Dear Santa...

Just wanted to share Will's letter to Santa before we send it off to the North Pole:

He really, really, really wants the Geo Trax Christmas train (the big one at Toys R Us).  I admit I have tried to sway him (it's really expensive, and I'm not sure he'll want to play with a Christmas train year-round), but to no avail.  I asked him to draw some other things he might want, but he said he only wants the train! I wrote out the phrases "Dear Santa" and "Love, Will" on another sheet for him to copy (he can only spell his name and "Daddy"), but he did the block letters for "Love" on his own (and ran out of room for his name, so it went above).

I also enlisted his help for Anna's letter--she told us she wanted a play kitchen for Christmas.  So here is Will's rendition of that:

I was a little concerned about the fire coming out of one of the pots, but Will showed me that it turns into jelly beans at the top, then the jelly beans are carried back down in the cups, where they travel through a pipe to become orange juice in a sippy cup up top.  There's a fan over the stove to clear the smoke.  I let him watch "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" last week, and I think he may have been influenced by the contraptions in that movie.

We're off to the post office to mail them later today, and then maybe we'll see Santa next weekend to tell him in person. :-)

More Art by Will

Will's drawings are all over the place over here--we've hung some on his walls, and I've tucked some away for keepsakes, but I can't figure out what to do with the rest.  Most have gone into the recycling bin, truth be told, but I thought I would post a few on the blog.  (You can click on them to enlarge them--I had to shrink them a little to make them fit in the middle column.)

This is a picture of a "carnival" school bus, with lots of special seats coming out of the top.  He is really into Dr. Seuss books lately, can you tell?  To me, this looks like a Seussian vehicle.  He also practiced his letter "S" on the side of the bus.

We received a Highlights puzzle magazine in the mail, and Will enjoyed doing the find-the-hidden-items puzzle (with a little help from me).  This prompted him to make me a few puzzles last Saturday while Daddy was at work (I guess Will thought I had too much free time on my hands!).

This is a "Find the Snakes" picture.  Can you find all the snakes?  There are 8 according to Will.  (The sticks with dashed hooks on the left are actually candles and the dashes are fire, in case you are confused.  I was.)


This one is a little trickier:

The items to be found are in the 3 boxes in the right upper corner--2 band-aids in the first box and a bird in the bottom box.  In the middle box, there is (clockwise from the top left) a flower, a ladder, a sock, an orange, a slice of bread, and an apple.  Can you find all of those in the picture?

Will's Artistic Debut

Master Will has become quite the artist lately. He enjoys coloring books, but prefers to draw his own pictures on blank paper. The pictures are not always very recognizable to me, but he is quick to describe exactly what he is trying to create. His descriptions of his drawings are so funny that I have to share them--it is so cute how his mind works.

First, he wanted to draw a present for Papa. He started by making a box and drawing a bow (the little swirls on top). I suggested he draw the actual gift inside the box, and this is what he came up with:

Me: "What's inside the box?"

Will: "Those are snakes."

Me: "Ummm, do you think Papa will like snakes as a present?"

Will: "Yes, Papa likes snakes. Snakes are bootiful, Mama, they're BOOTIFUL!!"

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that point. But this should provoke a little anxiety in those of you who will be opening gifts from us this holiday season. :-)

Can you guess what these are?:

Bats, of course!

A dotted elephant (the line across the top is a looooong trunk):

Nana and Papa's house:

At first, I thought the structure on the left was the old pyracantha bush, but Will informed me those were windows. The structure on the right is a door.

And this is a picture of Granddaddy and an elephant:

In case you're confused as to which one is Granddaddy, I will point out that the elephant again has a long trunk, and Will apparently has a keen appreciation for Granddaddy's nice head of hair. :-)

Hope you enjoyed those as much as I did!