Saturday morning was the Santa breakfast at the kids' school, from 0900-1200. We headed there bright and early, so we could get in and out and have plenty of time for our drive up to Richmond.
First things first: we got in line for breakfast. Choices were bagels, doughnuts and muffins, and you could pick two of those plus a juice or milk. All of the kids chose a blueberry muffin and a chocolate doughnut. They ate about three bites apiece, so I insisted on taking the food home for them to eat later. Chloë insisted on sitting next to her BFF Brett, who is also in her Brownie troop.
During breakfast, Santa Midnight (the school mascot) visited our table and gave each of the kids a lollipop, which Daddy quickly squirreled away for later. Chloë, especially, is enamored of the big cat and cried when he went overseas to visit the troops.
Sorry for the overexposed picture... there were door prizes every half hour, and Chloë won the first one! It was two tickets to the Virginia Aquarium, a wonderful prize. I'm really excited for that. I don't know yet who is going to take her or when, but I'll probably wait until I hear about a great exhibit.
Before we saw Santa, we had to go through the Winter Wonderland. It was the impressively decorated music room, filled with "snow" and all kinds of Christmas and winter icons. The kids really went nuts for it, which made me and Rob and all the volunteers happy. Oh, before the WW, the kids wrote letters to Santa out in the hallway. Sophia asked for a candy cane! Gee, I think that can be arranged...
Jack gaping up at the super-tall Christmas tree
My girls, anxiously awaiting their turn with Jolly Old Saint Nick. The line was short but the wait was long.
Finally, it was their turn to sit on Santa's lap. The stage was as bedecked as last year, and everything looked festive and exciting. The kids each received a candy cane (yay for Sophie) and a stuffed animal as a present. They were sooo excited!
After Santa, the only thing left to do was visit the craft tables. Kids 5 and under went to one in the cafeteria; kids 6 and up went down another wing of the school. Rob took the littles, while I steered Chloë to her area. The little ones collected bags of "reindeer food" and colored holiday pictures, while the big kids glued together crafty ornament kits. I let her do whatever she wanted, with no help from me, and she did a great job!
Sophie with the reindeer food. She didn't quite get that it was to spread on the ground on Christmas Eve; we went home, and she promptly ate her whole bag. When I caught her, we went right outside and spread everyone's on the ground, but she still turned around and grabbed a handful and shoved it in her mouth! The child gives up the eats for NO ONE.
Chloë's finished ornament. Er, magnet. Whatev.
When we got home, Chloë found my not-so-secret stash of Christmas presents but only really figured out that Jack's new Doggy was in there. (For those who don't know, Doggy was his lovey from birth to age three, when he lost him shortly after we went to Disneyworld. He ate, slept and breathed Doggy and has been longing for him ever since.) I tried to play it off, saying it wasn't, but Jack was wise to me. I had no choice but get it down and give it to him, and the reunion was sweet.
He was ecstatic!!!! And I cried, a wee bit.
After that, we drove up to Richmond for Chloë to meet with the director of a small film. Normally it takes almost two hours to get up there, but somehow I made it up there in an hour. No tickets, ma. We got to the meeting place - a funky coffee shop down the road from VCU, where the director is a senior (good God, I'm 10 years older than him) - and, since we still had tons of time, grabbed drinks and sandwiches. Luckily the portions were huge and we could share, because the prices matched. Good food, though. If you're ever in Richmond, visit Common Groundz on W Broad St.
Finally Chris arrived, and sat with Chloë and me at a separate booth. She did her monologue - a little nervously but still very well - and then read through her part of the script with him. He said she did very well, and then did a little interview of her. Afterward, he told us the read-through was really great, and he was giving her the part! She'll play "Lucy," a little girl having a tea party. She has quite a few lines for us to work on between now and the beginning of January when filming starts.
So we're excited about that. It's her first hired acting role - so far everything has been modeling - and she'll get a film credit and a copy of the movie, along with meals. No financial compensation, but he's going to try and submit it to a bunch of film festivals, so who knows who might see it? What a thrill.
I hadn't slept well (shocker) the night before, so I let Rob drive while I snoozed, on the way home. It took quite a bit longer to get there. Guess I inherited the lead foot, just like my big sis!
In the evening, we went through a little bit more of the boxes from Grandma, and Chloë pulled out this head towel. Of course, she wanted me to put it on her right away. They are pretty cool - there's one for each of us girls - and will definitely come in handy!
So, that was Saturday.
I didn't sleep all night, until about 0500. Which was a pity, because Rob woke me up at 0730 to get ready for another craft show I was supposed to do. I was really looking forward to this one, because it was at the girls' dance studio. I was exhausted, though, and I had a migraine that lasted all day. I slept well into the afternoon and kept waking up with a killer 'graine. It has finally gone away, thankfully, but I'm disappointed to have missed the show.
While I was asleep, Rob and the kiddos had cleaned up the living room and set up the Christmas tree. After dinner, we gathered in the living room to put up the ornaments. It's my job to sit on the couch, unwrap each one and exclaim over it, who it belongs to and its origins, and then hand it to one of the kids to hang or give to Daddy to hang. The kids love decorating the tree, and it's a hoot watching them.
At the end, we fetched the boxes from Grandma, who always sends new Hallmark ornaments every year. There was new jewelry in the box, which the girls insisted on wearing immediately; they traded items back and forth. Then we pulled out and admired all the new ornies before finishing off the tree.
Hee. It's a little bottom-heavy. And we forgot the angel in the attic, which was fine, because as soon as Rob put it up, the cat climbed up the tree again and knocked it down. I still haven't drug out the tree skirt, but we'll take care of that this week. It's just going to get all messed up for the next 2½ weeks, anyhow.
On the dishcloth front, I'm in the home stretch! 42 down, 8 more to go. I hope to be done by Wednesday.
Fin.
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