Mrs. Haseyama took a class photo. Berry is on the far right in the middle row. I think this is of the 1st/2nd combo class (they sort of adjusted and split out as the year went on), so I'm not sure why Tiny is not in this pic.
The elves came, and Berry immediately began writing them the sweetest notes.
Some of them (including this first one) were so sweet and cute they made me weep.
Another interesting list of Bear's that I stumbled across:
As previously mentioned, stacking presents under the tree did not disguise the bald bottom mile.
Tiny then got in on the letter-writing. (Note how she flips her b's and d's.) So many notes to which I had to figure out how to respond!
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| "How does Santa know what person gets what elf?" |
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| "From Arden. To Bella and Lionel. What is your favorite food? And dessert?" |
More from Wren, I believe:
Why is she the absolute sweetest with the elves?
We made gingerbread cookies, which Jim says are always terrible tasting. I maintain that they can be kind of yummy, but as I recall, this recipe wasn't amazing.
Wrenzy accidentally bumped or moved Bella and was apparently very worried and contrite about it. She killed me with the gift/peace offering and note.
So many notes. So hard to answer them all.
We had to take a picture of Ever for something.
Wrenzy found (or made) herself a new reading spot.
I had tickets for the girls, Leela, and me to The Nutcracker in Poway (cheap matinee tickets through someone at the girls' school). We ended up not being able to go. I think people were sick. That was sad.
I was tasked with heading up our ward Christmas party. Event planning is not my thing. We had lots of money in the budget, and people were interested in catering. Rhea Villarin (one of my counselors) did some research and discovered that while most options were cost prohibitive, it was not terribly expensive to order tacos and tamales from Primo Market. Figuring out what and how much to order was very stressful, but my presidency was helpful with the decision-making. We ended up having too much food, but I guess that was better than the alternative. At Gwen Holm's suggestion, I had Lani Wakeham handle the Santa room setup. She went with a Hawaiian theme. I'm not sure why I only have a picture of Wren with Santa.
Shanna Warr took charge of the rest of the decorations. We left on the walls the stuff that another ward had installed. Tom Sorensen made a stable and manger for our nativity play.
I didn't want to micromanage, which resulted in things' not really going as I would have liked but my still being "credited" with it all. I asked a musically talented ward member several weeks in advance to plan music - a few numbers by select ward members, and then at the end of the nativity we'd do carols with the whole ward. I think we discussed a CD of background music during dinner, too. As the date of the party was nearly upon us, she asked if it would be OK if we just had instrumental numbers - no singing. I was sort of like, well, I'd like singing, but beggars can't be choosers. Then in the end, there were somehow zero musical numbers at all, and she showed up super late and we didn't even get the promised background music. (Kalani Villarin brought a little speaker and got some music going to fill the void.) My other big gripe was that I think it's very important to the cultural-hall ambience to hang white lights and have the regular lighting low or off. No white lights were used in the decor, and then someone whose help I couldn't have lived without but who has a very strong, take-charge personality insisted on keeping all the lights on. She even tried to insist that all the lights between the entry door and the cultural hall be left on, but I pushed back on that and succeeded in turning some off so it was dim enough to enjoy the lanterns Shanna set up leading to the cultural hall. Ward families are funny sometimes, just like regular ones.
I had borrowed a bin of costumes (much of which was just pieces of fabric) from Teri Pawlaczvk, the forever Primary president in our old ward. Thanks to Google, I put together a narration for a nativity play, with carols throughout for everyone to sing together. When it came time to throw costumes on the kids for the nativity, Amber Sorenson and I opened the box and were super confused about how to proceed. The kids packed in the little room were SO loud and out of control, and I didn't know what anything was in the box or how to dress anyone. Total paralysis. Shanna came in and took charge, throwing stuff on the kids and telling them what they were. I was so grateful! I don't know what I would have done without her. The nativity play was fine, but I was so dismayed about the lighting in the room - it definitely detracted from the experience. Oh, well. Lesson learned.
Goosey turned 11 on a Saturday.
Tiny gave her a nice card.
It was a low-key birthday for our treasured firstborn. She had soccer games that day, and then we did a family movie night in her honor. The Littles were so tired they fell asleep on the couch in the afternoon before the movie festivities began.
Lastly (but out of order), I wrote this on December 12:
One Sunday, Wren started doing Christmas-themed water color paintings and leaving them at neighbors' houses via the doorbell-ditch method. I don't know why it started, but she conceived and executed the plan without any parental involvement. Tiny joined in for deliveries, so the two of them were running around on this secret mission. They mentioned having completed the cul-de-sac across from us and said they only had a couple of houses left down here. I only saw one of Wrenzy's paintings - it was a really cool one of a Christmas tree. She delivered her first picture to Cikaneks. Nathan ripped it up and put the pieces on our doorstep, which was super mean. Somehow Wren didn't cry about it, and she didn't let it deter her from hitting the neighborhood. I was very glad about that.
The next day, Wren came home from school with a cut-out snowflake. She and Tiny immediately headed upstairs to make more for phase II of neighborhood distribution. So cute.
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