• Happy birthday to you,
• Happy birthday to you,
• Happy birthday dear Caleb,
• Happy birthday to you!

• Caleb Sebastian Dittmann turned 5 years old yesterday! 5 years old!

• "That's a whole hand!" - (quote by Travis Dittmann)
• Anyway, so I have a 5 year old son. That amazes me that I am old enough to have a son that is that old. What seems wild to me is that it doesn't seem that long ago that he was little (like just learning how to walk or putting him in the car seat kinda little) but it seems like longer than 5 years ago when I was pregnant with him. Maybe that's because God has taken me so far away from that place that I was in when I was pregnant with him. I dunno! Hmmm . . . something to think about!
• Well, my dad took us (Caleb, me, my sister, Nicole, Chad, Elise, and my dad's girlfriend, Kelly) all to Chuck E. Cheese's. Caleb kept referring to the mouse as "Chuck" and we got a kick outta that . . . why, I'm not sure because that's really the dumb mouse's name! Anyway, so dad spent way alot of money on mediocre pizza and cheap token prizes, but Caleb had a blast, so it was probably worth it in a grandparents viewpoint. I am grateful to have a dad like that and I hope that I can raise Caleb to appreciate a birthday like that. After going over to "Chuck's" we went home. Actually, dad took Kelly home and Nicole went home too, so Elise, Chad, Caleb, and I met Josiah at my house and we celebrated some more. We sang "Happy Birthday" over some homemade cake that I helped Caleb make earlier that afternoon. We sat out on the deck and enjoyed summer's finest - strawberries, bing cherries, grapes, fruit dip, chips and dip, and COFFEE all surrounded by the cool of the evening and the aroma of citronella. Chad had to be at work early today, so he called it a night and went home. (Way to be disciplined Baby!) We wore Caleb out, so he headed to bed with Papa and left the "big kids" out on the deck to sit and enjoy the starlit sky. We talked and laughed about old times and about how we all became friends. Gina even called and we all got to hear about how God is moving in amazing ways in her life and how He answered our prayers for her. It was awesome! Eventually, the coffee ran out and we were FULL on strawberries, so Josiah helped us clean up and then ventured out on the lonely road to his own home. Elise and I crept upstairs and caught a few Z's before the morning sun found his way through my bedroom window. It was a great day!
• Today is Papa's birthday and he's out "partying it up" with family and friends. It's good to be able to celebrate another year given to us by the Father!
• God, thank you for my family. Thank you for my friends and thank you that so often, there is no distinction between the two! Lord you are so amazing to me and with the coming of every year with my son, I get to see your plan continuing to unfold before my very eyes. I thank you especially for my son and for my daddy and I ask that your pour out the very spirit that was present in your own son over them both. I ask Father that you continue to mold and shape both of their lives to be more like your son and that you help them to recognize your presence in that process as well. I pray that through that both of them magnify you and give you all the glory that you are deserving of. Thank you for saving my life and saving me a seat in the royal places with you and that through saving me, you have allowed that example to touch both my son and my daddy that same way that you have touched me. I thank you and love you Jesus! There is no one like you and no one that can make me feel the way that you do and I love that about you! I humbly ask all this in your sweet son's name, AMEN!