Callie's Story

Yesterday, Callie woke up in an unusually good mood. She began telling a story. I'm not sure if it was something she dreamed or made up, but it was pretty cute. I typed it mostly so I could save it, but I thought I'd share it here too.

First, here are a few explanations so you understand her story a little better:
-I made several tissue paper pom poms (she calls them flowers) for a baby shower I recently hosted. Jason remarked the other day that they were a fire hazard and asked if I was going to take them down anytime soon. I hung a couple of small ones in Callie's room.
-We have told Callie that Daddy works so we can pay for our things.

I saw my flowers. They're still on. Fire didn't come out but it did a little bit.  Fire has wheels but it didn't see me. I hid my hands under me so the fire can't see them. 

Someday I'm going to get lights up on my wall. Daddy's work will pay for it. 

Someday I have more lights. Like five lights, with my windows open. And a crib to walk to put my baby in.

Kaden's at school right now. He's starting school with Adam. They're all starting schools.

After that...I didn't wake up. I just go back to sleep. Actually I have a problem. My baby cried a little bit but then she went back to sleep.

Tomorrow fire's going to come out again when it's late. Fire came out and get my Jammie's and come in my bed. (I don't see any fire). It did but it left. I see the fire when you're awake. 

And then after that the flowers were still on. After that. The end. 

Callie Turned 3!

Last month, we celebrated Callie's third birthday. Can you believe she's 3 already? I can't. She is growing up so fast. She's becoming more like a little girl and less like a toddler. Here's what we did on that special day:

 She woke up to birthday decorations that morning.

 Then we went a little out of order and opened presents.

 Her favorite was this doctor kit. A couple months before her birthday, her cousin Hailey introduced her to playing doctor and the Doc McStuffins show. After that, I would find her using old ID cards to play doctor with, so we got her a doctor kit of her own.

 She had her pancake breakfast, but that didn't last long before she was back to playing with her toys.

   Jason left for work and we headed on our usual walk, but today we brought bread to feed the ducks, fish, and turtles.

After our walk, we had a party with her friends at a nearby park. As you can tell by all the sweaty, red faces, it was very hot. One of my friends is a photographer and she took pictures at Callie's party for her present. I was so excited for the pictures and so grateful to not have to worry about taking pictures.

Callie's Friends (and their siblings)

Later, after Jason came home from work, the party continued with dinner, more cupcakes, and play time.

Girls' Cruise

Back in June, my Mom treated my sisters and I to a cruise in celebration of our college graduations. We left our kids home with our husbands (which was an adventure in itself). It was a much-needed break for all of us and it was so much fun! My awesome mother-in-law, who is a travel agent, specializes in cruises, so she found us the perfect cruise and helped us find a great beach in Cozumel.

We sailed on the infamous Carnival Triumph. In case you missed this story, back in February the Triumph had a fire in the engine room, leaving the cruise ship and its passengers stranded at sea for 5 days without power and with some serious plumbing issues.  I won't go into details about the conditions, but let's just say we were all relieved to hear that the ship had been completely renovated.

We had rooms with balconies, which we LOVED. It was so nice to have our own private little place to see the ocean. We even had the door between our balconies opened.

We all went on a cruise in 2008 with our families, and this Chocolate Melting Cake is what we dreamed about for years after. We made sure we had it every night on the cruise. We occasionally ordered another dessert to try, but this was always hands-down the best. 

We stopped in Cozumel, where we spent the day at a beach lounging, swimming, and playing on their water toys.

We had such a great time!