Roooooar!

Caleb is truly tackling cancer like a courageous lion! 

He did "make his blood counts" last week & underwent chemo treatments on Wed.  He had enough energy to push his Chemo/IV pole around the clinic, which was a first.  He usually stays cuddled up with me the entire time. 

Sure is nice to see big smiles at Texas Children's Hospital.  Even though this place is marvelous, smiles are often hard to come by.

Caleb even skipped to the car, though questioned why his legs were so tired when we got there.  I love the sweet innocence of a child.  Never-mind the fact he'd just been at the clinic for 6 hours, undergoing the strongest medications on Earth.  That never seems to cross his mind when his legs ache or get weak. 

Just breathe.  Inhaling important medicine that will last another month.

We've all needed the courage of a lion to get through this.

It's still intriguing to me that our friend, Heather's idea of "Courage, the Lion" has helped us all so much.  Cal has a deep fascination with lions now.  

Caleb enjoys doing lion artwork, & it's the first thing he recently wanted to see at the zoo.

Zach even "clipped paper" into a lion for Cal for a fun 3D effect.

It's something that seems to empower the boys & make them feel stronger.  It has inspired cute drawings from friends, too.   

Thanks, Gail.  :)

Plus check out this amazing piece of artwork our dear friend, Christy Moreno, had an artist paint for Caleb.  It's a reminder that there are plenty of days when none of us has the mighty strength to roar, but knowing Jesus is by our side really helps! 

I know Caleb will cherish this forever.  It even portrays him in those crocs that we can't ever get off of his feet.  :)

The art represents his life, & we know without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus has been by his side every step of the way. 

Take a look at this!  It was an exciting weekend for many reasons.  This lil' Oriole was awarded the team ball from the OPPOSING team, the Indians!  

Another life-long keepsake.

 The Indian's coach & players voted to give it to Caleb.  It was a real shocker!  5 & 6 year old boys don't usually have much to say to one another, but these little guys approached Caleb after the game.  They congratulated him for throwing a hit to first base & getting one of THEIR guys out!  Several of them told Caleb they had been praying for him.  Kids this age are still learning how to share, so witnessing them give up their ball was beyond heart-warming to us.  Caleb's cancer seems to be teaching others about love, inclusion, and compassion.  It feels so good to see this & to hope that in some way, Caleb's cancer is helping others appreciate their own good health & even appreciate each other more. 

Caleb's "Team Mom" from the past two years came to support Cal, along with her two boys.  We're so proud of these boys who cheer Caleb on, like he's one of their own.  Thanks to the Green's.  Love you guys.

Caleb also felt good enough to meet up with one of his best pals from Pre-K over the weekend!  

For a moment, it seemed like our lives were "normal" again.  Cal hasn't felt like playing with his friends in so long.

They had fun in the park & then learned about being entrepreneurs on National Lemonade Day.

These little business people made a lot of money.  :)

Today's clinic involved routine care & hopefully next chemo will be administered on Friday.  It's all about "making blood counts" now, so the schedule is unpredictable.

Note to self:  Don't let a child download a new game when you want to chat.  No conversation for a while today.                  ha ha.

Caleb is very happy that he won't have chemo next Monday, because that's the day of my golf tournament for the organization "Children at Risk".  He has never missed one of them, even when I was preggers with him.  :) We hope he keeps up his high energy to enjoy the day with us.  We'll keep adoring this little boy's heart of a lamb and courage of a lion.