This has led to some interesting discussion.
Hannah: Naomi, in real life, Mary did let Joseph hold baby Jesus.
****
Naomi: But why can’t I leave baby Jesus and his manger in my purse?
****
Hannah: Give Sim a king. Then we’ll take these other ones to the table so he can’t get them.
****
Naomi [With evident relief]: Sim has a king and a shepherd, but not the turkey.
****
Naomi: I put baby Jesus in time out.
Mama: Why?
Naomi: I don't know.
“Boys are beyond the range of anybody’s sure understanding, at least when they are between the ages of 18 months and 90 years.”
for Thanksgiving with all of us at the table. And even though it was a busy day and we didn’t have all the sides one would normally expect at Thanksgiving, we did have turkey and dressing, gravy (but no giblets – sorry, Dad), baked cauliflower, jello (traditional, as far as Michael is concerned), and rolls.
Noticeably absent: pie. Or any other homemade dessert, for that matter. We did have popsicles, though.
Thankfully absent: fever.
Our Thanksgiving did not really go as planned. And since I didn’t send the camera with Michael to dinner, this is what we got pictures of for Thanksgiving.
Naomi, sleeping on the couch. She spent the afternoon there, sleeping off and on. This is completely atypical of Naomi, and caused alarm in several of her family members, including…
Sim, who is wondering what on earth Naomi is doing, lying still on the couch.
Sim, signing “sleep” and happy to have figured out what is going on.
Sim, still amused about Naomi sleeping on the couch.
Naomi, propped up, still wearing her dress from the morning, watching part of “Snow Christmas.” (That’s what she and Hannah call “White Christmas.”) This is how I bribed her to drink a whole bunch of water. I fed her sips every 10-15 seconds during the movie. 
Naomi seems to be feeling somewhat better, thank God! She’s still running a bit of a fever, and it’s spiked in the afternoon the past couple of days, so we’re wondering if that’s going to happen again today. But for right now, she’s happily chattering and helping Michael make breakfast.
for one of us has been spent mostly on the couch, sleeping and eating popsicles. Naomi has come down with a fever and is down and out. Poor thing. She was fine this morning, and sometime between 10:30 and 11:30, whatever this is hit her and she’s been lying down and resting since.
with Uncle Michael’s knowledge of old cartoons.
Michael said, “Ruh-roh!” the other day as we were watching our niece and nephew.
“Uncle Michael! Have you seen Scooby Do?!?” said our nephew. Uncle Michael gained some points with that one.
Our niece, who’s three and has some really cute pronunciation differences (as most three-year-olds do), said, “I like Shooby Do!”
now as he plays. It’s totally cute, if I do say so about my own son. I think you’d agree. He loves, loves, loves to play with mixing spoons and mixing bowls. If he’s in the kitchen trying to get underfoot, I can usually distract him from emptying all the reachable cabinets by giving him a wooden spoon and a metal bowl. He will happily mix for a good long time.
Yesterday he started a new game. This also involved cooking. He’d found the play metal pot and the plastic measuring cup that had been repurposed to be a toy, and he was stirring them with a toy mixing spoon. He held the spoon up to my mouth, so I made some chewing noises, and then he prompted, “Mmmmmm!” This repeated many, many, many times, and each time he’d prompt me to say, “Mmmmm!”
Then he started offering me the pot or cup, so I made a slurping noise and said (of course, with a prompt), “Mmmmmm!”
Now he also makes the eating – for the spoon – and slurping – for the cup – noises as he samples his own cooking. It’s really REALLY cute.
At some point recently, Naomi wanted to hear a story and I wasn’t ready to tell her a real fairy story in all of its gory glory, so I starting making up a story about Julie the Kitty. Julie the Kitty has an Owner, who remains nameless, and the Owner has Parents, and together they go on adventures. Adventures which, one might notice, bear startling resemblances to my own children’s lives. Julie the Kitty goes to the Dentist, or Julie the Kitty is in a Storm.
Tonight, Naomi requested a Julie the Kitty story.
Michael: Which story?
Naomi: Julie the Kitty goes to the Store that Only Sells Chips.
Ah. I’m sure I can mine some plot gold from that one. So, I begin telling her this story. The store, it turns out, has all kinds of chips, and also chip accessories like salsa and plates. Naomi announces that Julie will have several more errands after this.
Michael: Where should they go next?
Naomi: The salsa store.
I guess they needed more salsa. So, off they want to the salsa store, with many different kinds of salsa.
Michael: Where should they go next? [Wait for it, wait for it …]
Naomi: The plate store.
The plate store has big plates, small plates, square plates, round plates, heavy plates, light plates and so on.
Michael: What kind of plates do you think they bought?
Naomi: Invisible plates.
Crate and Barrel has clearly gotten some new inventory since the last time I’ve been there! You’ll be relieved to know that after the plate store, they all went home and went to sleep.
I can’t complain – I was trying to create stories that were soothing rather than dramatic. You want drama, go read Hansel and Gretel -- the unsanitized version. In Naomi’s version of The Three Pigs, the Wolf comes down the chimney and is boiled in the kettle and is eaten by the pigs afterwards.
For those of you who don’t like the dentist, please know that this post doesn’t contain any in-depth descriptions of dental work. It does, however, contain lots of information about kids who love the dentist. Which might be almost as bad for some of you.
***
Hannah’s lost tooth today has been loose for a long time. The replacement was growing in behind it, though, so it wasn’t actually booting the primary tooth out the way it should have. Hannah wasn’t big on helping it along too much, so I made an appointment, just to make sure the process was going okay, and the dentist quickly and painlessly helped it along.
Hannah was given a tooth locket necklace to put the tooth in, and she proudly wore it all day long. She couldn’t wait to get to bed tonight. She has a special pillowcase – on loan from Grandma – that Michael and his sister used for their teeth – it has the tooth fairy (who looks strikingly like Tinker Bell) embroidered on it, and a little pocket to put the tooth in. She wrote a letter to the tooth fairy.
Naomi, when she heard we were going to the dentist, was excited. I had to explain that it was just for Hannah’s wiggly tooth.
N: But I think she’ll want to look in my mouth, too.
Me: Not this time, but you’ll have your teeth cleaning soon.
N: But WHY won’t she look in my mouth?!? [She’s beginning to get weepy about it.]
Me: It’s just for Hannah’s wiggly tooth. But don’t worry! Your turn will be very soon!
We got some books about teeth and dentists from the library recently – since their dental exams and cleanings are coming up – and the girls both really enjoyed them. Naomi wanted the dentist book for her bedtime book for about a week straight. Yeah. I don’t know. But they both love the dentist.
After today’s trip to the dentist, Naomi was full of games and stories.
N: Singing Bird lost a tooth, but it was full of decay. It was black. The dentist didn’t want to touch it, because she didn’t want to get decay on her gloves. But the decay was hurting Singing Bird’s gums, so she had to get the tooth out. Tooth decay isn’t good for gums. The tooth fairy doesn’t take black teeth, but Tinker Bell does. The tooth fairy has a closet full of clean teeth, and Tinker Bell has a closet full of black teeth. The tooth fairy has a magic machine that takes the black out of the tooth. You just put it on the tooth and press a button. But the tooth fairy doesn’t know how to press the button, so I have to press the button for her.
Hannah’s knowledge of the anatomy of teeth has been helpful with losing this tooth.
H: Mom, I think this must be the crown, because I’ve never seen this part before. Also, these holes must be where the blood vessels and nerves go. They’re really small holes, though! It’s hard to believe all that stuff goes in there!
I, myself, am not a big fan of the dentist. But my life is much easier since my children are, so I’m not complaining!
There are so many firsts that parents love to keep track of…first word, first hair cut, first steps, first food – the list is long.
One that you don’t hear much about is Baby’s First Fire. Simeon thinks it’s highly important, though, and it was so cute that I can’t help but add it to the list of firsts and show you some pictures. Of course, I realize that my son could be a pyromaniac in the making, but my husband has distinctive pyromaniac traits, and Fr. Jerome is a self-professed pyromaniac, so I figure he’s in good company.
Michael had brought up the kindling and firewood. The kindling was in a box that Michael put to the left side of the fireplace. Of course, as soon as Daddy’s doing anything, Sim likes to check it out. He got a piece of kindling out in a flash. He watched Michael for a moment, then held out the kindling:
Me: I think he’s trying to give you some more kindling.
Michael: I think he’ll cry if I take it from him.
Me: Give it a try.
Michael: Okay.
He took the piece of kindling. Sim got another one. No weeping or complaining. He knew his job: hand Dad the kindling.
Here he’s readying the next piece.
In this next photo, he’s wondering why I’m exclaiming about how cute and funny he is. He’s just doing his job, man.
Sim is blessed with two older sisters who are very concerned for his welfare. Hannah was a bit freaked out that we were allowing Sim to handle kindling.
H: What if he eats it?!?
Me: He’s not eating it. He’s handing it to Dad.
H: But what if he eats it?
Me: We’ll take it away from him.
Once satisfied that he wasn’t eating the kindling, Hannah left the menfolk alone to build fire. This fire was not going to suffer from too little kindling if Sim had anything to say in the matter.
Look out Fr. Jerome! You’ll have a partner in fire-building next camping trip!
Tonight as we were helping Sim wind down for bed, he kept signing “book, book, book,” so Michael was going to read to him. I handed him a book to read. Sim took a look at it and tried to push it out of Michael’s hand. When Michael persisted and tried to read it to him, Sim began signing “book, book, book” again and started getting weepy – lip out, beginnings of a sob in his voice. He seemed to be looking at something, so I checked, and there was a book there that Michael had read him earlier. I handed them that one, and Sim settled happily in to have Michael read it to him.
Picky about his literature at the age of 13 months…
Today, Hannah had a performance with her choir, which is a part of Northwest Girlchoir. The performance was at what they called a “friendraiser,” consisting of a silent auction, lunch, and performance by 3 of the NWGC choirs. There were two of the younger choirs and then one ensemble from one of the high school choirs.
Since Sim isn’t the best guest for luncheons and silent auctions (only because he’d like to get down and help himself to everything), we decided that Michael would stay home with the younger kids and I’d go watch Hannah sing. And have lunch. And bid on things.
Unfortunately, I was outbid on the things that I wanted, but I did manage to drive the prices up, so I suppose that’s helpful for the fundraising part of the event. The lunch was good, and the singing was excellent. Northwest Girlchoir does a fantastic job of teaching girls to sing, and the older ensemble sang so beautifully …the younger kids were great, too, although certainly not as well-trained yet. However, in Hannah’s age group there are probably close to 50 girls, and they all sang together, with expression, and very well, which I chalk up to the very great talents of their director. It’s always fun to see them perform.
***
There were some unintentionally amusing things about the event, too, which I have to share, of course.
1. I was sitting front and center (having gotten there quite early and selected a good seat), and when I took my place after bidding and getting food, I introduced myself to the moms across from me, who also had girls Hannah’s age singing. We chatted about how wonderful their choir director is and about various other things. Then a young woman sat down next to me. She and I exchanged names and she asked what brought me there.
Me: I have a daughter in the choir.
Helen: What?! You look so young! How old is your daughter?
Me: Six.
H: Really?!? No, you really look too young!
Me: Thank you.
H: I mean, I wouldn’t think you’re older than 28!
[Of course, it’s not completely unheard-of for a 28-year-old to have a six-year-old, but that didn’t seem like a necessary point to argue.]
Me: Thank you, I’m actually 32.
H: Really?!? I guess I’m not that far off, but you look so young!
Heheh. I’m just hoping it wasn’t because I had a ketchup stain on my shirt or something.
2. When the girls came in for their performance, they began filing into the risers on the stage. They looked out at the auditorium filled with tables and people, and several of them had expressions that seemed to bode imminent throwing up. I suddenly wondered whether that had happened ever and WHAT would one do…Happily, nobody did throw up, but for a few moments, it looked like it might happen.
3. At the end of the performance, all the choirs sang a song together, and the applause was loud and long. There were several girls from Hannah’s choir who were standing on the stage, bowing, and holding their hands over their ears.
***
Hannah loves Girlchoir. She loves the rehearsals, she loves her teacher, she loves the singing, she loves the games they play. She had a fabulous time at this performance and is looking forward with eager anticipation to the next performances.
Naomi is counting the days until she turns four and can join the youngest choir. Well, I guess that’s not completely accurate. Naomi isn’t as practical as that yet, but she does know that once she’s four, she’ll join the choir, and it seems to be the only thing she wants for her birthday.
Some of you may be familiar with chocolate chip scones. Others of you may never have had them, and for that, I’m sorry. They’re awesome. I’m not talking about any chocolate chip scones, I’m talking about the chocolate chip scones. Michael and I both make them, but Michael’s are the best. I’m not sure what his secret is, but his are better than mine. It’s just true, although he does try to deny it. I’m not upset about it – I’m happy to have him make scones for me. And when he’s not available, mine are an acceptable (although definitely inferior) substitute.
We’ve adapted a recipe from Biscuits and Scones, by Elizabeth Alston. She’s got some other good stuff in there, too. Michael made something called an apple slump or grunt or slouch or grouch or something last weekend, and it was divine.
I’ll give you the recipe, then tell you how we do it.
Simple Sweet Scones
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 T (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut up
1/4 cup granulated sugar (use 1/3 cup for slightly sweeter scones)
2/3 cup milk
Heat oven to 425. Put flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; stir to mix well.
Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender or rub in with your fingers, until the mixture looks like fine granules. Add sugar; toss to mix.
Add milk and stir with a fork until a soft dough forms. Form dough into a ball, put onto a lightly floured board, and give 10 to 12 kneads.
To make triangular scones, cut dough in half. Knead each half lightly into a ball and turn smooth side up. Pat or roll into a 6-inch circle. Cut each circle into 6 or 8 wedges. Place wedges on an ungreased cookie sheet – slightly apart for crisp sides, touching for soft sides.
Bake about 12 minutes, or until medium brown on top. Put on a linen or cotton dish towel on a wire rack; cover loosely with the cloth and cool completely before serving.
Ingredients changes: we use whole wheat pastry flour and rice milk. Also, you might have noticed that, for a recipe for chocolate chip scones, this one is surprisingly lacking in…chocolate chips. We add 1/2 cup chocolate chips when the sugar is added. Sometimes, because of the whole wheat flour, more milk is needed, too.
Method changes: we use a food processor. I’m sorry. It’s not the most authentic way to do it, but we need to make scones here, and we’ve got limited time, so we don’t rub the butter in with our fingers. We’ve done it before, we can claim to know how, but it takes a long time. The kids, actually, enjoy rubbing the butter in with their fingers, and I’m all for letting them do it on occasion, but usually that takes even longer, so we usually just do the food processor. But don’t, for the love of chocolate chip scones, neglect to take it OUT of the food processor and put it in a bowl before you add the chips. Otherwise, you will get chocolate little bitsy bits scones, and that’s not the same.
ALSO…we do not let the scones cool to room temperature before beginning to enjoy them unless it’s completely unavoidable. Chocolate chip scones are delicious when warm. We do let them cool enough that they don’t burn our fingers or mouths, though.
I hope you’ll try these sometime. They really are excellent. They make a fantastic dessert when you don’t want something too sweet, and they can be enjoyed really any time…I should know.
Hannah and Naomi hate having their toenails clipped – Naomi calls them feeternails most of the time. I think they’re ticklish and it’s hard to avoid any tickling when you’re clipping nails. In any case, they dislike it intensely, and I’ve had to tell them that their toenails have to be clipped or they’ll get so long they’ll wear holes in their socks and have trouble wearing their shoes comfortably.
Today as I was putting Sim down for his nap, I heard some weeping from Naomi’s room, where she was in Quiet Time. Weeping can mean any number of things, so I thanked God that Sim was pretty much asleep and that Naomi wasn’t crying loudly enough to wake him up, and went to see what was happening.
“My big toenail [she used the right term this time] made a hole in my sock!” she wailed when I asked what the matter was.
I tried to explain that these were just old socks, that it wasn’t her toenail – I had only clipped them earlier in the week.
“But there’s a hole!”
Apparently, stating that toenails could make holes in socks was translated in Naomi’s mind to mean that toenails are the only things that make holes in socks. Who knows what kids’ minds will do with things?
I tried to point out that the hole is underneath, where she walks on the toe, not on top where the nail is. That had no effect. Remember, this is the little girl who believes that other children can fly off the carousel. Who even knows what damage long feeternails can do?
I finally got her calmed down and reminded that she has more socks and that nobody is upset with her for the hole in her sock. For good measure, I threw in that she should ask Dada (when he gets home) whether he ever gets holes in his socks. Just between us, the answer is yes. Although it’s not usually from his feeternails.
