Kidnapping Baby Jesus

On the day's I'm home from work the two little one's and I usually get outside to play, which ends up in a walk uptown, due to Autum's begging to 'walk'.  And by walk I mean Autum pulls Blake in the wagon or she pushes him in the stroller, because according to her "I big girl...I walk, NOO stroller, NOO, MomEEY!" (she always emphasizes the end of Mommy)  So in typical fashion, we headed up town upon our usual route.  This time we were in the stroller, Autum was under my feet, literally, helping me 'push' Blake while he rode comfortably in the stroller.  (He grunts when he sees something that makes him want to get out and walk)  Well, Autum usually gets tired of helping me and wanders off the sidewalk to explore.  Whether it be to chase a squirrel, pick up pine cones and sticks, stand atop the tree stump and yell, wave at passer's-by, throwing rocks, or climb the handicapped ramp to the high school, she always finds something to distract her.  Well, on this trip, I was the one distracted as I was chatting on my phone while Autum wandered off, and only after a few minutes did I realize she had gotten out of my line of vision.  We were passing the Lutheran Church at the time, in fact, right in front of the nativity scene.  I didn't worry until I heard Autum's little voice saying "shhh, shhh baby..." UH OH.  Baby Jesus!  I turned around in time to see her removing Baby Jesus from the manger...I stopped the stroller and turned to help save Baby Jesus from being kidnapped.  I told her that it was time for Baby Jesus to go "nigh, nigh!" But evidently not in her book...she screamed "NO NIGH NIGH" and tugged a little harder on him.  I then had to physically intervene, I tried to gently remove Baby Jesus from her grip to put him back in his bed, but she was putting up a fight.  I ripped Baby Jesus from her hands, put him back in his manger and told her we needed to go...I started to head back to the stroller, hoping she would follow, while taking a sweeping glance around to see who was watching this mess unfold.  I turned around just in time to see her kick the cow in the head and send him toppling over, which lead to a domino effect, toppling the other animal, which caused the sheep to lean slowly over...and Oh Lord...NOOO!  I sprinted back over to stop the madness of a 2-year old fit and reset the scene, while Autum sprawled face first into the hay screaming and crying..."BAAABBBY!"

Hard to believe this little angel could be so ornery... :)

She loves her Oreo Cookies

I picked her up, tucked her under my arm, made sure the Nativity Scene was peaceful again and got the heck out of there.  On the way home we went a 'new' route.

Making the felt Manger's for Baby Jesus.  Autum put stickers on popsicle sticks and ate glue to kill time.

Story time by the fire.  The girl's were talking about the next scavenger hunt clue.

Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles for Jesus!

After that Baby Jesus mishap, we actually went to a birthday party for Jesus, as well.  I was really hoping there was not a Baby Jesus nativity scene involved in the story time, because I was still recovering from the previous mishap.  Thank God there were snacks, cake, Elmer's glue, felt, stickers, and Capri Sun juice at the celebration to help distract Autum's age-related obsession with babies.  The rest of the girl's followed a scavenger hunt around the house seeking out clues about the birth of Jesus from the story in the Bible.  Then they ate cake and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.  Toward the end of the festivities, the hostess said they were set to reenact the nativity scene with dress-up clothes and a baby Jesus doll...that was when I decided it was time for us to leave. :)  Little did anyone else at the party know, we had already relived this scene, rather publicly!

And Mr. Boot's got locked out last night so he had to keep an eye on the kids from outside...BRRR!!