Three Things

Fiona
Fiona has started chewing her finger nails. I blame Auntie. She desperately wants me to paint her fingernails and I've told her that I won't do it until she stops chewing her nails. The other two look like Wolverine (so I know when it's time to clip everyone) and F's are as short as can be.

She cracks us up with her expressions. Whenever something is weird to her, she calls it "creepy." She also says "seriously" all the time. And has even "Seriously, Dude"-ed me a time or two.

Fiona is learning two new songs in Sunday School and will be singing in church on December 18. She is super nervous, but also excited. Mike told her to pretend everyone was in their underwear. She told him that was "creepy." I told her to just look at me and pretend she was singing to me. We'll see version she chooses.

Quinn
For our child who doesn't forget a blazing thing, Quinn simply can.not remember to bring her coat home from school. By the end of the week, she usually has burned through both her coats, one of Fiona's coats, a sweatshirt or two, and perhaps one of Fiona's sweatshirts. Plus at least two hats and several pairs of mittens.

Quinn loves practicing her writing and drawing/coloring pictures. She's getting very good at her letters and is trying to learn to spell words. Fiona loves to try to help her. Depending on the day, the help is met with appreciation or annoyance.

Preschool has helped her gain a confidence and independence. She will still hang close to us [or on us] at times. But we are also noticing her adventurous nature emerging more. At Fiona's skating lessons or Mike's hockey game tonight, she enjoys nothing more than exploring the arena and running around with her friends.

Declan
Dec has learned to open doors. Which is a really fun development alongside the recent move to the freedom of the Big Boy bed. As our early riser, he has been known to wander into our room at very dark hours to ask if it is "wake up time." And is sent back to bed when it is not.

He is always singing. Usually not a song we know, but he's constantly stringing together words or gibberish and putting it to a tune. He has also been known to bust a move when a favorite song [or any good beat] comes on. And let me tell you, boy has moves! Mike better watch out or I'll have a new favorite dance partner!

He is ALWAYS hungry. He wakes up in the morning asking for food. He's asking for a snack within 45 minutes of a meal. He is also a total stringbean. If his pants fit in the waist, they are way too short. If they are long enough, they fall down. We have a shoelace belt and a basic disregard for fashion as our coping mechanisms.

Mike and Sara
Mike just completed his ITIL certification training and passed the final test. He worked really hard studying and this certification will be a good base for future career opportunities at his job.

I have my Christmas cards sitting in a box, just waiting for me to write the letter and address everything. Getting everyone's Christmas cards and putting them up on our coat closet is one of my favorite parts of the holidays!

I was at a funeral yesterday and the kids tricked Mike into playing Christmas songs on Spotify. And then they told me about it. That was pretty much all I needed as permission to break our [Mike's] "not until December 1" rule and start playing Christmas songs now!