Bathtime conversation

I gave the kids a bath last night. Here is a conversation that took place:

Madelyn: Mommy, you need to wash Pierce's ponytail.
Me: Silly, Pierce is a boy. He doesn't have a ponytail.
Madelyn: (laughing) Yes, he does.

I got the kids out of the tub and started putting lotion on Pierce.

Madelyn: Mommy, you need to put lotion on Pierce's ponytail.
Me: You're silly. Pierce doesn't have a ponytail. His hair is too short.
Madelyn: Yes, he does. (pointing) It's right there.
Me: Where?
Madelyn: There! (pointing again) His private parts!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Look what happened at our house today:

Just a couple of inches and it's supposed to be in the 60's next week, but hey, it's the first snow of the year, and Madelyn is fascinated. I don't think she remembers seeing the white stuff last year.

Gingerbread Nativity

Easy, fun, family activity! No baking! Everything included!

That's what the box on the gingerbread nativity said. So, I bought it thinking that Madelyn and I could do it one morning while Pierce napped. Well, let's just say it was not easy! It could be a family activity if everyone in your family is older than 15 AND are all magnificent artists. We didn't have to bake anything and everything was included, but let's just say the box was pretty misleading. Nevertheless, we did our best. Here is our manger scene:

O, Christmas Tree

We picked out our Christmas tree on Sunday, and I must say that it is the prettiest tree we've had so far. It's a Douglas Fir and it smells so good. Here are pre-trim and post-trim shots of our tree.

So many funny things...

On the way home from school today, I heard Madelyn singing in a whisper. The tune sounded familiar, so I asked her to sing a little louder. Here's the song:

We wish you a many Christmas
We wish you a many Christmas
We wish you a many Christmas
And a happy new ear.

I did confirm that it is EAR not YEAR.

Also, the fact that we use the word MERRY and MARY during the Christmas season is very confusing to my two year old. To make things more complicated, in Madelyn's little Bible that we read at night, the Christmas story also mentions that Joseph and MARY were MARRIED. She's definitely having trouble keeping it all straight.

We picked out our Christmas tree on Sunday. As we finished putting the lights on the tree, JD found a gadget that you plug your lights in to and use voice commands to activate the lights. The gadget understands four commands. Depending on how bright you want the lights you say--"Computer, high", "Computer, medium", "Computer, low", and "Computer, off". Madelyn thinks this is great, and I have found her yelling at the tree on multiple occasions. It doesn't understand the word "Bemuter", though.

We babysat our nieces on Saturday, and the girls all had a great time playing together. They decided to do a puppet show entitled, "The Three Little Pigs but Really the Two Little Pigs." Taylor (5 years old) came up with that title. I'm sure Taylor got frustrated with the whole process because she was the only one with an attention span to really see it through, but Madelyn and Kathryn (3 years old) still participated pretty well.

Christmas Craft

A couple of weeks ago, I took Madelyn to Michael's to get some Christmas crafts. She had a blast looking around at all of the decorations. I told her she could pick out a craft to do for herself and some crafts to give as gifts. We finally had time to work on them yesterday, and this is the finished product, along with some action shots. What you see here is her "Puppet Man". I'll post pictures of the other crafts later...I don't want to ruin any surprises.

Holiday conversations with a two year old

Madelyn's teacher threw a Thanksgiving party for her class last Tuesday. She gave each kid a treat bag. The kids also made Thanksgiving cards for their parents. As I walked into her class, Madelyn rushes to me with the card a treat bag and says, "Happy Gift-giving, Mommy!" I still can't get her to say Thanksgiving.

In the car this afternoon, Christmas music came on the radio. Here is the coversation that followed:

Mommy: Ooooh, Madelyn, Christmas music.
Madelyn: Christmas music?
Mommy: Yes, it's Christmastime. Do you know why we celebrate Christmas?
Madelyn: Christmas?
Mommy: Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birth. It's kinda like his birthday.
Madelyn: Birthday cupcake? Is Jesus one?
Mommy: No, Jesus is quite a bit older than that.
Madelyn: Two?

I wonder how old she thinks I am.