Laurelwood Nutcracker 2018 - Flowers

Tonight was the last of four school Nutcracker shows.  Leo participated when he was third grader and last year.  It was the first year Serafina could perform and she was cast as a Flower.  

Here she is at dress rehearsal with the other blue flower, Natalie.  

 Here's a picture her teacher took of the girls on stage during yesterday's day time show.

 During the night shows, they wear make up.  She loved that part.

 Her bestie, Sunny, was also a flower.

 They were a sweet group of girls.

Since I saw the show so many times in rehearsals, I didn't sit through any actual performances.  I snuck into the back to catch her part during the day time performances and tonight I watched her dance from the wings.  

I do a lot of different things for this show.  I told the director at the beginning that I needed to take a step back since I have more on my plate this year, especially dealing with two different schools.  That totally didn't happen.  I did just as much as I always do.  And one of my most important jobs is keeping the 100 plus kids under control during the performances.  

The Nutcracker is an exhausting experience and I do not get swept up in the magic like many of the other directors, but the kids love it so I keep a smile on my face and help them have a good show.

Here's a video of Serafina's dance during dress rehearsal.  They are pretty cute.

Leo the helper

Since Leo's school is already on holiday break this week, he joined me for all my volunteer duties at Serafina's school today.  We were there for the daytime Nutcracker performance.  He helped me check volunteers in when they arrived to help with the show.  

 After our Nutcracker duties, we headed to his kindergarten teacher's classroom.  We helped build gingerbread houses for her class to decorate tomorrow.  Serafina's class will be joining them because her class is the kindergarteners "big buddy" class.

He made about two before he wandered off.  It isn't fun to do but it was part of my holiday season good deeds.

Santa

We are just too busy to make time to visit Santa at the mall.  But I wasn't quite ready to let the tradition end, so when Serafina's dance studio announce that Santa would be visiting we decided to see him there.  

It was also a Toys for Tot drive.  We brought a toy and I got my picture of the kids with Santa.  

Of course, they are huge and dwarf Santa.  He may have been crushed to death if they sat there one minute longer.

Leo as Seymour Snow

Leo's school held their "Winter Songfest" today.  I got there early to get front row seats.  I'm short.  I like to sit in the front.  I'm willing to do what it takes to get a good view of my kid.  

The middle school and high school performed for the first half of the program.  They wore choir robes and sang songs I hadn't heard before but really enjoyed.  

Leo's class, a 4th/5th grade combo, performed two songs on their recorders. 

The kids then performed a short musical called "The Reindeer Games".  Leo was Seymour Snow, one of the announcers for the reindeer games.  The show told the story of an annual competition between Santa's reindeers in a variety of events. 

 In between the speaking parts, the kids sang songs. 

It was a really enjoyable show and a new experience for me to simply enjoy a school performance without being a big part of the behind the scenes production.  Leo was enthusiastic and adorable.

10th Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange

Last night I hosted the 10th Annual Christmas Cookie Exchange Party.   This time of year many people have conflicts so I had a smaller group (13 of us total) than the last couple of years.  We still had plenty of treats and it was better for socializing to have the smaller group.

I asked my friend Lizzy if I could borrow two bowls.  She came with a huge basket of different dishware and this table runner.  As I tried to set food out, she kept changing the placement and vessels.  I ended up just staging the food on the edge of the island and let her put it out.  She clearly had a vision and it looked better than if I had done it.

 Lizzy also made these super fancy sugar cookies.  Don't worry.  We give her a hard time about being our own Martha Stewart and doing everything so over the top.

 I made pumpkin snickerdoodles.

 And dark chocolate cranberry blondies.  It was stressful to bake the same day as I was hosting but I didn't have much of a choice this year.  I'll plan differently for next year.

 My friend Krisit (who's daughter just had surgery) made these adorable gingerbread men.

 Adorable.

 Quite the spread.

 My friend Cara was really good about taking pictures this year.  Here's Lizzy, me and Christelle.

 Cara, Aida and Jen S.

 Kristi and Jen B.

 Cara, April and me - the only ones remaining in California from our original moms group.

 Mary and Asha

 She even took a picture of the holiday punch I make every year.

 Me and Cara.  She was dressed up and looked great.  I wore the five dollar t-shirt I got at Target on Black Friday.

Sid's surgery

This summer, my very good friend's daughter, Sidney, was diagnosed with severe scoliosis that needed surgical correction.  They consulted with Stanford and UCSF and after meeting both surgeons, they scheduled the procedure for November 29th.  This date loomed over their heads for months.  I felt for them and all the anxiety they were experiencing.  Both my kids went through pretty dinky little surgeries in comparison, but they were big in our world.  I will never forget the stress that comes with having your kid go under the knife and my friend and her daughter had that 100 times over.  

On Thursday (the 29th), they checked in at UCSF.  The surgery was eight hours long and extensive, but she did well.  I went up the next day to bring lunch, snacks, flowers, Kleenex and my best wishes.  I didn't know what to expect.  I didn't realize how nervous I was about seeing her until I was walking in from the parking structure.  I had spent surgery day with my stomach in knots and I was worried she would be in bad shape when I saw her.  But when I got to the room, she looked great.  She was alert and strong and I was really proud of her.  

Yesterday she was up and walking in her custom brace.  It's pretty amazing and she's quite the warrior.  

 Her little sister is one of Serafina's besties.  I created a play date sign-up sheet for all Sunny's friends to host her for afterschool playdates while her sister is at the hospital and after she's home recovering.  Last night, I had Sunny for a sleepover.  The girls decided to match.

 It was the typical silly sleepover.  Sunny had a little more trouble falling asleep than usual.  Not surprising since her world is so topsy turvy right now.  

I made muffins in the morning for the girls and sent the extras with Sunny and her grandma to the hospital for Sidney and her folks.  Her mom sent me a picture of Sidney eating one and let me know it's the most she's eaten since surgery.  It made me ridiculously happy to see that.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

On Saturday, the kids spearheaded the get down the Christmas boxes and decorate the tree.  I had planned on Sunday, but apparently they had their own plan.  Leo even called Nana himself to invite her over to help.

 Serafina had lots of fun placing her favorite ornaments.

 Leo spent a lot of time examining and fussing with certain ornaments and didn't put very many on the tree.

 I relaxed and watched and finished off the ornaments when the kids ran out of steam towards the end.

 And of course, both Tom and I have moved a bunch of ornaments around since we weren't fans of the kids' placement.