cousins at Christmas

We had a nice time at Richard's mom's on Boxing Day with her and the Napanee Prinsens and Uncle Ed. Here are Corey, Josh, and Jonathan hanging out.

Jonathan checks out which cousin is most comfortable to lie on top of, and chooses Luke.

Littlest and biggest Prinsen cousins - Jonathan and Josh.

Cara and Allison -- 2 beautiful girls!

the (Christmas) play's the thing

Not to be outdone by his sister, Jonathan performed in a play last night too: the Christmas play at Friendship Group (aka Circle of Friends) at Westside Fellowship Church. Jonathan was a shepherd, and a very affectionate one at that -- he and Mary and the Baby really clicked! :-)

death by Macbeth, times two

They say you only live once, but apparently you can die twice. This past Tuesday, Allison's gr. 8 Challenge class at Calvin Park P.S. performed "Macbeth." Allison had 2 small roles (Macduff's son and Young Siward), both of which involved her being stabbed to death onstage. In one case she was dragged offstage by her feet! The whole class did an amazing job, considering they only had about a month to prepare.

I think what really struck me was how much of a "high" Allison was on after the performance. She was absolutely beaming onstage at the curtain call, and just walking on air for about an hour afterward (despite dying twice). It's neat (and a bit surprising) to see how much pleasure she gets out of acting -- this is definitely something she should pursue as she goes on in school.

good friend

On Saturday I took Jonathan to his Extend-a-Family Saturday program. Allison, who came with me, also met up with one of her friends from Quintilian Social Club -- a high-school girl with special needs. The girl's mom was with her and raved about what a nice girl Allison was, what a good friend Allison was to M., how she'd love to have Allison over to their house, etc. That really made me proud as a mom. It is one thing to have your child praised for accomplishments, but it is even more special to have someone say "Your daughter is a good friend." Allison does not really see handicaps or judge that anyone is better than anyone else. And that's a great gift.

sure shot

So proud of Jonathan today! His teacher said that his class (gr 4/5) was playing basketball in the gym during phys-ed. Unfortunately for the last year or so Jonathan has had a phobia of the gym which is sad because he used to love the gym so much and his fear really hinders the enjoyment he derives from all things ball-related. But today he ventured away from the sidelines a bit, so the teacher told the other students to let him participate if he wanted. A classmate threw him the ball and he immediately sunk a basket. The class went wild!