Grace came running, all breathless....
"A Christmas card for you, Mommy!"

"It says b-i-b-l-e!" she told me triumphantly.
Not bad, eh?

Christmas declaration of the magi... a song from the Christmas choir presentation at the Met.

We have come
Traveling so far
Following a star
To Bethlehem
At last
We have found God's son
Such a tiny one
We worship him

Some call us wise
Because we see,
But from our hearts
We now believe
We believe
This is the Christ
The hope of heaven sent to earth
We believe
He ruled on high
But came in lowly human birth
And we believe
This king will reign
And all the world will know will know his name
And those who bow
He will receive
We believe

Now we offer
The gifts we bring
Merely token things
From a servant's heart
But what he will
Give to men
We now understand
Only in part
Of all the wisdom
We profess
There is no greater
Truth than this:
We believe
This is the Christ
The hope of heaven sent to earth
We believe
He ruled on high
But came in lowly human birth
We believe
This king will reign
And all the world will know his name
And those who bow
He will receive
We believe

Sledding adventures
Are very short
In wintery weather
With Asian-born girls.

A neighbor's discarded sled
With a holey bottom
Excited girls
Wanting to know where's the hill.

Crisp biting cold
Warm winter wear
Clear skies and bright sunshine
Perfect day for outdoors.

A sled-run already made smooth
The thrill of speed
Tumbles at the bottom
Slipping steps up the hill.

"By myself!"
"turn the sled around then"
"Uhoh!"
"Why did it go by itself, Mommy?"
Proud success
Wide smiles
Up and down again
Grace only now.

"Home, Mommy. I'm cold"
"No! I want to go down again!"
"One more time; Jasmin is cold"
"Home, Mommy. I'm cold."

Sledding adventures
Are very short
In wintery weather
With Asian-born girls.

I've discovered a secret:
Let Jasmin choose her spot for a nap.
Then there is no fight
No tears
And much more often
A sleeping child

Once it was the top of the stairs
I had to persuade her this was better than an actual stair!
Today...
She arranged herself in the cupboard
Closed the doors
And fell asleep
In a matter of moments
A lesson in Mommy flexibility -
or desperation?

Last Sunday Grace was in her first Sunday School Christmas Concert. We were thinking that she'd be rather lost as she had only been practicing a few Sundays, but at the dress rehearsal on Saturday, she flabbergasted Mommy by marching out on stage as if she'd been doing it all her life and sang both songs all the way through! She didn't do quite as well on Sunday - there were quite a few more distractions! - but she did well for such a new experience.
The theme was Jesus, Light of the World. Different groups sang songs from different countries around the world - the preschool choir was Canada.

Occupying herself backstage


Enjoying the last moments on stage

At Sunday School on Sunday, Jasmin and Grace made angels. Jasmin was very taken with hers. She carried it around all day - panicked if it got out of sight and mourned when it got squished or torn - and even insisted it go to bed with her! This continued into Monday... and Tuesday.... it's a pretty tatty angel now. Mommy tried to trace it and make a new one but it wasn't acceptable as "her angel"! So, her beloved green angel is still her constant companion, and will be until it is in pieces, I think!

The sheep Who Is Lost. by Grace Hu
Once upon a time there was a sheep with me. I was a shepherd and my sister was looking after the big ones. Then a sneezy wolf and a hungry lion came and wanted the lamb. Grace and Jasmin shepherds were so fast going to protect them. The sneezy wolf and the hungry lion they run away. Jasmin shepherd throw stones at them. I will look after the little lamb. The little lamb got lost. Ohno! Grace shepherd went looking for the little lamb. And it was lost. And then the hungry wolf came again. Then I throw stones at it and it went away. Grace shepherd found the little lamb in the woods. She gave it a big hug and carried it home. Then the big sheeps are so happy coming out of the cage.

Last Christmas the girls got dolls and strollers. All year they have been used for all sorts of things... a kind of an anything but what they are meant to be used for play... but just recently Grace began properly playing with her dolls: giving them picnics, bathing them, putting them to bed, asking Mommy to make clothes for them, - and finally using the stroller to take them for walks. And what Grace does, Jasmin will do,- although for her no doll will do; it has to be Lambie. So, we've taken outdoor trips to the mail and shopping. Rather more difficult for Mommy to keep track of everyone and everything, but at least they were content to trail her around the stores - and even asked to go to another one when we were all done!