Kidnapped! For Cookies?

Justina being "kidnapped" by Keone (Notice James

in the background, casually sipping a mocha)

For a couple months, Char, a family friend of ours had been talking about having Justina over to bake cookies. So today, she sent her son, Keone, over to our house to "kidnap" Justina so that she could help with some holiday baking. (She called ahead of time to let James know.) When Keone arrived, Justina greeted him as usual. But then he picked her up and threw her over his shoulders, put her in his car, and whisked her over to their house. Justina loves cooking and baking. She spent the early afternoon helping Char and had a great time.

Keone putting Justina in his truck

The Voice of a Little Angel

Abby singing at her Christmas program

This morning, Abby said, "I hope I have my singing voice!" Well I had hoped so too because today was Abby's Christmas program at her preschool. The program began with a slide show production. Next, we were treated to such Christmas as Jingle Bells, I'm a Little Snowman (sang to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot), Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Lights (sang to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star). For the finale, the children sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas. The choreography was stunning (hand gestures mostly). And Abby added a little of her own by hopping throughout the majority of it. After the program, we went to the hall for punch and cookies. And the children opened gifts from their teachers. Abby received a book, Inside a Barn in the Country by Alyssa Satin Capucilli (Sacholastic, Inc. &copy 1995). Before we left, Abby ran around the church grounds and gathered leaves. It was sweet and wonderful morning.

Abby unwraps a Christmas gift from her teachers

Abby played outside after the program

Dinner with the Clauses

Justina and Abby with Santa and Mrs. Claus

Tonight, James and I took Alyssa, Justina, Abby, and Chloe to the Santa Maria Elks Lodge to enjoy a family Christmas party. The Elks served dinner and there was a deejay who led some party games for the kids, such as a hula hoop contest and musical chairs with a twist; instead of walking around the chairs until the music stopped, the children were sent out to gather specific items from crowd members and return to their seats before the music stopped. Of course, no children's Christmas party is complete with a visit from Santa Claus. And we were also graced with a visit from the Mrs. too!

Sidebar . . .

I have a little rant. I find it unbelievable that in this day and age, people still might find the idea of breastfeeding to be a little offensive. Seriously? Tonight I was told that I might want to go into the women's' lounge (that's a euphemism for the women's' bathroom) because some people might get offended. Now I am discreet about covering up when I nurse. I am not bare-breasted for all the world to see. But rather than make this an issue, I just went in there. There are some chaise chairs in there. But that is not the point. As I sat in there, a thought came to mind.

The bathroom is for people to take a pee and a dump in. There I said it. No, it didn't come out nicely. Nor was it meant to. That is the main purpose of that room. It would be totally inappropriate for me to do bathroom-related activities in public. Heck, when I was growing up, I was taught that ladies should excuse themselves to the ladies' room to re-apply lipstick. Likewise, no adult would appreciate being asked to eat their meal in the bathroom. So why, is it acceptable for someone to expect an innocent baby to have eat there? It's not!

The scientific name for the breast is mammary gland. These are what make us mammals, a animal class of vertebrates that nurses their young. So after much deliberation, no more Mrs. Nice Guy. The next time someone takes offense and asks if I could "do that somewhere else", my response will tactfully be, "If she has to go somewhere else to eat, then so should you."

This concludes my little rant. I am going to go calm down by nursing Chloe to sleep. Peace out.

Mish Mash

Today was pretty uneventful. James had a committee meeting to attend at the Elks Lodge. So we went to Family Dinner Night there. I watched bits and pieces of the football game between the 49ers and the Cardinals. Let's hear it for a 24-9 victory. Go Niners! (Kurt Warner had a bad day.) After dinner, the kids and I looked at some Christmas lights in a nearby neighborhood before heading home. That's about it. Like I said, pretty uneventful.

In Other News . . .

James' cousin Amber Boicourt and her fellow soldiers will be travelling back to the States from Iraq over the next couple days. Please say a prayer for their safe return, as well as all the men and women who are serving our country. And let's not forget to pray for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and their loved ones during this holiday season.