claire

Siri’s Friend

Aside | | patmcg

We were all watching the movie version of Charlotte’s Web when the topic of the narrator came up.  I thought the narrator was Bob Newhart.  Kit said it was Sam Shepard (she as right).  Molly asked what we were talking about.  We said it was the voice talking off screen that you can’t see.  Molly said the narrator is probably Siri’s friend.

Siri actually comes up more than you would think in our daily conversations.  Claire and I like to try to stump her or faze her, but she is unflappable.  Claire even gets to be mean to Siri sometimes, which is probably fun since she isn’t mean to anyone else.  And we can always make fun of poor Siri for lazily falling back to “I found this on the web for you.”

Siri just wants to help.
Siri just wants to help.

Claire Figures Out Santa Claus

| patmcg

Driving Claire to a birthday party, just the two of us, Claire brought up the topic of Santa Claus.  She started out asking in a roundabout way, “So what’s the deal with Santa Claus?”  I provided a non-committal answer.  After a little back and forth on the topic, Claire finally asked outright: is Santa real?

So she had figured it out.  Of course I gave her a straight answer to a straight question.  She said, “I knew it!  I knew it!” with a big smile.  Then she went through all of Santa’s presents and stocking stuffers from this Christmas, one by one, to ask who thought of each one.  She seemed to really enjoy this game, sort of an inside track on a big secret.  She asked a few more details about who easts the cookies we leave out, etc.

When Claire was done enquiring for details, I asked her, “How did you know figure it out?  Did a friend tell you? ”  She said nobody told her.  She just figured it out herself.  She said there were little clues.  What really gave it away, she said, was the “believe in Santa” movies.  They gave the most glaring clues.  We’re talking primarily about The Polar Express and Elf, favorites with the girls this Christmas.  If you watch the movies, you’ll see what we mean.

I congratulated Claire on figuring out this fun little trick, made a point of saying this was basically the only thing we had ever mislead her about, and asked for her help to keep this fun kittle secret safe for Molly.  Claire agreed with a big grin on her face.

Claire & Molly’s Santa List 2013

Video | | patmcg

Molly decide to start a naughty & nice Christmas list for Santa Claus.  Claire got into the idea.  She wrote down all the items on the list and added some of her own.  Molly’s list is dominated by things or people from school (naughty) and princesses (nice).  Claire’s list of full of My Little Pony characters (all nice).

Claire turns 8!

| patmcg

Claire’s birthday fell on the day after Thanksgiving this year.  For the first time in years, we went to Corpus Christi for Thanksgiving this year, and we all stayed and celebrated Claire’s birthday down by the Bay.  All four of Claire’s grandparents were there as well as (great) Uncle Bob.

As you see in the photos, Molly was crying for Claire’s official candle-blowing-out.  She had been asked to vacate the seat at the head of the table to make room for Claire.  Molly did not agree or consent to this plan and let us know.  Later, Molly made up a brief story, possibly as a sort of apology.  She said the main character was Jonny Jakes.  The story was called “Jonny Jakes, for Heaven’s Sakes!”  In the brief story, Johnny Jakes messed up his big sister’s birthday party by making a scene.  Everyone said, “Jonny Jakes, for Heaven’s Sakes!” and Jonny was sorry.  The end.

Presents included two nearly identical My Little Pony Rainbow Dash dolls.  It was a clear and obvious choice!  We later exchanged one Rainbow Dash for Pinky Pie.  Claire also got a big Playmobil Santa’s workshop.  Uncle Tim mailed in a painting set with dolphin scenes, thus combining the recommended topics of art and dolphins.

Claire’s 8th Birthday Party!

| patmcg

Claire is (almost) eight years old!

This year Claire had her birthday party with her friends at Jumpoline Park.  Initially Claire had talked about having a petty zoo come to our house.  Once we expressed some concern about where to put the animals, weather, and other practicalities, Claire immediately said, “That’s easy.  We’ll do it at Jumpoline Park.”

And so we had her birthday at the perennially favorite spot, the largest and greatest indoor trampoline you can imagine.  The kids had a great time.  The girls were still young enough that they wanted us parents out there playing with them.  It was myself and Cullen, the dad of Claire’s friend Maddie, who took on the important duty of “bouncing” the kids.  This involved the girls laying all around a parent on the trampoline, then the parent jumping up and down as high as possible, trying to bounce the kids up as much as possible. This was tiring work, and soon sweat was dripping from my brow.  The kids also liked to be chased across the trampoline, and some were quite good at taunting.  I required many breaks to avoid collapsing in exhaustion.

This year, Claire knew ahead of time what some of the kids were going to give her for presents.  They basically just told her at school ahead of time.  The two big must-have items this year were My Little Pony stuff and a Rainbow Loom.  Claire adores My Little Pony and wants to know who your favorite characters are (Rainbow Dash and Pinky Pie of course, and Apple Jack is great but under appreciated).  Some of the other kids at school think My Little Pony is babyish, but Claire stands her ground.  She just loves that cute little ponies.  The other big item was a  Rainbow Loom, a rubber-band loom that is super popular at school.  Claire got to take hers to school and use it on the playground and the bus, like her friends.

Second Grade Thanksgiving Musical

| patmcg
201311151
Claire on stage.

The second grade put on a fabulous Thanksgiving show today.  They played a half-hour musical to a cafeteria packed with parents.    The performance involved a Thanksgiving crisis as the turkeys decided to go on strike this year.  The arbiters and mediators tried to hammer out a solution.  The cranberries and squash fought for a new place in the middle of the table.  In the end, they kids all sang “It’s not about turkey, it’s not about Thursday, it’s not about the big game.  We call it Thanksgiving because it’s thanks that we’re giving…”  It was a great message and extremely cute.

Claire was cast as “a public”.  So she got to dress as an adult and sing as part of the general public.  She was a little bummed about the less-than-glamorous role, but she did get to appear and sing a little.  The next day, Claire asked me what my second favorite part of the play was.  Obviously my favorite part was Claire’s bit, but what did I like after that?  I told her it was the singing cranberries.  Claire said she liked them too.

If there is anything more adorable than a second grade Thanksgiving musical, then I can’t think of it, not even a cute little baby.  Babies drool and puke.  Second graders sing their hearts out and try to make you smile.

Wii Night

| patmcg

We recently rediscovered the Wii.  Yes, welcome to 2007!

Anyways, the girls are old enough to enjoy playing the Wii now, and we occasionally let them go nuts with it.  This normally happens on a non-bath night when we sometimes have a little time in our hands (what!?!?) after dinner, thanks in large part to Molly’s new school being so convenient.

The girls love Wii Sports Resort and its games such as dog frisbee, kayaking, bicycling, and Claire’s favorite: plastic sword fighting.  Claire and I have both stated emphatically that we want to live on the fabulous Wii Sports Resort island.  Molly, for her part, loves going crazy with the Wiimote and nunchuk.  She likes the biking since you basically just wave the controls up and down as fast as you can.

But if you do turn the girls loose on the Wii, be prepared to have some worked up, possibly over-excited girls for bed time.  Still, everyone has so much fun, it’s worth it.