Kindergarten Concert:-)

100 little cutie pies all dressed in red and green donning their Santa hats.  The wonderful, new auditorium was filled with Moms, Dads, Aunts, Uncles, Siblings and of course, the Papas and Grandmas.... There were jingles and fears, laughter and tears but hey, they're FIVE.  It was 22 minutes of holding our breath to see if they'd remember their lines to belting out Jingle Bells and breathing a sigh of relief when they marched to the microphone.  One thing's for sure...We DO NOT pay our teachers enough.  We deal with one, two or maybe three if you're the proud parents of Triplets........They (teachers) deal with 2 dozen, 5 days a week..... and they actually manage to teach them something!  I will admit that maybe one for the Kindergarten teachers may have lost it... She was all dressed in elf red, had on every piece of jewelry she was ever given and the last time she'd combed her hair was September 5th. She laid back in her chair as she flashed prompts to the kiddos.  Who said kids can't drive you nuts!!!
Well, I have it forever digitally recorded.  We'll be able to show it at her sweet 16 or graduation.  But for today, it ranked right up with a Premiere of a Broadway musical.

Now, 1/2 of our Christmas is complete with the girls watching "Dolphin Tale" in the theater, the smell of popcorn mixing with Great Grandmas chocolate cookies and only 3 hours until the other half of Christmas (Uncle Jeff and Heather) arrive at Syracuse airport.  Commence Christmas!! ♥♥
                                    Ho Ho Holy Cow, it's HERE!

Best Laid Plans

A Christmas chuckle.....(the joke's on me)

Yesterday, as I was organizing the kid's bedroom and making sure all the gifts were under the tree, I came across a package for Lee...(I hadn't tagged it).  It looked a little bulky so I checked inside.  Let me backtrack: On Sunday, I took Mom's gift to her for their Christmas party.  We spent all two hours munching and singing... a delightful afternoon for all.  I left Mom's gift in her room and asked the girls to help her open it later on.   Back to yesterday:  In the bulky package was Mom's purple, velour jogging suit...I was sure I had delivered Mom her gift..(Oh no you didn't!!)  I called Walden Place to make sure she wasn't proudly donning her new "shooting shirt."  She was not and I said I'd be there this morning to bring new meaning to the term GIFT EXCHANGE!!!  When we got to her room, we checked the closet....no shirt but there on her shelf were the pants I bought Jessie!...Talk about confusing the confused.... I asked if they had another available bed:-(..
Long story short..... Mom , not Lee, will be wearing the sporty, new, velour jogging suit, Jess already has her new slacks and Lee will get to open his fancy, new shooting shirt on Christmas morning....    And I thought I was SO organized!!

W..............Christmas

W...et.... Christmas:-(  If this were snow, we'd be shoveling.....but it's not. Even the local Scrooges have said they would acquiesce to at least an inch or two for the sake of a white Christmas.  I'm trying to look at the positive side of all this green....Travelers won't be stuck, thermostats can be lower, injuries from falls will be down and shoveling and plowing will be nill. At least inside it will be Christmas as usual.  Everyone (except B :-( ..) will awake to my Beach Boys singing carols, coffee wafting through the house, the table dressed in it's Christmas finery and stockings bulging at their seams and laying, overloaded, by the fireplace.  I just don't know how Santa magically gets it all together no matter what the circumstances.  He is one clever dude(tte).  I will still miss the snow.  Our great room has 12 foot doors that I love to open (reminiscent of the final scene in White Christmas) to our beautiful back yard and freezing, white falls.  The falls have cooperated but we'll have to imagine the snow.  We can do that... as long as we're all here together and relatively safe, healthy and sane, the weather won't hamper our day.  It'll be a long one..ONE present at a time but rules are rules and traditions are traditions. It took all year to bring it together and it'll take ALL day to tear it apart.   We'll all enjoy and just "Deal about it!"

A favorite night!

Sunday night was one of our favorite Christmas events. Santa Claus comes to town!  Our local firemen and women do a jolly job on this event.  They string lights on the firetrucks, pipe holiday music through the public address system, hand out candy canes and this year collected for our local food pantry.  I still remember the first year when we ran to the top of the Lane and Santa called Bailee by name...I cried!  Her face will be forever etched in mind (God willing).  This year she kept saying, "I hope he remembers my name!". She even wished on a star hoping that would help. (She didn't tell us her wish...we just knew).  When he slowly wheeled by and hollered "Merry Christmas Bailee," it was magical... No smile has ever been wider....Again, "He remembered my name, he remembered my name!"  Back inside we went knowing he'd be back in a few minutes and actually turn down her street and go right by her house. She waited patiently by the window until she saw the flashing lights and heard the Christmas music.  She threw on her coat and hat, (her boots were still on) and out the door we flew!  Once again, "Merry Christmas Bailee!"  I managed to capture the smile and will forever remember her saying, "This is the best day of my whole life!!"

I wonder if those firemen and women have any idea what a few volunteer hours mean to all those boys and girls.............................and their Grandmas?

Twas the week before Christmas

Twas the week before Christmas
And all through the house
Not much was misplaced
except maybe my blouse.. (I'm always misplacing things these days)

The stockings were hung
by the "fake" chimney with care
In hopes that my kids
Might fill mine this year

My Leroy was snuggled
All warm in his bed
Dreams of clay pigeons
All 25 dead!

And I in my recliner
and he beneath sheets
Were all settled in
Despite noise by the street

When out in the yard
Something big began howling
I knew we'd had supper
Our tummies weren't growling

Then the patio doors
in the bedroom flew open
Not exactly the action
For which Lee been hopin'

Looked out in the woodlands
and what did I see
leaves that were blowing
And fake deer near the tree

The moon on the breast
of not one lick of snow
If we don't get some soon
This Christmas will blow!

I returned to my bed
on the breeziest of nights
And hoped that the wind
would rip down those damn lights

I dreamed that my yard
would become one of beauty
As Jessie had labored and
done double duty

A house should be festive
With lights of ONE color
Not look like who lived there
Was named Helen Keller.

When I woke to the sun
shining in my front door
My wish had been granted
The lights shone no more

Some said they were pretty
I thought they were gross
Next year will be better
LED's will be toast.

"Simple is better"
Is what Leroy said
So twenty & twelve
may have lights just of red.

He likes the colors
And I prefer white
We'll have 48 weeks
to work through the fight.

No matter what happens
It all will be fine
Our EIEIO landscape
Will surely all shine!

Good "Grebe" Charlie Brown

Have you ever decided to dive right into something thinking you land well and be good to go....  a project, a relationship, a trip, a new job???? Well sometimes the plunge isn't quite what you expected.  Take for instance thousands of grebes....They were all on their seasonal migration to Mexico to spend a quiet winter on/near the beach.  It was a bit overcast and with the dark clouds hovering over the lights of the city, they spotted a welcome respite of flat water below....When the lead grebe began his descent (plunge) into friendly water, it became more of a suicide mission that a rest stop.  By the 1000's, they slammed into the parking lot at a nearby WalMart! Many perished on impact but volunteers have rescued over 2000 birds and released them into nearby lakes. Those were lucky ducks..so to speak!  A good lesson learned.  Your next venture may look like a reasonably safe bet but always be a bit wary...It's not the fall that'll get you, it's the sudden stop at the end you might not anticipate... As the gang would say, "Good Grebe Charlie Brown!!"

Dollars and Sense :-)

I'm just back from the post office with the M.C.S. Newsletter.  In my opinion, communication is the key to success.....of anything....politics, business, marriage, family and education.  I hope that all residents, whether or not they have children or grandchildren attending school, take the time to read all correspondence from the district.  We have an amazing superintendent!  I haven't always been able to say that.  Michele Brantner is exceptional!  I have had a few opportunities to speak personally with her and she is the most student focused administrator I've come to know since Judy Shearer.  Melding student concern with teacher appreciation and fiscal responsibility is a gift few administrators have.  They may boast about their care and concern but often lip service accompanies their need to be hired and retained, not so with Ms. Brantner.  So much of what she does goes unnoticed....because she wants it that way!  Horn tooting isn't her style!  I'm not sure whose brainchild the Blue Devil's Bank is/was but it was a good one.  In today's world of numbers, ..and not just educational numbers such as test scores, percentiles etc., it is tantamount that children and teens learn the value and skills associated with money..whether it be $5.00 or $5,000,000.00.  We are fortunate to have a true Hometown Bank in Moravia and their willingness to educate our students (and they are OUR students who will also be our bankers, teachers, Realtors, engineers, nurses, retailers, etc.) is a genuine partnership toward success.  Once again, I tout the value of living in a small town.  There are so many pluses in a society of so many negatives. We are fortunate to include Ms. Brantner and the National Bank of Groton and it's employees right at the top of the list!