...just broccoli, please!

We had pancakes for dinner. (I think this is the title of an Eric Carle book?) Anyway, pancakes for dinner. I scrambled up some yummy eggs for Miss E and me, and just for kicks, asked Miss A if she would like any. Her answer: "No thanks, just broccoli, please!"
So for her sake, let me re-state my first comment. We had pancakes, and broccoli, for dinner. yum?

A's Christmas Program

Weeks and weeks of preparation led up to tonight's event. Two-a-day rehearsals for the kids, plus their regularly scheduled music time, resulted in some burn out, but overall, it went really well. We were up at the church almost an hour early. And to my surprise, we weren't the first ones there! A handful of families had managed to sneak in and already had their seats staked out in the front row! This should have been my first clue at how crazy the night would be. :)
After 45 minutes of running from class to class, checking on line-ups, props, settling wardrobe issues, re-fastening hairbows, and assisting with potty breaks, we were ready to begin.
Getting the 2s up on stage was not a huge deal. Although we rehearse with only half at a time, since there is a Tues/Thurs class and a Wed/Fri class, doubling a number like 10 is not a big adjustment. The sweet little ones sang their first song (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) and waved their gold glitter stars like champs. Miss A waved away! I'm not sure if she sang at all-she was on the very end of the row-but she stayed on stage, and that's all I hoped for!
Now, getting the 3s to join them for the 2nd song is a whooooole 'nother story. Like the 2s, we only rehearse with some of them each day. But for the 3s there's anywhere from 10-13 in a class, AND there are FOUR classes!! Sooo, getting all of them up there in an orderly manner was just not happening. One of the 3s teachers finally decided we were as close as we were going to get to "ready", and yelled out the "One, Two, Three!" cue to begin. Some began, more chimed in after the first "Jingle Bells", and by the end, I promise we had three different songs going! Oh well, live and learn, right!
Oh, the only thing I did notice from A was that she dropped her jingle bells a few lines into the song, and tried in vain to reach them without moving from her spot on the first step. Luckily one of the teachers in the front row saw her and got the bells back to her pretty quickly. She jingled to her hearts content!
Now we're ready for the 4s. Oh man. Twice and many kids means twice as many parents. Twice as many ignoring the "reserved for teachers only" seat signs, and twice as many trying to move in on my territory-one little circle of a spot on the floor, front and center, so all the kids can look to me if they lose place or forget a hand-motion. I had my spot staked out, then decided to stand to check out our line-up at eye level. Make sure none of the kids were totally hidden behind the one in front of them, etc. I stand up for 4 seconds, and start to sit back down, but there's a mom in my spot! Practically sitting on my feet. You have to understand, there was a parent to my left, my right, my back, and anywhere in-between that they could possible squeeze. All armed with video cameras.
I politely tap the head of the mom on my feet and tell her I really need to sit right there...and squeeze back into my spot. Practically in the lap of the person behind me. And so we begin. The kids did great. Thank goodness. I couldn't help with hand motions....I couldn't lift my arms from my side! I was sandwiched in!
Anyway, we made it through then trekked back to the new buildings to show the parents our new rooms. It was a good night.
I'll have to post pictures later-I didn't have my camera so I borrowed the school's digital. I'll burn my pics and post some after the break.
Oh, one comment on Miss E. She saw several friends from her class last year. There are 3 or 4 boys that are at the preschool again, in the "bridge" class, who won't go to Kinder till next year. I left her to visit in their room while I ran around before we started. I would peek in every time I would pass by that room. And every time, I'd see her in the middle of the pack of boys, giggling! blushing! grinning from ear to ear! Hugging their necks! Oh yes, she was eating it up! AND, I learned from one the teachers the next day, that apparently she heard one of the boys ask our E on a date! "Where would they go???" she laughed!

My Sweet Sicky

Poor Miss E! She started complaining of a sore throat last Saturday. Sunday I finally looked, and sure enough her tonsils were huge and had the white pockets. A sure sign of Strep. We got a Rx called in, and thought she was surely on the mend. Back to school on Tuesday, right?
Wrong!
We're on our 4th day home from school today. Tuesday night, I checked her throat because she was still complaining. Usually the antibiotic knocks out the pain by the 2nd day with Strep. I was shocked to see that everything was much worse! A call to the Dr. determined that she needed a stronger prescription. So we were back to ground zero. This morning she's still all swollen up and tonsils look the same as Tuesday night. We just took the 2nd dose, but it's only a three day dose! I'm hoping to see lots of improvement by this afternoon.
Meanwhile, I emailed her teacher and hinted that E would love some Get Well cards if any of her classmates had some free time. That afternoon she sent home a whole folder filled with cards and well wishes with a neighbor boy. E was thrilled! She read them all and went straight off to write a Thank You note. This is what it said:

To mi (she insisted it was better spelled this way) good friends.
Thank you for mi botiful get well cards. Love "E".

How sweet is she???

Wastin' Time

Though I rarely am satisfied with the details, I ask Miss E every afternoon about her day at school. Today she had a "good" day, got "purple" (the top level of the behavior chart), and got "accidentally" kicked in the eye at recess. Then she tells me, "but I just wasted all my time at free centers". Free centers is a free play/imaginative play time they get each afternoon, I think, before packing up to come home. This "wasting time" business didn't sound like a good thing to me, so I asked what she meant by that. She said "I just wanted to write."!
E's teacher has said to me several times before that E has a "passion" for writing. She LOVES to write. Really. She is always writing a letter, a list, an invitation, an idea...anything!
So today at school instead of taking advantage of her free play time, she sat at her desk and wrote her Christmas list, a list of all the boys and girls in her class (with a handmade graph), and charted the weather for the week. And she was VERY proud of her "quality work"! Crazy Kid!
Now just to work on spelling and penmanship.... :)

How did.....?

Last night we called the girls for dinner. E came running. A still did not come after a few calls. This is not unusual, so once everyone was seated, I went back to the bedrooms to get her myself. She met me halfway down the hall, telling me in a very pitiful voice, "I need help!"
A and E had been "dressing up". Apparently, Miss A tried to put on one of E's "bras", that she has from one of her matching sets. This is as far as she got...

A Happy Birthday

"Dear Ward". This is Ally-ese for "Dear Lord". She followed up our dinner prayer with one of her own. E always does this-has to add her own touch after Daddy finishes. If he says, "help those that are sick, we're thankful to be healthly", etc. Miss E will pipe in with, "but Dear God, please help me with 'the allergies'".
Last night, following big Sis, Miss A says, "Dear Ward, thank you for dis food, thank you for Cwismas, and I get some pwesents, and can I have more cheese, please?"
We tried so hard to hold in the laughter! She was so proud of herself!
Miss E, on the other hand, added this: "Dear God, Thank you for Christmas, and I hope Jesus has a Happy Birthday". Well, that was enough to make me cry!
Got me thinking that I need to thank God more often myself, for the things that I'm blessed to enjoy in my daily life. My family-Wow! What a blessing!
My life is filled with love from so many people and places-and I'm sure I sometimes take this for granted.
As we celebrate the Christmas season this year, I will remember to wish Jesus a Happy Birthday too, and to thank him for the gifts he has given me. And for allowing me to give back.