Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours a happy, safe and relaxing Christmas with your family and friends.

Winter Program

There is always a winter and spring program at Stratford - whether you are 2 years 9 months and in a preschool program or 10 years old and in 5th grade. I have my show that I do every year ("Charlie Brown Christmas" which is adorable, if I do say so myself) and now Luke gets to do a show, too.

Some background information to note:

• Luke is not yet three.
• Luke has been going to preschool 2 afternoons a week.
• Luke began preschool at the end of November.
• Luke has no freaking clue what a "program" is.

And now, the story of Luke's show.

Luke was dressed up as an elf (a very cute one at that) and was placed at the end of the line with all the other "standers." You know the "standers:" the kids who don't do anything and just take up space. They don't sing, they don't dance, they stand. Please look at the background information above to note why Luke is part of the "stander" group.

So Luke is absolutely bewildered, wondering why he is dressed up as a freaking elf. He keeps saying "Mommy? Mommy?" while I keep smiling and waving with my cameras (plural) and being a super obnoxious preschool mommy. (with all the rest)

He immediately starts making goofy noises and being very Luke-ish to the adorable little girl next to him and she is so incredibly irritated. She shushed and shushed him and finally, I kid you not, "hmphed" him, tossed her hair and turned away. It was awesome.

So the music started, the kids were (mostly) singing, minus the standers, and Luke looked like he had been dropped on some strange, mysterious planet wondering what he was supposed to do. At least the kid next to Luke was the "chewer" of the "standers." The kid who chewed on his shirt, then the bells, then the kazoo around his neck.

After a few songs, Luke decided he was completely done with this whole performance and started walking towards me. I, being the director of my own show, waved my hand, said "No no Luke! Go back to your spot!" Dang, did I get a dirty look. He pouted back to his spot and promptly . . .

pulled his hat down completely over his face.

What did I do?

Laugh, of course.

Then he really yanked down the hat, to make sure his face was good and covered.

I continued to giggle, as did many of the other parents. Luke pulled the hat up a little, to check to see if the attention was on him, caught my eye and the hat went down again. Really, really pulled down.

Nice work, Luke.

We have it all on video, which is really cute. Granted, out of a 20 minute boring performance of Luke, this is the 2.5 minutes of good film. So I won't put up the whole boring thing. This is the only still shot I was able to take, as the battery died on my camera. Bummer.

He just looks so disappointed in me.

"Why Mommy? Why would you allow them to dress me up like this? I thought you liked me? I thought we were in a good place."

Because these are the moments (videos) I can embarrass you with when you're 16 and bringing home girls. That's what you get for pulling down your hat over your cute, pouty face.

Wrastlin'

I love how much Luke loves his cousins - it happens to be a nice bonus that his cousins love him, too. So here, Gracie and Luke are having a hug fest. I think everyone won. But especially Todd and I: Luke was so exhausted from the "wrastlin" that he crashed pretty quickly that night.

Juliette's Birthday Party

Luke was lucky enough to attend his buddy Juliette's 5th birthday party at a gymnastics school. Wow - did this kid have fun! It's all about action for Luke and he was able to run and climb and bounce to his heart's content.

Though he did not appreciate me tossing him into the foam pit. Oh well.


Luke did a great job sitting and listening to directions. It was a miracle. Thanks preschool - we're already seeing an improvement! Hooray!

The obstacle course:

climbing the ladder

a somersault down the ramp


crawling through the tunnel



bouncing along the long trampoline

Luke had such a fun time - he is just a little boy who needs to run and be active. Shock and awe, right?

A Very A's Christmas!

On our way down to San Diego to visit Nana, we decided to stop off in San Luis Obispo to visit Uncle B and Auntie Sam in their new home. It was nice to get out of town quickly, but not have to do the full drive in one shot. They were kind enough to let us stay with them for the night.

Luke was so excited to have an early Christmas - Luke could hardly stand the excitement of opening his gifts.

What could it be?!?

Its an awesome A's jersey!


Put it on! Put it on!
Mommy and Daddy also got A's t-shirts with their NAMES ON THEM. I know - cool, huh? So Todd's says "Bickel 01" and mine says "Bickel 02." Now I'm ready to face all the Giants fans on Sports Day in the spring.

Another try . . .

So, a while ago, we had attempted our first "Mommy/Son" outing for donuts, but it was not very successful. I thought we would try it again and head to someplace new.

Success!

Much better selection and they were delicious!! Hooray!

I'm so glad we finally found a place that is fairly close by that has delicious donuts. This is an excellent reason to eat donuts without feeling the guilt. Its about bonding, not about donuts. I swear.

Life of a teacher.

This was what my responsibility was over Thanksgiving break.

That, my friends, is grading. That is 5 1/2 inches of grading. (I measured.)

And I only have a dinky class of 14. I'm sure if I had a full class (like the rest of the school) I would never see my child. Ever. They will have to drag my lifeless body from that little mini-classroom if they ever want me out of there. I don't know if I could go back to a full size class, verses my little 2/3 class in my (ahem) "cozy" classroom.

Freaking grading. Teaching would be awesome without it.