"CAL"

Look what Cal handed me today! This is not only his first drawing of a person (I love the eyebrows!), but also the first time he's written his own name! See it there on the right? He did this with no prompting or instruction. What a terrific surprise!

  

Bell Choir

I did something new this year -- I joined a bell choir! My Aunt Heather got me involved, and I'm so glad she did.  It was really fun to try something different this year, and handbells make for lovely arrangements of Christmas carols. We performed in church, and at the Palo Alto Creche Festival.

Christmas Helper

Cal has been such a wonderful little helper this Christmas season.  He has been waiting for Christmas for a long time now; it's so hard to wait when you're little. I've been trying to help him bear the wait with little activities each day. Grandma Cally-coo bought him a little advent calendar, and each morning he runs into our room yelling, "My cander! My cander!" He loves it, but what's a three-year-old to do the rest of the day? Here are some of things we've been up to, which Cal has loved helping with...

For family home evening, we put up our little tree and decorated it. In past years, I've tried hanging candy canes from the branches, but they seem to mysteriously disappear, so we opted for non-edible ornaments only. 

 Cal was very careful about picking out each ornament and hanging it from a branch:

 But we did have one or two casualties:

 Although he's smiling in this photo, Cal was devastated when he broke ornaments. His face would crumple and he'd throw himself rather dramatically on the rug or couch, wailing. It was hard not to giggle at him while we explained that the ornaments weren't very important!

Cal also insisted on helping with our Christmas card assembly.  Reed was down at the L.A. auto show for a few nights, so Cal and I set up the operation on my bed. Here's our little guy, fresh out of the tub, stuffing envelopes:

 He'd put the card in, and then hand it over to me. He even helped with licking the envelopes shut, putting on address labels, and sticking on stamps.

We had a cookie exchange with friends this month, so Cal and I rolled up our sleeves and got our toffee-making on! I did the hot parts, like boiling the caramel and melting chocolate, while he was down for a nap...

...but you better believe he helped with the taste test!

Licking his chops after a sample!

 The cookie exchange was a big hit, although I believe it's kind of cruel to put a three-year-old in front of a table like this and then tell them they have to eat lunch first:

I was legitimately surprised by Cal's helpfulness with this next project. I saw a recipe for holiday potpourri on my friend Jessica's blog and decided to make some with Cal for our friends. We had an adventurous morning collecting the various ingredients (it was surprising hard to find whole cranberries!). Here's Cal with everything spread out before him, ready to start:

 I walked Cal through the first one, pointing to the different things to add, and then he told me he could do the rest. I hesitated at first, but watched with amazement as he added the right amount of one ingredient...

 ...and then another...

 ...and then another!

Holding up two fingers, the number of cinnamon sticks to add

He even tied some of the bags with the twist ties! I helped him finish up the tying and added the cards. Here he is showing me the fruits of his labors:

We had fun driving around to Cal's little friends, dropping off his gifts. I could tell he was proud of himself, and I was proud of him for wanting to share the things he had made with his friends. He asked me if we could visit each friend, naming them by name, and then held the little bag in his lap all the way over to their home. He really is such a loving little boy. Makes a mama so proud.

Our wrapping station!

Cal has been very excited about the amazon packages that keep showing up on our doorstep. He gets really excited when I suggest that we wrap presents, and picks out the paper and bows for each one. He loves putting them under the tree, and points out daddy's gifts to him when he comes through the door after work.

Biggest Christmas miracle of all so far this year is the laundry cart my wonderful mom got for me!  It has changed my life so much I'm almost concerned. Makes doing our laundry 5000 times easier. Cal loves helping me put the clothes in, and offers [demands] to push or ride in the cart as we roll down to the laundry room in our complex.

And look who I found beneath the warm, clean blankets:

My wonderful little helper!

Sweet Tooth

This past Thursday evening was dark and rainy, and Cal gave me a scare! When my friend came to pick up her two daughters, I walked down with her in order to help carry bags and switch carseats. Cal insisted on being carried, and when I got to the street I realized he didn't have shoes on. I didn't want to put him down on the wet sidewalk, so I unlocked my car, which was parked on the street, and sat him in the front seat and shut the door. That way, he'd be safe and dry while I helped my friend get her kids buckled in. When I came back to my car a minute later, he wasn't in the front. I panicked. I feared he had opened the door and climbed out of the car, and was wandering in the dark street alone. Heart racing, I yanked the door open and called frantically to him, with no answer.  I started yelling, cupping my hands around my mouth and shouting his name outside my car.

Then I heard a little rustling sound coming from the far back of the car...and here is what I found when I opened the back door:

Cal scavenging homemade toffee being stored for Christmas drop-offs.

He had climbed back there because he knew it was there, and he didn't even respond to his name because he knew he wasn't supposed to be eating it. The stinker! I was so scared!

Then, the next day, I find him on a chair trying to crawl into the freezer, where I had hidden the rest of his halloween candy so he couldn't sneak it from the pantry anymore:

If anyone is wondering why we felt the need to go on a sugar fast these past three months, it is because we have a problem. If you need evidence of our little boy's crazy sweet tooth, look no further than the photos above!

Post-Thanksgiving Visit with Olsens

After saying goodbye to my family Saturday morning, we got to meet up with Kaki, Diana & Chris for some Olsen family fun. We started with a delicious breakfast at Kneaders for Kaki's birthday, and then moved the party to a park when the boys got a little too squirrely. 

I love this photo of everyone pushing the three boys on the swings next to each other:

Can you find Cal in this photo?

 After our sibling birthday breakfast, we drove up to Salt Lake to take the cousins to see the lights at Temple Square with grandma and grandpa Olsen.  I have many memories of being freezing at Temple Square, so I bundled Cal up like we were braving Antarctica. I didn't regret it -- it was a very cold night.

Two of the best dads ever

I love how much Richard wants to be a part of the boys' lives.  He was excited to take them to the fountain at the new City Creek center, and they loved it!

We also walked over to the candy windows at Macy's, which were fun and creative:

Each ornament is huge, and is decorated entirely with candy

We had a wonderful time, and we can't wait to come back for Christmas!

Thanksgiving Break with Richeys

For Thanksgiving, we made the long, lonely drive to Salt Lake. The I-80 through Northern Nevada is a pretty desolate journey. The few towns that dot the highway have tag lines that fail to convince you of their importance. My personal favorite is "Battle Mountain: Halfway to Everywhere!" 

Despite the drive, we were happy to come and see our family members. Rachel convinced several of us to do a Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning. When we woke up the day of the race, none of us were particularly excited about it, especially since it was freezing outside. 

As we huddled beneath the heat lamps, we were having major deja vu about our frigid Ragnar just weeks before. 

 The wind was whipped our faces the whole race, which was mercifully short -- just a 5K. We were glad to get back in the car and drive home, heat blasting, to our Thanksgiving dinner at grandma's house.

After dinner, we packed up some leftovers and drove over to Meredith's house. The two new babies were still on oxygen and heart rate monitors at the time, so she was basically housebound. Cal discovered Carson's tricycle, which he immediately started calling "my bike."

This one's my favorite:

Carson was happy to join the fun in his little car:

Somehow we managed a family picture, which is miraculous considering even the wee babes were in it!

We had a lot to be thankful for this year, but one incident in particular made this Thanksgiving even more of a reminder: the day before the holiday, my grandma had an incident with her heart. I'm still not sure if it was a minor heart attack, or if a part of the heart muscle was paralyzed, but she spent Thanksgiving Eve in a hospital bed in the ER. It was frightening for all of us, and we were so glad and grateful to have her back with us for our Thanksgiving dinner. 

Taking the cousins on the carousel during a shopping break

I love Thanksgiving. It is a wonderful time to remember how blessed we are. I'm grateful for my liberties in this country, for my religion, for my family, for our health and safety, and for the myriad of opportunities I have ever day. We are very, very blessed.