Kate's journey

Kate really wanted to climb on the couch, but she couldn't quite get her foot up on it. Her parents were cruel and didn't lift her up.

She tried the kid-sized rocker. That was better, but it tricked her because she got her foot into the seat and then her rear end was not properly placed to sit. Bother! So she lay down on the floor and lamented  the injustice of the world.

But she was not done! Next Kate went to the large box full of DVDs by the TV. That was really promising, and she had one foot all the way in, when her parents inexplicably intervened. It looked comfortable, like a dragon's bed of treasure. But sadly, no DVD bed for Kate.

 Back to the couch. Meg hauled her up! Hurray! Kate perched proudly on the arm, just in time for Daddy to come dashing over and set her down again. How could he be so unreasonable?

Oh well. Kate found a good doll and carried her around by the hair. Dolly could sit in the rocking chair like a big girl, so it all turned out all right.

Historical discussion

Tonight at dinner, I ranted (briefly) about Henry the Eighth's burning of libraries as he dissolved the monasteries. (How many manuscripts of Beowulf might we HAVE if he hadn't been such a dork??)
"Henry the Eighth was a corkscrew!" Jonathan announced.
Meg agreed with us. "Yeah, he was sharp and wasn't careful with his words."

How musical

As you may know, Meg has her birthday right after Christmas, so this tends to be a toy-intensive time of year. (I really don't mind.) This year, apparently we were all on a wavelength, because independently the grandmas and I got the girls:

a xylophone
a battery-powered keyboard
a drum and sticks
castanets
maracas
a tambourine
and a recorder.

There's been a lot of music around here.

We only got around to putting the batteries in the keyboard this morning, though, and it didn't work. Nothing happened when we turned it on and pushed buttons. I fiddled with it, Jonathan fiddled with it, and Meg bemoaned its fate loudly. Since it continued to do nothing, and we don't have particularly long attention spans, we all wandered off.

Kate, in very Kateish form, happened quietly along and picked it up. She pushed a couple buttons and threw it on the floor.

Would you believe THE KEYBOARD STARTED WORKING? And it's been fine ever since.

"You know you're a mom when" quotes.

"Mom? Do you have these frog stickers for any particular reason?"
"I'm just saving them for a rainy day."

"We'll eat as soon as the dinosaurs are cooked."

"I think we'll give the Aston Martin to someone else."

Supermodels and dragon collections

A well-meaning woman at the store complimented Meg on her glasses. "You look like a supermodel!"
This seemed to puzzle Meg, so I thanked the lady on her behalf. Sure enough, she asked me, "What's a supermodel?" I described it as someone who tries on clothes for someone to take pictures of them, which completely befuddled her. Adults are incredibly weird. She assured me she did not want to be a supermodel.

Meg also doesn't approve of princesses or fairies. She does not want any princess or fairy anything for Christmas, so don't get her any. The examining room at the pediatrician's office offended her deeply because it had princess stickers all over the walls, and she told me so very loudly, and furthermore that girls don't like princesses. Boys like princesses! A completely random passing doctor was apparently amused, or distressed, or something, and came in to try and persuade her that some kids, boys and girls both, actually do like princesses. She wasn't very successful.

This week we're listening to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader on CD as we drive in the car. (We drive plenty.) Queen Lucy is apparently okay, not being a princess. I paused the story as we arrived at the dragon's cave and had Meg guess what Eustace would find inside.

"I don't know."
"What do dragons like to collect?" I prompted her.
"Stones?"
"Yes! What kind of stones?"
"Arkenstones?"
 Dragons do like to collect Arkenstones, so there. Ha!

I am so proud of Meg's cultural attainment. 

Word art

I've been admiring all that hand-drawn and chalkboard-esque word art that's been floating around. There have been some I very nearly bought, but I thought I'd try my hand at it, you know, before spending actual money. I had a canvas that needed repurposing, so I got out paint and a metallic Sharpie. I like how it turned out.

I hung it over our gigantic TV in an effort to distract from it. This TV, I'm grateful for it, but it absolutely dominates the living room. It's right by the front door and takes up as much visual space as the recliner, and it's actually so big as to affect my self-image. Come to find out I'd kind of been proud of being a person who didn't have a big TV! So, y'all, I have a giant TV, and it needed not to be the center of the living room. The word art gives your eye something to look at on that wall besides the screen.

Online shopping

I've gotten to where I hate online shopping, and Amazon is the worst. It's incredibly stress-inducing.

I'm not sure the item is really the item I want, and if it probably is, I'm overwhelmed with pricing and choices. Is it better to get it from Amazon or the independent seller? Am I going to get that other one too so I qualify for free shipping? But another website might have a better price. Or a coupon. Or free shipping that isn't so nerve-racking.

Free shipping. I get free shipping at Target. Does Target have the thing? They do online, but then I have to wait like two weeks, and I probably want it before then. And I have to type numbers into the computer. And they might have a better sale in-store and also I'll be able to see it. I'd much rather drag myself and two small children all the way to the store to find out.  The Target cafe has popcorn, but if we go too close to lunchtime we better not get popcorn and then I'll have to fend Meg away from the cafe.

Well, or maybe Zappo's? Or L.L. Bean? They have free shipping but they're too expensive.

At this point I have no idea what I want. I don't need anything after all. And why would I order stuff? I don't even like stuff. I probably have too much stuff. I need coffee.

My pretty mantel, and how decorating is going

Oh, Christmas decorations.

I found a really cute printable Christmas village on Pinterest and I actually printed it out and set it on the mantel. I arranged it with my little wooden snowmen, a rose, and the origami tree made out of a book, and I have been experimenting with a few candles because they are glowy and warm. And because nothing goes better with paper than fire? Apparently. It turned out darling. Also, despite the free printables, nobody will have one like it! But it is a mantel, and well out of reach of curious fingers, so I think I can get away with the candles.

I'm operating this whole Christmas season, as far as I can, on the principle that if it helps us celebrate, awesome, and if it's a burden, we aren't going do it. Isn't there a saying about not letting the perfect become the enemy of the good? Christmas is too good to ruin with perfectionism. For instance, right here, the photo quality is not that great because my camera is not talking to my computer these days. I'd like to have beautifully lit and styled pictures for my blog, because I do actually know what well-done is like, but I would probably have to download the camera to Jonathan's computer and transfer them over on a flash drive, and then actually edit them, which all is obviously not going to happen, so until further notice you get cell phone pictures.

We were able to show hospitality with our Christmas tree this year, which I thought was incredibly cool. Meg had friends over, aged three and four, and she was so excited about CHRISTMAS that they and she and I put our tree up then and there. When we decorated it, I left half our ornaments in the box, because Kate is one and her favorite thing to do is pull everything off the tree. When we had other friends over today, the toddler inspected what was within reach and the older kids all pulled the bells off the tree and rang them to a very loud version of Jingle Bells. I could have a perfect tree, possibly, or I can think indestructible thoughts and include the littles in our celebration. There's precedent for that.

I really meant to do a proper Advent devotional, with cute illustrations and Bible readings, and that just didn't happen this year. I had the craft all ready. I never even managed to buy chocolate Advent calendars. Now that's sad. But I'm pretty sure the Bible never commands us to observe Advent calendars, chocolate or otherwise. Jesus is pleased to have us, squashed candle holders and salt-dough dinosaur ornaments and all.  Isn't that encouraging? And so we are looking back and forward to His coming.

Perfectly reasonable

Today we had a great checker at Trader Joe's who made conversation with Meg. I found it pretty entertaining.

"What's your favorite color?"
"Green, and red, and turquoise."
"What's your favorite animal?"
"A TYRANNOSAURUS REX! It's a dinosaur," she explained.
She nodded. "I know. It's a big dinosaur. If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you want to take with you?"
Meg considered. "Sunscreen. If it was a hot desert island."

Decorating

Meg was helping me decorate the tree. She took a toy trumpet and started blowing on it. "FWOOM, HOO HOO HOO HOOM! FWOOM HOOM HOOM! Hmm, interesting sound. An interesting sound."