Well, it has happened...my little Caleb has had his heart captivated by a sweet little girl...already! He has been talking about Brianna since the beginning of the year. She has always been a really sweet friend. She stood up for him at the very beginning of the year when some other little girl said she didn't like him (how could you not like Caleb?? She just didn't know him yet, because they're friends now=)). Anyway, when we were sitting down to make out Caleb's valentine's for the big party, he informed me that he wanted to make a "special" Valentine for Brianna. So, he stamped and drew some pictures and wrote, "Brianna, will you be my Valentine?" THEN he asked me what that meant. I felt it was a little early for explaining about "liking someone." So, I asked what he meant when he wrote it. He told me that he just wondered if she'd be his friend forever...sounded perfect to me! =)
Here is a picture of Caleb and McKenna with some of their friends (from left to right Kendall, Brianna, Avery, McKenna, Trey, and Caleb). Sorry the picture is kind of far...they were all watching a movie on the couch =)
Okay, so I'm embarrassed that it's taken me this long to post about Caleb's Birthday, but better late than never, right? =)
Caleb had a lot of fun on his birthday. We invited a few of his friends from Kindergarten to come over after school. We made pizzas, played, opened a few presents, and decorated cupcakes. It was funny because all of the kids were playing, mostly the boys ended up in Caleb's room and the girls ended up in McKenna's room. She felt like such a big girl that day =) Anyway, when I asked who wanted to help make pizzas, it ended up being only the girls...typical boys, huh...let the girls do it! =) Anyway, we all had a lot of fun. I enjoyed getting to know some of the moms better, McKenna loved being in with all of the "big girls", and Caleb had a wonderful Birthday.
We started a new tradition a few weeks ago. Caleb and McKenna did not want to go Trick-or-Treating for Halloween (Caleb actually wanted to protest with his very own picket sign at school, but that's a whole other story =) )...they get scared by all the costumes and stuff that come out this time of year. I, of course, don't mind...no need to buy costumes, no candy to sort through...no problem! =) So, we set some candy out for the kids that I knew would be knocking on our door, and we started a new tradition (for us anyway). Friday night is now "Movie Night" at the Pifer house. We borrowed several kid movies from the library earlier that day, had pizza for dinner, got our jammies on, brought our pillows and blankets out, popped popcorn, cuddled and watched movies. We had so much fun together. Last Friday, the kids and I actually made the pizza (with a little help from the Pillsbury dough boy =) ). Caleb and McKenna sure can make a mean pizza! I tried not to be uptight about making messes and just let them have fun...and we did =) Here's a picture of them with their masterpiece:
A few weeks ago, we went up to West Point to watch Air Force play Army...well, to watch Air Force BEAT Army (Army actually played better, but Air Force came up with the win...Go FALCONS!) =) We were sitting right by the cheerleaders, so McKenna was entertained the whole time by that (okay, McKenna and I ) =). It was SUCH a gorgeous day for a football game...60 degrees and sunny, and the leaves that surrounded us were at their peak. Perfect.
After the game, we drove around a little. We had seen pictures, of course, but nothing can really prepare you for the castle-like buildings and the serene views (although I'm sure there's nothing serene about it for the cadets) =). It was all pretty amazing. We would like to go back sometime for an actual tour, but on a day when we hadn't already sat through an entire football game with the kids =).
The only bad part about the day was that our oldest (as in known the longest, not age =) ) Air Force friends (Chris and Mary Jenny) were supposed to meet us there, but couldn't make it. We sure missed being able to spend time catching up with them, but overall, it was a wonderful day to spend together as a family.
Thought you'd like to see a few pics:
on our drive up more scenery 
the game "The Bird"
more beautiful color their incredible chapel one of their amazing buildings
As I was getting ready this morning, McKenna started singing "Yankee Doodle Dandy". I didn't even know she knew the words to this song!! =) She is always surprising me with what she remembers and picks up on, without us trying to teach her. I guess it's a good reminder that little eyes and ears are always watching and listening (at least when they want to =) ). Anyway, I thought I would share a video of McKenna singing her song...she cracks me up!! =)
***Also, there is another new post after this one, be sure to scroll down to see it =) ***
We, like many of our friends, visited a pumpkin patch recently (I'm ashamed to admit that it was over a week ago, and I'm just now posting about it) =) We had a play date at a local farm called "Strawberry Acres" (apparently they do more than pumpkins =) ) with our new friends (thanks to Annie), Jacklyn, Aidan, and Jana =). It was a pretty chilly day, but we had lots of fun visiting, pumpkin picking, Turbo Tube riding, and animal petting =) We're looking forward to going again sometime, maybe daddy will get to be in on the fun next time =) Enjoy the pics...
Okay, we're sitting at the dinner table tonight, and Caleb says, "How about a little Revolutionary War Trivia". He was actually talking about something he wanted for his birthday, but I thought he wanted to play some Revoluationary War trivia as our discussion over dinner =) So, I start trying to think of anything I could possibly remember (Aaron wasn't home for dinner tonight or we would've been all covered on the subject)!!
Well, Caleb decides to go first..."Here's one for ya" (exact quote), "who commanded the British forces during the Revolutionary War?" Whoa, wait a second, how old are you?? Am I talking to Aaron or Caleb??? So, I stop and think for a second, and gave my correct answer (do you know?? General Cornwallis). I then asked my question, which he got right. Caleb's turn: "Here's one for ya..." (again) "...Who hung the lanterns at the Old North Church?" Now, I really had to stop and think about this one. I guessed Dawes (a name I remembered from reading The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere). He told me that he thought it was Robert Newman (read: "your wrong mom!!") So, I came in to our handy dandy computer encyclopedia and looked it up =). He was right, of course. But there was another man as well, for all of you who just have to know this little piece of trivia. According to Wikipedia, it was Robert Newman who carried one lantern and Captain John Pulling carried the other to signal "two if by sea."
We continued our little trivia game and eventually moved on to the Civil War (I shouldn't have to think this hard over dinner =) ). The best part of all this is not that Caleb is a little Revolutionary War buff like his daddy, or that he even cares about this at his young age, but that he actually stumped daddy on his last question!!! I was relaying all of this to Aaron over the phone tonight, and when I asked him that question about who hung the lanterns, he wasn't sure either! There isn't much that can stump this man, especially when it comes to history, but Caleb did, and we were both proud of him for it! =) We love you Caleb and are very proud of your inquisitive little mind. Always keep learning!!
