Santa Came to KC

Well, I have been prepping her for days now. "Brenna, are you excited to go see Santa? Do you think you can tell him a secret? Show Mommy how you can tell him a secret. Can you give him a hug? Will you smile so pretty for Santa?" You see, last year she had a "deer in headlights" moment and wouldn't give any expression at all. I was hoping for a better Santa picture this year. I guess I will see the result soon, but I'm not sure it is very promising.

We got into the studio and I could tell she was very excited. Santa just makes her so darn nervous. The writers of "A Christmas Story" really did their research. Our Santa was so sweet, but Brenna had the same reaction terror when she saw him. She is so excited before and after, but during, Santa is just plain scary. I think we may have one picture with a smile and one picture where she could be thinking about hugging Santa. I guess it will just have to do for the year.

Santa did ask her what she wanted for Christmas. Brenna doesn't really have a concept of what Santa does at Christmas. She has watched all the movies, but we haven't really installed the "Santa Concept" into her. So her response when Santa asked her what she wanted? A dolphin. Not sure where she came up with that one, but you know what I am searching for now.

Theology according to Brenna

Brenna loves her cubbie class at Awanas. Miss Beth is her teacher and Brenna loves her. She talks about Miss Beth all week and gets very excited to see her on Wednesday nights. Last week, Miss Beth was sick and Brenna had a rough Cubbie class. Luckily Miss Beth was back today.

I was informed that Brenna came up with an interesting new theory at their bible lesson time. Miss Beth was telling the kids about when Jesus parents couldn't find him. She was expressing how worried his parents must have been. She asked, "What do you think Jesus was doing then." Brenna confidently raised her hand. "Miss Beth I know. He went to Hobby Lobby."

Do you think we have been to Hobby Lobby too many times this week?

Grown up words and More Napping

Well the napping saga continues. On Friday, Brenna finally fell asleep. YEA! And yes, she had a book in her hands. That seems to the be best way to fall asleep these days. I happened to look at the monitor about 30 minutes later and notice Brenna pick up the book, turn a few pages, sit up, put the book with the rest of her books, and lay back down. Is there such a thing as sleep reading? Such a funny girl even in her sleep.

Brenna's vocabulary continues to grow. Here are a few example.

"Possibly, Avery stayed at home."
"My dream was marvelous."
"Lunch was scrumptious."

She is truly my little sponge!

Napping

As many of you know, Brenna has decided that napping isn't really for her anymore. Unfortunately I still need Brenna's nap time. So, we have come to an agreement. Brenna goes for rest time in her bed where she meets a pile of around 20 books that she can peruse at her quiet leisure. Most days, she stays awake talking to herself and "reading" each of her books. But on a few other days, there is no escaping to the sleep monster. It drags her under to that sweet dream land of childhood. It is a sneaky little monster that comes when you least expect and sometimes even before you can finish the book.

Halloween

Well, we survived our first "trick or treat" halloween. Don't call us bad parents for not taking her out before. It just doesn't seem that important to me. We have always just been busy the other years. This year we decided to pack the car and head to SA to spend the afternoon and evening with Aaron, Liz, Tanner, and Avery. What a fun day it was. Brenna loved this new found reason dress up and knock on doors. The funniest part of the evening was Brenna at each door. First she made sure that every kid there was given their candy. Then when all the other kids left she said, "Do you have a dog?" If the answer was "Yes." She followed with, "Can I see him?" I should have guessed that the status of the neighborhood pets would be more important to her than the candy she was getting.

Fairy Brenna.

Fairy Avery

Pirate Tanner. (who, in this picture, looks just like his Daddy did at age 3.5)

Crazy Banana Brother

Kids not sure about Aaron


Love this picture of my niece and Aaron.

Brenna is on a mission.

Brenna's first Trick or Treat house. ( She is probably engaging in the first of many dog conversations here.)


It would be a little scary to open my door to this picture. A whole bunch of candy crazed kids. Aaaa!

We all had a great time and were very tired at the end of the evening. Brenna slept the whole way home, while I Nathan and I fought to stay awake. Next up, Thanksgiving.