Posted on July 2, 2008 by Shanda

Hi, I’m Caleb. I want to tell you about my pond.

My pond is so great. Last year, when I was a baby, I was scared to go into my pond. But now that I’m a big boy, I go swimming almost every day.

My big brothers and my big sister go swimming, too. But they do tricks and they swim in the middle of my pond and I can’t do that yet.

Sometimes they try to hold on to me and take me away from the edge but I yell real loud and so they let me go. I tell them, “I NOT LIKE THAT.” That makes them go away.

They swim and do tricks and I stay on the edge by myself. My mommy calls it “my own little world.”

My mommy puts my jacket on me. A long time ago (my mommy says it was just last week) I used to swim with my jacket on and not any clothes. But yesterday my mommy said that was enough of that so now I have to keep my pants on.

It was okay though. I go in the water and I swim all by myself. I can touch the bottom of my pond with my hands and that is how I go forward. It is swimming! I go all the way to the jumping rock. Then I get out and run back to where I started from.

I have to be careful. Sometimes I get a lot of my pond in my mouth and that is when I start to choke a lot. My mom does not care. She just sits where she is and makes sure I am okay. I know what to do. I go and sit on the grass and choke and choke until the water is out.

Yesterday when we were waiting for our Daddy to get home, we were swimming. My mommy put a jacket on me that I was not used to. It made me roll over on my back while I was swimming. I not like that. I yelled. My mommy came running and asked me if I flipped over. I said I was a boat. It happened two more times. It was scary.

When I was swimming it started to rain. I did not know what to think at first. My mommy took some pictures of me and then she said real loud, “I’m getting wet, Caleb, let’s run to the house!” She took my jacket off. I got mad because my mean mommy made me run to the house on my own two feet. She did not carry me. She said it was because her hands were full but I saw her carry a lot more stuff than that before.

When we got to the house she took my wet clothes off real fast and got me warm in a towel. I was still mad, but I felt much better after a good dinner.

My pond is so much fun. I hope someday you can swim in my pond with me. We would have so much fun.

Next week I will be three years old. I will want a lot of choo-choos for my birthday.

The end.

snacktime

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Shanda

Once upon a time, last Friday afternoon, Mama bear’s tummy started to growl. She was hungry for a snack. In fact, to be perfectly honest, she was having a craving for chocolate.

She wanted chocolate cake with creamy frosting. But when she checked the cupboards, she found none.

(none)

She thought about making her own cake but she had no energy.

(none at all)

Then she decided to have some Ben and Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream. But when she checked the freezer, she found none.

(none)

Then she dreamed of Godiva chocolates. But that was only a dream.

(a day dream)

She looked and she looked and finally she found something that might possibly satisfy her craving. It was Nutella. Every good Mama bear buys her cubs animal crackers, so she got those out, too. Then she got a knife.

Her five bear cubs of various sizes were busy in the other room, playing games, so Mama bear sat cross legged on the couch, turned on the news, and ate animal cracker after animal cracker, all spread thick with creamy, chocolaty Nutella.

Soon Mama bear was beginning to feel full. But she recklessly kept on eating anyway. Then, along came her baby bear cub. He wanted his Mama to share and so she did, happily. She started making baby bear his own crackers w/Nutella. Baby bear had some organizational skills and so he lined them all up like this:

Mama bear decided to eat one of Baby bear’s crackers. But this made Baby bear very mad.

Not only did he take it back, he also made himself a new one.

Mama bear was starting to feel very silly from all that sugar. So she decided to do some decorating.

She decided to start with Baby bear’s itty bitty nose.

And then, she decorated Baby bear’s favorite choo-choo, the dirty ink-faced James.

Mama bear’s tummy was round and full when she finally got up and brushed the crumbs off her shirt. She twirled the tops back on the cookie jar and the Nutella and looked at the clock.

Hopefully her chocolate fix and silly mood would last through the next few hours, until Big Papa bear came home. Although she was a bear, she tried hard not to act like one. It was very difficult to keep herself from growling at times.

Chocolate seemed to help with attitude and endurance problems and so Mama bear got back to work, feeling much better after her snack. She was a Very Busy Mama, but no mama should ever too busy for chocolate.

The End

hunting for frog, a tale of misguided youth

Posted on July 10, 2007 by Shanda

This is Patches. She is a young feline. She is hunting.

Yes, frog legs are considered a delicacy in some circles.

But, Patches’ family is quite shocked over her recent uncontrollable taste for Frog. It is something no decent cat should do.

It is spoken of in hushed tones. Her mother tried her best to get her to change her ways. “Think of your family! Think of your future prospects! Just look at what has happened to your pretty fur, disgraceful!”

Alas, Patches listened respectfully but decided to go her own way, back to the stream. There are frogs to catch down there.