Valentine nymph

I've caught a Valentine fairy peeking in our windows...

...and sneaking helter-skelter around the yard.

Valentine's Day must be around the corner.

Time for formal catechesis?

In the car on the way to Mass:

Teresa: "Mommy, what is Jesus going to say today?"

Me: "Um, well, you mean what is the priest going to say today?" (sometimes Teresa gets Jesus and the priest confused, e.g., "Jesus is wearing green today!")

Teresa: "No, I mean what is Jesus going to say?"

Frankie: "Teresa," (chuckling at her little sister's simplicity) "Jesus isn't going to say anything. He's a statue!"

Whereupon I found myself knee-deep in the Incarnation, the Trinity, the Eucharist...and realizing I need to read a little about introducing a 4 year old to the basic tenets of the faith (Teresa interrupted my exhortation: "Mommy, I smell bubble gum.") Any recommendations on resources?

Belated birthday post

We celebrated Dave's birthday a few days early knowing he'd be on a plane to Singapore on the real day. After mulling over the birthday cake options (Frankie: "Just don't make that cake with cheese in it this time"), Dave chose something a little surprising: red velvet cake.

I've always harbored a little bitterness toward red velvet cake, to be frank. The scarlet confection screams "I've got flavor" and doesn't deliver. I can't say my opinion improved as I ran down the ingredients list. Two and a half little bottles of red food coloring?!

I didn't have enough, and the cake perhaps did lean more toward pink than red, but the end result was adequate. We agreed the cream cheese frosting was the highlight. I'm expecting this cake will be a been-there, done-that thing on birthdays to come.

I guess that extra bottle of food coloring does make the cake look more burgundy...

The infamous armadillo cake from Steel Magnolias

Happy birthday Love!

Christmas 2011

David Jr.'s first tie!

Getting ready for Mass on Christmas Eve.

Highlight of Christmas morning for David: a goldfish container filled with aforementioned crackers.

Dave's cousin Ailea in the Philippines sent Frankie and Teresa beautiful dresses, scarves and sandals.

Then on to Grandmommy and Pop-pop's house for delicious meals, presents and family fun.

Hope everyone is enjoying a Merry Christmas!

David sings Hallelujah

The YouTube video of the Hallelujah flashmob is common viewing around here ever since the girls were mesmerized by it about a year ago. David has heard and seen it, too, countless times, though it was only recently that we realized his routine funny banter was actually a rendition of Handel's tune. One year olds are pretty absorbent creatures.

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, was required reading for one of my political philosophy courses at Notre Dame. I'm glad it was, otherwise I would never have picked up this classic in book form (the Farrs can attest to watching the George C. Scott version of the movie religiously for years, though... I think I have it memorized). It's a prime example of the book being leaps and bounds better than countless worthy cinematic interpretations. Charles Dickens just does my heart good. A couple choice excerpts:

"The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. Every one of them wore chains like Marley's Ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together; none were free. Many had been personally known to Scrooge in their lives. He had been quite familiar with one old ghost, in a white waistcoat, with a monstrous iron safe attached to its ankle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a door-step. The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever."

Note the sparseness of the tree's lower quarter. David Jr., certified Christmas tree molester, can be thanked for that. We're hoping we don't have to get rid of the lights down there. We ponder the oddities of human nature as we consider the solution to this toddler's fixation on putting them in his mouth.

"It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour. When Scrooge's nephew laughed in this way: holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the most extravagant contortions: Scrooge's niece, by marriage, laughed as heartily as he. And their assembled friends being not a bit behindhand, roared out, lustily. 'Ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha!'"

Yes, a couple of candles are right out of a Dr. Seuss book. Melted in the attic.

I got an illustrated version from the library that I like very much. I highly recommend picking up a copy for a timely, entertaining Christmas read!

Wanna go to bed?

"Noooo."