Stuart and I went to pick up a tree on Tuesday, but we did not have time to decorate it until Saturday.  We had the Christmas music on, we were wearing our hats, and we started the process.  But I actually only had one helper, Connor.  He took the ornaments out one at a time from the box, and handed it to me to hang.  He is always my good helper in everything, but after a half way through, he started to ask “done?”, “oh, one more?”.  At some point, he finally decided to put all the boxes back in the large box, and declared “Done!”, then he went away to do something else.  So I was on my own to finish the job.

    Today Stuart took the Elf out during naptime; “Elfie” was sitting on the top of the back door for a long time before Logan noticed it.  They both did not seem too excited when they spotted him.  We read the Elf book after dinner together to refresh their memory what Elfie will do everyday until Christmas.  We will see if the boys get more intrigued tomorrow when they find him at a different spot.

     We attended my Campbell work party this Saturday.  Black and white attire was requested for the adults this year, but I also decided to dress the kids with the same color theme as their vests from last year still fit them.  We arrived at the same time as the Tsaos to the party.  The place was decorated beautifully and very elegant.  We walked around the house a bit and the kids were drawn to the entertainment room.  They were watching some big boys playing handheld game machines until someone started the movie for all the kids.  Our boys sat down together immediately and were totally into the first movie, Brave.  As they were dressed exactly the same, I had received a couple of comments “Is the set of twins sitting nicely watching movie yours?”.  Since the boys were entertained, Stuart and I walked around mingling and returning to the kids occasionally.  The food served this year was Indian food; we had some appetizers first then the main buffet course was served later.  The appetizers were a bit spicy, I had no choice but offered it to the boys.  Connor was hungry and so was enjoying the grilled chicken; he only complained of spiciness a couple of times.  However, Logan was more light weight; he could not tolerate even the first bite and drank lots of water afterward.  But later on, Logan was hungry and ended up eating more chicken with water in between each bite.

    When dinner was served, we managed to get our plates before the long line was formed.  The Tsaos and us gathered the kids and all sat at the dining hall together to have a nice meal.  Once again, the food was spicy, the boys ended up eating mostly rice and naan.  There was a DJ playing music to entertain us, and Connor had been eyeing the dance floor.  The boys finally asked to leave the table to go dancing.  But it turned out that Logan wanted to return to the TV room, and he ended up staying there the majority of the night.  Connor went back and forth between the two rooms with Stuart, and they did quite a bit of dancing too.  Connor had nice moves, but I was not able to capture them on video.  We just hung out the rest of night watching kids and talking with others.  By the time we decided to round the kids up for the night, it was already 10pm.  It was a nice evening of dressing up, and it was another late night for the kids.

    Today was Logan’s turn to have his school performance.  Before today, we had asked Logan multiple times about what he would be doing at his upcoming performance, but we always received silent treatment.  After Connor’s yesterday performance, Stuart and I did not have high expectations for the one today.  We both got out from work early again and arrived at school before the show time.  We chatted with some parents while we waited outside of the kids’ classroom.  At the start time, the teacher, Ms. Diana, peeked through the door to make sure all the parents had arrived and also informed us how excited the kids were.  We then were led into the classroom to take our seats.  After introduction, the kids came in orderly from the courtyard and lined up in front of audience.  When Logan walked by us, he had his signature expression and arm stretch that signaled “I want you”, but he remained in his place along with his classmates.  The teacher sat down in front of the group and the kids began to sing.  Everyone was singing and doing their movement; some looked very excited and happily singing, and Logan was probably one of the least energized ones.  But they all were doing a great job following the teacher’s lead.  After each song, Logan would stare at us with his arm stretch again just briefly before he moved on to the next song.  They sang a total of eight songs.  It was a great show; big applause followed their performance.  We were amazed how well everyone did and how organized it was.

    After the show, while they were sitting down for a group picture, they received a surprise visit by Santa that many of the kids, especially Logan, were thrilled.  They took turns to have pictures taken with Santa, and they also received a candy cane each.  Then the parents were given a gift from their child which was a self portrait of themselves.  Afterward, the kids played with each other for a bit and eating their candy canes while the parents tried to take some more photos.  Logan was excited to try the candy cane, but he disliked it immediately after only one lick.  We then said our goodbye and thanked the teacher, and took off to go home.  We told Logan how much we enjoyed his show, and he told us that he was sad as he forgot to give Santa a hug.

   Logan’s report card came in the mail yesterday.  With this school, we don’t have any parent-teacher conferences, and we will receive a couple of these report cards a year.  The report card grades the kids in five categories and within each category, there are a few specific items.  Logan received “all of the time” and “most of the time” markings in majority of the items, and he had four “needs one-on-one guidance”.  Logan can count forward, add/subtract 1 and 2 to numbers under 5, knows geometric shapes and colors all to most of the times, but he needs help with some numerals and with counting backward.  He understands the phonic concept, knows his letters/sounds, and knows the five vowels/sounds.  He does need guidance on blending one-vowel word.  It said that Logan can bounce and catch ball, and works well with scissors, pencils, and small tools, but is lacking on hopping.  Logan is doing quite well with participation.  He received “all of the time” in participating in logical thinking skill games, singing, science, dancing, art and social relating.  He does “most of time” in speaking before a group.  Logan also communicates comfortably with peers, handles responsibility, controls emotions, focuses/concentrates well, and respects the rights of others.  He received “most” on communicating well with teachers and thinks independently.

  It was good to learn these details on Logan’s progress, and we are happy with his improvement since he’s been at this school.  Stuart is not too happy with “needing guidance” on hopping as Logan was able to demonstrate that last night, but we do feel that it is good to start training Logan on his overall fitness.

    Connor’s school performance was today; it was being held in his classroom.  Stuart and I arrived before the 4pm start time, and Connor was very excited to see us.  I had dressed Connor up this morning for the event, and I noticed that the teacher had tucked in and buttoned up his shirt to get him ready for the show.  We hung out for a little bit waiting on the rest of the kids and/or parents to show up.  During the wait, I had little talks with Connor to tell him that daddy and I would be watching him perform to us, and his reaction was always “No” and sometimes “Home?”.  Connor was in happy mood as usual, showing us his art work and sometimes just clinging on to us.  When it was time to start the show, it took the teachers some convincing and bribing to get the majority of the kids to line up in two rows.  Connor refused to go over to line up or grab one of the bells/instruments from the teacher.  He finally agreed to hold hands with one of the teachers, but he did not participate when other kids rang their bells to the Christmas music. As soon as the song was over, Connor immediately ran back and held on to me.  One of the classmates, Conor L, also left the group and apparently was crying to be held by his parents.  After a couple of songs, the teachers and the kids moved on to dancing.  The kids were paired up with one another or with a teacher, and started dancing to the music.  Of course, Connor refused to return to the group or to the teacher, so I just started dancing with him which he enjoyed.  The dance marked the end of the performance.  The teachers then passed out a Christmas present to each of the kids.  There were two pieces of handmade artwork; a Christmas card with Connor’s handprint, and a wooden glitter decorated picture frame with a picture of Connor in a Santa hat.  Afterward, they opened up the snack table for everyone.  Connor had a good serving of watermelons before he decided that it was time to go. 

    Stuart was prepared with a video cam to capture today’s event, but since the room was crowded with parents, and Connor was not participating, we didn’t think the video would be too fun to watch.  The teacher did share that Connor has been practicing and rehearsing with his classmates, but just with today, he rather stayed with mommy. 

     The performance today was definitely not too exciting but it was still cute to be there for Connor’s first attempt. 

    The letter finally arrived today.  On Saturday, Dora called to alert me that the Colorado people had just found out their results.  However I was disappointed as I had not yet received anything in the mail.  On Sunday I read on Facebook that Tina had received hers and she passed the exam.  I then got very nervous and even broke out in a major sweat while laying in bed next to the napping Connor.  I actually have not been too worried about the exam the past two months while waiting for the results, even after I had a bad dream about it two weeks ago.  I dreamt about failing the test and was sad thinking about how I should share the bad news with others.  But this weekend, I got quite anxious.

    I had told Stuart this morning that if the letter arrives, he can open it for me and only call me if I pass.  At 2:30pm or so, I received a call from Stuart, and I suddenly got so nervous answering it.  Fortunately, Stuart delivered good news to me and he even scanned the letter for me to read the details.  What a big relief!  Now I don’t have to worry about studying and taking it again next year, and I earned some extra letters behind my name.