Concert

Our family attended a Christmas concert the week before Christmas. It had been been a much talked about and anticipated event in our house especially by Little Man. We got there early, but there were no seats left. We found a place in the back of the gym right behind the last row of chairs hoping we'd be able to see. Mike had Kiwi on his shoulders and I held Mason. Kiwi started whining and that place right between your shoulder blades that gets tight from holding a baby started to ache on my back and the event hadn't even started yet.

And then the performers walked in. One after the other, on their best behavior, walking quietly all the while searching the crowd for their family with their eyes. A continuous line of about seventy five kindergartners all dressed in their holiday best and wearing little construction paper things on their necks adorned with teddy bears. And I forgot about the ache in my back. I stood on my tip toes and craned my neck trying to locate my boy. And when I did, my heart swelled with such love that I thought it would burst. I waved my hand wildly above my head so that he would see us, blew him a kiss, clutched Mike's arm to make sure he was seeing this cuteness. I was so proud of our son and all he'd done so far was to step up on a bleacher.

And then the reciting and the singing started. And they sang Rudolph and read "Colors of Christmas"and did the sign language for all the different colors. They pretended to sleep on the "special night" and talked about the man with the "beard that's white." And I could not stop smiling and video taping and smiling some more (as a side note Kiwi was able to stand on an abandoned chair in front of us which meant Mike and I switched Mason duty which made it much more enjoyable for all of us).

I suppose I might have looked a little silly with all of my exaggerated waving and perpetual smile...if it hadn't been for the gym full of parents and grandparents doing the exact same thing. Everyone was waving, flashes were flashing, and video tapes rolling. I'm not sure why they even had seats because everyone kept standing up anyways (as evidence by the back of this man's head who stood up in between the time I pushed the button and my camera actually snapped the picture).

We thought Little Man's first musical performance definitely constituted going out for ice cream. When we got there we found some friends of ours had the same idea.

Little Man and Kiwi got to share their own booth with Little Man's friend E. She is in his church and school class and is one of the little girls he walks home with.

It was a fun night and have I mentioned how cute kindergartners are? Cause they were. They were all so excited about Christmas and the magic just shone in their little eyes.

Another fun kindergarten Christmas event was making gingerbread houses with Little Man's class. My mom and I were able to go help (they were asking for an adult for every child) and it was a lot of fun. I wish I had a picture of Little Man's house. I think his goal was to use every piece of candy in his container. While other children made gum drop pathways with "AB" pattens Little Man threw together pretzels and marshmallows in heaps all around his house (which he said was alive and which did indeed have a sort of crazy face on it). He knew what everything was (a basketball court, a swing set, etc) he just wasn't quite as detail oriented as some of his class mates. He definitely has an imagination.