Resurrection Rolls

Our family tradition at Easter time is to make Resurrection Rolls. This afternoon when String Bean finished her lunch, we set up the workstation to make the Rolls. She did not enjoy getting her fingers dirty (typical). However, once she realized the dough was not cookie dough, she had fun trying to wrap the marshmallows up in it.

While we waited for the Rolls to cook and cool, String Bean, Mr. Bean, and I watched the Charlie Brown Easter Beagle special. String Bean is the biggest Charlie Brown and gang fan you've ever seen. (All we've heard the last few days is "New Brown? Please?")

We set the ready-to-eat Resurrection Roll in front of String Bean and told her to look and see if Jesus was still in there. When she popped it open, she just looked at me with a blank stare unsure of what to say since Jesus had disappeared. I said, "Where is he?" She replied, "Bye-bye." Mr. Bean and I taught her to say, "Risen."

It is a precious tradition especially with preschool aged kids. If you and your family don't have a tradition and are looking to start one, we highly recommend Resurrection Rolls!

Poops

String Bean sat on the potty yesterday and tried to "push out the poopies" and was thrilled when some came out. Yes, I know this is a discussion only a mother of a toddler could love. Please note the name of this blog.

Upon finishing her business in the potty, she decided to call her family and friends and share her success. As always, Pop was the first on the list. Luckily, Nana was with him. Next it was Ama and Grandpa. Auntie Carolyn soon followed. Then Rob and Connie. After that, she wanted to call Lucy, so we did. After she hung up with Lucy's voice mail, she wanted to call Snoopy and Charlie Brown. (Which leads me to believe that the Lucy we called wasn't THE Lucy she was intending, but oh, well.) She finished the night of calling by calling Cashew, who is 2 1/2. Cashew simply said, "Hi, String Bean!" the entire conversation long.

Other than the call to Cashew, all other calls went like this:

String Bean (SB): Hi!
Mom or Dad (M/D): Tell them what you did.
SB: Poopies!
M/D: Where did you do the poopies?
SB: Potty!
M/D: What did you get for doing poopies on the potty?
SB: Chock (translation: chocolate)
M/D: Tell them your name.
SB now spells her name instead of saying her name.
M/D: Do you want to count?
SB: One, Two, Free, Four, Five, Six, Eye!
M/D: Say "Bye-bye!"
SB: Bye-bye! (long pause) Insert name of who you are calling.
Abruptly hang up.

Too Much TV

In an effort to enjoy our time off from work, we often put in a video for String Bean when she wakes up before 7 am. Often-times, lately it is A Charlie Brown Christmas.

We knew she was watching too much of it when she started quoting lines from the movie before they were said. She's only 25 months old! Usually it is quoting Charlie Brown and saying, "No, no, no!"

Today we were watching it as a family and as the parts for the Christmas play are being handed out, Linus asks, "What do you need her for?" and String Bean yelled out, "Wife!" before the reply of "She's your wife" was uttered.

*Smacks self in forehead*

At least there is a redeeming message in this movie. If only we could start getting her to quote the scripture passages instead of the silly lines.

Good Christmas Songs

Since yesterday I posted about the worst Christmas song ever, today I thought I'd post about the best Christmas songs I've ever heard.

White Christmas sung by Bing Crosby. It is my goal this Christmas to memorize the whistle solo. I'm *this* close to getting it.

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch sung by Thurl Ravenscroft. Is there any other situation where it is acceptable to say "Your heart's an empty hole," or Your soul is an appalling dump heap, overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable, mangled up in tangled up knot"?

Feliz Navidad sung by Jose Feliciano. It is catchy, and you definitely can't get it out of your head once you've heard it! Plus, it doubles as a New Years song!

Carol of the Bells by David Foster. I just love how this song feels. I always try to clap on the syncopated parts of the string section when they play the bass notes. I'm not very good at it, but it is a fun challenge.

Hark! The Hearld Angels Sing is Mr. Bean's pick for the best Christmas carol ever. "It does the best out of all the hymns of spelling out the redemptive qualities of the Christmas story," he says. Can you tell he has a bachelors degree in music?

Santa Baby sung by Eartha Kitt. I've just rediscovered it this year. The tongue-and-cheek look at an extravagant Christmas list reminds me of the materialism of our culture. I also think it's kinda funny.

The entire Charlie Brown Christmas album. This is a classic for our family. Mr. Bean has almost the entire album memorized for piano. We listen to it nearly year-round.

Duke Ellington's Nutcracker Suite. This is a great instrumental jazz album. If you are having a Christmas party this year, this would be a good soundtrack for the background!

The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't be Late) by the Chipmunks. Any child of the 80s remembers this song fondly. Let's see a show of hands for who wants a hula hoop this year!

Sleigh Ride by the Boston Pops. I have memories of my dad "conducting" his imaginary orchestra as they played Sleigh Ride when he thought no one was looking. You can count on Dad doing this almost with the same probability of Santa visiting the house on Christmas Eve.

Ok. What did I miss? Share with me so I can load my iPod with the appopriate play-list for the long drive home in a few days.