He Came!!

Granted Brenna did get coal, but she also got a lot of other great presents! Molly too.

Our living room at one point contained a scooter, roller skates. a guitar, an IPod, loads of new clothes (for girls and dolls alike), new baseball gear, more Polly Pockets and Littlest Pet Shop things that you can imagine, books, videos and a gazillion more things.

Santa was very good to all of us.

I just feel bad for the kids he must have missed in order to leave so much here! I just don't remember them being THAT good all year to receive all of this! I think it helps that they had all four grandparents here that day and there was just a teensy bit of spoiling going on . . .

Catching Up - Dec. 22

Could it be??
There are few things that send us scrambling outside on chilly winter nights. The sounds of fire engine sirens just before Christmas are one thing though.

Not that we hope they are coming to an emergency, it's just that our awesome local firefighters are known to bring Santa around on a little scouting mission each yar. We are quick to get out there and show him just where we live so that he'll be sure to stop here on Christmas Eve!

Uh Oh

Brenna got coal!

Christmas on the Frontier

Yesterday was a half day at school and the last day before Christmas vacation. The place was a madhouse! Kindergarten had parents in helping with a gingerbread cookie party. Grade 2 had parents in for a nativity play. Grades 3 through 5 and about 50 of their parents had taken over the lunchroom for Pioneer Day (why that particular day was chosen is beyond me but it was a awesome event with tons of food and activities all morning long). Grade 8 was having a pizza party and Grades 6 and 7 were exchanging Secret Santas. And of course every class also had a Christmas party and kids were wandering everywhere delivering teacher and staff gifts. But it was a good, fun kind of mayhem and everyone was enjoying the day.

Christmas Concert

The girls had their school Christmas Concert last night. It was wonderful - of course! Molly's class sang three songs including Birthday of a King which is one of my favorites. Brenna sang two with her class and another three with the school choir. Last year their concert was canceled due to the very sudden death of their music teacher. They remembered Sr. Jeanne in a special way by singing one of her personal favorite Christmas songs - "Joseph's Song." It's a beautiful song anyway but it was especially touching to hear it last night.
The concert was held in the church and the 8th grade does a beautiful tableau of the Nativity which is a nice way to really get in the Christmas spirit. They also sang a beautiful song from the movie "The Nativity Story." I really must rent it - I think Brenna especially would like it.

Nutcracker

On Sunday night the girls, Dean's mom and I went to the Washington Ballet's performances of the Nutcracker. This is a unique adaptation that sets the show in a Georgetown mansion and later along the banks of the Potomac River under the cherry blossoms. We've seen various versions of the Nutcracker by dance companies ranging from community theatre to semi-professional to professional and I think this may have been my favorite. It was especially nice since Brenna's friend Isabel danced one of the children's roles. We actually know 4 young dancers with roles so we were hoping to see at least one of them at this show. It was a late night (as you can see from Brenna's heavy eyes in this picture!) but well worth it.

And if you want to see the true spirit of Christmas at work, read this article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/09/AR2007120901499.html

Even a professional dance company knows what matters to the little people.

Better!

Molly's retake for her school picture came in the other day. It's better than the last version at least!! In looking at it, I can't believe how long her hair has gotten. She was begging me to cut it the other day and to let her grow her bangs out. Although I do like her with shorter hair, I'm not sure I can imagine her without bangs. Both girls have really high foreheads so I've always done their hair in ways that "disguise" it somewhat.

2.4 Minutes

That's exactly how much time it took these two to come in the front door, don ski pants and hats and run out the back door into the snow!

We had a light dusting at 7am and about 2 in. by afternoon. Nothing to brag about, but enough to entertain two little snow bunnies for quite a while! School didn't close early or anything but boy was traffic a disaster because the roads were a mess this morning. I sure am hoping for a 2 hr delay (our county's standard reaction to snow and/or ice) tomorrow after all of this freezes up overnight though!

Candy Girl

Brenna went to a birthday party for her friends' (they're twins) today. All of the girls made gingerbread houses, watched a Hansel and Gretel movie, had dinner and got these cool Tshirts as party favors.

Great party idea, huh?

Meet Liam

This is my friend's little man that we got to meet when we were in Boston. Could he possibly be any cuter? I could have just stolen him away but I think his Mommy might have put up a fight! Molly just adores babies and she tried to take over from the moment they walked in. I think she's one of Liam's biggest fans now!

Also on our trip we got to snuggle with our newest little cousin. Miss Kathryn Maeve was only a week old and I think the girls thought she was just a little baby doll. I didn't have my camera that night so I'll have to wait for Shanon to send me the pictures she took. Trust me that she's simply gorgeous though. I would have stolen her away as well but I think it would be her big brothers who would have had something to say about that!

And I can't forget my darling baby Brody. I thought it was because my girls have blue eyes that I fall so in love with these big brown ones. Now I think it's just because he's so darn cute no matter what color eyes he has!

Don't Be Expecting A Christmas Card From Us!

I fear we're never going to get a decent photo!

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Yes, that's blondie's glowing locks reflecting the flash. Oh, that hair!!

Our church held it's annual St. Nicholas Mass yesterday. It was especially nice now that Brenna sings in the Children's Choir so she could participate even more. After the Mass there is a nice reception in the Parish Hall and St. Nicholas comes and tells his story to the children and gives them all chocolate coins and prayer cards. They all just love it and when the time comes that I need to "fully explain" things to inquiring girls, I hope that knowing the saint's story will help maintain the magic of the holiday for them.

Who Need Matching?

Today was "Mismatch Day" at school. The kids were allowed to be out of uniform in whatever mismatched way they could imagine. Some wore pajamas and dressy clothes together. Some wore clothes from two different seasons together. Some mixed opposite patterns and colors. Some wore their clothes completelyb inside out. And when they all came marching in at 8am, some teachers wore sunglasses!

It was a fun day (they had a great magic show in the morning and then a school-wide dance party with freeze dance competitions in the afternoon.

You can see one of our priests there in the back in a purple and white Cat In the Hat hat. He's a big favorite of the the kids' and served as the Announcer for the event.

Where there's a will there's a way!

Wednesday is the day that the 8th grade at school sells ice cream as a fundraiser. I was eating my lunch in the faculty room when the music teacher and one of Molly's classroom teachers came in laughing like crazy.

They said the kindergarten didn't get their ice cream until last and by then the lunch period was nearly over. Lunch ends with a prayer and the kids know that they are to fold their hands and say the prayer - no fidgeting with lunchboxes or walking around. Well it seems they both happened to be looking at Molly as she uwrapped her ice cream sandwich at the exact moment prayer was called. My little imp glaced right, glanced left and turned the ice cream bar vertically to fit between her palms as she folded them to pray. Then the prayer started . . .
"We give You thanks (lick) Almighty God, (lick) for all your benefits (lick) . . ."
At each pause in the prayer, she was sneaking a taste!!

That's my girl, always looking to satisfy herself before anything. She is a crazy little gal. Lord knows what I have in store with her!

It's Christmas!

Or at least it felt like Christmas on Saturday. We were able to sneak an extra celebration into our Boston trip since our wonderful family planned the Coleman Family Christmas for a time when some of us "away" cousins were able to attend.

Just some of the gazillion Coleman Great-grandchildren

What is there to say when these groups represent just a portion of the whole family? Brenna and Molly spent the afternoon eating, playing games and seeing Santa with about 50 of their extended cousins (and I was able to see all 13 of my first cousins and their children. It's been several years since we were all together like that!)

The "cousins" - with the odd spouse here and there!

I can't thank my aunts and uncles (well, some of them are cousins and great aunts and such but who can get technical when your family overlaps generations and has numbers like this!) for putting the party together and making it all happen for us. Beautiful memories . . .

The "aunts and uncles"

Happy Thanksgiving!

From the cutest bunch of Kindergarten Native Americans I've ever seen! (Molly's second row 3rd from right) There was much feasting and general funniness from this group. They are so adorable and I love sneaking into their classroom. (Okay you can't see it in the picture but their Indian names are on their headbands - Warrior Rabbit? Yup, beware the fierce bunnies! Lazy Camel? Sure, you know - the camels that are indiginous to North America. Molly herself is Quiet Fuzzy Bear. "Fuzzy" is a common word in nearly all native languages evidently. Her best buddy is Sparkle Moon Princess. Again, time-worn naming traditions being honored! Oh and don't forget the little boy who glued the front of his vest together and colored a row of buttons on it. Didn't you know that Native American peoples wore suits?)

We left school and schlepped ourselves to Boston -arriving at 1:30 am. Ugh! But we are all assembed now and ready for the BIG feast tomorrow with all the family. What's a 10 hour ride when you have that to look forward to!

Happy Turkey Day to all!!

Father Daughter Dance

Our school's Fathers' Club held their first annual Father Daughter Dance tonight. I was lucky enough to get roped into taking photos so I got to infiltrate the event. A great time was had by all and there were nearly 150 dolled-up little ladies enjoying the night with their daddies.

Of course I was a bit partial to 2 of them! They had so much fun dressing up and dancing the night away (mostly with their friends!!)

Report Cards and Conferences

You know things are going well when not one but two teachers tell you they would like to clone your daughter to create their class!

Molly has her teachers completely snowed into thinking she's an angel. Actually the teacher is completely on to her but loves her nonetheless. Miss Molly is doing well and there are no behavior issues or anything. Talk about a boring conference! :) We mostly laughed about what a mother hen she is. Molly can be a ring-leader one minute and a total follower the next. The teacher joked that if she ever wants to turn the class over, she could just let Molly teach. I think part of it is two of the boys have been with Molly for 3 years now and she's practically a wife to them. If they get in trouble, Molly will make eye contact with the teacher and roll her eyes as if to say "Can you believe they don't know better?" We've been assured she's no trouble at all though.

We met with Brenna's teacher later in the day and she pretty much shrugged as well. Brenna's report card grades were excellent, her conduct and effort scores were top-notch and her teacher couldn't think of anything we could suggest working on. She said she initially worried because Brenna started off very quiet and timid but quickly got her groove and now particpates well and isn't hesitant . This is when I'm so glad Brenna stays with the same group of kids each year. It's one more thing that is comfortable so, while she may start out shy with a new teacher, it quickly passes and she's ready to roll. Her teacher this year is a very young, fun-loving girl (I can call her that because I'm more than a dozen years older than she is!) and the kids just adore her. She's a great role-model for them and they relate well to her but still very much respect her position. It is Catholic school after all!

So overall just good reports all around for 1st quarter. Let's hope it continues!!

Visitor Day

God gave me little girls so I could spend my days in dance classes. It's so much fun to watch them dance!

My Girls

And a few reminders of years past . . .

Such talent!

One of Molly's teachers has been out for 2 days on a trip. Today she told me she was happy that Miss Gallagher was coming back tomorrow but she hoped her singing trip was fun. Now being in the school office makes me privy to a lot of information - one piece being the details of Miss Gallagher's trip - which does not involve singing at all. She's actually with her friends at a tv talk show taping. Hmmm . . . time to figure out what's going on in Molly's 5 year old brain . . .

Me: Why do you say Miss Gallagher is on a singing trip?
Molly: Because she told us that's what she was doing.
Me: What exactly did she tell you?
Molly: That she was going to sing opera. You know - sing -ing op-er-a! (she croons in her best opera-singing voice)
Me: (okay I didn't say anything because I was too busy laughing out loud!)

You see Miss Gallagher isn't away singing opera. She's away SEEING OPRAH!!!

Since Molly has no idea who Oprah is and obviously has never even heard her name, she heard the sentence "I'm going to see Oprah" as "I'm going to sing opera."

I just love this girl!!

Brenna's 8 year old pictures

I can't get over how big she is getting before my eyes!