Kids Say the Darndest Things...

It has been very wet with near continuous rain for the past week. All of us, especially the dog haven't been outside for a long time. Fortunately, we had a break in the weather with a day where we saw the sun. So hubby and the girl headed off for a hike in the nearby foothills, while the boy and I took the dog for a walk. The boy and I were walking for a few minutes when he turns to me and we have the following conversation: Boy-"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Me-"Probably not." Boy-"If you were a kid you would be thinking it would be fun to walk in the puddles" Me-"Your right, go for it". We both were wearing rain boots. Boy-"This is a lot of fun, you sure you don't want to do it?" Me-"I shouldn't, the dog would follow me in." Boy"Kids have a lot more fun than grown ups do." How true!

Meanwhile... When the girl and hubby had hiked to the top of the foothill and were looking down the valley they have the following conversation: Dad-"Wow, it sure looks pretty nice down there." the girl-"If you were a fancier person you would say it looks picturesque."

Here's to picturesque puddles!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas. The kids are all tucked into bed, awaiting the arrival of Santa and his reindeer. They put out cookies, milk and enough carrots for each reindeer.

May the joy and wonder of the season be with you.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday.  He is no longer with us, but I see him in his grand kids.  My kids get their love of music, especially the Beatles from him.  They also come by their sense of adventure through both of their Grandfathers, who passed it onto their parents and to them.

This is my favorite picture of my Dad as a kid.  He is the middle stair step.  

Here he is on his beloved motorcycle.

Thank you Dad for raising us to be independent and for teaching us it is important in life to take risks.

You are missed.

Saints Alive

The 2nd grade class puts on an annual Saints play.  The boy was St. Leonard.  Each child speaks a few lines about their Saint.

Here is the boy with some of his friends before the play started.  







If you look closely, you can see the boy as he is delivering his lines.  He is in the black hooded robe with the blue "V" neck.

I find it amusing that his Saint's costume is actually a space alien costume I bought him for Halloween next year.  How's that for getting my monies worth. We left the glowing green mask at home :).

This is the boy and his two best friends F and AJ. 

St. Nicholas Day

Today is St. Nicholas day.  It is celebrated at school the traditional way. The primary school kids take off one shoe and leave it in front of their class room first thing in the morning. St. Nicholas comes by and leaves a tangerine and candy cane in each shoe. 

To include some of the elder parishioner's in the fun, the kids in the boy's class made construction paper boots that they filled with candy canes and chocolate kisses.  They put them in the pews to surprise the morning mass parishioner's with. The kids were so excited about surprising the grown ups.

Cookie Pops

It is storming out, so the kids and I decided to make cookie pops after school.  How do you make a cookie better?  By putting on a stick and decorating it with sprinkles of course.  Can you tell which ones the boy did?  Hint...he likes chocolate in any form.

Inquiring Minds Want To Know

The boy lost another tooth this week. So he has a Jack o Lateran smile going on. Evidently, his previous letter to his tooth fairy left him with additional questions.

In case you aren't able to read it, here it is: Dear Tangle Goblintwist, I want your real age like 10, 12 like thoose ages. So Tangle Goblintwist can I call you Tangle G for short. What do you do with the teeth. Your friend the boy. And here's a movie for you called Monkey and Monkey. (He drew a movie scene below the letter.)

And here is Tangle G's reply. The boy, Another tooth so soon? I am ancient, that is my real age! I am so old I can't remember my age. I have been a tooth fairy for over 200 years. I was even George Washington's fairy. Yes, you can call me Tangle G. I take your tooth and make it into a star or star dust for really small teeth. The better care you take of your teeth the brighter star it is. Love, Tangle G. How many teeth do kids loose? I see an ongoing trend!