooler, and what is three seconds?

So I’ve always thought running was hot. In conversations pertaining to my husband, if you don’t know him well I always try to find a way to sneak in the fact that he runs, and he runs fast. I love to hear the oohs and aahhhs when I give them the actual number. It’s like I’m bragging about one of my children. Maybe that’s because I’ve never been able to do it, I don’t know.

I did run a 10K a few years back.
It was sad.
Pathetic.
I trained for months.
I ran six miles everyday, well almost everyday. The sad thing is, I was blessed with long legs (well it doesn’t always seem like a blessing try finding a skirt that goes to the knees!), yet I can never get myself out of a granny trot. For some reason I can’t get my knees up when I run, I can never get into a stride, I shuffle. So odd.

I don’t really have a point to this post today, I'm kind of just rambling because I’m sick of looking at my picture every time I check blogs.

Back to running.
Tom has decided to start running again. He hasn’t run in a long time. Most normal people who haven’t run in a long time have to ease into it. Not Tom. He jumps on the treadmill and goes. He goes for like an hour. And he does not granny trot.

It just doesn’t seem fair. How can I admire his ability and even be a little turned on by it, and yet still have seething envy for his talent?

So I’ve decided to start running again.

Something amazing has happened.
I’m not running really fast or really long.
But my knees have picked up this week.

I’ve finally found my stride.

Now that’s a happy story. We’ll see if I’m still doing this in three months!

I cut my hair.
Then I cried.
Sorry, this is post nap picture, so it's not totally fixed, not that it looks any different when it is!
There is just a little too much face for me now, no hair to hide behind.

Omaha Zoo

(Collin, Caleb, Susie, Hannah & Talin)

We love the Omaha Zoo, so when the weather was bragging to be seventy degrees on Saturday, we jumped at an invitation from Chad and Betsy to join them at the zoo.

Ready to go!
Oh how I wish Talin were looking at the camera for this picture!!

Collin, Susie and Tom on the gorillas.

This zoo has some amazing attractions, the gorillas are one of the coolest exhibits.

True to form, Talin attached himself to Hannah and made it his responsibility to look out for her. Even taking her leash from her dad at times, which was fine until Collin wanted a turn, he treated her more like a puppy than a little girl. It was quite amusing.

Caleb watching the monkeys.

This boy loved the zoo, it was fun to take him now that he's older.

Can you hear the ocean?

Talin can.

No, Collin is not intoxicated in this picture.

Me and my boys.

They are really the best. Looking at this picture makes me realize how lucky I am to have these boys.

The Family.

We were in the shark tank so it was pretty dark, and the sharks swimming around us and overhead were kind of distracting.

Caleb loved the shark tank, I think the aquarium was his favorite part. Mainly because he couldn't miss the fish swimming around, and it's super awesome.

So much fun, but a little bittersweet at the thought that it's probably our last trip to the Omaha Zoo since we're moving in two months. :( I'd like to write a post about our future move and the heartache involved, but there would be too many tears, and it might be too mushy and painful to read, mainly for me to write.

One Year

A lot can happen in one year.
A whole lot.

Our family dynamics are so different, so much better. We now devote our time to each other, to Caleb. One year ago I never would have imagined life to be what it is today. It's been a long road to travel, and the bumps have been unexpected, not the ones I assumed would come along.

But accepted and taken into stride.
One year.
Wow.

Caleb came to nervous, unsure parents. We weren't sure what to expect. We weren't even sure if he would be with us for a full year, we were scared, but we found comfort. Caleb not only opened our hearts and answered our prayers, but he opened us up to new friends, new possibilities, and a whole new world of beautiful people; people willing to pick up our slack when we haven't been able to carry the load ourselves. Family members flying out, listening to hours of my phone conversations of frustrations, pitfalls and triumphs with Caleb. Ward members who bring a treat each week for the older boys, who love on them and care for them during sacrament meetings, and always have a mint or a m&m when most needed, and take Caleb and rock him to sleep during church when I'm ready to pull my hair out. And these are all different people, different families, all offering us their support.

We love this boy. Without him we wouldn't be who we are today. He has taught us a lot this past year. The most important lesson I've learned is acceptance.

Acceptance of trials.

Acceptance of service and love.

Acceptance of people in all walks of life.

I love my Caleb, and I love every little thing about him, even that blasted g-tube!

We look forward to many more birthdays and celebrations each year for him.

His triumphs and victories will be many.

Watch out.

Don't you wish you felt this way about cake?

Happy Birthday Caleb!!

One Year Old Today!

(that is a tear of birthday joy)

A little vacuuming & dinner