Santa Claus What's That? Who's He?

My boys love my singing....my musical performances.  Lately I have had Annie running through my head and through my repertoire for the boys.  It's A Hard Knock Life in particular. Maybe because all of my Pandora stations seem to play Jay Z (Pandora is smart, so smart.  I love Jay Z.  who else could or would sample Annie?).

This year we were blessed with a whole catalog of Callahan memories thanks to Kevin's Uncle Danny.  I never got a chance to meet Kevin's Grandma Callahan but Ginny seemed to love big fat Christmas trees and matching pj's.  She also liked to pose in very stylish clothes and she frequently took pictures of all the boys and her husband on the toilet!!!  I heart her.

 Can you tell which one is Kevin's dad?

 

Last year, we made a decision to divorce our fake Christmas tree.  It was a love hate relationship.  We bought that tree the same year we bought our very first house in 2001.  The dogs chewed through the box before we even got the box open, let alone getting the tree up.  The tree was never whole after Murphy and Marley had their way with it.  Every year Kevin spent hours getting all of the lights working and there were some years that whole sections remained unlit.  The relationship just wasn't working out and Kevin wanted a real tree.

So this week Kevin crammed all of his finals into a few days so we would have time to buy a Christmas tree before he went back to work.  We bought a tree that cost almost as much as our fake Christmas tree but oh my it is SO worth it.  Kevin was literally jumping up and down when we got it set up in the family room (the old tree sat in the living room facing the street).  Our tree is so perfect!

And I didn't actually spend $150 on gold and ivory decorations last December 26, but I had a lot of gold and white!  So much that I think we might have a gold and ivory tree again next year!  I was kind of impressed with myself.

Lest you think this is a Mommy tree....

 

I couldn't find my unicorn ornament (one of my favorites from my childhood).  However, I did get (one of) my childhood Christmas wishes.... A TRAIN AROUND THE TREE!!! I always wanted a train under the Christmas tree.  Always.  Cue Mom jumping up and down.  This train is the Hogwarts Express (or "the Harry Potter train" as Keith says) and Pop Pop Callahan bought it for the boys this summer.  Love it.  Tomorrow?  Meet the Mantel (alternate title: I See Nutcrackers)