Spring Break!!

For Spring Break, we had lots of visitors. Katie flew in for over a week, and then Chels, Avery, and Brandon came up for the weekend.

We were spoiled when they lived close by so we had to overindulge and do as much as we could while they were here. And we LOVED every minute of it.

Dallas Arboretum

The cutest little flower "thieves" who happened to steal a flower before we were even inside the Arboretum.

Tanner was obsessed with Katie when she came to visit. He wanted Katie to be next to him 24/7 and I was easily replaced. When I'd go to get him some juice, he'd tell me "No, Mommy. Katie do it!" Katie always likes to spoil him and give him all sorts of extra attention -- so it's no wonder. Now, if only she lived closer. We miss her being all the way in Seattle :)

Dallas Zoo

Feeding the giraffes is always the highlight of the day. Tanner is all about feeding them until they get an inch away and then he makes a run for it. He always freaks out at the very last second, but then turns around to do it again. But I admit, those giraffes are not shy and want their lettuce!!

We got to see the trainers feed the elephants too. They were feeding them pieces of fruit (ie M&Ms to elephants). We love the new exhibit and all the space they have to roam about. Avery like asking additional questions to the instructors.

Tanner always is talking about the elephants.

We even splurged and took a train ride around the zoo. Turns out the real 'animals' were in our own train the entire time....haha.

Tanner is still talking about the bird landing on his head months ago...that silly bird. And this time, it happened again. These birds virtually attach once they find out your have food.

Chels and I were freaking out too -- just trying to keep it together for the kiddos. Chels looks like a pro!

Swimming at the Allen Indoor Natatorium

Tanner lost his footing on the stairs and was completely underwater for several seconds before I could scoop him up. As soon as I picked him up, he was so relieved and happy -- he didn't even cry. I think I was more traumatized than he was...but then again, he held on TIGHT afterwards!

Avery is quite the little swimmer -- can swim completely and totally on her own. I think this year might be time for swim lessons for Tanner, but without Chels & Ave living close by, we'll have to figure out a new pool to crash.

Bowling & Arcade Games

Bowling was top of Avery's list of things to do in Dallas -- and it didn't disappoint. Loves these little kids moves. Just look at them :)

Every time I see that pic of Ave's smile, I just want to hug & squeeze.

Caden is a lil professional -- he has better form than I do :) And I love how excited he gets!!

Don't think Tanner was going to pass up his turn at bowling! "I do it myself Mommy" is all I kept hearing...even when it comes to picking up the heavy ball.

Chels didn't seem to mind being 6 months prego and bowling.

And even shy little Brynlee remembered Katie and cuddled in her lap!!

Arcade games. Tanner was barely tall enough to play some air hockey!!

The best part about little kids -- Tanner still desn't care if he doesn't have quarters to power the game :)

Pedicures -- This time, girls only

These two are just plain stinking adorable when they're together.

They were holding hands, laughing and singing. It just doesn't get any better than that!!

Avery's Quote Book:

When Avery woke up on Thursday morning, I was telling her how excited Tanner was when I told him you were coming to visit.

Avery asked, "Did he wake up and go OH MY GOSH, we're going to see Texas to see TANNER today??" with enough energy and excitement to wake up the whole neighborhood.

My response, "Well, it wasn't quite like that."

Avery: "We'll, I did!"

On Friday morning, this is what I heard while I was lying in bed half asleep and half awake:

Avery: "Tanner, do you still read this book? -[pointing to a baby book about colors]"

Tanner: Yesssss

Avery: "Well, can I have it? I want it for Quincy!"

Tanner: Ummm... no response.

Avery: "Well, you already know your colors and Quincy doesn't. I have to teach her and she needs it.

Keeps following Tanner around. "So it is okay if I have it?"

Finally, Tanner realized she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Okay Avey"

Seriously, I credit Avery to half the things Tanner knows. She's an amazing teacher - and will do very well with little baby Quincy once she makes her grande debut.

Quote Book

We don't know where he comes up with all it, just glad that he does!

On Valentine's Day, Tanner was bursting with excitement to show me my gift:

Tanner: Look Mommy what I got for you [pointing to homemade card and flowers]. Me color it. And flowers -- I pick out for you!
Me: Oh - thank you! And the chocalate, those look yummy!
Tanner: No, those are mine.

No wonder he was so excited!

Every now and then, I attempt to potty train Tanner.

Tanner saw me putting the pee in the pot, and just told me, "Great job mommy, I'm so proud of you!"

Now...if only he would just do the same.

Right before bedtime, I was smothering him with hugs and kisses:

Me: Ohhh. I just LOVE you! You any my little baby.

Tanner. No, I not a Baby. I Tanner.

Now when I do it, he just whispers Tanner so it's barely audible. He's learned he doesn't mind at all being treated like a baby when it comes to my holding and rocking him at night, just like I did when he was just a wee little one.

While we hardly ever drink pop at our house, Uncle Kenneth brings it every time he comes over to watch and play with Tanner.

As I was pouring myself a class of Coke out of a 2-liter bottle, Tanner started freaking out, "No, Mommy! That's Uncle Kenneth's Juice!"

One day I saw Tanner drinking OJ out of the carton! At first I was horrified thinking he would spill the entire thing all over himself, but he did just fine. Then I started laughing. He's already trying to be a teenager. And hmmm, I wonder where he got this from :)

We were at our friends house, and Tanner was admiring all their kitchen play stuff. He especially loved the Melissa & Doug Cookie Set, but was not keen on the idea of sharing.

Tanner was going around asking everyone if they'd like a cookie. When I another little girl chimed into help, he was not happy.

Me: Tanner, we need to share our toys.

Tanner: No, Mommy, they're too hot!

Any excuse not to share, right? How do you teach an only child to share?? I'm out of ideas...

Tanner's favorite thing to do it bake cookies. At Christmas, this was almost a daily occasion. He loved to help, but for one obvious reason.

Tanner would help gather, measure, pour and stir the ingredients. But with the addition of each new ingredient, he'd ask: Is it yummy or yuck now?

He made the mistake of tasting pure cocoa bar he thought was regular chocolate, so now he asks every time. And as soon as I say yes, he'll be dipping his little paws in there to snatch a few bites.

Another time we were cooking dinner. I asked him for the salt and started measuring it out.

Immediately, Tanner got defensive. "No Mommy, it's for the cookies."

How the kid remembers salt goes in cookies, I have no clue! But he definitely didn't want to risk running out of salt to make cookies, it would be a tragic day indeed.

Tanner was admiring my new necklace with shiny beads.

Tanner: Mommy, I like necklace!

He came up to me, running up on my lap to look at it closer.

Tanner: Here's a football and there's a soccer ball.

This is how Tanner views the world. Not in the form of shapes, but only forms of different sports & balls.

Tanner has a lot of adorable expressions, like how he says, "Ooooookay" just like Alfalfa from Little Rascals or "Yep, I suuuurrre did" with as much excitement a 2year old could muster.

This kid is just too dang cute. But unless I write it down, I always forgot all the silly randomness that comes out.

Obbsession

Tanner has a new love of his life and his name is "Bob the Builder." I'm pretty sure it was love at first sight. At first it was innocent and cute, now it's borderline obsessiveness. I hear this is normal for a 2 yr old...

Like he'll wake up in the middle of the night asking to watch Bob the Builder. 'No Tanner, it's 2am in the morning, go back to bed!'

Or he'll ask, "Let's play. You're Wendy and I'm Bob".

He inherited a loot of Bob the Builder toys when a friend, which was very fortunate for him since they're impossible to find at the stores these days.

His hammer goes with him everywhere he goes. It's his favorite toy. He uses a hammer complete his masterpieces. Now instead of building Legos with his hands, he places them loosely and pounds them together with his hammer. He'll open and close the kitchen cabinets with his hammer, pretending he's building them for the first time.

But then again, he does love his tractors. Every digger is named Scoop, bulldozer is Rolly. And his diggers pick up everything. He'll save a few snacks so that Scoop can pick them up for him.

Just look at how dreary eyed he gets.

In the car and on the go, he always finds a tractor. He thinks we can always pull over and drive the construction vehicles for fun. If you can at Chuckie Cheese, then why not everywhere else? And at the Children's Museum, guess what he wanted to play with??

It's true what they say -- boys will be boys!

Snow, glorious snow!

Living in Dallas, there's usually no hope. Last weekend, we were at the lake feeding the ducks enjoying the 70+ degree weather.

And then this week, we have 4 snow days in a row. Every kids dream, right? Usually it's unheard of.

But until today, it was nothing but sheer ice. Finally, the snow came pouring down. It's over 6 inches and still coming. You almost need sunglasses, but it's just beautiful!

Here's our attempt to make the most of it!

We tried making a snow man, but gave up since the snow was too soft and fluffy -- and wanted nothing to do wiht compacting together.

Then we went sledding on our driveway. Tanner loved every minute and kept going, again and again.

The neighbors even came out.

I fell trying to take a picture. The snow masks all the ice underneath -- and well -- our driveway is steep. It really hurt!! And then I realized I'm getting old.

And unfortunately, this is as close to snowboarding Anthony is going to get!

It was all fun and games -- until the snow soaked through Tanner's glove. His little hands were like ice. He was NOT happy, but a bowl of homemade chicken soup cheered him right up!

All and all, Tanner's favorite part was EATING the snow! I should have known!!

Christmas Day

Last, but not least, here's a quick glimpse of our Christmas Day.

Trust me, it was a whole day of celebrating!

Christmas morning @ our home

We started a tradition where Tanner gets 3 presents, similar to the Wisemen bringing 3 presents to the Jesus. It's a good thing too -- but HE got presents from everyone and anyone.

Dinosaurs, wooden blocks, airplanes, tractors, books, marble works -- anything a little boy could dream of having. [And then I spent the next 2 weeks re-organizing his bedroom to make room for all these new toys.]

And of all those big presents, his favorite was probably the light saber. I think every little boy holds a special place in his heart for one of these. Just look at that smile :)

Christmas Dinner

We spent Christmas morning with my family, and then headed over to Elam's house for more fun, games, and food.

Melinda had a ton of games lined up for the family -- reindeer shuffle, bin the bow of the present, and candy cane relay -- which is much harder than it looks.

We also did a white elephant gift exchange and came home with a car load more full of stuff. Tanner's still talking about the soccer table he got -- and has become quite the pro.

Memorable Christmas Moments

Reading stories about Christmas

Tanner's favorites was Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. After seeing the movie, he's walk around the house and continuously repeat, "HO, HO, HO, Merry Christmas!" And my some small miracle, we actually got it on tape!

Next year, I'm going to try a new idea where you have count-down to Christmas and wrap a book to open and read each night before Christmas.

For this year, I settled on reading him some of the same Christmas stories over and over again. But when it's The Polar Express, I don't seem to mind.

Learning about Baby Jesus

Tanner loves his kids nativity scene, but probably for all the wrong reasons. Normally, it's arranged like this. But when I'm not looking, Tanner re-arranges it like this. I've never caught him in the act, he's sneaky like that, but of course it's him.

Not sure how concerned I should be if Baby Jesus is taking a turn on the tractor, or the Three Wise Men are fighting in a war with one another. Awe-some.

The little one loves to be a stinker, and he'll even tell you as he's laughing his head off.

Baking, Baking, and more Baking.

I made endless amounts of Christmas cookies and Tanner was my number one accomplice.

While I'd like to think he genuinely enjoyed spending time with his momma in the kitchen.

But really, we all know what he was after.

Tanner rolling out sugar cookies and saying "Whoa, this is a big one" thinking that would be the end of it. He loved rolling up his sleeves and getting a little dirty, but you had to watch him, cause he loved to sneak in a bite whenever he could.

Tanner also helped make these amazing cookies. My far -- my favorite NEW christmas cookies. And I was shocked when he held off the temptation and actually helped me unwrap the Andies Chocalate Mints and place them on the cookies.

Singing Jingle Bells (with Santa's bell on his cap).

The poor Santa got dragged all over the house while Tanner would be singing away, jingling the bell on the top of his cap. It was too cute to try to keep Santa in his proper spot.

Spending time with family

We had so many fun visitors over the Holidays -- my parents came from Seattle, my grandparents, Nana & Papa from St George, and my brothers from UNT.

It still seemed quite compared without the entire family we had together at Thanksgiving. But we made the post of who was here and had fun playing games, shopping, and eating. Lots of it!

Trip to the Zoo with Nanny

It's hard to say who was more impressed, my mom or Tanner. She was shouffling the giraffes to get them to eat the lettuce and talking to the lion zookeepers about the the differences/ similarities between wild and domesticated animals.

We rode the monorail around the zoo. We almost didn't make it cause Tanner was having a melt down when he say the first train leave without him. But we persevered & made it. He kept insisting I take pics of all the animals we saw -- so I ended up with tons of pics of animals, and only these of us :)

or Tanner finding every stuffed toy to give to my dad. Tanner and my dad had one thing in common, they loved to wake up early. Tanner woke up at 6:00 every morning and trust me when I say I can't function before 7:00.

Or on Christmas eve, the weather was gorgeous! And we played outside like it was first day of fall all over again.

Anthony and I had off over 2+ weeks of work and school -- so we got lots of good playtime in!

Trains at Northpark

And of course I would forget my camera...but I swear this place was created with Tanner in mind. He was most impressed my seeing Thomas the Train and a train circling the Christmas tree - but this place had it all. I enjoyed seeing the Downtown Dallas cityscape and Fair park with all the amusement rides. Yup, we could have stayed here all day.

Just being our normal, silly selves.

It's all the small moments that add up - driving around town to see the Christmas lights, delivering Christmas goodies to friends and neighbors, going to see Santa Claus, the endless Christmas parties with friends. and spending time with family. It's not really what you do -- but who you do it with -- that matters.

And that is why I LOVE Christmas!

Christmas Greetings

For posterity's sake or for all those who didn't get a Christmas card:



(If I didn't have your address or you didn't send me one, then this is for you)

Tanner continues to light up our lives, one smile, laugh, and hug at a time. Whether it's him telling me, "Ohhh, you SO cute!" or him reminding me, "I'm not a baby, I'm Tanner," I hope be NEVER stops being a little mamma's boy. Oh, but he still LOVES his Daddy too. They giggle and play so hard, they're always out of breath.

We're grateful to live in a town where the garbage man makes specials trips for Tanner to climb abourd or our neighbor who bakes us cakes just for the heck of it.

Anthony is wrapping up his last semester, and in just a few more months, will be an official Dentist. He's definitely excited, but trust me, no one can be happier than me. Now the million dollar question, what will be next is still to be determined.

Above all, we're grateful for the peace and joy that comes from our Saviors love, and so often His light that radiates from each of our dear friends and family.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Love,

The Callison Family

Santa Claus

When we started this Christmas season, Tanner had no clue about Santa Claus. When we were reading a book and Tanner saw a picture of Santa Claus, he goes, "Look, there's Jesus!"

But a few hundred books and movies later, Tanner must have figured it out.

Tanner caught me doing some online shopping -- and immediately began asking for some of the toys. Not really thinking, I told him he would have to ask Santa Claus if he wanted those toys. Immediately, Tanner replied, "Let's go buh-bye. I wanna see Santa." Right then and there at 8:00 on Friday morning. How was I suppose to produce a Santa? I tried to explain that Santa was at the North Pole, or flying with his reindeer, but he wanted NONE of it. Two-year olds and their tantrums - lovely.

Earlier that week, I was saying how horrible of a mom I was cause I didn't care if Tanner saw Santa. It just seems so overrated -- waiting in lines for hours -- and not sure how your kid will react. But really, I'm just not sure how much to emphasize and teach about Santa Claus. One day, they'll grow up realizing you filled their minds with lies. And it's really Christ's birth we celebrate and Santa seems to have turned into the camercialized version just like the Easter Bunny.

But then again, Santa Claus makes Christmas a fun and magical time of the year, how much harm can it really do? And the story of Old Saint Nicolas did originate with one person exempilflying Christ's love for others.

But when he was so persistent, I gave in. I took Tanner to see Santa Claus. He was excited and nervous all the the same time. He even told Santa just what he wanted -- toys.
I'm sure one day he'll grow old, and he'll never believe the nonsense I'm telling him. But for now, I love that he's little and the innocence of children makes them believe every word. And for me, that makes my Christmas magical.

Happy Halloween!!

Doesn't he make the cutest little vampire???

Seriously, adorable. I admit, I only got the costume cause it was on sale. But then I had this ingenious idea to have Anthony and I dress up like Edward & Bella -- except Anthony thought going as himself would be enough. For me, yes -- for others, probably not so much.

Party, Party!

At first, Tanner wanted nothing to do with his costume. I tried doing everything, but he ended up wearing his costume from last year to the first party we went to. It was a little snug -- but luckily it still fit.

Then he realized candy was involved -- and didn't have any problems wearing it the second night. I guess I did bribe him by telling him about the bounce house. But it worked. Yes -- finally!!

Pumpkin Carving

Then comes carving pumpkins. He didn't mind sticking his hands in there initially and getting all the gunk out...at first. Then he started flinging his hand around and the gunk was going everywhere.

Anthony ended up carving all our friends pumpkins too. Finally, those talented fine motor skills of being a dentist pays off :) He brought home a few special scalping tools from the lab -- and was the hit of the pumpkin carving party.

Sadly enough, the squirrels got to it before Halloween so there wasn't much left of it. Tanner told us "Squirrel mean." Those dang squirrels also decided to take off the nose and shoes of my little scarecrow. Seriously -- it is MEAN!

Trick or Treating at Work

It was fun showing off Tanner at work, but he was painfully shy.

That is, until he got into his "element" and began throwing for the bean-bag toss.

What's up now???

He was amazed by the pumpkin tattoo on his arm.

Trick-or-Treating

By the time Halloween day rolled around, Tanner was jumping at the chance to wear his costume and go Trick-or-Treating for candy. Just look at that SMILE!

And of course, had to visit our favorite neighbor, "Aunt Nell"

Our trick-or-treating friends

He was all business this year -- running as fast as he could -- and dragging his heavy bag of candy with him. I offered to help him -- but he'd -- "No, me hold it." Smart boy -- he knew I'd try to eat some :)

When he'd get to the house, he insisted on picking out one...two...as much as they'd let him. It's hard to turn down a determined two-year-old. But you have to. Otherwise, he wouldn't stop reaching his little arm in there and grabbing the candy. But at least he'd always say thank you.

A few times, people would try to put the candy in the bag for him, thinking they were doing him a favor. But he didn't want any of that either. Mr. Independent had to do it himself.

Last year, I just remembered how he'd try to run into the houses after they'd open the door. He's totally grown up since then -- but as always -- such a hoot.