A play, a ballet, and piercings

I am so proud of my little girl. T* had a school play a few weeks ago. This is the first one she has been in as her school begins letting them in the plays when the kids reach grade 1. It is not mandatory, those who would like to be in it have to audition and get parts. I'm pretty sure that all the grade 1 who auditioned got parts, it's just nicer that way right? The kids did such a great job! The show was a pieces of 5 different Broadway plays, Grease, Sound of Music, Annie, Oliver,and now for some reason I can't remember the other one. T* was an orphan in Annie, they were all soo cute! The little ones didn't really have any lines, but did have to sing and dance for 2 songs, it was a really great show! There were a few older girls in a couple of the other shows whom I can totally see becoming famous singers, they were truly amazing! I love the fact that T* is into that kind of thing. It's so much fun seeing her up there on stage getting into a "role". I am totally looking forward to next year, I really hope she decides to be in the school show again!

The following week, T* had her last Ballet performance for the season. I love watching her in Ballet, I love seeing all the girls, they are all so beautiful and it's amazing to see what they can do. T* has been in Ballet now for about 4 years. It seems so strange to say that because she is only 7. I am really hoping that she sticks with it, I would love to see her really go somewhere with it. Our last performance for this season was a Gala performance. This was the first one (gala) that T* and I have been involved in (I am part of the parent advisory committee). It was a lot of work leading up to it, we needed to find sponsors and donations for our silent auction, it took a lot of work but it totally paid off. The show was amazing. It was truly a celebration of dance (which is what the whole gala was called). All the girls, young and older were in tutu's for the first part of the performance, then there were 2 more sections. We were pretty much sold out which was really great to see. The silent auction went really great as well, as far as I know we sold most, if not all of our items. It kind of became a community effort. Even though most of the seats were taken by parents and other family members, I'm pretty sure there were a lot of other people as well. That goes with all the advertising that we did leading up to our show. I am so glad that I got to be a part of it. T* was awesome! She is truly becoming a little ballerina, and I am so proud of her. She really works hard in ballet, I really really hope that she sticks with it. I'm pretty sure she could be a very great ballerina.

This is an overview of the girls. T*'s one of the ones in pink.

I got a really funny story out of the ballet as well. I always volunteer for all our performances, I'm usually backstage helping out with the youngest dancers, normally there are a few of us backstage but because we only had one performance this time all of us parents wanted to be able to watch the show. The other volunteers all went downstairs before the show started but I was to come down with them, just to make sure the girls remembered to stay quiet and to make sure all the costumes and shoes were on properly (I was watching the girls between the ages of 5 and 9). While we were waiting for our cue to go downstairs I was standing with the younger ones. 2 of them started to play with my hair, "you have really long hair, it's nice", then it went to "I like your nail polish", "you have a lot of earrings", "how come you have so many ea rings? (I have five in each ear) so I told them "because earrings are fun, you can dress anything up with different earrings". Then one of the girls said "you have a sparkle on your nose", so I had to tell them that no it wasn't a sparkle it was a nose ring, I then had to take it out and show them how it went in my nose, that started a whole thing on how much it hurt and if I could change it or not. Then I told them that I also had a ring in my tongue, well.. that launched a whole big discussion on how it gets in your tongue, how you change it, how they pierce it, how you eat with it....... The funniest thing about the whole discussion was the girls around 8 and 9 kept saying "ewww that's so gross, can I see it again?", "I'm never going to do that to my tongue!" and yet they kept asking me all about it.... I'm sure their mom's will just love the fact that I was talking to them about my piercings, but it did keep them quiet and occupied for the time that we had to wait lol. I have discovered that belly button rings and tongue rings are very good entertainment for little kids, it's pretty funny. I have kept 1 year olds occupied for 1/2 an hour before just showing them my tongue ring lol. See, tongue rings are good for something! lol

I really like you

Yesterday I had some shopping that I wanted to get done. So when T* and I got up in the morning I gave her 3 choices: we could have breakfast at home, go to Tim Horton's and get something on the run, or we could go to a restaurant, just the 2 of us, and have some pancakes. She thought about it for a few minutes and decided on the pancakes. The two of us have never really gone out to eat somewhere, just us, sure we've eaten at the food court in the mall or had a quick bite at a fast food place, though usually that's on the go. This would be the first time that we actually went to a restaurant, just us, to eat.
--I've actually been looking forward to this kind of thing for a while now, I've been waiting for a time when we could do something like that without me having to constantly tell her to eat, a time when we could actually talk a bit.--
So we got ready and headed out. We went to this nice diner where they serve breakfast all day, have good prices and good food. We both got pancakes, T*'s were chocolate chip, a very rare treat, I usually don't let her eat chocolate (or any other junk food) before lunch, but hey it doesn't happen all the time. We sat at our table talking and coloring while we waited for our food. It was really nice, it was a great breakfast and I really enjoyed myself.
As we left T* was holding my hand while we walked to the car, she looked up at me and said " I really like you" I kind of laughed a bit and said " I really like you too". It was one of the sweetest things T* has ever said. She's a very loving girl (most of the time) and will randomly walk up to me and give me a kiss or a hug, tell me she loves me or that I'm the best, but I just found it really sweet that it was so matter of fact the way she said it. Sweetest thing ever!
The rest of the day was pretty good too, very few arguments during our shopping trip, or after we got home (actually I don't think we had any arguments at all until we got home). Truly a great day with my little sweet heart.

Christmas

Well, the Christmas rush is finally over. I have noticed that with a child it seems to last a lot longer than it did before, there are so many people that you have to get together with, so many friends who also have kids. I think this year we have had about 5 'Christmases' so far and there are still a few more friends that I haven't seen yet. Even though I know T* is being spoiled, I don't really mind, she's our only child so I figure why not?
This month has been great. We had my family Christmas, all my Aunties and Uncles and cousins. I love getting together with my family, we always have such a good time. This Christmas was great too because we got to see one of my cousins who lives in British Columbia, because he lives there we don't get to see much of him so it was a really great surprise to have him here. It was a great time had by all. We all get along really well, we talk about all kinds of things together, I never feel out of place with any of my family, they are truly great! All of us (the adults) get something for all the little ones and they all go crazy over their gifts, ripping a tearing all the paper off. Then for the adults we do the best thing. Each couple buys 1 or 2 gifts that can be for a guy or a girl, wrap it up and then we put them all in a pile. We each pick a number (depending on how many presents there are) and whoever gets the number 1 goes first, that person chooses a gift and opens it, the next person can either steal that gift or choose a new one. The game goes on like that with everyone trying to get the presents that they want, it's a total blast! We put a $30 spending limit on the gift so you don't go all crazy with anything, I think its actually more fun trying to figure out what to get that way, you not only have to get something that's not really expensive but you also have to try and find something that anyone would like to get. Gift baskets are a good one, most people will be happy with one, you just have to come up with a theme, then go find it all, and home made gift baskets are much better than store bought ones. This year was actually pretty quite for the gift game, there wasn't a whole lot of stealing, oddly enough we were kind of disappointed that the game didn't last too long. We had a great time though, catching up and hanging out.
R*, T* and I had another Christmas with my brothers and their families, we tried to save money this year by doing secret Santa's, though we all knew who was buying something for who, it was still nice, it gave us all a chance to figure out what the other person really wanted, then we all just hung out and relaxed.
T* had her Christmas pageant at school the week before holidays started, it was so cute, her class (senior kindergarten) and the junior kindergarten class were all together singing Do a Deer and Rock Around the Christmas Tree. They were so cute to watch. T* always looks so shy when she is on stage for the pageant, she sat really still and didn't move very much, you could see her moving a bit but they were very soft movements, she was singing too, though it was probably pretty quiet. The last day of school had us going to a Christmas party at one of her friends houses, the kids had a blast and even got a visit from Santa. He was great, he read them The Night Before Christmas, got pictures with all of them, and he just did a great job with it. T* was hilarious, I had taken her to get her picture with Santa at the mall the week before so when it was her turn to sit on his lap at the party, she puts her hands on her hips, looks at him and says, 'I already got my picture with you!', but she still sat on his lap, let all of us moms take pictures but then Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she got all indignant, looks at him and says 'I already told you that don't you remember??' Santa was great and recovered quickly, telling T* that he just wanted to make sure she hadn't changed her mind. He really was a great Santa, apparently he has been playing Santa for friends and neighbours for about 30 years. It was a great kids party, even all of the parents had a good time.
After the party T* and I had to run off to her dress rehearsal for ballet. It's so cute to watch all the little kids dancing in their little costumes. This is the first year T* has been in a Ballet school that does a huge production with all different age and grade levels. It was really cool seeing the older girls dance in their toe shoes. T* though it was really neat to see it, even asking me if she would ever get to dance in those kind of shoes. I told her she just has to stick with ballet and one day when she is older then she will have toe shoes. It pretty neat to think that even though she is only 5 she has been dancing for 2 and a half to 3 years. She loves it, any time you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up she says a ballerina princess, and has been saying that since she was 3.
Christmas eve T* put out her milk and cookie for Santa, she was so funny this year, soooo excited about doing that, last year it wasn't a big deal but this year she was so excited to leave it out for him. She had gotten this little Ziploc baggie from her teacher that had (reindeer food) in it from her teacher (it was oats and some silver glitter), she was to put it out Christmas eve so that the reindeer could find their way to our house, we had R* put it out by the windows so that we could see it sparkle. Then we checked the Santa Tracker to see where Santa was and T* played some of the games before going to bed. Christmas day saw us with R*'s parents, sister and her husband and son. T* was up bright and early, running into our room and yelling 'Mommy, Daddy come look what Santa got me!!' She is always so happy Christmas morning, it so cute to watch her face light up as she opens her gifts. I really love Christmas, I would be totally happy not getting anything but just watching other people open their presents with a smile.
Last year I started this thing with T* that I am happy to see has stuck with her. Before any holidays where presents are involved T* and I go through all her toys and get rid of the things she doesn't play with or the things she has more than one of, then we put them all together and give them to a second hand store. It's our way of helping others that might not be able to get many things. It makes me feel really great to know that my daughter is able to think of others at a time like this. She has actually started bringing it up on her own. Randomly throughout the year she will tell me 'Mommy, I think we should go through my toys and give them to kids who don't have much', it's great to see. I would like to find a place that actually just gives the toys to kids but I don't know if there is anywhere.
All in all this has been a great Christmas. I am actually writing this from the comfort of my couch on my new laptop! My Christmas present from R*, I love it!!
I hope you all had wonderful Christmases too!!