December 2014

Even in the first week of the 'christmas season' (ie first week of December) we are gathering that there is a strong likelihood that Caleb, with his inquisitiveness and powers of observation, will likely figure out the Santa thing at a fairly early age...

At Uncle Joey and Aunt Aly's house, Caleb noticed they had a few presents under their tree, whereas our tree didn't yet.  Caleb asked "why Santa has visited Aunt Aly's house and not our house yet?"  A few days later, after I had wrapped a few gifts and placed them under our tree, he looked at the name tags on each and then asked "Mommy how come Santa hasn't brought any presents for me yet?"

12/16/14:  A conversation with Caleb at bedtime tonight:
C:  Mom, when I grow up big like daddy will I leave this house?
M: Yes, someday you will, but that won't be for a very long time.
C:  Will I get to be the daddy for someone who doesn't have a daddy?
M:  Well, when you are all grown up you'll meet someone special and get married, and buy a house of your own and maybe have kids of your own.  When mommy and daddy were your age we lived with our mommies and daddies, and we didn't know each other yet then.  I lived with Papa and Nonni and daddy lived with Nana Gigi and Papa Jim.
C:  Who are Papa and Nonni's mommy and daddy?
M: Nonni's daddy is Grandpa Howard, and her mommy is in Heaven now but her name was Grandma Jane.  Papa's daddy is Papa Jack and his mommy is also in Heaven.  Her name was Grandma Joyce. They both went to Heaven but some day you will get to meet them when you go to Heaven, too.
C:  Will I die when I go to Heaven?
M: Well, yes.  If you know Jesus in your heart, then when you die you will go to Heaven.
C:  When I go to Heaven will I come back alive?
M:  (A little unsure how to answer this for someone his age...) Yes, in a certain way, yes you will.

Whew!  Lots of big questions from this four-year-old!

Love how the yellow leaves of this tree look against a stormy sky..

Caleb has a little friend at school named Teya, and she has been drawing pictures for him that I find in his cubby.  They are both pictures of the two of them.  :)

Helping out at the shoppe... juicing lemons for Caesar dressing, and pricing stocking stuffer seasoning.

Boys being boys...
They like to roar a lot these days, and Landon looks especially fierce with the crazy face and no front teeth!

Officer Tony, a good friend of my mom and dads, was having lunch at the shoppe recently and the boys were so excited to talk to him because he is a 'police officer' (CHP, actually).  They are so into police and SWAT right now, and Tony has also been working in riot gear in the bay area recently, and I think they thought he was the coolest thing since sliced bread. More recently when we saw him at the shoppe he even let the boys feel his bullet proof vest.

Christmas festivities... 

Annual Hovatter Christmas Party (the home where we got married)

Making a Gingerbread train with Nana Gigi, Tessa, and Beau

Our Elf, Wink, and a few of his recent appearances...  I only move him a few times a week (whenever I remember...) but the boys get so excited to see where he ends up.  Caleb has started asking if I moved him or if Wink moved himself.

As I mentioned, they are really into playing police and SWAT.  These are the new costumes for dress-up play that they got for Christmas.

Came into the room and saw the boys holding hands while watching cartoons.  Love how close they are becoming and how (usually Caleb) likes to initiate the hand holding.  He loves his brother!

The boys each had Christmas singing programs at the preschool.  Caleb had already requested a tie to wear on Christmas, and he said he also wanted to wear it for his program at school....with his Converse, of course. Caleb seemed a little more comfortable this year leading up to the show, but once on stage he seemed tired and bored, only singing a little bit.  Maybe next year I need to sneak over to him with a snack right beforehand to get his blood sugar up!  Totally my kids... sleepy and out of it when they get too hungry!

Post performance with Nana Gigi

We have made small progress in getting Landon to wear anything dressy.  I bought him three different 'dressy' shirts/sweaters and let him choose his favorite for Christmas.  This was it, and argyle sweater, and he LOVES it.  We're still working on the dress pants and dress shoes...  Here he is ready for school on the day of his program.  He sang a little, too, but quietly as he looked around and took it all in.  Would have minded him skipping the nose picking...!

Papa Jack being silly to make Delanie laugh :)

We had lots of fun having Uncle David and Aunt Dana and the kids in town for a quick visit.  The kids played every morning and afternoon, and it was so fun to see little Lanie (almost 18 months) trying to keep up with the big boys.

Ringing the bell with Nana Gigi and Katrina in front of Lodi's movie theater.  Caleb's favorite part was handing out the candy canes.

Christmas Eve at Ta-ta and Cousin Becky's house in Stockton.  We also got to have several days hanging out with Uncle Ben and Auntie April, which was lots of fun!

Putting cookies out for Santa, and of course, Landon couldn't resist taking a bite of the big guy's cookies for himself.  Typical Landon :)

On New Year's Eve's Eve (Dec. 30th) we enjoyed dinner out with some of my friends from high school and their husbands.  A fun evening to wrap up a great year!