smiling, snarfing, swinging

the bean's school does an annual "mommy & me" day, somewhere around mother's day.  there's a "daddy & me" day too, but it's earlier in the year.  i used to wonder why it wasn't closer to father's day until i realized that by then, the school year is over and a lot of kids don't come to the summer sessions.  and i wasn't able to make it last year because we had a ton of stuff going on then and it conflicted with something else on the calendar.

so i was extra happy to be able to attend this time around.  the hub has gone to the daddy's day both years now, and it always looks like fun.  the first thing we did when we arrived was take our photo:

some of the other moms were grumbling about the activities and theme not being very "mother's day-ish," but i didn't really care.  we had fun going around to all of the activity stations and making little crafts.  here, she strung beads together and made me a bracelet:

and yes, it looks like they used "w"s instead of "m"s, so when she put it together she said "look, mommy, it says wow!"  heh.

next up was decorating a picture frame for the photo we'd just taken together.

then she colored a maraca.

and made me a paper flower.

outside, we found a giant bakery box full of pan dulce.

they had a bunch of these cute little miniature piñatas hanging from the ceiling.

and when the teachers announced that it was time to line up for the real piñata, the bean scurried right over.

she took her five swings, and hurried back over to get ready for the shower of sweets.  i handed her a bag, and the very next kid cracked that thing right open.

i can't wait till next year.  it'll be our last shot at it before she starts kindergarten.  oh, mah baby.  she be growin' up way too fast.

thanksgiving already?

i can't believe it's already been a whole year since we celebrated thanksgiving a week early with the bean and the rest of her preschool.  i swear, the older i get, the faster the time goes by.  ugh.

the party is done potluck-style with sign-up sheets posted at the front desk.  of course, by the time i got to see them, most of the items had already been claimed.  although this left me with easy stuff to pick from, and i ended up committing to bringing 25 rolls, 8 rectangular tablecovers in fall colors, and 40 matching plates and napkins.  i figured i could find most of it at my trusty dollar tree and be done with it.  but in typical wan fashion, i procrastinated.  i kept driving by the store and thinking, oh, i'll stop in next time.  you can imagine how this bit me in the ass.

monday morning came, and i threw on my running clothes so i could go for my 4-mile training run after dropping the bean off at school.  and as the hub was sitting with her at the table having some breakfast, it dawned on me:  the party was TODAY.  shit.  and it was already 7:50 - i typically get in the car with her a little after 8.  crap.

i scrambled to change back into regular clothes, mumbled a garbled explanation to the hub, and hopped into the car.  thank goodness the dollar tree opened at 8.  except that the moment i set foot in the store, i realized that it was a total fail - the retail rush to celebrate christmas starts earlier and earlier every year, and there was absolutely nothing to be had in the entire store that was fall or thanksgiving-themed.  i thought for sure i was totally screwed, and scurried across the parking lot to the grocery store.

i picked up packages of rolls and found my way to the paper goods aisles, where i stumbled across the most awesomely life-saving display ever of paper plates and napkins with turkeys and leaves on them and plastic tablecovers in orange and brown.  even better?  the paper goods were on sale for $1 a pack.

when i got back, i looked at the bean and realized that it was also brown day - and i'd dressed her in pink.  luckily, i had a backup outfit from when we took our family pictures that worked perfectly.  i got her changed and in the car and we still managed to get her to school on time.  damn, i'm good.

when the hub and i returned to the school for the party an hour-ish later, we again found ourselves seated right in the very back, just like last year.  dang.

after the first two classes came up and did their thing - so cute, in handmade hats and cautiously singing and hand-gesturing along with their teacher - i made my way up to the front to capture the bean on film.  she locked eyes with me the second she walked in behind a bunch of her friends, and waved happily.

they recited a bible verse and sang a song.  the bean sang with gusto, throwing her arms out and watching her teacher intently for cues.  she was really into it.  i have video of it, but it's like 3 minutes long and none of you fools would want to sit through that.

after the performance, she squeezed her way through to join me and the hub at the table and wait our turn to take our place in the line for grub.

i even got a present.

despite the fact that i'd just eaten breakfast an hour earlier, i served myself up a nice plate of thanksgiving eats.

the bean's plate was...a little less full.

oh, and here's her outfit.  i love that sweater so.

yay for thanksgiving parties!

giving thanks, preschool-style

at the end of the month, we receive a newsletter from the bean's preschool that provides us with a calendar for the following month's happenings.  and for november, we were informed of the kids' thanksgiving feast at school, scheduled for 10am on a monday.  i happily put in for the day off at work and made sure that the hub cleared his calendar for that morning, too.

the kids were instructed to wear brown that day, so i dressed the bean in last year's thanksgiving dress, which still fit pretty well.

with my constant reassurances that her daddy and i would both be back to join her for their thanksgiving shindig, she was perfectly fine at drop-off.  i headed back home to get a few things done and pick up the hub, and about an hour later we were back at the school to help set up.

of course, most of it was done by the time we got there, so we cruised around the tables to find our designated spots.  the tables were labeled by teacher, with a place mat made by the kids with their pictures placed every two chairs.

a little plastic baggie on each place mat contained a little gift for us moms, lovingly handmade by our little special snowflakes.  cute, yes?

the aroma of turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy made my stomach grumble, and there was a whole table of dessert, too.

as the room filled up with parents, some who looked excited (like us), and others who'd obviously been through this a few times before and looked slightly bored (how sad!).  the lady in charge of the preschool took the microphone to welcome everyone and then introduce the first class for their performance - and i was excited to see the bean's teacher leading her class in.  i could tell that the bean had been crying (how could i not, with the tears still drying on her cheeks and snot smeared across her face as if she'd swiped her hand across it), and my heart melted.  i took these a nanosecond before she realized we were standing right in front of her.

and then she was happy.

i noticed that she wasn't wearing a pilgrim hat like the rest of her classmates, and her teacher, catching my questioning look, mouthed "she didn't want to wear it."  well, of course she didn't.  bah.  but as i glanced down the row of kids, i saw that she wasn't the only hatless one there, so it was all good.

and safe in the knowledge that we were there with the rest of the parents, she cheered up considerably and sang along with the rest of the class, making the hand motions and gestures as directed by her teacher.  it was super cute, and we were beaming with pride.

afterwards, she ran into my arms and clung on like she hadn't seen me in a week.  it was sweet, and i was more than happy to return the love.

this is who she looks forward to seeing when she goes to school.  heh.

we took our turn up at the buffet line, being careful to take small portions so that there would be enough grub for the rest of the room.

the bean liked the turkey and the roll, but turned her nose up at the rest of the offerings.  she picked up the sliver of pumpkin pie and inspected it, but wasn't interested enough to take a taste.  oy, i've inadvertently passed on my own food aversions to my kid.

when the party was over, we headed back to her classroom and watched her interact with her teacher and the rest of the class.  plus, she modeled the hat that she was supposed to wear for the performance.

we took her home a little early, and she ran right inside the house to tell her grandma all about her morning.  but the fun wasn't over - we took some lunch to the teen and rock-ell at school, and it was nice to see them on my "off" week.  and then after that, we headed home to grab a few things before heading back out to something super duper fun.

oh, wait till you see.  it was ah-may-zing.  eeeeeeeeee!