The Babe's Debut

Izzy's school put on a full-length production of The Jungle Book (an all-student cast and crew, and all parent-volunteer led), and Izzy auditioned for a part in the Jungle Choir and got it.  This week she did three performances, one for the whole school during the day, and two at night for the public.  We were so happy that Lola, Lolo, Tita Lisa, Jackson, Christian, and Gianni all got to see the first night of the show.  I've never seen a more sparkly, beautiful peacock (or one that can sing the Bare Necessities!).

They took photos of all the students in the play for the program - look at Izzy's head shot!

With her friend Evie, one of the Village Girls:

Gettin' Ready for Xmas

Just some photos from the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Writing a letter to Santa:

Decorating a paper Christmas tree:

And then the real Christmas tree (the leaning tree of the Okanouevas, which fell over a handful of times before we had to finally get the saw out and even out the bottom.  The kids got a lot of practice trimming the tree this year!):

D came and helped us trim the tree too, in full reindeer-gear:

Some of the Christmas baking we did:

Momo's Wisdom Chair

Our most memorable event of 2013 was celebrating Momo's 70th birthday and making Momo's Wisdom Chair (or Heart Seat).  We made a special seat cover for her and gathered thoughts from Momo's family and friends that she could read while in her Wisdom Chair. They were asked what they loved most about Kitty Okano, and they delivered!  Momo was showered with love through various forms -- e-mail, audio files of poems, videos, and probably best of all, a conference call on her birthday with her family, including all of her siblings.  There were lots of wonderful stories shared, and even more laughter.  We love you so much, Momo!  Hopefully it was a day that you'll never forget.

Ethan and Iz both took some pics as well:

Meet Jingle, Iz and E's new friend:

And the finished product!

The Viking Shepherd

This was our 5th (and final!) St Paul's Holiday Program / Christmas Play, and this year Ethan had a role in the play as one of the shepherds.  He only had one speaking line, which he delivered very well, and he also liked that his outfit happened to be the Vikings colors (why? I don't know!  He's been brainwashed by our friends Smitha and Mike!!). 

Family Friday in Mr G's Class

Izzy's school, McKinley Elementary, has Family Friday once a month where parents are able to visit the classroom and participate in activities with their child.  After months of begging :), Iz finally got her wish -- one of us went to Family Friday! It was fun to get a taste of what her everyday classroom life is like, and to experience first hand some of the characters she has as classmates. 

IB Creativity Award

Izzy was presented with the IB Creativity award for being an out of the box thinker, bringing creative flow to the classroom, and for helping others look at things from a new and different perspective.  We weren't able to attend the awards ceremony, but our friend took some pics and a video and shared them with us.  So proud of our girl!

Thanksgiving 2013

We had some special visitors this Thanksgiving.  Mama's friend Rumi (a Japanese friend from her year of teaching English in Japan in 1996-97) and her youngest son, Souri, came all the way from Iyo-shi, Japan to spend a few days with us.  It was fun teaching them about Thanksgiving, then cooking and eating a wonderful feast with them. It was also nice taking them to Balboa Park and to Coronado to enjoy the beach in December. Ah, Winter in San Diego!