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Emily's good friends at school are Amanda, Claire, Angelica and Hi'ilei. 12/2

Emily is having a little bit of a tough time at school with writing--Mrs. Cameron wants the kids to just write their best guesses for the letters in a word, but Emily knows there's a right way and doesn't want to screw it up. Bill talked with her this evening about it, how she shouldn't be embarrassed if she doesn't get it right the first time. 12/3

Emily's new favorite shows on TV are on the "Nick GAS" channel (Nickelodeon Sports and Games). This is what she wants to watch now instead of Arthur! The shows are sometimes pretty silly--kids need to answer trivia questions right or they have to do "challenges" such as squirt goop into a bucket their partner holds on their head. Bill and I get a kick out of it because many of the shows were taped years ago, and the prizes (A new Macintosh SE computer!) make us laugh! Emily's favorites are the Double Dare shows, Wild and Crazy Kids, and Legends of the Hidden Temple.

Christine hosted a Parade of Lights watching party again at her apartment and we had a great time. Christine was gracious enough to let the Duffs, the Deppers, and two other families of our acquaintance crowd into her house! The parade is at night and all the floats and marching bands have Christmas lights strung all over. Emily told Christine that she wanted to be a timpani player when she grew up! 12/6

Emily today suggested that I fix a toy with "goose tape." 12/7

Bill gave Emily some coins for her piggy bank. She said, "I'm going to save money to buy...um...um...a bigger piggy bank!" I told Bill that I thought her needs were being pretty well met if she couldn't think of anything else she wanted! 12/11

I had to work, so Bill took the girls to the cantata rehearsal this afternoon at church. He said that Emily was a GREAT big sister, helping Sarah feel comfortable during the practice. 12/13

My coworker Lisa has an 11 year old daughter, Sarah, who is just dying to be a babysitter, but she is not quite old enough yet. Lisa asked if I would ever be interested in having Lisa and Sarah do a "practice" babysitting session together with our girls. I said yes, and we set it up for today. The girls had a great time with "Big Sarah" and Lisa met me at the door afterwards saying, "Your girls are SO GOOD!" 12/14

Em did great at her Kindergarten Holiday show. She was very serious and paid close attention to Miss Ritter for instructions, and concentrated on singing ALL the songs. She came forward for her part: "twirling" Sydney who was dressed up as a dreidel! 12/19

Todd and Michelle asked Emily to be a flower girl in their March wedding! She will be doing it with one of Michelle's young cousins. Em said, "I know ALL about being a flower girl. I've done it already!"

The other night at bathtime, Sarah popped out with, "We gettin' you a popcorn popper!" and Emily was SO SAD! She said, "SARAH!! That was supposed to be a SURPRISE!!" She cried and cried and I held her on my lap for awhile, telling her Sarah was still a very little kid. Poor Em!

Grammy and Grandpa arrive! 12/20

The Zymbolies arrive! 12/22

What a great Christmas week with almost everyone here. We missed the Gittlers but we will all be together one of these years!!!

   

Sarah had a hard time focusing at school today. It took her 25 minutes to go to the potty and put her clothes on afterwards! Miss Rachel is going to try to use a timer and see if Sarah will be a little quicker with a sticker reward if she's done by the time the bell rings. We'll see! 12/1

When her teachers asked her to use the potty, Sarah said, "I will work real hard!" 12/2

Sarah had a pooh after bedtime tonight while I was on the phone with Amy. So I gave Sarah the phone and she had quite a conversation with Aunt Amy while I changed her! 12/3

The Parade of Lights has big helium balloons, too, just like Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Christine asked Sarah what her favorite part of the parade was, and Sarah said, "The big potato!" It took Chris a few minutes to figure out that Sarah was thinking of the football balloon!! 12/6

Sarah said she doesn't want to sing in the church cantata or wear her cow costume. When I asked her why, she said, "I don't like shows." 12/7

Today Sarah told her teachers when they asked her favorite thing: "I'm thinkin' about it...I'm thinkin' about it...my best center ever...the kidney table--I rolled out the dough in a flat pancake and then it got to be a gingerbread baby!" 12/8

Sarah is doing a great job with her timer at potty time at school and getting stickers more often than not! 12/11

Our tree is up! Sarah stood at the top of the stairs at bedtime, blinking her eyes furiously in order to make the lights on the tree go on and off. 12/12

Bill went with the girls to buy blinking lights for the Christmas tree, and Sarah couldn't contain herself. She jumped up and down in the living room, yelling, "We got bwinkin' lights! We got bwinkin' lights!" 12/13

Lisa's daughter Sarah was getting ready for her "junior babysitting session" with our girls when she asked Lisa how much a two-year-old could say. Lisa said, "Well, it depends on the child, but you should be prepared for her not to be able to say a whole lot." Of course, then Sarah walked into their lives, talking 19 to the dozen! 12/14

Sarah spent a lot of time this month in the Dramatic Play area at school--they were reading Gingerbread Baby and did pretend baking and cooking! They also decorated a huge cardboard box to look like a gingerbread house. 12/15

The girls and I dropped by our friends the Waggener's house after school with some Christmas cookies. The kids (Kaeli is 4 and Cameron is 2) all played together while Jennifer and I talked a bit. At one point, Jennifer looked up and said, "What's that noise?" It turned out it was Sarah chortling! 12/15

A new boy joined the Abiyoyo classroom today and Sarah and he hit it off right away. At one point they were using the potty at the same time (the class bathroom has two toilets) and Sarah told her teachers, "Jackson is my bestest friend! We made our pee go together!" 12/17

Grammy and Grandpa arrive! 12/20

The Zymbolies arrive! 12/22

What a great Christmas week with almost everyone here. We missed the Gittlers but we will all be together one of these years!!!

 
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