Meeting Santa

The Meaning of Christmas

Max: "It's not about getting. It's about giving."

Emma: "Giving something to others with a gift inside to make them feel better. And to be kind to someone you know."

Nativity

Setting: It's bedtime. While Dad was off in one bathroom, the kids finished brushing their teeth and proceed to play. Dad comes out to find both Max and Emma kneeling facing each other on a couch with blankets draped over their heads and bodies staring down at a stuffed Mickey Mouse lying between them on couch. Meanwhile they are singing Away in a Manger. They see Dad.
Max: "Hi Dad. I'm Joseph."
Emma: "And I'm Mary."
Max (pointing to Mickey): "And this is the baby Jesus."

Note: Doing his best to run downstairs to grab the camera and hurry back up, Dad was not quite quick enough.

Ready Reference Boy

Note: This is one of those entries that actually happened months ago but overlooked for entry. The Blogger's many apologies for your delay in entertainment.

Setting: The family is in the kitchen.
Max: "Mom, Mom, you gotta see this!"
Mom (at the kitchen table): "Bring it here Max so I can see."
Max (brings a large coffee table type book to the table): "Look. It's the Firth of Forth bridge in Scotland."
Mom: "Yes, it is Max."
Max: "But this is not where the cars go over. This bridge is just for trains."

Setting 2: Max leaves the table and returns about 5 minutes later with a second large book.
Max (as he points to a different picture showing both the Firth of Forth bridge and a second parallel bridge): "Here Mom. This is the bridge the cars go over."

More food

Setting: The family is finishing dinner.
Emma: "Mom, can we get some pretend real food?"

A New Radio Station

Setting: It's morning. Dad is still in bed. Emma walks in and crawls in bed with him. A few minutes later the radio goes on from the alarm clock. Emma reaches over and hits the snooze bar.
Dad: "Emma, why did you turn off the radio?"
Emma: "I didn't want it on."
Dad: "But I wanted to listen to it."
Emma: "I can be your radio." (and she proceeds to start singing a made up song.)

I should ask

Setting: It's bedtime. Max, Emma, and Dad are reading stories. They call Mom at a hotel somewhere on the East Coast.
Mom: "How are you, Emma?"
Emma: "I am good. How are you , I should ask?"

Safety Patrol

Setting: Dad, Mom, Max, and Emma are sitting on the loft sofa reading bedtime stories.

Emma: Mom, I have an owie -- it really hurts, see?
Mom: Let me see.
Mom (noticing there's no imminent threat of hospitalization): Best leave it alone.
Emma: But Mom, it really hurts.
Mom: Why don't you just try to forget about it and listen to Dad read the story.
Emma (after a few seconds): But Mom, I can't. I keep thinking about it.
Mom: Really, Emma, listen to the story; it's a good distraction.
Emma: What's 'distraction'?
Max (in full declaration mode): Cell phones are a distraction to drivers.

We are duly humbled.

Photosynthesis

Setting: Max is looking through a Dr. Seuss book named O Say Can You Seed. Needless to say the book goes into quite some detail discussing how seeds grow into plants and how they use the sun to create food for themselves. Individual parts of the seeds and plants are labeled in the book including embryo, stamen, etc.
Max has the book open to a page showing the sun shining down on a leaf with descriptions of how the plant uses the sun to generate food...
Max: "Mom, you've gotta see this. They don't use the word photosynthesis!"

Nothing like a warm fire

Setting (from Max's Kindergarten teacher): We were working on projects and I was hanging things in the hallway and Max wandered out to the hallway and plopped himself down and gazed into the fireplace that I hung on the wall. I didn't notice, but Mrs. G found him and asked him what he was doing.
He replied "warming up by the fire" with a smile. We had to take a picture.