video – robinchartier

Fa, la, la, la, la!

The other day we went to the elementary school winter concert. I was amazed by how many parents (both moms and dads) were in attendance at 2pm on a workday. I guess when you put such a high value on education that you’re willing to pay big bucks for it, you take advantage of every opportunity to see if your investment is paying off.

The hour long concert featured songs performed by each grade, plus a few group numbers at the beginning and the end.

2nd grade

4th grade

combined choirs

Their singing was better than our camera work, but I’ll blame it on the squirmy baby who was not nearly as fascinated by the concert as we were.

And for those of you who either can’t or don’t want to sit through the videos (I don’t blame you — there’s something about sharing DNA that magically makes these events tolerable) the following photos are for you:

He totally knew I was taking a picture of him even though I was all the way across the gym. Love that smile.

Wearing cousin Mia’s dress — can’t believe she was ever this small!

Singing his little heart out. I loved watching him sing with so much energy that his entire body moved.

Carter was pretty far away from me so all of the photos I took of him had large balding heads in the foreground. This is the best of them.

And if you made it this far, your reward is another nausea-inducing video. No really, you might want to slap one of those seasick patches on before you watch this since the swaying of the kids plus the swaying of the camera is quite a combination. Maybe next time we’ll spring for a tripod. No, we won’t. I’m not going to be that parent. (I’m also not going to be the parent holding an iPad in the air to film it — there were several of those too.)

sick II

The boys are better, but now I have a cold. You know the kind that makes every bone in your face hurt? Yeah, I have one of those. On top of feeling like my head is stuck in the middle of a fog bank I’ve been busy going to Christmas concerts, decorating for a Christmas party at school, finding an appropriate teacher gift . . . all these things that I never had to do or was able to do as a homeschooling mom. When I’m sick they feel more like “have tos,” but most of the school holiday stuff has been fun.

But it’s hard to write when I can hardly think. I’m not only sick, but sleep deprived. I thought Camille outgrew her need for meds, but she was ok for only a week or two before she started screaming at night and at naps again. If you want to know how she’s been acting, just read my blog from this time last year. Deja Vu. I started her on meds again 2 days ago (I think — remember, I’m in a fog) and I’m hoping by the time my parents come visit (2 weeks!) that she’ll be back to her happy sleeping self. Otherwise I may hand her over to them at the airport and then run off into the desert.

But then she does stuff like this and I almost forget that sleep is vital to my survival:

I don’t know why, but she loves to dance on the coffee table. I promise I didn’t teach her that and I’ve already started telling her that this is not a future career option. But for now, when she hears music she runs straight to the table to strut her stuff. Hysterical. Also, probably somewhat dangerous, but that’s what happens by the time 3 and 4 come along. I need to save my parenting energy for the really dangerous stuff like cleaning chemicals and busy streets.

For those of you confused by the music: It’s a parody of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face, not the real thing.

Princess Buttercup

She may look like a princess, but she’s a fighter. The situation: Carter has a candy cane — she wants some and loudly lets him know it. He tries to give her a piece of it. She takes the entire thing. Chaos ensues.

coffee please

Girly has a strange love of coffee. Not so strange when you’re a grownup, but since when do babies like black coffee with just a splash of cream? This one does. I guess it goes along with her love of salsa, spicy curries, lemons, and salad dressing that is heavy on the vinegar.

*** A heads-up: she does the same thing over and over again, so unless you’re family, you probably won’t want to stick it out for the entire 2 1/2 minutes.

*** no need to call CPS, it’s decaf

Breakfast with Santa

This morning we walked over to the MEA (American club) to have breakfast with Santa. The biggest draw for us wasn’t Santa, but bacon. It’s the only place in town I know of where we can have real bacon with our eggs. Everywhere else serves either turkey bacon (eh) or beef bacon (which tastes strangely like beef jerky).

Another storm is on the way. Last year Muscat got almost no rain, but this year we’ve been hit by the edges of a few tropical storms.

Camille was excited to be out and walking on her own instead of up in the Ergo or in the stroller.

We arrived, ate awesome pancakes (blueberry, chocolate chip, and apple in addition to regular ones), eggs, potatoes, and bacon and waited for Santa to arrive. When Calvin and Carter were little we didn’t do the whole Santa thing (made easier by the fact that Calvin was deathly afraid of Santa for several years), but in my old age I have lightened up. They still don’t believe in Santa, but if they want to go sit on Santa’s lap and tell him that they want Harry Potter Legos (Caleb), then rock on.