Our little Finner-magoo turns 3 !!!

Happy Birthday Finnegan Jack!


Random things we love about our little 3 year old....

He has always been very verbal (he's a bit of a talker, like his parents) Like many other toddlers, he has a lisp and can't quite say his "R's" and "L's" and then randomly uses his very own made-up pronunciation for a slew of words. Here are some of my favorites:
Cereal = "ser-i co"
Adult = "buh-dult"
Vacation = "pay-cation" ....oh I wish.
Selah = "See-wah"
Guitar = "puh-taw"


Funny Finn Phrases:

"What does that sound look like?"....so philosophical don't you think?
"I don't want to do it, Daddy doos it."
"I don't want to put it on, I want to put it off!" ....when getting dressed.
"Is that movie for buh-dults or for kids?"
"It gots eyes?".... he's fascinated with eyes. I think it scares him when he can't see the eyes.
"Fowards, backwards and sidewards.
"shallow-end and deepness."
"I just waked up!"
"All together as a family" .....he says this when we hug. So sweet.

When he has to apologize to me after getting into trouble, it sometimes goes like this:
(Finn) I'm sorry mama
(Mom) I forgive you Finn
(Finn) I forgive you too mama.....(sometimes this is warranted I guess.)

Finn loves:
reading....he has a few books memorized. There's no skipping pages to hurry it up. he knows.
trucks of all kinds...particularly bucket trucks, cement mixers, garbage trucks and back hoes.
playing Father Finn...see previous post.
singing and playing the piano and drums....he has unusually good rhythm for a 3 yr old I think.
making Selah laugh......he's finally a bit interested in her now that she can give back a little.
pretending to be the gardener, using the leaf blower around the yard.
water tables.....but he will NOT get near the water at the beach, or even the wet sand really.
helping mommy in the kitchen
swings


His birthday was on the 9th and we had a fun little birthday at the park with friends. It was a beautiful day for lawn games, pinatas and just playing outside.






Finn picked out this pinata for his party and filled it with goodies.


Friend from church, Anna was a huge help with Selah.


A hot item inside the pinata were these paratroopers.


birthday pajamas from Granny Peg!


Finn and some of his girl friends at the beach a week before the party. Of the 8 kids invited to his birthday, 7 were girls. We don't really know very many little boys around here I guess! And at this age, the girls don't have cooties yet. Not till their 5 or 6, right?




We love you Finn!

And "Safety First" takes the Championship!!!

Last night's championship game was AWESOME. It went an extra inning because of a tie, then we had to come back by 5 in one inning. It was probably our most exciting game of the season, and all of the sudden, I just LOVE co-ed city league slow-pitch softball! I'm hooked. It was SO foggy last night, that it was almost comical. I could barely see the batter from center field, hence the horrible quality of our photos. (Oh, and Nate played awesome! It's fun to watch him slide. He likes to slide. Sometimes he slides when the ball isn't even near him.)




There's nothing like a good game with good friends. And, we lived up to our name....no injuries this season. Go Safety First!!!

Father Finnegan

This has been cracking us up for a while now. We sit in one of the front rows for church usually because Finn sits still more when he can see what the priest is doing. Well....he's been taking notes. Now "Father Finn" pays us a visit at least once a day. Tonight he almost performed a full Mass for us, and even let me pull out my camera for some shots. (I'm not sure the priest at our parish would allow that.) Enjoy, and may God bless you.


First, the procession...he mimics the alter server by carrying the "cross"(part of a guitar stand).


After several laps of that, he places it carefully down and grabs the "incense" (my half marathon medal) and swings it around for a while. (This is one of Finn's new additions, as he saw the preists recently do this during Christmas.)



Then he marches around with the "gospel" (an old red Presbyterian hymnal he found in the garage).




After he has made sure EVERYONE has had a good look at the book, he finds a suitable lectern for reading it. Usually this is gibberish (fake adult language) maybe some pointing (that's his own addition really....must be reading Revelations) followed by "The word of the Lord." He always awaits our response.



Then, of course, the offering. (You're really put on the spot when you're the ONLY one at Mass...in the living room.)


Next, the liturgy of the Eucharist, the blessing of the bread and wine. (This usually includes some mono-tonal singing of pretend words.)




That's it. I just wanted to share it because I think it's so darn cute. Who knows, maybe he will be a priest some day.

And as for Selah, she's pretty content sucking on her feet these days.

Christmas was fun! I'm exhausted.

We started the trip off with the 6+ hour drive to Woodland just in time for the annual caroling party at Granny Peg and Papa Tom's house. Always a good time!



Tia Lina graciously carried Selah while Finn and I did percussions and Nate rocked out on guitar.


Finnegan, checking out Granny Peg's crèche.


This AWESOME gift from Uncle Josh was a total hit with Finn. We've heard many mind-blowing versions of "Frosty the Snowman" ever since. Move over Elton John! (Thanks Josh)



Finn participated in the Monley's traditional "Blessing Cake" this year, with help from Dad.




After Woodland for some days, Yuba for Christmas Eve day and then back to Woodland for Christmas day, we bounced over to Rohnert Park to visit with my side of the family for a while, then Santa Rosa to visit friends, and back to Woodland for a few more days and then headed back to SB just in time for New Years.....Did we miss anybody? Gotta love the holidays.


This was my best attempt at getting a photo of all the cousin's kids on the Kellogg side of the family (minus my sister Jen's 4 kids.) Six kids, all under the age of 3. This is Finn, Selah, Eli, Wyatt, Trilea and JJ.


This built-in backgammon game at the Kellogg's house was so cool. They had a the greatest back yard deck area with a built-in BBQ, fire pit and split level deck and outdoor seating area. Too bad it was so wet during Christmas.


I enjoyed getting know little Eli better.



A glorious moment of two napping children.



Selah had fun rolling her way around everywhere she wanted to go, including under this chair.