Our most treasured events this holiday season....

Baking cookies with Mamo & Crew


Callaway Christmas Party (Nana, I wish Pappa would have been in this photo)


Emm totally loving up on Uncle Maxie this year


Spending time with our cousins we love oh so much



Playing with our 2 favorite pets and Meg (being out of school) getting to wear her pink cowboy boots EVERY DAY (someone should teach her how to properly put on a pair of panties).



Running around naked outside (I'd like to blame it on the cold weather but this is not just a winter activity)


Wrecking our new Dune Buggy from Santa the first time we get on... Ok, so it's supposed to be for 6 years and older. We start early!

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve and I just finished playing Santa. I always struggle with trying to find a balance between not giving my kids too much but wanting them to be excited on Christmas morning. I think I scaled back this year, but when I look at all they have I still think how lucky my kids are and I feel very grateful for everything we have. I've already started talking to my kids about getting jobs when they turn 16. Ok, so I know it's a bit early, but I think it is so important. This ain't no free ride (as Dan would say). And, I want them to learn early to take pride in the things we work hard for.

So, this month has been all about check-ups for me. I had my yearly and mammogram, had a colonoscopy 2 days ago (yuck - although this one turned out better than the one 2 years ago - they took out 0 polyps which is great), dermatologist appt, physical with a new doctor by the name of Shapiro who is fabulous and finally I had a root canal less than a week ago! Whew. Hopefully, the root canal saved my tooth that Emm knocked loose. I've been busy, but I am totally taking my health into my own hands. Every time I've seen a doctor this month they tell me my blood pressure is super low. The last doc asked me if I was an athlete!?! Yeah right - do I look like one? Ha! If you call making a few laps around the kitchen table picking up all the loose crumbs and spills then I guess I just might be! The low blood pressure might explain though why I'm always cold. Or does it? Anyway - my cholestorol is great and so I think I'm pretty good overall. I made Dan an appointment to see a dermatologist too and what do you know - she burned something off of him. He wasn't wanting to go but I'm so glad he did.

We went to Disney the first week in December and it was pretty much miserable for my mom and I. No, not that bad, but it was a lot of work. We won't be going back until the kids get a little older. It is a very magical place. We went to Epcot for 1/2 a day and then Magic Kingdom for 2 whole days. If you are a first timer, I definitely say just spend your time at Magic Kingdom. There is so much to see and do. We didn't even get through the whole park in 2 days. The girls went on everything they could possibly get on (height wise). I guess my girls have that adventurous bug I have. They loved all the big roller coasters and Emm and Meg bawled when they couldn't get on one. I will be taking each one of them skydiving when they turn 18 - in my dad's honor of course. Here's a slideshow from Disney:

Disney World 12-08

I flew in from Disney and went directly to Dan's work Christmas party. We had a blast (can't beat it when you start off with a warm, oozy, chocolate chip cookie from the Doubletree). Hmmmm.....




Here is Meg being silly at Danielle's birthday dinner - she cracks me up. Someone (not sure who) taught her to cross her eyes. What's even funnier is that Gustie (my mom n law) sent out Christmas cards to everyone with Meg making a face like this. I laughed so hard when I got the card - I think there are 2 pics of Meg on there and she is making that face in both pictures. Classic Meg.

This picture was taken right before the girls went in to see Santa. Aren't they so sweet?

Ok, so one little story before I say good night. The other day we were in the car going somewhere and I looked in my mirror at Claire & Meg in the backseat (they sit right next to each other in their car seats). Claire was crying and she looked at Meg and said "Meg, I just have to tell you that you upset me because I was trying to tell you something and you didn't listen to me. You really hurt my feelings." There were real tears streaming down her face. I was anxiously awaiting Megan to tell her to leave her alone or to put her hands in her face or something to that effect. Oh no, my sweet Meg looked at her and said "I am so sorry Claire. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I love you." As she was patting her hand. Ok - so then I started crying! Maybe this means all of my work will pay off one day?

Future Artists

Does anyone else dread this? I left my girls in the kitchen to do "art work." Yeah, what that means is: open every package, mix it all together and spread it EVERYWHERE. Thank you Jacy for Meg's box of goodies. She LOVED it. Look at that look on her face. I think she was worried mamma wouldn't like what I saw...





These were taken the morning of Meg's birthday.

Happy Birthday to Dan and my Meggie Moo

This last Friday was Dan's birthday and Mamo had the girls. All NIGHT! It was nice but about 5 minutes after our dinner, Dan was pacing the house. He actually did not know what to do with himself with no kids in the house. It was pretty funny. It was a good night. Dan decided he wanted to stay at home and cook for us. He cooked the best steak ever and seriously - I don't even like steak. We opened a nice bottle of Cabernet and had a really quite evening. Shortly after dinner, he proceeded to fall asleep on the couch.

The next day was Meg's birthday party. It was lots of fun but a lot of work done at the house. We had 17 kids and Baby Baylee came. I think it was good for Jacy to bring Baylee so she could see what lies ahead for her. I'm so thankful she was able to take pictures for me. She's so good at that - Thank you Jacy. We decorated socks with puff paint, played games and had the upstairs turned into a movie theatre with a popcorn machine. A big THANK YOU to my mom, Gustie & Carl, Jason and Danielle for helping. They probably think I'm weird because I had a schedule printed out with who was in charge with what and at what time. Ok - so I'm a bit organized.... I don't think it's to the obsessive compulsive just yet but it is getting worse with age.

Monday was Meg's actual birthday and we woke up and had our cake and sprite tradition in bed for breakfast. Although I had to work on Monday, I gave Meg her special moments. She got to pick out stuff and go first for most of the day. And for dinner daddy brought home cupcakes from RJ Goodies. Yum - lots of sugar...

Updates from the Callaway Household:
* Claire can ride her bike! She had one of her friends Abbey come over a couple weeks ago and Abbey jumped on her bike and showed her that she could ride without training wheels. For the next 2 days Claire would not get off the bike (she's a bit competitive). She caught on quickly and we've all been taking bike/scooter rides down the street. Big Huge Accomplishment. Daddy told her she was the Bomb Diggidy and she's now been screaming: "I'm the Diggidy Bomb!" You go girl.

* We switched Gymnastics places. We weren't all that thrilled with the new instructor at the Little Gym so we decided to try out Cypress Academy. They love it and I love their instructors. They are mostly males and it's constant high fives and positive reinforcement. Emm is even going now. After our initial Mommy and Me class at Cypress Academy they decided she was good enough to start in the beginner class. Either she was actually good enough or the instructors felt sorry for me since Emm nearly knocked out my front tooth during our mommy and me class. It's still moves a little but I'm hoping it won't turn black and fall out. The girls are very happy while they are there and I feel blessed to be able to keep them in something they love.

* Emm's little personality is really coming out. She says "Hey, get out of here Mister" and "You silly goose." She says the cutest sayings. I think she is getting them from Spongebob but hey they are still cute. I wonder when they will get sick of Spongebob? It has been nonstop for the past year. Emm's teachers tell me she is always the last to go to sleep at nap time because she is so concerned with all the other kids. She wants to make sure they all go to the bathroom and she wants to know if they went tee tee or the other one. I guess she is just facinated with how that all works. She is such a mamma's girl and unlike the other 2, she still cries when I drop her off. She just wants her mamma which makes me feel so good.

Taylor Swift (a step up from the Disney Princess cd, Hanna Montana, Jonas Brothers and Camp Rock) has been non-stop in the mini van for the last month. Even I can't quit listening to it. I love it. And when Emm sings it is just so cute. Claire really gets into her music. She has these deep facial expressions and she really listens to and knows every word from all her songs. Claire told me the other day "Mommy, you know the reason why my emotions came out in that song is because I was thinking of Ian." OMG! Ian is a boy from her school from last year. The song was about missing someone. I think she is wondering where he went because he is not there this year. Either way - this disturbs me!

So, I wake up every morning to Emm and Meg kissing my face. It is so soft and sweet and I hear "I love you mommy.... wake up..." It's these moments I treasure. Thanksgiving is in a few days and I'm really just so thankful for my hubby, my family, my kids and my friends. Mom, you are such a great friend to me. Alway listening and never judging. I hope I can be as good of a friend to you as you are to me.

The slideshows are from the HP Fall Festival held at the Oil Ranch and the other of Meg's 4th birthday party. There were just too many cute pictures to choose from.

Congrats Paul & Leah

Thursday I visited my friends Paul & Leah who just had their new baby Samantha. She was so precious and sweet. Just wanted to say a big Congrats and I can't wait to watch all 3 of you grow together as 1 sweet family.

My little Meggie

She is the cutest thing I have ever seen. Seriously, I love that girl so much. Tonight after I was drying her off after bathtime I told her to go get dressed and to come back to the bathroom so I could trim her fingernails and toenails. Her response... "No Mamma, you don't need to do that - I've already eaten them all!"

They are so sweet and honest. One other little Meggie story... we were standing in line to vote on Thursday evening of last week. Me and the girls ended up sitting on the floor while Dan worked the line (it took us 2 hours by the way). The girls were not on their best behavior. Anyway - I turned my head one direction and when I turned it back I saw this lady laughing hysterically. Some strange lady... she then caught her breath to tell me that Meggie was digging so hard in her nose and right in front of the whole line of people. I guess Meggie got what she was looking for because then she ate her booger in front of everyone!

Please, please... if anyone can help me help my kids with this whole booger eating thing, please let me know!

Here's a pic from Halloween. Notice Meggie - she can't resist the funny faces. Love that girl.

Claire's 1st Fish

Claire caught her first fish this weekend at Bob's ranch. And Dan caught a pretty nice sized Bass. Claire was so excited but a little scared and not wanting anything to do with actually taking the fish off the hook. It was super cute and we all had a good time. Daddy and Charlotte ran around catching grasshoppers to use as bait. Those suckers are hard to catch. I couldn't catch any! Megan really wanted to throw the fish back in the water but every time she went to grab it she got grossed out and couldn't do it. We had so much fun.

Eliza's Party & our yearly trip to the Pumpkin Patch

This last Saturday we had so much fun at our dear friend Eliza's Halloween party. My friend Lisa (Eliza's mom) is so creative and her house was decorated like nothing I had ever seen. The girls got such a kick out of all the spooky Halloween stuff - everywhere. I'm so utterly impressed with my friends who can decorate their homes for each season. I'm the type who tries really hard, but never quite get it right. I certainly make it to the stores for the after season clearance, but the stuff never makes it to my walls. Arrrrgggghhhh... My kids had their first slushies ever and boy did they like them. I think they each had about 3 before the night was over. There was face painting and they even played the movie "Nightmare before Christmas" outside. The kids loved it!

On Sunday, we went to the Pumpkin Patch. A little too crowded for my taste but it is a yearly tradition and the kids are always excited about it. We were only there for about 30 minutes and squeezed in a Hay ride with Nana.

My smallest kitten Emma



My middle kitten Megan who is actually allergic to kittens



Queen kitten Claire - her costume was a big hit


Halloween is such a fun time for us so this month you will be seeing lots of pictures from us! We love all the photo opps!

Quick Update...

Goodness, we've been so busy. I started my contract position and now any free time I have is spent working! Big bummer. My days of dropping the kids off at school and running the roads to all my favorite stores are GONE! G-O-N-E! It's going pretty well and I have a lady that I've known for a very long time come to my home on Mondays to watch the kids. I'm so impressed that the girls don't bother me at all. They don't even try to come into the office. Occasionally they pass by and wave, but they turn around quickly and run away. For a 2, 3 and barely 5 year old I think that is pretty darn good!

We had Claire's party at Oogles N Googles last weekend and it went really good. She had a great time and I did absolutely squat so that's my kind of party. They did the invites, cake, goody bags, papergoods, etc. I ordered pizza and that was about it. I can't believe she is 5. While I'm on the subject of Claire, we had an incident at school that made me so sad. It was Tuesday of this week and I was packing Claire's lunch the morning of school. Just a little history... I still feed them baby food for 2 reasons. One, they never stopped eating it and have always liked it. Secondly, it is the most convenient thing in the world for me. Not to mention they are getting nutrious food... Anyway - I was packing Claire's lunch and I told her I was giving her some squash with her sandwich which she usually loves but this morning I looked at her and saw tears rolling down her face. I went to her and asked what was wrong and she got all choked up and didn't want to tell me. When she finally did she said "mamma, all the kids at school were making fun of my baby food last week. They were all laughing at me." I can't believe 5 year olds are making fun of each other already! She was so upset and I started crying and I told her I would never send food that wasn't cool anymore. What in the world was I supposed to say? I get so protective and I was so upset. We both cried and hugged. I guess this is just a little taste of what I will be getting down the road. Hmmmm....

So, this year for Halloween I am going to be an 80's Rock Star (Claire picked out the Rock Star and I picked out the 80's part of it). The girls love, love, love to tell everyone that daddy is going to be mommy's "White Trash Loser Boyfriend." I bought Dan a Mullet and he is going to look so fine. Seriously, I have never seen him go shopping for himself, but he called me a couple days ago on his lunch break and he was headed shopping at Salvation Army and Buffalo Exchange for his 80's attire. I couldn't believe my ears. We have a dress up party this weekend and I am just so proud of him. Dan is what I call "Not a Planner." We use that phrase in our house a lot. I couldn't believe he took the initiative to go out and get an outfit. His jeans are hilarious!

Tonight I'm wondering...

Oh when, oh when will the night time routine for 3 toddlers get any easier? Every evening I end up feeling like a horrible mother after threatening the naughty corner several times before all 3 end up there. It's jumping, fighting, screaming, etc. Urrrggghhhh....
Ok, I must admit that sometimes I come in here to the office afterwards and just look at all their precious baby pictures. That always makes me feel better.

Cute little Claire Bear with the most precious toes...





My sweet Meggie - you were the happiest baby ever and I love looking at pictures of you and Pappa who I miss dearly...




And my chunky monkey Emm... here you are with your future husband Aston just hangin...

Power has been restored to the Callaway household!

Yippee! We have power after 8 days!!! Not that I really endured any hardship. I took the kids and headed to the wonderful comforts of San Antonio last Thursday before Ike. Dan stayed behind because he wanted to watch the house and needed to be here for work. He has been working his booty off - thank you honey... we love you and missed you so very much. Times like these really makes you appreciate each other and I'm so blessed to have married such a wonderful man that works so hard for us. Really... ok enough mushy mushy but, we are really blessed and did not have any damage from Ike. A big tree uprooted and that's about it. I'm happy that family and friends are all safe and sound. And thank you Jason for having us for the week.

The girls loved their vacation. Let's see... we went to the Wildlife Ranch, Fiesta Farms (nicest people ever!), San Marcos outlet, 2 different malls, River Walk and much more!

Claire had her birthday in San Antonio and we had to cancel her 5th birthday party here in Houston that was planned at Oogles N Googles. She was bummed and so I hope to reschedule for sometime in early October when things settle down a bit. This is the first year for Claire that you can not mistake a simple dinner and gifts for her REAL birthday party. She wants her friends to celebrate with her - period. She told me if we can not have it at Oogles N Googles, then maybe her friends can come to her house and maybe they could decorate pillowcases.... yeah - I'm not sure I'm liking this bossiness! Mamma makes the plans!

Tracy - I really laughed at your blog when you wrote about Geraldo Riveria (is that how you spell his name?!?) We watched him on the news during Ike and thought - what in the world has got in to him? He was really getting into the whole wind knocking him around and he was so proud to be there. Yeah - money could not pay me enough! :) We all laughed and got a kick out of that too!

Here's a slideshow of more pictures from our week in San Antonio:

Napa & Visit with Friends

This last weekend, Dan and I took a trip to visit some friends who live in Pleasanton, California. We made a stop off in Napa for the night - actually stayed in the quaint little town of Yountville before heading off to see Barry, Kareen and their precious newborn. One of Dan and I's favorite shows on the cooking network is called Diners, Drive-in's & Dives (if you like low key, good ole home-style cooking you'll love the show) and it featured a restaurant in St. Helena called "Taylor's Refreshers." Of course Dan and I had to check it out. Seriously, I have never had such a good Tuna Burger in my life. They must have put it a whole jar of mayoinnaise but it was well worth the calories. And their burgers! Crazy juicy and they use the best bread... ok - enough about food - can you tell I'm hungry?

After eating at Taylors we made our way to 3 wineries. And we became members of our 2nd winery in which we will get regular shipments of wine. We had a great time and woke up the next morning to hot air ballons taking off right outside our window. We'll do that next time for sure. Barry & Kareen were so much fun and Dan got to play golf 2 days in a row while Kareen & I had massages and went shopping. They have the happiest baby (Paige) and in talking to Kareen she thinks the book "Babywise" had a lot to do with it. I couldn't believe how well Paige was on a schedule and went to sleep on her own at 3 months old. I was wishing I would have read it... so to all you new moms... it must work!

Dan - happily waiting in line at Taylor's






Here we are having a drink and appetizer at Hurley's before heading out to Bouchon's. Trying to squeeze in all the yummy restaurants before heading out


Our cute little B&B


Picture taken from our room

August wrap-up and some favorite pics

This summer has been trying but fun to say the least. Just when I finally get used to school being out, temper tantrums all day long and screaming kids, everything changes. The kids start back to Mother's Day Out/Preschool tomorrow and I will start a part-time/from home, contract position on Sept 8. I'm looking forward to having extra cash so I can start traveling more with the kiddos.

I can't believe Claire is almost 5. How the time flies. She is so much like her daddy but is a mamma's girl. She loves a routine, thrives on order but is bossy as can be. She is always telling her sisters how to play, what to play with and where. I'm not sure if that is because she's the oldest but the other girls sort of just go along... off the subject but today Claire told me "mommie, will you just hold me and make me warm and comfortable?" I am so blessed.

Meggie loves to do exactly what I ask her not to do. She is sly, sly, sly... the other day my mom took her to Target and she was standing up in the basket. My mom told her to sit down because mommie said she didn't ever want her standing up because she would fall and hurt herself. Meg's comment back to my mom was "But, my mommie is not here!" That will tell you her thought process at almost 4 years old! Meggie has the sweetest spirit. She loves the chickens and will spend forever chasing and carrying them around. She gets so excited about such small things. I just love that about her and want her to never lose that joy. She still comes in our bed every night and sneaks in so we don't wake up and send her back to her room. She openly admits the fact that she sneaks so we don't wake up. She snuggles right next to daddy and stays there until he leaves for work. Such daddy's girl. I usually wake up in the morning with a foot or elbow in my eye.

And Emma, I can't believe she is just like the others now. Carrying on such big sentences and so sweet. She's forever telling me "mommie, i like your shirt," "mommie, I like your hair," "mommie, I like your pants." Everything about me she likes and to hear her say "mommie, I love you" is just so precious. I read Pinkalicious just about every night because I have a hard time turning her down. She just loves it time and time again and recites it with me as I read.

On another note, we got 3 eggs from our 2 chickens yesterday. I had no idea they could lay more than 1 egg a day. Boy - we hit the jack pot! :) Dan had to take some of the eggs to work last week becuase we had so many and the girls still LOVE to feed them and get the eggs. Today, Emma must have thought they were really hungry because she dumped out the whole container of food. I'm trying to teach her how to ration it a bit. And of course, not to drop the eggs on the way to the refrigerator. I guess practice makes perfect!

Here are a few pictures from this month: