Concert Road Trip

In September for my parent's birthday I treated them to a concert at a nearby casino (well a road trip away).   Martina McBride! 

I heard on the radio she was playing at a couple of local venues and I really wanted to go - Dave is so not a Country Music fan and wouldn't appreciate her voice.  My next option - my parents.  And Low & Behold - it was also their birthdays.  We left plenty early that Friday night hoping to beat the traffic and we did for the most part. 

The family selfie


And boy can that woman sing!  We didn't get the best seats in the house, but we had great bleacher seats (first come first serve).





We stayed the night at a nearby hotel and Dad was having some stomach issues, and I apparently got food poisoning at breakfast that morning and was sick the whole way home.  My mom had a car full of sick annoying concert goers.   Well at least we had a great night!

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Kindergarten Sings

Another overdue post... but it's fitting to share this with you today on Drew's last day of Transitional Kindergarten.

On May 22nd, parents were invited to see the TKers play the flute (recorder) and sing.  On Wednesdays the kids from AM and PM come together so this is both classes.

Drew is in the center, 2nd row kind of below the "I" in Sing

Here's a closer shot.

 

The concert began with the kids playing the flute.  I wasn't sure what to expect - I remember not playing the recorder until I was in about 3rd grade.  Turns out the kids play one note per song - they learned a total of 3 notes (B-A-G).  Here are a couple of videos of them playing the recorder/flute:

This was the first song they did:

 And another song where the sing in Spanish (this is for you Abuela!!)

After they were done singing and playing the flute a lot of parents thought the concert was over, but oh no, they did several more songs just singing.  Here's one final video for you.

They finished up with the pledge of allegiance (they still say "One Nation Under God") and walked back to their room where there were refreshments for the kids and parents.

Our little star.... Dave and I had to head back to work so we didn't stay.  The concert lasted about an hour!

Preschool Christmas Angels

Last Friday night it was Drew's annual preschool pageant, and this year he was a Christmas Angel and he sang about 1/2 a dozen songs - which he spent the past several weeks singing around the house.  I love listening to him sing! In fact the other night at Target he was singing songs from Rocky nice and loud... but that's for another post..

Back to my little angel...

Don't be fooled by this innocent looking angel before his performance.  He was actually put in time out earlier in the day at school because he refused to practice.

But he did great when it came time for the real thing!

Here is most of his preschool - his class are dressed as the white angels on both sides of the stage.  In the center is another class (Frogs) which are in animal costumes.  Not pictured is the Bunny class - which is especially young this year (mostly 2 1/2) and only made a brief cameo.

Afterward our Angel was happy to pose for the camera.

And then afterward Drew smiled for the camera with his friend Troy and Mason.  Troy is in his class and Mason has since moved to Kindergarten - their Mom watched Drew for his first 2 1/2 years almost 3 years.

Supporting Cousin Kady

Last week we drove out to Brentwood to support Cousin Kady who was performing in her annual preschool concert.  We couldn't make it last  year due to some scheduling conflict, so Drew and I made sure to do it this year. 

While Kady didn't sing much...

... she sure did jingle a mean bell.  I think she got intimidated looking out at all those people looking at her.   Kady is wearing the cream colored sweater. 

After the performance there was a visit from the Jolly man himself!  And he brought presents for all the kids!

Drew and Adrina shared Santa's lap and were rewarded with a coloring book.

This Little Piggy Went to Church

If you didn't get enough cuteness, performances or videos on yesterday's post... get ready for another dose! (If you're tired of them, well just suck it up... we're proud parents and can't help but show off our little piggy).

On Sunday night, it was the Children's Program at church, and Drew being in his first year of Sunday School was able to participate in it.  His class was dressed up as the animals that were seen in the stable where Jesus was born.  Our little animal.... an unhappy....

Yes our kid's a pig!  He was not happy to be put into costume.  It didn't help matters he was forced awake from a much needed nap about 30 minutes earlier than this photo.

Daddy was able to get a shot of this little piggy entering church.  There was only a slight hiccup when he didn't know where to go...



Once he got up front, he seemed to warm up a little bit.

 Here's a video of his first song (the older kids had a few things before him).



Here's a video of Drew's spoken part paired up with Away in a Manger. 



During the song Angels We Have Heard on High"  Drew was able to wave his stars around.  Luckily no eyes were poked out by any dancing stars.

Of course as we neared the end of the service, Drew stopped fidgeting, whining and fighting everything to ham it up for the congregation.

And he was good for a laugh all the way to the end, when this little runt... er.... piggy wanted to stop in the middle of the aisle.  Thankfully some of the other moms followed behind him (I on the other hand stayed out of the spotlight as much as possible and met him at the back of the church).

Drew was so happy that he had some familiar faces in the congregation.  Grammy and GrampC made another trip out toward us to see his first Sunday School performance.  What a lucky little boy.  His "icing on the cake" was to have nachos for dinner - there was a Mexican/chili dinner afterward.  That made this little piggy cry wee-wee-wee all the way home.

Our Christmas Star

Drew is our very own Christmas Star!  You know as in a holiday performer - otherwise known as the Christmas Star performers for his preschool. His Bunny class joined the older kids (Bears and Frogs) for a few songs on stage.

Drew is the first boy in the second row...

 

Here's a video of him performing "Twinkle Twinkle Christmas Star" (my apologies for our photographer.  Have no fear, they weren't paid for their services).

They sang three songs total.  Again, he's in the second row, first one on the left.

Another few videos... the first of Drew singing "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus"



And the other is a bit longer, "Little Baby Jesus" and all the kids singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Pay attention around 1:13 into the video, at our little ham.



Yes, that would be our child blowing kisses and then thanking everyone for applauding... him.

He was of course hamming it up for everyone in the audience, including a chocolate covered cousin Kady

And Auntie Lisa, Grammy, GrampC and Daddy.

  Our little Star.

And fellow star and best friend Troy - His mom used to watch Drew (they're 9 months apart).

And then Troy's older brother Mason had to make an appearance (he was in the Angel Band - aka older kids)

And Kady had to give Drew a congrats for a job well done - her Christmas performance was the night before.

OK she's really saying goodbye here, but it sounds so much cuter to have her congratulating him!

A Wiggly Good Time

It was the much anticipated Wiggles Concert - Drew's early birthday present from Mommy and Daddy! We drove to San Jose's HP Pavilion to join hundreds of toddlers and preschoolers for "The Wiggles Go Bananas" concert. Or as Drew likes to call the Wiggles "Johnny" (as in Johnny & the Sprites which used to come on the Disney Channel before the Wiggles).

We arrived about 6pm and picked up our few mandatory expensive souvenirs before finding our seats (which were not what I'd call "Best Available" which is what we paid for, but let's keep a positive spin on this blog). The show started about 10 minutes late - which means around 6:40pm, and Drew was starting to get antsy.

As soon as the arena darkened, and the songs started coming on - out popped Jeff (Purple Wiggle). Drew was so excited, his eyes got big and all! He was on sensory overload we think for the first part of the concert, but he really got into parts of it! He loved seeing the Big Red Car come on stage, seeing Murry and Sam (Red & Yellow Wiggle) come through the audience. Mommy loved watching Anthony (Blue Wiggle or the cute one ) shake his thing and do some stunts.

Drew had an absolute blast! How do we know you ask? When we were leaving this morning for Ms. Stephanie's, he was asking to go see the Wiggles again. Poor kid had to settle for the CD that was in my car.

Here are a few snapshots - sorry some of them aren't the greatest of quality... my camera doesn't do well with dark or distance shots....

"Choo Choo Chugga Chugga Big Red Car"

Drew getting caught up in the action

All the Wiggles!

Again, too caught up in the show to say cheese.

The best shot we have of the Wiggles coming near us in the audience

Saying Good-bye at the end of the concert

One final shot before we left - notice the final meltdown...