Ready for the Break

It's been a long week...a really long week.

On Tuesday, Eli was sick again with a low-grade fever so he had to miss his class Christmas Party!  We were so bummed about it.  But we made the most of it by spending a good day cooped up at home.  We played lots of games and read lots of books.

On Wednesday, Elina had her school play.  This year they performed Jan Brett's The Mitten.  It's a story about a boy who loses a mitten.  Some animals find the mitten and they all try to squeeze into this one mitten to stay warm.

Elina played the meadow mouse (of course!) and she did an amazing job!  She said her lines clearly and with lots of emotion.  I've noticed that practicing for this play has made her a better storyteller.  When she reads stories now, she uses more emphasis and emotion.  It's great!

I love this little curtsy she does at the end...it's a little blurry, but you can see how proud she is!

The teacher sewed all the masks and they looked adorable!  All I had to do was find a plain gray top and plain gray bottoms for our little mouse.

The play had a few songs in it as well and we are all humming them as we go about our day here....even Evie!  Here are a few bits from the play...

This is the "No, Nikki" song to tell Nikki not to choose white as the color of his mitten because it will get lost in the snow--

This is the part where the Meadow Mouse sees the mitten and wants to get in--

This is one of my favorite songs about the Mitten--

Eli was so cute during the play because when it was Elina's turn to speak, he just stood up, smiled brightly in amazement and whispered, "Jie Jie! Jie Jie!"  It was adorable because he was so proud of her!

On Thursday Elina had a Holiday Traditions Around the World presentation on Australia.  She decided to pick Australia because "it's so far away!"  This was a fun project because we learned a lot about Aussie traditions.  Elina especially liked the idea that Santa usually wears a swimsuit or swim trunks and that his sleigh is pulled by six white boomers (kangaroos).  She also drew a great picture of Santa surfing.

This was a great learning experience for all of us because in addition to the presentation, we had to make a traditional holiday food from that country.  We decided to make Pavlova, which I had never heard of before.  We spread meringue into a bowl shape and after it baked and cooled, we filled it in with whipped cream.  Then we put fruit on top.  It was really yummy!  I felt awful that my meringue just kept crumbling at the edges as the morning went on, but my friend from Ireland told me that she used to eat Pavlova all the time and the edges are supposed to look like that.  Phew!  What a relief!  Usually, Aussies use kiwis, strawberries and raspberries on top.  Unfortunately, our kiwis didn't ripen enough and our raspberries didn't make it, so we just used strawberries.  Elina loved laying all the berries on top.

Thursday was also Eli's teacher's assistant's (Ms. T's) birthday celebration.  As a co-room parent, I have to work with another mom to provide a cake and gift. We also have to make sure each parent brings in a flower and a card.  I wanted to be there for the "happy birthday" song, so I was literally running from the Holiday Traditions presentations to the birthday back to the presentation.  It was exhausting!  The cute thing about the birthday is that the teachers have the kids guess how old Ms. T is.  Based on her own kids' ages, I think she's in her late 40s.  A lot of the kids guessed that she was 1 or 4 years old.  It was crazy!  Eli got the closest because he said that she was turning 29.  I was impressed he could come up with such a random number on his own!

Then yesterday was Elina's class Christmas Party.  Luckily, Eli got to attend at least one Christmas Party, even though it wasn't his own.  The host had it at a friend's Mexican restaurant and it was really laidback.  There was lots of yummy Mexican food.  Then they discussed how Mexicans usually make tamales during the Christmas season....and the kids got a chance to make one!  It was so neat.  They spread the masa (corn dough) in the corn husk, spread refried beans on top, and folded it up.

Now that the busy week is over, we are going to have a weekend of rest.  I deemed today a PJ Day...complete with Christmas movies and ornament-making.  We are all excited to take a break!  (Although it makes me sad that half the school year is already over.  I hate to admit it, but I'm sad that Elina has to leave her teacher and her school.  We love her teacher SO much.  But I can't think about that right now.  I'll leave the tears until the end of the year...end of the school year, that is.)  *Ahem* now back to what I was saying....yay, Christmas Break!  We're looking forward to sleeping in, not driving back and forth to school, and lots and lots of family time!  Woo-hoo!