Mimi's Christmas Card, '08

This year, I decided I wanted a photo of all three of my grandchildren taken together to use on Christmas cards to my family and friends. We started planning it back in August, when I got Colleen and Julie together and ordered the monogrammed clothes from Kelly's Kids. They arrived in October and when John and Colleen were in town one weekend, we made an appointment at a studio nearby to have the picture taken. The poor photographer took about 70 pictures and out of all of them, this was the ONLY one that had all three children looking happy and facing the camera. It was the very FIRST picture he took. It went downhill from there. Here are some of the out-takes!

Ainsley had just started walking a few weeks before, and she did NOT want to be sitting in the chair.

Please note that in every picture, Macy had a perfect smile. Julie had told her not to look at Ainsley, just to keep looking at the photographer. Marshall, on the other hand, thought he was responsible for keeping Ainsley in the chair, then used a "fake smile" when he was looking at the camera!

This one is so funny. Ainsley just loved having everyone stand up with her. For one of John and Colleen's and Julie and Sean's Christmas presents, I had a collage poster made of 16 of the funniest out-takes, then I, with Larry's help, wrote captions on the back from each child's point of view as to what they were thinking throughout this ordeal. Below is what we think was going on in their heads!

Picture Time Through Macy’s Eyes

“I am the oldest and most beautiful grandchild, and I’m going to be a model some day, so I’ll just sit here and smile my prettiest smile. Oh, Cousin Ainsley, sit still! You’re ruining the picture! What’s the matter with you? Hey, Ainsley, you’re covering up my face. Sit down lower, so I can be in the picture too. After all, I’m the star of the whole picture!”

Picture Time Through Marshall’s Eyes

“OK, Mimi had this ridiculous idea that we are all three going to be in a picture for her Christmas card! I’m going to smile for about three pictures, and THAT’S it!! I have more important things to do like playing with those giant Legos on that table over there! Ainsley, SIT STILL!! Come here! Just because you just learned how to walk, doesn’t mean you can’t sit in a chair for a few minutes!! Get in this chair and cooperate! Don’t you know the word ‘OBEY??’ Let’s get this over with so we can go get ice cream and play! Mommy, quit telling me to stop watching Ainsley and just smile. Let me just try a “fake smile,” and maybe they’ll say we’re through! Ainsley, come back here!!! Oh, GIRLS!!

Picture Time Through Ainsley’s Eyes

“I hate this red velvet chair. They’re crazy to think I’m going to sit in it for 75 pictures!! Hey, I’ve been trying to learn how to walk for a year. I just learned how last week, and now they’re telling me to SIT STILL!! They really are crazy! What is that cute feather thing they’re waving at me. Let me see how it tastes. Mimi, come to my rescue! Let’s go for a walk. Maybe if I crouch down like this, they won’t see me, and I can sneak out of this room! Let me get this stupid, itchy, bow off my head…there, that feels a lot better! Macy, get your hands off of me. You’re covering up the ‘A’ on my shirt and Mimi paid $9.00 extra to get this monogrammed! Oh, now, they think if Macy and Marshall stand up and hold my hands, I’ll be happy and stay in the picture. Well, I’ll show them! Mommy, Daddy, Mimi, Aunt Julie…somebody, come rescue me from this torture!! And, they think NEXT YEAR will be easier!! I’ll be two years old then, and soooo much smarter!”


A Few More Cute Individual Photos

Christmas, Phase 4, with John, Colleen, and Ainsley

John, Colleen, and Ainsley came over Christmas afternoon and we had another great family visit. Ainsley does not like to be held for very long, as you can see in this photo. She was ready to go explore the Christmas tree.

Ainsley warmed up to Papa quickly. Here she is "making eyes" at him and she even said, very clearly, "Papa!"

An attempt at a picture with her mom and dad. She just doesn't like to sit still!

One of her presents was a book called "Princess Baby" and she got the tiara to go with it...but it didn't stay on her head for long. I even caught this on video, and if I can figure out how to post it here, you'll be able to see her first reaction when we put this on her head. (But I think that may be beyond my computer skills!)

She loves books, but it it has to be short, just like her attention span.

A new Christmas stocking for Ainsley!

Phase 2 of Christmas Celebration, 2008, Macy and Marshall

Macy and Marshall were so excited when they finally got to open Christmas presents. They had gone to church, (our church did a fantastic children's service and we sat on the front row!), endured lunch, and finally...it was time!!!

One of Macy's presents was a musical jewelry box with a dancing ballerina, something she's been wanting for several months. She also got a baby doll, a crib and high chair and other fun stuff.
Marshall got a tool set with a hard hat, but he loved these collapsible cones to put out in the street for safety when they're riding their bikes. His big present comes in the morning when he gets a train table from his three sets of grandparents! (Hey, it pays to have THREE sets this time of the year!)

All I Want For Christmas is my ONE Front Tooth!

It finally happened! An exciting day for Macy when she lost her front tooth a couple of days ago. Marshall was more excited than she was and called to tell me about it on the phone. That night, the Tooth Fairy came and left her a dollar in her Tooth Fairy Pillow and....also left some "fairy dust" on her window sill. Elfie, the little Elf on the Shelf doll, also had "fairy dust" on his hat, so Macy and Marshall believe the Tooth Fairy and Elfie danced and played together! Mmmm...maybe there will be baby elves arriving soon at the Metcalf house!

Marshall, the Sheep

Today was Marshall's Christmas program at his church school and he played the part of a sheep. He did great singing several songs with the other 3 and 4 year olds.

That's him to the right of the Christmas tree, singing and dancing and having a ball.

I took these pictures, by the way, with Macy sitting--I mean, bouncing, in my lap the whole time.

He was having a great time---that is, until his "can/drum" rolled way, way far away and he couldn't use it to sing "The Little Drummer Boy." After we realized what happened, Sean crouched over and went to the front of the stage, and rolled it back to him thinking he would begin singing again. But....

But the crying continued...

and continued throughout the song. Luckily that was the end of the program.
Afterward, he was all smiles as his teacher hugged him and told him what a good job he had done.
Macy loved getting to see her teacher from last year--and getting to skip school for about an hour before she had to go back to kindergarten class.

Making Corn-Shuck Dolls with M & M

It was a freezing-cold Monday with Marshall this week. The high was maybe 40 something. Marshall wanted to go "feed the fish," and I said, no, that it was too cold for Mimi. I said to go ask Papa, knowing he'd say the same thing, but surprisingly, he said, "Sure. Go get your coat and hat!" Here they are all bundled up with a baggie of crackers to go feed the fish. They didn't stay long....

but when they got back, Marshall had very pink cheeks!!

The big prize of the day was a double acorn--we called it "twins." We picked up Macy from school at 2:45, and they began making a long chain using a whole package of pipe cleaners. Marshall didn't quite have the idea of making the circle-shape, but he had fun anyway, and the race was on! This occupied them for about an hour!! I told Julie she could have it for her Christmas tree, but she declined!

This is an old corn-shuck doll that Julie made when she was in kindergarten---28 years ago! I always put it on the tree, kind of tucked deep in the tree where it isn't too visible. Macy found it the other day and pulled it out and began asking about it. I explained that this is what the little Indian girls used to make dolls many, many years ago and that her mom had made this when she was her age. She begged to make one, so I promised we'd do it Monday after school. Marshall and I went to Michael's and bought colored felt, chenille balls, tacky glue, and pipe cleaners. Julie bought a package of corn shucks at HEB. At first Macy decided she was going to make hers a bride doll, then changed it to a "flower girl." Marshall wanted to make an army man, so he picked camo felt. Macy helped quite a bit with hers, but Marshall needed much help. In fact, he mostly just said "yes" or "no" when I asked him how he wanted it. (It was not an easy craft, so don't try this with kids younger than 5!!)

The "Flower Girl" and the "Army Man."

All I Want For Christmas is to LOSE My Front Tooth!!

Macy is trying to show us her loose front (on the bottom) tooth. It's been loose

for several weeks and I think she's really tired of hearing us sing "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth," and suggesting ways to pull it out! You can sort of see "pain" in her eyes because Papa just said he'd go get his pliers and pull it out!!

Macy's Take on K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Every Monday, I keep Marshall, and at 2:45, we go to Macy's school and pick her up, then we go to their house or my house until Julie gets off from work about 4:30. The "back-seat conversation" today went something like this:
Macy: Mimi, did you see my new poster of Troy ("High School Musical" fame) on my bedroom door today?
Me: Yes, I did, Macy.
Macy: Isn't he cute?
Me: Yes, he's very cute, but he's also a very NICE boy.
Macy (giggling): Sometimes, I kiss the poster.
Marshall: You kiss the poster??? Ewwww!!! YUK!!! That's gross!!!
Macy: Oh, Marshall, you think kissing is gross; (her voice got swoony here), I THINK KISSING IS WONDERFUL!!

One Tired Mimi

Macy didn't have school today, so she spent the night with us. She is leaving tomorrow with Mom, Dad, and Marshall to go to Midland for Thanksgiving with her other grandparents, aunts and uncles. It was a busy twenty-four hours. In this picture, we were getting ready to go to the park across the street. Macy bundled up Hannah Grace and put her in her stroller to go feed the fish---what would we do for entertainment without the park??? Macy decided to "pose" for the picture, which is unusual.




The fish must have been starving. They gathered at the edge of the pond even before Macy started throwing in the crackers. But...the turtles are missing!! Macy thinks someone brought a net and caught them and took them home for pets, which is very likely, but we miss them!

Another disappointment at the park today: there is a special oak tree that has these huge, unusual acorns, not like the regular live oaks so common around here. The grandkids always love to gather up these acorns this time of the year. Today, when we got to the tree, this is what we found--- just the "hats" of the acorn, as Macy calls them. Obviously, the squirrels have been very busy. There were hundreds of these little "hats" all over the sidewalk, and very few had the acorn attached. The squirrels are going to have a good winter!

Here is Macy showing one of the empty acorns!

Here she is making a "pond" on the deck with kitchen bowls, sticks, acorns, rocks, and some toys. This entertained her for about an hour. She ended up taking off her shoes and putting her feet in the bowls of water and looking at her footprints all over the deck.Then she wanted to make a "fort" in the living room for her dolls. This occupied another hour. Will my house ever be the same? Yep.... tomorow!
After lunch, we decorated gingerbread cookies from a kit I found at HEB. The cookies were already made, and it included the icing, gumdrops, and sprinkles! The one in the upper right corner was made especially for Marshall. It is a "Star Wars gingerbreadman." See its big guns? Two are missing, she ate one, and Papa "ate" one. I think it may be in the trash, however! Don't tell Macy!
The project that took the most work, was writing a book. Macy started watching a PBS documentary last night that Papa was watching about wolves. It was about how someone in the late 1800's trapped some wolves who were killing cattle. The main alpha male was named Lobo and his mate was Blanca. Macy asked a jillion questions about this story and seemed to be totally fascinated by it. In the end, they had to trap the wolves and then they were shot or just died. She wanted to make a book about the story, so we started it last night. Of course, Papa, our family artist was solicited to draw the wolves, but Macy did an outstanding job drawing the "setting," which she's learned about at school. The setting here consisted mostly of trees, mountains, and the moon. She spent hours working on coloring the wolves on several pages. Since Blanca was a white wolf, she used black construction paper to draw her in white crayon.
Here is "Papa Picasso," helping with one of the wolf drawings. Macy loved the one of Lobo, showing the traps on his feet. It took four traps to catch this wolf, one on each leg! When Blanca was trapped first, Lobo howled for days and days. This impressed Macy and she decorated that page with hearts "because they loved each other." My friend, Tina Butler, came over as we were working on the book and she helped Macy with some of the design features that were difficult. How many five-year olds have TWO retired English teachers helping them write a book?? (Tina and I were in heaven!! Helping to inspire a blooming writer!) When she was all finished, we got out a little cassette tape recorder and Macy read the book while I recorded her. She felt very special about this, her first writing attempt, which was all HER idea. I think she has inherited her Mimi's genes here. (Yea!) Sean had to work tonight, but Julie and Marshall came over for our "Thanksgiving dinner," which Macy planned. We had PIZZA AND PUMPKIN PIE!! Macy, you wore me out, but I enjoyed our twenty-four hours together so much. I hope you have a safe and fun Thanksgiving in Midland. I love you and I look forward to writing more books with you, more park adventures, and the building of more forts in the living room! Now, check out Julie's blog for "the rest of the story" of what happened tonight after dinner! www.seanandjuliemetcalf.blogspot.com

Ainsley is ONE!

Colleen had to go out of town this week, so John called "911-Mimi!" I spent three nights with them and enjoyed my tenth trip to Houston in the last year. When Ainsley saw me walk in the door, she ran with her arms up in the air and her mouth open, like this picture. It was a great welcome!

This is the new walking, talking, singing Elmo, which she got for her birthday. It's almost as big as she is and she has learned to say, "Elmo" very clearly. She hasn't decided if she likes him or is scared of him, but I think he's the cutest toy I've ever seen. He does a variety of actions, depending on where you squeeze him, and if he falls down, he says, "Uh-oh, Elmo fell down, can you help Elmo get up?" It was almost like having another child in the house!

I missed Ainsley's birthday party on Saturday, because I was coming to Houston on Monday...I brought her a cupcake and even dressed up her high chair with the cute "skirt" and cover that Colleen found on the internet for her party. She mostly enjoyed the icing!

Ainsley is going to love shoes just like her mommy. These are her new ladybug shoes. She is so much fun to dress!

We spent one afternoon outside in the front yard picking up leaves and putting them in her new Mickey Mouse truck, a gift from her cousins, Macy and Marshall.

She sat on a rock and waved to the cars going by on the busy street at the corner.
She loves the new flowers that Daddy had just planted. It was a great three days. See you next month, little Ainsley! I love you!