Santa came!!

Claire: Santa came!!

Alex: Merry Christmas, Daddy! I was excited to give you this.

Alex: I hope he didn’t bring me coal.
Claire: I hope he didn’t bring me coal.
Alex: He didn’t bring you coal, Claire. You’ve been very good this December.

Claire: Merry Christmas, Alex!
Alex: Merry Christmas, Claire!

Alex (to Daddy): I gave you a holiday hug.

Claire: Daddy! Mommy doesn't have a shirt on!

Alex: Can everybody see what I got them?

Claire: I hope it’s a doggie. But it won't be.

Claire: I hope it's a cat.


(Claire got a baby doll.)
Claire: I'm my baby’s mommy.

(Alex got a Spider-Man toy.)
Alex: Hey, we need to save somebody!

(Claire got a puppy.)
Claire: A puppy!

Claire: Alex! Look what I got!


(The family is riding in the car.)

Claire: How do you make hills?
Daddy: How do you make hills?
Claire: How do you make hills on the road?
(Daddy does his best to explain.)
Claire: How do you make trees?
(Daddy does his best to explain.)
Claire: Oh. But Daddy -- how do you make grass?
(Daddy does his best to explain.)

Claire: Daddy? How do you make a sign?
(Daddy does his best to explain.)
Claire: Daddy? How do you make... toys?
Alex: How do you make toys: elves. And toymakers.
Claire: How do you make shoes?
(Mommy does her best to explain.)
Claire: How do you make a skyscraper?

Claire: Daddy, how do you make the sun?

(Mommy explains something about hydrogen making up the sun.)
Claire: But how do you put it in the sky?

Claire: How do you make a mailbox?

Daddy: How do you make a mailbox?
Alex: Well, you need wood, metal, and screws.
Claire: How do you make -- I saw a tree, that bends like this, and it was about to fall down. How do you make mulch?

(Mommy does her best to explain how mulch is made.)
Claire: How do you make a ball of hay?
(Mommy does her best to explain.)
Claire: Oh.

Claire: How do you -- how do you make fence?
Alex: You need lots of wood, and you need screws, and you, hammer the screws into the wood, and then you, um, you dig holes into the ground and then you stick the poles in.
Claire: Oh. How do you make a potty?
Alex: Um. I don’t know.
Claire: I know how you make a window.

Alex: Do you wanna know how to make a chair? Claire?
Claire: Yeah, you put, you --
Alex: I can tell you if you want
Claire: I can do it. You put wood on it, and you screw, nails in, and you put wood on the bottom and you screw nails in, put, some on the, more on the side, and, you, pay – pay – and you paint it brown, and, you, screw, some more, screws in, with a screwdriver... and you, paint it brown.
(Pause.)
Claire: And, you... you... um, you put glue on it, and so it can stick. And you, and you let it dry.

Claire: How do you make – how do you, make... a playset? How do you make a playset?
Alex: Well, you need lots of materials. You need lots of wood, you gather some sheets, and, um, you get some, uh... um... Daddy, can you tell me how to make the swings? I don’t know how.
Daddy: You get some, seats, made out of, like plastic and rubber, and you, attach some chains to them, and you hang it up from the, wood, so it swings.
Alex: And then you put on the sheet, after you put up long flat wood, and then, lay the sheet over it, and, tape it on, or you glue it on.
Claire: Daddy, ice is slippery.
Daddy: Yeah, ice is slippery.
Claire: When you pick it up, it falls out of your hand and it slips out.
Daddy: We can probly take that ice off now. Okay? You don’t need it anymore.

Alex: Don’t touch it.
Claire: But it hurts right now.
Alex: It’ll be okay.

Claire: I saw a cut down tree that was only – it wasn’t a stump it was – it was – I can t – I can – well, (unintelligible), and there was, this, on the, side of it. It was a cut down tree, with no leaves, and it wasn’t a stump.
Daddy: Yeah?
Claire: Uh-huh. It wasn’t a usually stump, it was a (inaudible) old one, and you might slide in it.
Daddy: Oh.
Claire: And you can’t get out. It won’t get out – you won’t cut it up, it’ll stay there forever. Can’t get up there, you might fall off. If you stand on the side, it might – you’ll fall off the side, and you’ll hurt really bad, and have to go to the hospital.
Daddy: Oh. Okay.
Claire: So don’t get on a tree that’s like that.
Daddy: I won’t get on a tree that’s like that. You think you could try to sleep for a little bit?
Claire: Yeah, but I am sleeping.
Daddy: You are sleeping?
Claire: Yeah.
Daddy: Then how is it that your eyes are open and you’re talking?
Claire: I don’t know.
Daddy: Could you maybe close your eyes and rest for a little while?
Claire: Yeah.


(Several minutes pass in silence.)
Claire: How do you make fingernails?
Daddy: What?
Claire: Daddy, how do you make fingernails?
Daddy: Well, I’ll tell you after we get to Grandma’s. Right now we need to rest, okay?