Future Christmas Hits

It was a lovely and exhausting Christmas break.  One of the most amusing parts has been listening to Noella's exhuberant renditions of what are sure to be Christmas classics.  At times our house sounds like one of the Saturday Night Live spoofs of commercials for must-have holiday albums.

Jack the Holly  (aka Deck the Halls)
Jack the holly for the season, fa la la la la, la la la la...

Thomas the Snowman (aka Frosty the Snowman)
Thomas the Snowman, had a folly jolly nose...

Rudolph Knows (aka Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer)
Rudolph knows the reindeer...

Happy Birthday Noella!

The big party was this weekend, and Noella had a great time.  She insists that now that she has had the party, she is already four.  "It works like that, Mom!" she insists.  We will still celebrate on the 23rd though.  Even she can't say no to another cake.

 She also insisted on a very tall cake.  I convinced that three layers was tall enough; she had been hoping for five.  The official party theme was "circus" but luckily there were no requests for turning the cake into anything more complicated.

 A shot of party balloons AND the new porch.  Thanks Daddy and Papa!

 In case you could not tell, she is turning FOUR.

 Mariel crafted a "pin the tail on the cat" game for the kids.

 There were also assorted coloring pages.

 Happy Birthday to Noella!

 She very deliberately blew each candle out one by one :)

 The cake was declared delicious.

 Post-cake, more activities.  This was our bean bag toss.  For a few minutes, children actually threw bean bags into the game, as opposed to "juggling," throwing them in the air or at the wall, or pretending that the holes in the board were potties.  There is nothing like pre-school humor.

A successful party!

18 months (almost)

On the 10th Holden will officially be a year and a half.  We will celebrate him, of course, but I think that Patrick and I deserve some sort of victory celebration for having survived thus far.   Our little man is quite a funny guy, full of words and too many opinions.  He loves bicycles, his sisters (most of the time), trucks, throwing things, blueberries, feeding the dogs, and having Mommy carry him around.  He does not care for sleeping, limits, outlet plugs, being in his carseat, or having his diaper changed.

 

A month of photos

We went on the annual trip to Meramec State Park with friends.  Hiking, bonfires, all sorts of good stuff.  Holden particularly enjoyed the attention, including getting to take a bath with an adoring crowd.

 Downtown Children's Center had its Fall Festival, complete with popsicles, pony rides, and a petting zoo.  There is some debate at our house as to whether or not Noella is allergic to llamas and/or goats.

 Avery also had its Fall Festival the same week.  Mariel and Patrick went for a "late" night adventure and came home with goodies, bellies full of cotton candy, and face painting.

 This weekend we went to a friend's Halloween party. You will note that there are no incriminating pictures of me (yet), but I did go as a pumpkin.  Patrick is very proud of his new costume.

A dog, a sheep, and a bunny walk into a church

On Monday, I took the kids to the playground at our parish before Mariel's religion class for a picnic dinner.  While we were there, our priest brought his dog out to play fetch on the field.  Miranda is a very friendly, overweight Golden Retriever, and my children were all very interested in meeting her.
Later on that night, Noella started pestering me with questions about "Jesus' dog." "Why does Jesus have a dog?" and "Where does Jesus' dog live, Mom?" She asked.
I finally caught on (it had been a long day): "Noella!  That is Father Brown's dog.  Not Jesus' dog."  Noella was adamant, "It belongs to Jesus and lives in the church."
"No, honey.  The dog lives- with Father!- NEXT to the Church, not in it."  No matter what I said, she was not convinced.   Miranda belonged to Jesus and lived in the church.
The next day, the dog that lived in our church and clearly belonged to Jesus came up in dinner conversation.  I once again told Noella that Miranda belonged to Father Brown and was not Jesus' pet.  Mariel and I exchanged bemused glances and she spoke up for me: "Noella, the dog does not belong to Jesus.  It is Father's pet.  Jesus did not have a dog!"  Noella looked at her, appearing slightly more convinced than when I said the same thing.  And then Mariel kept going.... "First of all, Jesus is dead.  He was dead a long time ago, so he does not have a dog. And besides, Jesus had sheep for pets."  I actually did not say anything, but it must have been one of those times when my expression said more than enough.  "Yes, Mom!  Jesus had sheep for pets.  It is in the bible."
Today (Saturday) the conversation continued.  At dinner tonight, I tried to explain that when we read stories in the bible they are examples, or using imaginary stories to help us understand the lessons from Jesus.  So how do you explain a metaphor to a 6 and 3 year old?  "Mariel, if I wanted to say that you were really cold, I might say that you were like ice, right?"  "Yes, Mom, but I would not really be made of ice." Noella chimed in "just VERY cold."  I started to feel like we were making progress.  "OK, so in the bible when Jesus is the shepherd..."  Mariel jumped right in "Of course!  We are not really lambs. He is just helping us."  I congratulated her, "Great! You understand then, right?"
Mariel tried to give an example of her own.  "So this would be like me telling a story... about a bunny and a pumpkin."  This is punctuated by Holden yelling every time she says bunny "HOP!  HOP!" Mariel keeps going,  "And the bunny (HOP!  HOP!) gets IN the pumpkin.  And the pumpkin hops."More frantic HOP! HOP!, while Noella nods wisely, as though this is what she had been thinking about the whole time, too.   I had no idea as to where this story might go, so I nodded along with Noella.  Mariel continued "And the pumpkin hops (HOP! HOP!) , but it is really the bunny (HOP!), and then Jesus is the shepherd and the bunny is the sheep.  Is that right?" Holden offered a rather tentative "Baa?"  Noella: "And then where is Jesus' dog? In the pumpkin?"
I am not sure, but I am guessing that they don't teach metaphors in Pre K or 1st grade.