The Young and the Innocent

A few days ago when I asked Andrew about his day at school, he told me one of his classmates got in trouble for calling another boy a bad name. Here is how the conversation continued...(keep in mind Andrew answers questions just like Paul - short, to the point and with little, if any emotion.)
Me: What did he say?
A: I don't know.
Me (in total slick-investigating-mom mode): Do you know any bad words?
A: Just one.
Me (now, in a totally undetectable oh-my-goodness-what-is he-going-to-say-keep-your-cool-no-matter-what panic): What does it start with?
A: "S"
Me (now wondering, have I ever said the "S" word around him? Do 2nd graders say that? Where did he hear it? Does he say it? And I am SO glad he did not say "F"): What does it mean?
A: Be quiet.
Since we were laying on the bed, he did not see me smile at his answer. And I am pretty sure he could not detect the enormous amount of relief only a mom can feel knowing that her 8 year old son still thinks "shut up" is a bad word.

Enjoying The Sounds Of Christmas

One of my very good friends, Kelly, who knows how much I love the symphony, was incredibly generous and gave our family tickets to a holiday concert performed by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra at the Cannon Center in Memphis. At the beginning of the performance we were told a local television station, WREG would be recording the performance which is to be aired on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I immediately made the kids take off their jackets. Juliana asked "why?" and when I told her "you might be on TV!", she gladly complied. Andrew did not care a bit and grumbled something about being cold. The kids were fascinated with the camera jib (this long arm with a camera on the end) and it was interesting to see it move so seamlessly.

Why is all this so important? Well, for one of the songs (I think it may have been Jingle Bells... I was too busy taking pictures of Juliana), they asked for child volunteers to help out on stage. Needless to say, Andrew was not interested at all but Juliana was very willing to help. She and all the other brave (or attention seeking) children got to ring bells and throw faux snow and at one point the camera came in right next to her. Now, she may end up on the cutting room floor, but if you happen to tune in, be sure to look for her. She will be the one on the end wearing a red dress with white furry cuffs and white tights with red and silver snowflakes on them (thanks Anna!).

We had a great night and it was perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit. It also reminded me of the times we would go hear Ashley play. Thank you so much Kelly!

*The pictures are blurry since we did not have the "good" camera with us. Who knew there would be a chance our daughter would be up on stage?