Under construction...Open in 2012

This year, Virg's favorite Christmas present was a set of Bob the Builder construction trucks from Daddy that included Lofty, Muck, Scoop, and Bob's whole crew.  On any day of the week, foreman Virg can be seen directing the crew on a number of fix-it jobs and new construction sites.  They'll be up and running in 2012.  We're all looking forward to see what comes next.

Good enough to eat...

Just before Christmas, Virg brought home the tastiest looking stable I've ever seen, complete with marshmallow angels and sheep, wise men with gum drop gifts, and a peanut in a manger.  Now, there would seem to be a fundamental problem with eating the scene of the birth of our Lord Jesus, but Virg had no reservations about it.  The way he sees it, those wise men were asking for it when they chose to leave the houes wearing gum drops for hats.

Virg is ready to "mange" this manger scene. 

Silent night, holy night, or not.

It's amazing what can be accomplished with a few graham crackers, a lot of frosting and some stay-puff marshmallows.

Jingle all the way!

Virgil loves Christmas carols.  In fact, he could sing Jingle Bells all day long if you asked him to, and if you gave him some little silver bells to shake along to the rhythm, he could go on ad infinitum. What is Virg's secret to his incredible high register and volume range, you may ask?  Virg chalks it up to good genetics, regular exercise, and lots and lots of blueberries. 

When Virg rolls around to the 17th verse of Jingle Bells,

Emmett starts to wonder if it's time to break for Christmas cookies.

Tree-mendous!

This year the boys were on their toes when it came to putting up the Christmas tree.  They had Daddy getting the tree out of storage in record time - way faster than Mommy could ever convince him to do it.   Virgil especially has a talent for laying on the pressure without appearing to lay on the pressure.  He just asks you about it every time he sees you until it gets done. I can tell you from experience, this can also really backfire on you.  DO NOT TRY THIS TECHNIQUE AT HOME (unless you are 3-feet tall, disarmingly witty, and your name starts with a "V").      

 It's a Virgil-Christmas tree-sandwich!

 Just a bit to the left Daddy, then I will hang Emmett on the top to act as the counter-balance, and it should be just about perfect.

Daddy!?  Is that you in there?  

Back to the Choo Choo Farm

Virg has been in charge of collecting our weekly vegetable shares at the Whistling Train Farm for the past few weeks. He takes his responsibilities at the "choo choo farm" very seriously.  Besides picking out the vegetables, Virg likes to check in on the cows, pigs and chickens while he's there.  He has noted that the pigs are very stinky, just as traditionally believed.  Last Saturday, the u-pick pumpkins were ready too, so Virg and Emmett also picked out a couple good ones.  There was a lot of rolling over pumpkins, pointing to this or that pumpkin, and debating over the merits of the white vs. orange varieties.  But in the end, Virg and Emmett were satisfied that they had picked the two very best pumpkins in the whole patch. And they did leave some for Jake and Karla to pick up next week.

Daddy, don't forget the zuc's.

Mommy likes the u-pick flowers the best.  The boys play along

until Daddy comes to the rescue and takes them over to see the really interesting pig pen.

The baby pigs are knee-deep in the mud. 

Clearly, they need some rain boots, too.

Not surprisingly, Virg really likes the tractor.

This one is really heavy!

Ok, Daddy, I think we got the best ones.

Feng Shui - the Virg way

Finally on Sunday, Daddy's plans for a rock garden at the front door came to fruition.  While Mommy and Emmett were inside napping, Virg and Daddy worked diligently hauling big and small rocks from all around the yard to the front porch to become part of Daddy's masterwork.  It may appear that these rocks are defying the laws of physics, and yes they are.  In fact, no super glue or other adhesives or stabilizers were employed.  Daddy likes the idea that the products of all his painstaking labor may be knocked over and annihilated at any instant, in the tradition of the Tibetan sand mandala ceremonies symbolizing the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life. In terms of the Feng Shui value, the rock sculptures are funneling the chi energy in all sorts of crazy directions, and keeping the negative energy thoroughly confused at the front door.  Perfect!  

Here I am demonstrating what I like to call the

"crazy-rock-pointing-to-the-sky" pose.

Breathe in for 2, breathe out for 4,

and don't let Emmett bring that bulldozer in here!

The Uke Duke

Virg is really starting to get the hang of the whole singing thing.  He's now the biggest kid during preschool activity time, and he feels it obligatory to sing the loudest in the circle.  He is also becoming a rising star on the ukelele scene.  I bet you didn't know there is a whole underground ukelele movement bubbling just below the surface, ready to erupt violently at any time and take over in a giant wave of flowered shorts and flip-flops.  Well, actually, these folks are mainly interested in kicking back together around the BBQ and  transcribing some old favorites into ukelele tabs.  But, you could imagine, if they ever got really mad about something, things could get KAMEHAMEHA-crazy, in a hurry.

It's time for a little number I call "The Pineapple Express."