OH, WERE THEY EVER HAPPY!

Before Mr. and Mrs. Noonan set out for a Saturday of errands, the wife reminds her husband that he's been talking for months about painting their large white house. And so when the sitter fails to show up, the three children decide to surprise their parents by doing the job themselves. Partially filled buckets of blue, green, red, yellow, and other paint are assembled, brushes and ladders fetched, and the children go about their work with such brisk, busy cheer that you can almost hear the background music. (Try it to The Sting.) At last the house (windows and all) is a hodgepodge of color, and so, as a result of drips, spills, tracks, and splashes, are the ladders, the driveway, the bathroom where they've cleaned up, the dog, and the children. "Sure looks swell! Won't they be happy when they come home and see what we've done!" The Noonan children might be in for a disappointment, but Spier can count on the aimed-for delighted horror when his audience sees the job.