it's christmas eve, you guys

And while they were there the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."  And suddenly there was with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

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and that's what christmas is all about, charlie brown.

i'd say if the decepticons come, we've got more problems than just breaking and entering

at preschool, and also at the church in general, we've got a lovely little security system that gets turned on every night and off again every morning, just like pretty much every other building ever.  this means we've got these guys hanging out in every room and hallway.

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on our One and Only Day of School This Week, Boy noticed it hanging out in the corner, up above the closet the teachers use, and inquired about it.  now, of course, this was during snack so the attention of several children was drawn toward it.  they all Needed to Know.  so i explained to them about security systems, and how it's there to make sure no one comes into our school or church in the night when no one's supposed to be here and it helps keep our school safe when we aren't at school.

of course, if you aren't safe, there are Bad Guys.  so we had to then, of course, talk about how if Bad Guys ever did come in the security system would know and would call the police.  i told them it had never happened at our school and probably wouldn't, but you never know for sure so we've got the system just in case.  then they had to know what KIND of Bad Guys would come in.

would Bad Guys come and steal stuff?  (well, maybe)

would the Bad Guys beat anybody up? (probably not, as the place wouldn't have anyone else here!)

what if the decepticons came? (then the autobots would probably come too and they'd fix it)

what about vampires?  (it's only a problem if they sparkle)

what ARE vampires? (they aren't real, don't worry)

they all seemed to settle back down and be Less Concerned About Bad Guys when they heard vampires weren't real.  me?  i kinda wanted to go back to the decepticons.

part of me almost hopes they break in in the middle of the night.  but then i think about that, and realize that is a TERRIBLE plan.  terrible, i say.

apparently i need a rotary cutter. or Really Really Sharp Scissors.

so next july the girl i've been best friends with for the last two decades is getting married.

that's us.  we awesome.

and while my dear danielle is the oldest of four chil'ens, she is also the only girl.  she was not given any lovely little sisters (although i will say her brothers are Pretty Rockin').  and as she has no sisters, and i am the friend that has been there since the Dawn of Time, i was given the role of maid of honor.  so i get to assist with all things wedding related.  

i got to go dress shopping.

don't worry, she didn't buy any of these dresses.  her real one is a SECRET.

i get to get caught up on all the details before anyone outside their families (that i know of...).

i get to stand up front and hold a bouquet (two actually....gots ta hold the bride's during the ceremony, y'know).

i get to wrangle children (which is any different than any other day how?).

and most relevant to the moment, i get to Help Make Stuff.

the current project is the flowers.  we're making all the flowers out of fabric.  danielle's made (and by made i mean cut out) about a quarter of what needs to be cut.  she's halfway through the blue fabric she got.  this week i received the yellow fabric.  only thing about the yellow fabric....it's tulle.  i don't know if you've ever dealt with tulle before, but i have quickly learned that It Is The Devil.  for the first time ever, i've had to google how to cut something.  apparently when you work with tulle you need a flat surface, a rotary cutter (although if you fail to possess one of those for some ungodly reason then the internet SUPPOSES stupidly sharp scissors will work), a metal ruler, and a cutting board.

and all of that is fantastic.

EXCEPTING for the fact that i am not Desiring to Make a Tutu or a Veil or Anything Like That.  i want to make flowers.  and i have a template for them!

which has failed me.  for verily tulle is hard to trace things on, and harder still to cut intricate things out of.  i have progressed to giving up on that and making circles, because circles are much simpler, yes they are.

HOWEVER.

circles are still making my life hard.  tulle is stupid.  i don't love it anymore.  actually i don' think i ever did LOVE it.....i think i'm pretty ambivalent toward it, actually.  i think i'm ambivalent toward most fabrics.  i don't really care that much.  except now i care about tulle a lot.  because i have two yards of it, and i must make circles.  and some strips.  and experiment with it all.  and try to make it work somehow.

because i have to. 

am i dead? or am i not??

have a hint:  i'm not.

at least, i'm PRETTY sure i've survived thus far.

it's kind of hard to tell, to be honest.

i'm a bit run down.  and maybe sick?  maybe not?  i in real and true actuality can't tell on that one.  i woke up on sunday and was all stuffed up and such.  and tired.  REALLY TIRED.  sunday was perhaps the worst possible day for me to feel that way.  i base that statement on the fact that sunday was the preschool's christmas program and our staff party.  i spent about 80% of the day trying really hard not to fall over.

let me tell you, it was TRICKY.  tricky, but worth it.

anyway, i've spent this ENTIRE WEEK crazy stuffed up and exhausted, with a slight sore throat that comes and goes and a couple instances of a mild headache.  so, i'm not sure if i'm actually sick or not.  it's really deLIGHTful fun.  except for how it isn't.

on TOP of all this we have our wonderfully BOISTEROUS group of 3 and 4 year old children.  they are just the most RESTFUL group of children i have ever encountered, and they have SUCH a calming influence on my life.

this is how they make me feel

although i SHOULD point out that as...INVIGORATING as they are, they DO have their upside as well.

FOR EXAMPLE.

--Girl ran up to me on the playground one day (like, RAN to me), exclaims, "miss stone, i just like you ALL DAY!!"  and runs away again immediately.

--Girl was one of several waiting for her coat to be zipped before we went outside, and when it was her turn she said "miss stone will you zip my coat?"  to which i replied, of course (then i zipped it and made the awesome "i'm-zipping-your-coat" sound i make).  Girl gets in line to go out and says, "you're so NICE, miss stone."  well, i DO try.

--Girl and Boy got into a hot debate not once, but twice, that ended in discussing the merits of Dora the Explorer.  both began when Girl declared she enjoyed a certain program (first star wars, second....spongebob, i think) and Boy declared that said program was HIGHLY inappropriate for their age group and here are some better programs that she should watch.  dora was always included.  Girl always informed Boy that she does, in fact, watch dora.  Girl was also lectured on love by Boy when she sang some unidentifiable piece of music, then informed me she heard it on her pink hello kitty radio and that she loves her hello kitty radio.  Boy was very quick to tell her that was wrong, because you don't love objects you love PEOPLE.  you can like objects, though.  Girl told him that no, she loved her radio.  Boy shot back that no, she liked her radio, because you could only love people, like your family, and that she loves her family more than her radio.  Girl told him she actually loves her radio more than her family, hah, noooo, that's not true.  they went in circles like that for a while.  it was fantastically entertaining.  (dunno if you can tell, but i LOVE when Boy lectures Girl.  it's AMAZING.  every.  time.)

--ummm........ummmmmmmmmmmm..................................UMMMM..............i'm sure there's other stuff.  i'm SURE of it.  i just can't think of any more at the moment.  because i'm still EXHAUSTED.  and really, this class is best compared to a giant game of chutes and ladders wherein, by a stroke of bad luck, you're more prone to chutes than ladders.  we've all had those games.  you know EXACTLY what i'm talking about.

where was i going with this post?  i don't really remember.....but i think that goes back to being exhausted and  on decongestants all week.  perhaps that was my point.....i'm still here, but kind of incredibly overwhelmed by life this year.  

this was long.  and probably unnecessary.

...........have this:

this photogenic little devil is named beans, and he lives in my house

yes, he's adorable.  let's leave it there.