Murder at Deadwood Saloon

Last Saturday our Sunday School class had a murdery mystery dinner party. This was our first time to do something like this, and we had a blast. We each had a part to play, but no one knew at first who would be murdered and who the murderer would end up being. Chris was Montgomery Money, a wealthy investor from Chicago who was thinking about purchasing a saloon in the west. For his role, he didn't trust anyone and was obsessed with time (apparently they were type-casting). I was his wife, Elizabeth Money, who was snobby and had no desire to leave her life in the East.

We were assigned objectives throughout the night and important information was given to the people who needed it, but everyone's primary goal was to figure out who the killer was. Chris had no problem figuring this out since he was the killer.

The most fun part for me was getting to dress up. This was a little challenging considering I have a "baby bump" to work around. I did notice that adding a petticoat to an outfit really hides it well. :-)

Here's the gang at the end of the evening:

And a silly picture...apparently, Chris really enjoyed his murderer role:

In the end, Chris won an award for ending up with the most money, and I got an award for best dressed.

Thanks to Becca and everyone else who worked hard to put the party together. We had such a great evening!

We Interrupt the Regularly Scheduled Blog

OK. Today I was looking forward to posting some photos from our sunday school party, but I must tell you about a moment that I have been dreading my whole life. (Well, as long as I've been a mom anyway.) Today....Noelle commented on someone's size.

We were at the doctor's office because Noelle is sick. At one point a very tall, big teenager walks in with his mom. Noelle is fascinated and as soon as he walks by she says "BIG!" Since she didn't say anything else, I am really hoping that boy didn't hear her or put her comment into context. He sat across the room from us. Then after a minute or two, Noelle points and say "Mommy, do you see that man?" I immediately (and quietly) explain that it's not nice to talk about what people look like and that God makes everyone look differently. And then I shoved a sippy cup in her mouth and changed the subject. :-)

I should have known this was coming, because this weekend she saw a woman on an oxygen thingy at wal-mart and asked, "What's that on her face?"

Yikes.

Pumpkin Patch

A week or so ago we got to take Noelle to her first pumpkin patch. She had lots of fun running through all the pumpkins, playing on the tractor, and going on the hay ride.

Noelle had lots of fun at the pumpkin patch, but I don't think she enjoyed herself as much as this girl did.

A Political Interview with Noelle

Our Little Politician

Chris and I aren't really that into politics. I mean, we vote, but we're just not that into everything. So yesterday, I was quite suprised when Noelle looks at the TV and says, "Is that Barak Obama?" Plain as day. The only thing was, there was no Barak on TV...it was a news anchor wearing a raincoat reporting about all the snow up north. But who's counting?

Then today, she said it again. This time she knew who it was. We don't talk about the candidates that much, and don't have the news on very much when she's around. But apparently she picks up much more than we think she does. Kinda scary, huh?

Thankfully if Noelle ever appears on "Jaywalking" she'll be able to identify the politicians.

Phone Call

Today I got to call Sarah on my lunchbreak and talk with her for a few minutes. When I called, Noelle was at the table eating lunch and Sarah was fixing her lunch. A few minutes into our conversation Sarah had to put the phone down, and I heard the following in the background:

"Noelle, you need to take your socks off of your hands and eat your lunch."

I hadn't witnessed that during a meal before, so it gave me a pretty good laugh. We continued to talk for a few minutes, and then Sarah moved to the table to eat her lunch with Noelle. Eventually Sarah put me on speakerphone so that I could talk with Noelle. Noelle began to tell me about her day, and then I heard Sarah say:

"Noelle, don't put your noodles on the phone. Daddy can't eat them. I think she is trying to feed you."

I had a pretty good day at work, but those few minutes on the phone were easily the highlight of my day.

I'm trying not to be offended...

...by my own daughter!! This morning when I brought her cereal, she looks at me and says, "You are so big in your shirt." Excuse me? I'm less than 3 months pregnant...surely she did not really mean what she just said. I'm used to her saying very sweet things like, "I like your shirt" or "you are oh so pretty." Luckily during my first pregnancy I taught 9th graders who really did mean the things they said, so I'm used to offending comments from people during pregnancy. :-)

Anyway, so then I reviewed with her that there was a baby in my tummy. (And apparently that's why I'm as big as a barn.) Her next question of the day was, "Is the baby going to come see me?" How do you explain how long 29 weeks is to a 2 year old?