Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Merry Christmas, 39 Clues!

Before I even get into this post, let me just say that yes, I am aware that Christmas was like, 5 days ago. Sorry about that. I really wanted to do a Christmas post though, I just never had a chance. Things were crazy before Christmas, and I've just had no motivation ever since. It's been nice to have a break, although I have missed blogging. SO, you're getting a five day late Christmas post. Enjoy.

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Amy would be a Christmas fanatic. The decorations would be up the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas music would be playing 24/7, and all of her gifts would be bought before December 1st. Amy was trying super hard to make Christmas just as wonderful as Grace always had. She would also be that person who's annoyingly good at gift giving, always managing to find that perfect gift based off of an offhanded comment that someone made six months ago. (In other words, Amy is basically my sister.) She wore the scarf that Natalie had given her for Christmas a few years ago (y'know, the one Nat sent her the bill for..) quite often during the holidays, as a little reminder of her.

Dan would be that annoying person who's constantly trying to figure out what you're giving them, and just will. not. leave. you. ALONE!!! For the entire month of December, he kept getting caught rummaging under someone's bed, or in someone's closet, trying to find the Christmas presents that they'd hidden away. It finally got to the point where Amy and Nellie refused to ever leave him home alone, and Fiske installed new locks on every door. Of course, that didn't do much good- Dan had learned too much from Lightfingered Larry. Amy was strongly regretting ever making Dan take that course....

Fiske decided that this Christmas, thanks to Dan, they needed higher security. After all, they had a gigantic headquarters in their house- couldn't they at least keep Dan away from the Christmas tree? He kind of gave up, though, after he accidentally almost burnt off the bottom of the tree with lasers. Instead, he focused his energy on being in charge of the outdoor lights. It started with simple white lights, but by December 20th, there were flashing reindeer on the front lawn, accompanied by a small army of elves.

Nellie, of course, was focused on the food. She wanted everyone to get their favorite holiday food, which ended up biting her when she ended up with a two-page list of different dishes that had been requested. She and Sammy spent the whole week before Christmas making grocery lists, shopping, and prepping the food. In the spare moments that she wasn't prepping for the feast, she put together a custom cookbook for Sammy, filled with their favorite recipes.

Ian wouldn't be super into the holiday spirit, but the rest of the Cahills would basically force it onto him. On December 1st, he would wake up to find a holiday blanket at the foot of his bed, and his drawers filled with tacky Christmas sweaters. He didn't like that very much, and was not at all amused when Dan sat him down to watch The Grinch, saying, "Hey, Ian! It's you!" Throughout the month though, he'd slowly get into it a bit more, and at one point Amy actually caught him humming along to Jingle Bells.

Christmas was always a big deal for the Holts- they do everything big! Everyone thought that Hamilton was a bit like an elf, getting into the Christmas spirit almost TOO much. He wore red and green all month long, and was constantly wrapping presents and singing Christmas carols loudly and off-key. Jonah kept trying to give him voice lessons, but Hamilton usually refused and threw a chestnut at him.

Jonah would, obviously, get into the music. He'd keep trying to put a hip-hop spin on songs that really didn't need a hip-hop spin- his 'gangsta' version of White Christmas was just plain bizarre. He also kept trying to get the Cahills to all go caroling, but with the exception of Hamilton, no one was really interested. He finally gave up on trying to get everyone to sing carols around the piano when Ian threw out all of the sheet music.

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Hope everyone's having a great holiday season!


Thursday, November 26, 2015

A Cahill Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I am so thankful for so many things, particularly for all of you who read and comment on this blog! :) <3

Let's visit the Cahill Family Thanksgiving, shall we?

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Like she did with Halloween, Amy would get super into Thanksgiving. She'd have cornucopias and fake leaves and pumpkins all over. She would go crazy trying to plan everything out perfectly, although actually executing the meal prep wouldn't exactly be her forte. Decorating the table would be one of her favorite things, making sure everyone sat in the correct place and that the centerpiece was gorgeous. She'd love getting to have everyone together, though, since she didn't ever get that big happy family Thanksgiving when she was growing up. 

Dan would love Thanksgiving for one main reason- the food. While everyone else is going around the table saying what they're grateful for, Dan would be eating a turkey leg under the table. In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, he would be dropping Nellie hints about what she should make, and suggesting every type of pie imaginable. Nellie would have kick him out of the kitchen multiple times for sneaking too much food. 

Fiske would be very serious about the "everyone say what they're thankful for" routine. Dan would drive him insane trying to stuff his face before everyone was finished. He'd be super traditional about the menu, wanting to use tons of old recipes, and arguing with Nellie about how she used way too many spices. 

Nellie would go NUTS getting ready for Thanksgiving. It would be her favorite holiday simply because of all the food. She'd probably be planning the menu for a month beforehand, and wouldn't listen to everyone's protests when she starts making Asian gravy. The only person she would let help her in the kitchen would be Sammy (who everyone else would probably try to bribe). By the time she was done with the cooking, they would have enough food to last for weeks, but who cares? That just means that she gets to come up with more ways to use turkey! 

Ian wouldn't quite know what to think of Thanksgiving. It would be a pretty new concept for him, growing up in England. He'd ask tons of questions about the original Thanksgiving until Jonah finally threw a history textbook at him. He also would be super uncomfortable when everyone went around saying what they're thankful for. Waaaaaay too emotional for him. I'd like to think, though, that before he rattled off some generic response, he glanced at Amy, just for a moment.

Hamilton would spend most of his time trying to organize a football game outside after everyone had eaten. Naturally, this didn't go over too well, but he insisted, saying it was "a Holt family tradition." He'd give up after about an hour when Amy had dropped every ball that came her way, Ian was complaining because he tore the hem of his trousers, Nellie was complaining about hunger pangs, and Jonah was too busy rewatching parade footage.

Speaking of Jonah, he would be pretty bummed about not being invited to be in the Macy's parade. Apparently the parade coordinators didn't like his new projects, and were concerned that he was too unbalanced after the famous "mime incident". He would probably spend the morning glumly staring at the TV, criticizing everyone for their bad lip synching. That afternoon, however, he'd become obsessed with starting Christmas music, and getting everyone to Christmas carol. Fiske would claim that they had to wait until tomorrow, but Jonah finally convinced everyone to do one round of Deck The Halls before they all ran off with excuses. 

There was a definite bittersweet nature thinking of the family who couldn't be there, and Amy teared up a bit when she thought about how much Mac would have loved the branches all being together. Mainly, though, everyone would just be thankful to have a day of safety, and thankful for everyone who was able to be there. 


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Saturday, July 4, 2015

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!!! The Fourth is a really fun holiday- and I'd love to see the Cahills celebrate it!

Amy: "Dan!!! Why haven't you started grilling yet??"

Dan: "I'm not in charge of that, Fiske is!"

Fiske: "No, I was told that young Hamilton would be grilling our meal."

Amy: "Wait, Hamilton??"

Hamilton: "Yeah, I'm making the burgers!!" *flips patty twelve feet into the air and then drops it.*

Amy: "Um, Ham, why don't you let Nellie take over the burgers?"

Nellie: "No, let Fiske do it! I'm working on an African/Mongolian fusion fruit salad!!"

Amy: *sigh* Fine, work on your fruit salad. I'm going to finish making the iced tea.

*Far off, the group hears a crash and a large gasp*

Ian: "Did you say...did you say i-i-i-ICED tea???"

Amy: ".....Yes?"

Ian: "ICED tea???"

Dan: "Dude, don't tell me you've never had iced tea!"

Ian: "THAT IS AN INSULT TO TEA!"

Jonah: "My homie, just try it! Sweet tea is da bomb!'

Ian: "Did...did you say...SWEET tea???"

Jonah: "Yeah, it's fab, try it!"

Ian: "IT'S NOT ONLY ICED, IT'S SWEET?!? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!"

Nellie: "Ian, chill. I love tea just as much as the next person, but iced tea is actually really good."

Ian: "NO. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU AMERICANS??? YOU EVEN RUIN TEA!!"

Fiske: "Calm down, Ian. It's alright. The Americans have not ruined tea. This is simply a new take on it to enjoy!"

Ian: "How can you enjoy cold tea?? That should be illegal! It's a travesty!!"

Dan: "Ugh, Ian, take a chill pill, bro. Let's watch the fireworks!"

Amy: "Well, there goes dinner. But it is time for the fireworks. I guess that we can eat later...."

Jonah: "You know what these awesome fireworks need? Musical accompaniment! ♫ Do you ever feel/like a plastic bag/floating through the wind-"

Everyone: "NO SINGING"

Ian: "Jonah's singing is almost as horrible as the way you Americans have ruined tea."

Jonah: ".........CUZ BABY YOU'RE A FIIIIIIIIIREWOOOORK!!"

Ian: "I hate America.'