My animal shelter exploded.

(The scary Wizard of Oz anti-pirating intro plays on one of the kids’ DVDs.)

Alex: You were scared of that when you were little.

Claire: But sometimes I like scary stuff on TV, because it’s not real.


Claire: Red one!
Daddy: Yeah.
Claire: When I was a baby and I had gummy bears, I said rawr white one.
Daddy: That’s right.
Claire: And when I was a baby when I had gummy bears, I had the red gummy bear, I said rawr white one.
Daddy: That’s right.
Claire: And I said, Daddy, Daddy, um, red one.
Daddy: That’s right.


(Alex and Claire are playing “animal shelter”.)
Claire (to Daddy): My doggie have dead, dead, so I decided, I’m gonna have a kitten, to bring home.

(Alex runs the shelter.)
Daddy: I want to get an animal.
Alex: You’re at the right place.

(Daddy picks out a kitty.)
Alex: Let me check him out.
(Alex touches the cat with a remote control.)
Alex: Beep.

Alex: Mommy, can we go up in the attic and get the Christmas tree? And decorate it?

Alex: Oh no, Mommy.
Mommy: What?
Alex: My animal shelter exploded.
Mommy: What happened?
Alex: I think, that, there’s a… mud lake, right outside of it? It’s Grommie’s pillow… and some of it exploded, into my animal shelter. You wanna see?

(Claire finds the tiny Charlie Brown Christmas book in the Christmas decorations.)
Claire (excited): Look! I love this book!


(Alex is clowning around.)
Alex: I’m tryin’ to make Claire laugh.


Claire: I wanna decorate the Christmas tree, Mommy! I wanna decorate the Christmas tree, now.


(Claire and Alex are watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. Linus has just finished explaining the true meaning of Christmas.)
Claire: When is Santa gonna give us a present? Tomorrow?
Daddy: No, at Christmas.
(Pause.)
Claire: But today is we set up Christmas.