Abi's Honors Program

Abigail, Papi & I are so proud of you. Susie Dasher Elementary School had their honors program today, and thanks to Ms. Val, both Papi and I attended. I have to admit that walking into the gym full of students & parents waiting to see if their children will receive an award, I got a little swept up in the competition of it all. I know you are amazing, and I wanted to see you receive a bunch of accolades to prove it. Luckily Papi and his quirky sense of humor gave me some much needed perspective. Abigail, you are a daughter of the Lord of Lords & King of Kings. You need nothing more, and have NOTHING to prove. You are an amazing daughter and sister. I know this for a fact. I also know that receiving recognition for hard work is a great thing as well, and you have worked hard with homework & lots of reading this year.

Abigail, you were chosen to sing in the Susie Dasher Dino Choir, and your choir started off the program with some wonderful songs. You also received a certificate for your participation in the choir. Next, you received 2 ribbons for getting all A's in reading and in Language. An award was given out to one student in each class, where the students voted on the person they thought showed the best character, overall positive attitude, and was a role model. Abigail, your peers voted for you! You won a medal in recognition of your character. Papi and I are SO proud of you.

Academics are important - very important. But WHO you are & WHOSE you are are more important. You have demonstrated, and I am sure will continue to demonstrate a genuine love and compassion for others and for God that shines from your beautiful smile and actions. I am so blessed to have you as a daughter.

Stella, Chloe & Claire's Program

Stella, Chloe & Claire attend our church's pre-school. Stella goes 2X a week & Chloe & Claire go 1X, and last week was the end of the year program. Everyone brings a finger food to share, the program starts at 7, and we get to celebrate a year of pictures, fun & knowledge. All good stuff, but I admit that it somewhat stresses me out. There was a great slideshow and 2 classes who presented songs & Bible verses before Stella appeared with her class. Abigail & Jillian did a pretty good job of sitting nicely beside me, and were excited to see Stella. I could see Stella scanning the crowd for us. She spotted Papi who was in the front taking pictures, and then she spotted us waving at her. She smiled that Stella coy/shy smile, slightly raised her hand for a wave, and proceeded to play with & eat her dress. What is it with the Paulino girls eating dresses at school programs? Maybe I need to stick with pant outfits. Especially since Stella was practically eaten alive by mosquitoes & her legs now look like she's recovering from chicken pox (or chicken pops as Abi says). So as the rest of her class sings and recites Bible stories Stella stands there yanking her dress up to her mouth. If that isn't bad enough I notice that her pamper has started to fall off. Yep, the right side had become unattached & there was LOTS of skin showing. Nothing X-rated, but I was beginning to wonder if I should crawl down to the front & beg her to keep her dress in the normal position. Luckily her class finished, and they swept her up & fixed her pamper. So apparently I was NOT the only one to notice. Lovely. Of course Stella didn't care, and she received a shiny bright orange bouncy ball as a farewell present. Oh yeah - a bouncy ball for a 3 year old who still needs to sit through the rest of the program. The ball only escaped 4 times - I was surprised. Stella - done & seated. Now onto Chloe & Claire.

The curtain was closed as their class was being assembled, and you could hear one child crying . . . loudly. Yep, it was Claire. I knew it was her & as the curtains parted she was wailing & slightly squirmy in the arms of a volunteer. They played a few songs, and the kids danced. Actually everyone danced except for Claire who did NOT care, and Chloe just stood there. Chloe was immobile. I'm not sure if she was in shock, bored, or scared but she did not move an inch. No complaints since she was not crying or nude.

Needless to say when the program ended, we headed for the car. Food? Highly overrated. Ok, we did get a few to go plates b/c the cookies did look good, but decided not to stay.

I will say that I was impressed, as always with the Children's Center Pre-school. They do a wonderful job of teaching and loving on these little ones, and more importantly do so in a way that God is glorified. These precious ones are learning how much God loves them, that they can be friends with Jesus, and are being taught to have scripture in their heads & hearts. Girls you are blessed to be able to go there & be loved on with Jesus' love.