The Saga Continues - Sith Lord Callahan turns 14

Callahan turned 14 on the 28th...halfway to his golden birthday! It kind of was stinky because lots of us had this flu that wasn't so fun. Emma and Lucy stayed up late the night before helping to make his cake since I was out. He wanted this brownie cookie cake since he's not a huge fan of cake but loves brownies. It was a labor of love for these girls, and I was so grateful because I wasn't sure if he'd get a cake on his big day. It turned out awesome and just goes to show how helpful and amazing these girls are and how much they love their brother. We woke up and made waffles for Cal (I masked up since I was feeling awful) and sent him on his way. We didn't see the birthday boy again until 5:45 p.m. when he finished up with wrestling. We brought him home and had pizza, breadsticks and mozzarella sticks with pop for dinner. Then we played a Star Wars 2 truths and a lie game and a Star Wars scattergory game, which he smoked us all at. Then it was presents time - he got some Star Wars socks and a real deal light saber. He was super excited about that, as he's been saving for one for a while but all of his money lately is going to his Washington DC trip. This one is cool because you can attach them together to form a dual saber or take them apart to duel with others. So the kids played with that a lot while I rested on the couch mostly. Then we had cake and sang to Cal. We gave Cal a bunch of stickers and he shared a lot with his siblings. He didn't really want a friend birthday, just a family one.  Hopefully next year we can have a fun friend birthday for him. 

14

Cal has such a good heart. He is always considerate of others and looks out for those around him.

I've never seen Cal get upset about loosing a sport or game at all. He's pretty even tempered. One of the teachers at the school talked about Cal when he was reffing once and there was clearly a bad call but Cal kept his composure and was cool about it and he was impressed. 

Cal enjoys reading still and likes finding exciting new series to read in the YA section at the library. 

Really getting into rock music - loves Metallica, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and lots of classic rock bands and likes playing the songs on his bass guitar. 

Callahan is starting to babysit and is a favorite around here among the neighborhood kids and his cousins. He is super fun with all the kids.

Still getting migraines quite a bit and has been having some hemiplegic migraines here and there since summer. They can be scary but we are learning how to manage it.

Nicknames? Cal, Call-e-han, Cal Cal (last two are what Sydnie calls him), Epic Singlet Boi, Grandma Margaret (inside joke from wrestling)

What is your favorite color? Green or neon green

What is your favorite toy? Legos

What is your favorite tv show? Ninjago, Gravity Falls

What is your favorite movie? Conan, Napoleon Dynamite

What is your favorite thing to wear? Shorts

What is your favorite animal? Snakes and cats

What is your favorite book? Michael Vey series by Richard Paul Evans

Who are your best friends? Abram, Clayton, Dominic

What is your favorite school subject? Science, P.E.

What's your favorite thing to say? Diarrhea

What is your favorite snack? Chips or cereal

What is your favorite fruit? Banana

What is your favorite vegetable? Cucumber

What is your favorite drink? Dr. Pepper

What is your favorite breakfast? Sausage

What is your favorite lunch? Tomato soup & grilled cheese

What is your favorite dinner? Hamburgers and fries

What is your favorite video game? Minecraft, Roblox

What is your favorite board/card game? Uno

What is your favorite thing to play outside? Football

What is your favorite thing to play inside? Wrestling

What is your favorite song? Master of Puppets by Metallica

What is your favorite holiday? Halloween

What do you sleep with at night? Headphones (always listens to music and reads before bed and sometimes falls asleep with them on)

What do you want to be when you grow up? Surgeon 

Thanksgiving - Unlock the Fulness of life by Being Grateful

This years Thanksgiving season was nice! During the month of November, we made a paper wreath and wrote things on the leaves we were thankful for. We put it on our door to remind us every time we came and went to be grateful. 

We were able to go to Utah for the weekend. Wednesday night, we went to Logan to spend the night with Mark, Mayela and Amber. We visited Amber at Costa Vida and ate dinner there (we tried not to embarrass her too much), played games, talked and had a big sleep over. Always fun to be with them!

Thursday, we went down to Bountiful for a lunch at Grandma Di & Grandpa Scott's house. We made sweet potato casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, and a Derby pie. Grandma made tons of good food, always the orange rolls are the best, the turkey was gourmet and we ate way too much. We played around the house, and the kids played outside, and just chatted. We then went over to the Ryerses and they had already eaten so we just hung out, had snack foods that night, made some turkey masks we brought down, and played lots of card and board games. The older girls all went to McDonalds to get slushies, they are loving this independence of being able to go places without the adults. Then Dave took the older kids to see the new Black Panther movie and they all liked it. Friday, we spent time with family - we went to the park, did some garbage bag sledding, watched a movie, the big kids all went Black Friday shopping, and then our own family went to the aquarium in Layton. The kids really loved it! It's not as big as some of the others we've been to, but it was fun. Saturday, we just spent more time together, went to the art museum with Grandma Di & Grandpa Scott, and hit up Little Caesars on our way out. 

On our way home, we started getting sore throats and ended up spending the week after Thanksgiving with what has been dubbed the Turkey Flu. Body aches and pains, headaches, chills, fever, coughing, sore throats, lethargy. It wasn't fun, but we cleared out a little over a week. 

The week before Thanksgiving, I was subbing at the alternative high school. One of the teachers put this quote on the board and we had a discussion about it. I liked it and went looking for the source and found this. Gratitude really changes everything! 

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." -Melody Beattie

May we always choose to be thankful each day, for it will make all the difference in life.