It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We've enjoyed 'decking the halls' this past week in preparation for Christmas. The boys have had fun putting up lights and decorating the tree. Yes indeed, it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house...

The boys were supposed to be helping untangle the lights.

Of course both Grant and Bryce got a turn putting the star on top of the tree.



Once the tree was decorated it was on to wrestling!

Even Davis got in on the festivities.

Weekend funnies

We had a funny moment in the car this weekend as we drove to Five Guys (a burger joint) for dinner. Five Guys is well-liked by the guys in our family (at least the oldest four) and is a frequent destination during a "Daddy's day" (when Brian takes the boys out for the afternoon or evening). So, it was indeed a rare occurrence for all six of us to be headed there. On our way Grant inquired, "Where are we going?" To which Brian answered, "Five Guys." The response from the boys was not the "Yeah!" we had expected but instead Grant saying, "But mommy can't go. She's a girl!" Bryce chimed in, "They will call the police to get her!" Brian stuck up for me and did his part to convince the boys that girls are allowed at Five Guys. It's not just for guys. I guess this is what comes of being outnumbered five to one!

On Sunday afternoon Brian took Grant, Bryce and Carter out to get a Christmas tree. We are some of the dwindling clientelle of live Christmas trees. I guess I'm old fashioned or perhaps I just love the smell of pine. Anyway, when they returned home Grant walked in the door with a big grin on his face and said, "Mommy, the tree fell off the car!"

You see, it was a bitterly cold day and very windy (Brian wanted me to be sure to include this part). After picking out the prettiest tree available at Lowe's and doing his best to tie it on top of the van, Brian and the boys headed home (we have learned that while the kids are young we will take a break from tramping through the tree farm hunting for the perfect tree to cut down ourselves and stick with Lowe's or Home Depot--but that's another story). Apparently, after they made the second turn out of the parking lot the tree didn't make the turn. Brian pulled over to retrieve the tree and a man with a pickup truck stopped behind him and kindly offered to put the tree in his truck and follow Brian home. So, our tree made it's way to our house in the back of a pickup escorting Brian and the boys. Brian thanked the 'good samaritan' for his assistance and Grant, Bryce and Carter were very grateful that their Christmas tree made it home.

Sweet sayings

Soon after their arrival, all four of our boys have received a hand knit blanket from my dear friend, Melissa. They have been special gifts; with each pregnancy I have anticipated the coming blanket and they have been much-loved by the boys. Bryce, in particular, is quite fond of his "blankie" and continues to sleep with it every night (in fact, he has to have it to go to sleep). Bryce's blanket is noticibly showing its four years of cuddling and while not nearly as pretty as it was four years ago (the once soft green color is now rather dingy and it is quite tattered around the edges), it couldn't be more loved.

The other night while Brian was tucking Bryce in he crawled up in his bed, hugged his blanket and said in all seriousness, "Daddy I love you. I love you like I love my blankie." Those were sweet words to Brian. Bryce is rarely so verbal with his affection and Brian realized that to be put in the same category as his dearly loved blanket was a huge compliment.

We both got a chuckle out of Bryce's comment when Brian relayed the story to me downstairs. It was a fun parenting moment as well as a special memory to cherish.

Thanksgiving

This past week I was blessed to be able to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday three times. Yes, three times! And yes, I do still like turkey and I officially need to go on a diet (but the diet may have to be postponed until New Year's resolutions as I have a weakness for gingerbread men). It was a wonderful week and all three times of feasting were extraordinary. I thoroughly enjoyed the time of recollecting the Lord's blessings in my life, teaching my children the history of Thanksgiving, visiting with family, and of course eating delicious food.

The week started off with a visit to Grammy and Pappy’s house in Williamsburg for a Saturday Thanksgiving celebration. This was the first holiday spent in John and Karen’s new home and it was a special time for all. Brian’s sweet grandmother, Nana, had flown in from Houston, Texas and Brian’s sister, Tara, and her boyfriend, Archie, drove down from D.C. We were able to introduce Nannie to her fifth great-grandson and Davis enjoyed several hours of attention in her arms. Brian’s mom had the table beautifully set and treated us to a delectable meal. The turkey was absolutely perfect (I will have to find out her secrets!). The boys had fun playing with all of the new toys at Grammy and Pappy’s house and being entertained by fun Aunt Tara (or as Bryce says, “funny Aunt Tara”). We had a wonderful time.

Nannie and Davis.

Grammy and Carter.

Nana, Tara, Carter and Karen.

Pappy carving the turkey with Grant looking on.

Nana and Bryce.

On Tuesday I helped out with the kindergarten Thanksgiving feast at Alberta Smith Elementary school. The children enjoyed a feast of all the traditional Thanksgiving foods while dressed in costumes they had made to look like the Native American Indians who took part in the first Thanksgiving. I enjoyed seeing Grant with his classmates and had fun talking with the kindergartners. Grant’s teacher sent home a list of what each child in her class had said when asked the question, “How do you cook a Thanksgiving turkey?” The answers were quite amusing (and creative!). Here are a few:

Alexis: "Put on pepper, sauce, chicken and fries. Put in the oven for 3 minutes."

Gracie: "Put in milk, eggs, and pancakes. Put on feathers, pepper and salt. Cook in oven for 25 seconds."

Grant: "Cut it. Cook in oven for 13 minutes. Put on cinnamon."

Grant and Bryce helped the day before the feast to make some cornucopia favors for Grant’s classmates. I got the idea from my friend Jillian who is Bryce’s Sunday school teacher. Using sugar cones as the cornucopia, the boys filled them with sunflower seeds, raisins, candy corn, and pretzels, each item symbolizing something different. I attached a paper with the following inscription on each cornucopia:

Ice Cream Cone

represents a cornucopia, or a horn of plenty.

Pretzels

represent arms folded in thanks and prayer.

Dried fruit

represents the celebration of the harvest, when the pilgrims finally had enough food to eat.

Sunflower seeds

present next season’s harvest.

Candy Corn

represents maize. During the first year of settlement, many pilgrims died because food was so scarce. Native Americans shared corn with them and taught them how to plant this new crop.

Psalm 107:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

Grant wearing his Indian headdress, sitting next to Jolie and Kameron.

On Thursday we hosted the annual Callahan Thanksgiving gathering in our home. This was the first time that Brian and I had hosted the big event. It was a cozy get-together with roughly thirty people in our house, but everyone enjoyed the close fellowship. We had family come in from northern Virginia, Portsmouth, Virginia, Charlotte, North Carolina and Delaware. It was a potluck style meal with everyone contributing a dish (or two or three). We truly had a feast. There was enough food in our kitchen to feed a small army. We also discovered that the Callahans can drink some coffee! Brian brewed the coffee while I kept busy rotating casseroles in and out of the oven. The weather was nice and after our meal we were able to walk off a few of those calories and make room for some pumpkin pie. We enjoyed seeing my mom’s side of the family and were grateful that everyone was willing to make the trip to our house. It was a memorable day.

Brian carving the ham.

The women talking in the kitchen.

Eric--"Uncle Eric" to my boys.

The young people's table.

The fine china crowd.

Four out of the eight Callahan brothers. My mom is one of eleven children.

Grandpa and Davis.

Bryce's 4th birthday

This past Saturday we celebrated Bryce's fourth birthday. We had a fun evening with family over for dinner, cake, and opening presents. Bryce requested a train cake for his birthday. Doing my best to replicate a cake idea we found online, the boys and I had fun decorating our own train cake together. Bryce received some fun gifts including a couple of puzzles (Bryce loves putting puzzles together), a kids laptop computer toy, a Curious George book and stuffed animal from Grant (Grant saw them in the store and knew they would be a hit with Bryce who is enamored with Curious George), letter tracing cards, a fun sock matching game, a Hot Wheels race track, and a hand-painted letter train from Aunt Susannah. It was a fun night and Bryce is glad to be a big four-year-old now.

Bryce showing Daddy his train cake.


Blowing out the candles.

It is at this instant (according to Grant and Bryce) that he actually turned four.

Grammy, Grant and Davis.

Pappy, Carter and Grant all smiles.

Bryce with his name train from Aunt Su-Su.

A good report

Above is a picture of Grant with his new lightsaber toy. He has recently acquired an interest in Star Wars. He has never seen any of the movies but has really picked up on the Star Wars lingo from all of his buddies. The lightsaber was a reward for the good report card he received this past Friday. He is doing very well in kindergarten and I have yet to hear a single complaint about school from him. In fact, by Sunday afternoon he is usually asking when does he get to go back to school (I may have to remind him of this in the future!). When Brian took a look at Grant's report card he said, "Wow, that's amazing!" I agreed that Grant was doing great and then he said, "No, I mean at the bottom where it says Days Tardy: 0. You've managed to get all four kids out the door and on time every day." It was nice of Brian to recognize that zero tardy days was a big accomplishment on my part (not just shocked that I could be punctual on a regular basis). It has definitely been an adjustment to be on a stricter schedule and on many days no easy task to get all four kids up and ready to go by 8:00am, but I tend to like routine so it's actually been a nice change. What a thoughtful husband to appreciate my "line of work." It was also Brian's idea to reward Grant for his efforts in school. I guess we both got a good report!

Things I've learned about boys this week

While I am blessed to be the mother of four little boys, I still have quite a lot to learn about boys. You see, I have never actually been a boy and I have learned that they act, think, feel, and do things differently than I did as a little girl. These are some of the things I have learned this week:

1. Pretending to be construction equipment can be hazardous to your health. Carter has recently developed an affinity for construction equipment (which I have learned is a male trait that develops at approximately two years of age). This being said, he decided to pretend to be a bulldozer earlier in the week. He did this by crawling on his knees with his face buried in the carpet as he 'plowed' the room. Unfortunately, his cute face now has a nasty rug burn across his nose as a result of all the pretend play.

2. Underwear is hilarious. On the way home from school one day this week Grant and Bryce discovered their bag of extra clothes that I keep in the car (you never know when a little boy might need to change out of soiled clothes--see below). They pulled out their spare pair of underwear and threw them up and at each other shouting, "Underwear!" and laughing hysterically. As I hollered back at them, "Stop throwing your underwear in the car!" I couldn't help but chuckle under my breath as I saw Buzz Lightyear and Spider-man underwear getting tossed about in the rear-view mirror.

3. Yes, puddles are irresistible. I don't think I need to elaborate on this one.