up on the housetop

I've been busy customizing the verses of this song to sing at bedtime. Here's how it goes.

Me: First comes the stocking of little Tess, O Dear Santa she's the best (girl)
Fill it with rabbits and kitty cats, and a little pink striped hat.
Tess: Stocking, Mama. Again.
[repeat 4 to 10 times.]

* * * * *
Me: Next comes the stocking of Mr. Finn, O Dear Santa, fill it in,
Fill it with trucks and a tool set, and a penguin pillow pet.
Finn: And a feller buncher.
Me: And a fell-er bunch-
Finn: And a fire truck. And other kinds of trucks.

Only two days til Christmas. I think we're gonna make it.

pageantry

Last night was the Waverly Presbyterian Church 90th Annual Holiday Pageant. As Andrew noted in the haircut post, Finn was the next in a long line of Barbers to participate as a page. His role was to walk up to the stage with one of the three kings and present a gift to Jesus, then they all sang "Away in the Manger" and he had practiced the words so that he was able to sing along. It was very sweet and we were so proud of him. Also proof that I'll be a basket case stage mom.

So adorable in his page costume, which Mimi

originally made for Aunt Heather back in the day!

I mean really, the cutest costume EVER. 

Way to go, Finn!!

First Haircut

With the holidays here we decided that it was finally time for Finn's first haircut. He will be appearing in the Waverly Presbyterian Church's pageant tomorrow as a page (the fourth generation Barber to do so --Papa played the same role in 1954 or thereabouts) and there will be many, many other photo ops throughout the season so we wanted his hair to look a little bit neater.

The whole family took a trip to the barber that Daddy goes to (and where Finn has been many times before while Daddy gets his hair cut). Mommy was a bit overwhelmed by the rows of mounted deer skulls with trophy racks, hunting/gun magazines, turkey calls etc. but was quickly put at ease by the friendly atmosphere (note that Finn is draped in a camouflage sheet while getting his haircut).

Finn was initially a bit skeptical (as you can see in the first photo) and never got comfortable with scissors near his ears and neck (which is hilarious when you consider the reckless abandon with which he attempts to play with Papa's power tools, tractors and just about anything else that can cause bodily harm) but he sat still long enough to get the job done.

cheese!

This is the new smile I use in ALL of my photographs! Isn't it pretty?

Dentist!

Today was Finn's first dental check-up. It was such a trip, but I'm still not sure why they charge twice as much as the grown-up dentist... Although he "sure had fun having his teeth checked" so I guess there's your answer.

santa hats

If you've received a holiday card from us in the past three years, I hope you've enjoyed the adorable photos of our kids because this year it's not looking very promising. Mimi knitted these hats for the kids and I tried to get a photo of them - maybe for a card? maybe not? - to no avail.

Such a helpful brother.

Sweet elf.

I call this the "oy vey"/"smirkarama" shot

From the looks of things you all might have to settle for a New Years card, 

or perhaps a simple Easter greeting!

intrepid playground explorers

We went to a playground last weekend that had really cool playground equipment, if it was 1984, but anyway it was a nice day out and we made the most of it. In particular, the kids really seemed to enjoy this rather scary tunnel that (while not entirely appropriate for play) made for some cool photos.

serious Granddad resemblance

I've got this!

Scary tunnel

Get me out.

Tess sings

And to think that I had only heard her sing up to "G" ... until tonight!

relaxing in the morning

Watching "Rio" ... glued.

Oh look, a camera! (note matching jams)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're blowing off some steam at the park before naps and cooking commence! Love to our friends and family today, we're thankful for all of you.

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names

Andrew: Finn, what's my name?
Finn: Dale Robert Barber.
A: That's Papa's name. What's my name?
F: Andrew Dale Barber.
A: Right. And what is Mommy's name?
F: I forgot.
Nico: It starts with an N. N-n-n-n...
F: N-n-n-ninny.
N: Well, ok then.

N: Your name is Tess Abigail Barber! Can you say that?
T: Tess Abracadabra. Abby Cadabby.

Caillou brings everyone closer.

Good thing I have a book in the car.

Nothing beats a driveway nap. Except maybe a map in an actual bed, haha. Zzzzzz...

music

Like a lot of families, we're really into music. We sing in the morning, we dance in the afternoon, we play instruments after dinner, we groove in the car. I'm trying to keep from having to listen to too much kids music (although with that being said, there's some really good kids music out there.) But right now in our car, the #1 rated CD is the soundtrack to The Sound of Music.

Finn was initially obsessed with "My Favorite Things" - which you may recall from a few months ago - next, he was on a "Lonely Goatherd" kick, which has recently evolved into a preference for "Maria." Although raise your hands if you've ever started your car and preschooler in the backseat has chirped, "Sixteen Going on Seventeen, please." He asks for those two songs all the time and Tess does too - although she also refers to "Maria" as "Lamb Song" or "Abbey Song" (which only makes sense if you know the lyrics. Suffice to say... I know the lyrics.) Last week I was trying to skip through some songs to get to the end, being rather sick of the whole CD, and I stumbled upon the organ-heavy version of "Maria" that accompanies her walk down the aisle. Finn literally gasped and said, "THIS IS EXACTLY THE SONG I WANT TO HEAR" so I explained that this is the wedding song in the movie, blah blah blah, and when he realized it was a churchier version of "Maria" he almost lost it with excitement.

So I guess it's time to introduce them to the movie, which I'm actually VERY excited about. It's also time to find some new music for the car!

the lion and the bee

I'll never forget the time leading up to Finn's first Halloween when he was about two months old and I was still so tired and I don't know - sometime earlier in October - some of my friends like Val and Sue and Marna started asking what Finn was wearing for trick or treating and I remember clear as day saying - mehh, I don't think we're going to do that. He's so small. And the uproar was so very loud ("You have to dress up the BABY." "Babies in costumes are SO CUTE!") that I relented and stuffed him into a penguin outfit and it was super adorable but it is possible that he has not yet forgiven us (Val, Sue, Marna - you were correct, so no hard feelings).

Fast forward to this year when we started planning outfits a couple of weeks ago - thank god there's no dressing-up situation at school and we only had to worry about the evening of, which was pretty brief. In the past week, Finn has told people who have been asking about his costume that he was going to be either a fish, seahorse, lion, cheetah, or a dragon. Depending on the day. So thank god my friend Stephanie who lives up the hill had a lion costume in just his size that he fell in love with on sight. And also thank god I picked up this little bee outfit at TJ Maxx a few weeks before which suited Tess just fine. We went to a few of our neighbors' houses, saw the decorations in the neighborhood and then came home and it was all peachy... and I'm glad Halloween is a year away.

Leaf Play

Taking advantage of one of the last nice days (or so we assume!)

better

Tess had a little rash on her face last week (who am I kidding, it wasn't little) and I wanted to get some photos of her for future reference - or to show to the doctor. Of course she was in the mood to cooperate ["picture, mommy! picture"], so maybe i'll edit this one a bit and get it in a frame one of these days.

Everyone in this house is mesmerized by those eyes!

F-I-N-N

We were kinda surprised last week when Finn just - ya know - wrote his name in the driveway.

He told the whole neighborhood!

Apple Picking II

We went back to Reisingers Apple Country yesterday to re-up our apple supply and pick raspberries (and look at the foliage along Seneca Lake!) F and T enjoyed the wagon for the first 15 minutes or so then we picked and picked and then treated ourselves to MORE cider donuts. All in all a very successful autumn Sunday.

The best part was when they held hands in the car on the way home but I didn't get photographic evidence.

I Play Purses

I often bring Tess into my room to buy some time while getting ready. Until recently it was enough for her to sit in front of the shoe rack and pull off every pair, occasionally trying them on. She started getting bored with that though, so I gave her a few handbags to play with and this is definitely her New Favorite Thing. She says to me several times times a day, "I play purses!" As in, let me play with your purses! Quickly!

Yesterday I was cleaning off the porch and cutting the herbs up to freeze and it reminded me that her other favorite thing is "I taste basil" and proceed to rip off 2-3 basil leaves, stick them in her mouth and gag on them. I'm glad she likes basil, though. It's a mainstay iin our house.

Japanese crayons

One of the benefits of the Wags 6 living in Japan (we try to find good reasons!) is that they have access to super awesome art supplies such as the pastel crayons Finn received for his birthday. Those combined with the huge rolls of paper from Ikea and we may just get through the winter.

Here they are drawing a knuckleboom loader. Oh, and Tess's new words are "excavator" and "bucket truck." Not a huge surprise, right?

Happy G

Finn just drew his first letter for me! He said it's a "happy g" and if you look closely it is indeed a blue G with a purple smiley face. As soon as he can write his name he can get a library card, so maybe that's not too far away!

I'm walking!

I'm still not used to seeing Tess walk around. It's been a few weeks now and still seems so - I don't know - small? to be walking. She often will yell from the other room, "I'm walking!!" And then we'll hear either a little pitter patter or a boom, thankfully only seldom a crash followed by a cry.

We were walking around the dining room today and she put her sticky fingers ALL the way across the china cabinets. Then again, for good measure. I said (quietly, or so I thought), "Tess, you're killing me." And she said, "I'm killing you." Another lesson in Watch What You Say 101.

apples apples and more apples

It's apple picking season here! Well, of course we had to go. We went to this super-beautiful place overlooking Seneca Lake called Reisingers Apple Country. Tess fell asleep in the car so she and Nana missed out on the actual picking, but Finn and I had a great time. I think he ate 4-5 apples yesterday and another half dozen today, so he's feeling very healthy indeed, even after the apple cider donut-stravaganza.

Kid, check. Huge chair, check.

Relaxing on the way to the Honey Crisps. 

I love how focused he looks here

(and also his blue eyes)

(and also his little face)

(and also the scenic apple trees)

Tomorrow he's going to help me make apple crisp, and if that goes well we'll be making it every day until our 13 lbs of apples are gone!

first day of school

Finn's first day back to preschool was yesterday. He has a new classroom with a few other 3 year olds as well as 4 and 5 year olds, so it's a big change from last year but so far he seems to really like it. We all love Montessori and have no doubts that this year will be a success.

Leaving the house.

Most half-hearted wave ever. Is he 3 or 13?

(me laughing)

In lieu of a notebook where I write down the funny stuff my kids, I'm using this blog. So before I forget...

The other day he was saying that he needed some new school shoes and "maybe Mimi could order him some from babyzon.com." (Mimi - he doesn't really need new shoes quite yet.) (NOTE TO SELF: babyzon.com URL is available.)

Then yesterday I mentioned that we need a new broom and he said, "We should go to Home Depot. They have BEAUTIFUL red brooms and WONDERFUL red dustpans." I went to Bed, Bath instead but am still wondering if he was right about the Home Depot brooms?

Birthday Dreams

Finn asked me whose birthday was next and I said we have quite a few in our family (aunts, uncles, cousins) but the next one in our house is mine. This matters because it means we'll have cake.

Finn: What would you like for your birthday, Mommy?
Me: I'd like to go to a spa for the day. Can you arrange that?
Finn: You have to pick something from the Bruder truck catalog. How about a track loader?

matching dogs

Tess loves dogs. She seems to take a particular shine to dogs with similar hair color as her own. Our neighbors Robert and Michael have these two adorable spaniels (I think that's what they are?) and when they walk by she has a total cow of excitement. Not shown: Tess toddling toward the dogs. We might have this on video, in which case I'll post it!