Holiday Concert....

Last night, Dobson Academy K-3 had their Holiday Concert. The kindergarten class sang "La Navidad" and two other songs. The girls and boys sometimes sang separately. After months of hearing the rehearsal at home, finally I heard how the song really was supposed to sound. Jasmine kept singing words to one song...."Parents say that children are gibsons from above". For a couple of months, I have been trying to tell her that the words are "Parents say that children are gifts sent from above"... But no... "Mrs. Kimmel (the music teacher) says it's "gibsons from above"!!! Finally, it got thru to her. It was cute to see the little kids all dressed up. Every single man, woman, child, grandparent, aunt, uncle, and cousin was in the audience and each one had a camera as well as a video cam!


Going to the concert.

Jasmine with one of her best friends... Brianna.

Singing at the concert.

Kindergarten today.....

Today was Gingerbread House day at school. There were several parents plus all the kids in one little room! It was really crowded. The place was ransacked. All of the tables and chairs.... including the legs, were covered with frosting and candy. Paper everywhere. We had quite the clean up to do, but the creations were beautiful:) Technically, they were not supposed to eat the candy, but I caught Jazzy eating a few pieces. I guess they are going to decorate cookies this afternoon! I think they do get to eat those.... Total sugar overload prior to the school concert tonight.

We gave Miss Wachtel and Mrs. N their gifts which were buckets of Godiva chocolate and teacher necklaces with their names engraved. I just found out last week that Miss Wachtel is now going to be Mrs. Somebody. She told me that her boyfriend took her to the Grand Canyon and got down on one knee and proposed:) They met online last year at this time. She has a huge rock on her finger! Oh well, maybe she'll still wear the necklace.

Jasmine's creation.

Jasmine and Riley made an extra gingerbread house and delivered it to Dr. Bengochea, the principal.

Nutcracker Ballet...

Tonight we went to the Nutcracker Ballet. I didn't know that the first production of the Nutcracker was on December 17th, 1892, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Apparently it was terrible and was not popular at all. The first Nutcracker Ballet in the United States was in 1944 in San Francisco. It wasn't popular until 1954 when George Balanchine, a famous choreographer, re-worked it. Now it is the most performed ballet all over the world. This was the first time we've gone that Jazzy has been totally enthralled. She has been in ballet for over two years now... maybe that's why. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the performers:(.

Fourteen years ago, I had a little accident and broke about every bone in my body. I've been in pain ever since, am a chiropractic mess, and supposedly need a hip replacement in the future. Oh well, stuff happens. Gotta deal with it!

My only photo is overexposed:(

AzFAP

Arizona Foster Adoptive Parents Group has a toy and bike giveaway every year for thousands of foster and adopted kids. I told them that we are still using our bike from last year! Jazzy got a bag of toys including a Chutes and Ladders game, a photo journal that looks like a purse, jewelry, teddy bears, a hat, some books.... and.... a brand new school backpack, which she really needed since the other one was falling apart!

Picking her toys up at the warehouse.

At home.

More Holiday Crafts

Jasmine's class has been studying Kwanza, Christmas and Hahnukka. She has made more crafts this year than I have made in my entire lifetime! This photo is of the mkeka- a straw mat that represents a firm foundation. The muhindi (harvested corn) and mazeo (harvested fruits and vegetables) are placed on the mat. There is also a kwanza necklace now on our tree, which by the way is a Norfolk Pine which is supposed to look droopy and scraggly! Today was also "recipe day". Jasmine now wants to make "ambrosia" on Christmas. I think we can arrange that!

Holiday Creations....

Tonight was a cold and rainy Monday night. We didn't really want to go to this Holiday Craft Class at the TRC, but we already paid for it a long time ago. It ended up being fun once we got there. Jazzy made a "candle" for Miss Wachtel, heard some Christmas stories, and had hot chocolate and cookies. I think I am partied and crafted out for the season... but we have a few more to go to:)

Cat Fanciers Show....

This morning, we visited the downtown Phoenix Convention Center for the All Breed Cat Fanciers Show. We walked around, saw all the cats and watched several of the classes. One of the judges spotted Jasmine in the audience and gave her his little feather plum that is used to play withe cats to check their interest, etc. I am not sure what we are going to do with it, since we don't have a cat!

It was fun walking around downtown Phoenix on a Sunday morning. 71 degrees, perfectly clear sky.
I only took one picture of Jasmine petting one of the cats.