Lessons and Carols

Every year, on the last day of school, CJ's school has a Christmas pageant called "Lessons and Carols."  There's a message from the Head of School and the Reverend, readings by some of the kids, and Christmas songs performed by each class.  I love this pageant because it always gets me into the holiday spirit in a big way.

The kids get all dressed up.  The girls are adorable in their fancy, sparkly, satiny dresses.  CJ was wearing a button down shirt, a real tie from Land's End and a blue pin-striped blazer.  I think his blazer was just a little too small.  I tried it on him this summer and it was still really big, but he must have had a growth spurt because when I went to put it on him this past week, it was a little snug.  Oh well.  He's only worn the jacket three times in his life.  It will go into the MJ 5-year box so we can get a little more use out of it.

CJ's class joined with another class to sing "Oh Come Little Children."  The music teachers did an excellent job of prepping the kids.  The 5th graders in particular did an awesome job.  Maki calls them the A team.

CJ is on winter break for a few weeks.  I love that we don't need to scramble in the morning to get him out the door by 7:45am but I'm not nuts about having him home with nothing to do.  Time to organize a thousand playdates!

How is Uncle Owen Luke's Skywalker's Uncle?

CJ is obsessed with Star Wars and Legos these days.  Big surprise.  I'm obviously a giant Star Wars fan and Maki introduced CJ to Legos and Lego Mindstorms early.

CJ has been watching the movies lately and has been interested in the family tree of the Skywalkers.  Here is a recent, hilarious exchange between me and CJ.

CJ:  Mom, how is Uncle Owen Luke Skywalker's Uncle?

Me:  Owen was Anakin's stepbrother.

CJ:  What's a stepbrother?

Me:  Well.  Let's see.  When a mom and dad split up and one of them remarries and has children, then you become stepbrothers and sisters.  Anakin's mom had Anakin, then she married Lars and had a baby named Owen.  So Luke and Owen are stepbrothers because they had the same mom.

CJ:  You and daddy and split up all the time.  Every morning, you and daddy split up and drive to work.  Do I have stepbrothers and sisters?

Me:  Hmm...  split up in this case is something different.  When a mom and dad split up, they stop being married.

CJ:  You mean they dismarry?  (Note how he's trying to put together words; it's not right in this case, but a great job at using "dis")

Me:  Yes, it's called getting divorced.  Don't worry, mommy and daddy aren't getting divorced and you're not getting any stepbrothers and sisters.

CJ:  Did Leia have stepbrothers and sisters?

Me:  I don't know.  Remember Alderaan got blown up by Darth Vader?

CJ:  Oh yeah.

Do you think this is TMI for a six-year old?

Annual Tree Trimming Party

Yesterday was our annual tree trimming party.  We normally invite some people over for snacks, hot chocolate, and decorating. For me, it's a great way to get into the holiday spirit and I get help decorating my tree!

Last year, we invited a lot of people to the party: neighbors, a couple of CJ's friends from preschool and CJ's entire kindergarten class. It was super fun but it was a mob scene. This year, we invited CJ's best buddies from school and their parents. I just didn't have it in me to do a big party, what with the baby and all. Plus, since MJ is so little, I wanted to limit the germs we were introducing into the house.

We had a ball.  For the first time, the kids actually helped decorate the tree. Last year, the kids put all my candy canes in one section of the tree. This year, they put up candy canes and non-breakable ornaments and they did a great job of spacing out the decorations around the entire tree!


Once the kids got tired of decorating the tree, they went upstairs and played with CJ's Legos. Then they had a quick dinner of mac 'n cheese.  My mom, the other moms and I finished decorating the tree and putting up garlands and bows throughout the house. The house looks so great!

Hilarious photo of the boys during dinner!