Class Christmas Party

Now, prior to today, Matthew has been a champ at sleeping through noise. He has slept through three parties - two birthday, one Christmas/SEC - and for the most part, his own baptism.

At Finn's 1st birthday, Riley and Matthew were the life of the party.

Thanksgiving was a non-stop two-day affair and he did some good sleeping through that. So, when we have Libby's class Christmas party to co-host, he'll obviously sleep through some rowdy three- and four-year-olds, right?

Except they weren't rowdy! They were very well-behaved and pretty darn good at following directions.  Having four adults in the room for the party may have helped... as it did when Matthew got a bit overtired and fussy. But the kids, almost all of whom have younger siblings, all wanted to pitch in and help push the stroller back and forth or pat him to help. Fortunately, the teachers discouraged this so that I didn't have to be the heavy too much!

Anywho, it was such fun to get a small window into their day. For the most part, they seemed to pretty much be themselves! And I have to say, Libby's friendship with Kira was a treat to watch.

Libby helped me prepare by making confetti for the table. They ate chicken nuggets, roasted sweet potatoes, apples and grapes. Or some of them did. Some only ate the nuggets. One only had two bites of nugget, nothing else, and declared lunch, "not good." LOVE the no filter! Sorry to his mom for sending him home hungry... but what kid doesn't like chicken nuggets? I also put ketchup on their plates and some were offended by this move, as they don't like ketchup. Can I just say I was reminded again of how thankful I am that Libby has such a wide palate?!

Saying the blessing. (Matthew's back in the top left corner being peaceful for that part.)

Kira's mom read, "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The kids mostly listened, except when they had side conversations or needed to get up and wander around.

Libby decorated Kira with the confetti.

Everyone loved dessert: Oreo balls!

Emily joined the party after finally washing her hands... when everyone was nearly finished.

Then, we decorated Christmas trees with green crayons and stickers.

And played Santa Bingo! (No photos of that because I was doing the calling. Thanks, Gamma Sig, for giving me so much practice not so very long ago!)

Libby felt it was a success, and to me, that was the most important thing! I just appreciated that she's still at the age where she wants me there. I hope it lasts! I can't wait to chaperone some field trips...

Also this week at school, a nearby elementary school came and performed a couple of songs for the kids. She told us that it was shorter than their program. Indeed it was. Turns out they really did only sing two songs. So yeah, shorter than Libby's!

Oh- and tonight, we were watching Michael Buble's Christmas Special from last night and she stood there, rapt attention... for a few minutes, and told me, "I want you to take me to that sometime."

She's had lots of conversations with Mimi about concerts ever since the Barry Manilow concert last spring. But trust me: unless it's Barry Manilow, she's really not ready. (See the post re: Clifford Live! last year.) I do look forward to taking her to more live events when she's a bit older, though.