Better to Give?

Marco's December project with his fifth grade buddy was to write a Christmas letter to Santa together.  My favorite, favorite, favorite part is his selfless wish for his Dad.

 

Ha!

Christmas Makes Me Smile

We're enjoying all the fun parts of Christmas with Marco.  Christmas tree, Christmas lists, Christmas lights, Christmas wishes and Christmas concert.  Here's a pic of our little Christmas angel from his first school Christmas concert and just in case you really care, here's his class performance. 

Marco is the tallest one in the front row.  HA!  Cecchin jinx.

Thanks Giving

We're thankful for Marco's new school. 

 

 

Hot, hot, hot.

I volunteered to drive for the Fire Station field trip and learned two important lessons; that  I don't want to be a teacher, and the difference between a fire truck and a fire engine.

 

What I didn't learn was why only Moms signed up to chaperone?

Love All Around

We had a FANTASTIC weekend celebrating Uncle Mike and Aunt Mariesa's wedding.  Marco was so very excited to be an usher for the wedding and "dress just like [his] cousins!"

 

Mike and Mariesa shared a touching ceremony, a fun party and an excellent extended family.  Plus, Jeff delivered a charming, funny and heartwarming best man toast - but that's no surprise.

 

Marco sat in the front row for the ceremony with Grandma and Papa Cecchin and kept turning around to repeatedly whisper to me, "When's Aunt Mariesa coming?"

 

And here's the proof.

 

 

 And the next week's sharing sentence...



California Sunday

Just when you think you have enough friends in your life, you stumble across some more to add to your crew.  Here are a few pics of us and a few of the neighborhood besties.

Halloween

A.M. - Trick or Treating at the retirement home near his school.  "There were a lot of old ladies.  And a few old men."  Candy.



Midday - School parade.  Star appearance by Grandma Cecchin.  Shows off to friends that I'm also dressed like a ninja.  "See!  Those are her golden weapons!"  Yes!  Candy.



P.M. - Convinces me to stay dressed as a ninja.  Fades around house five.  Candy.  Candy.  Candy.



Proof:

The Parent Slap

We had our parent teacher conference last week and it was a parental slap in the face. 

I've pretty much positioned Marco in my mind as a guy who would do alright in school, but would likely get by on charm, looks and a large group of friends.

I was more nervous for my kindergarten conference than for my performance review.  We sat down in our itsy bitsy chairs in front of a 25-year kindergarten veteran who laid it all out.

Teacher says Marco is very smart, a leader, has an incredible vocabulary, in her top reading group, follows instructions well and is very charming.... with the teachers. Unfortunately, he's having a hard time finding his niche of friends.  He's very upset when the other kids aren't following the rules and proceeds to boss them and tattle on them. 

Slap.

"We just love him though.  He's my only kindergartener who understands - and uses - sarcasm."

Slap.

She says she typically recommends play dates and sports teams, but says likely time will fix it.  It's all new and he's still figuring it out. 

Knowing that Marco has plenty of friends, perhaps I've placed a little too much emphasis on rule following and not getting his card flipped in class.  (Classroom's discipline tactic.)

Still...  he doesn't seem to notice.  He LOVES school and his teachers and his classmates.  I volunteered last week in cooking class and I was like a shiny penny.  "See???!  That's my Mom!  I told you she was coming!!"  :)

And here are some adorable school photos:

Marco seemed to miss which was the funny face pic and which was not.  Ah well.

Red and Gold

Since Marco went to his first Giants game at about three months old, he was a little behind on football.  Jeff really wanted to get him to his first game while the 49ers were still playing at Candlestick.

As luck would have it, the other boys brought their boys and Marco had a blast.  Could it be the endless supply of junk food or idolizing Colin Mulry?  Either way - he's a fan.

Here's the proof of baby's first football game...

 

Family Sharing

On Love

When I arrived to pick up Marco, Niko wanted to show me a secret.  It was a very sweet love note.  It read: Lea, I like you, you are prettiee.  Name has been changed to protect the innocent. 

Back in the car, Marco and I had a secret conversion.

Me: "Do you think Lea is pretty too?"
Marco: "Not really.  I mean, not to me.  She's blond.  Blond girls are too pretty to marry."

Never so happy to not be looking at him in the face.  Dying with laughter.

Me: "That's okay, everyone's different, that's why everyone thinks different people are pretty."
Marco: "Right, like Dad likes girls with brown hair like me, that's why he wanted to marry you, right Mom?"
Me: "Right."

Marco: "Plus, I'm already in love with someone else."


And the best part is that he even told me who... But I'll never tell.  :)

On Catholicism

Marco is fast learning the Catholic lessons that we may have neglected to teach to him.

On likening the tabernacle to an adults-only bakery:  "Mom, do you know what the tabernacle is?  It's a really funny word, but it's where they keep special bread that's only for adults."

On luck:  "We got to go on a field trip today!  To a church!  And we learned to cross ourselves like the people on game shows."

On snacks:  "You're not allowed to eat the special bread until you're an adult because it's been blessed.  But guess what?  Father Leo let us try the crackers that haven't been blessed yet!  And you know what?  It is not. good."

On superheroes: "Mom, if Jesus had powers, why didn't he use them when the bad guys were beating him up on the cross?"

For B week, the kids were asked to bring their favorite bear for Father Leo to bless. Marco chose his "least favorite bear." When we asked him why: "Because after Father blesses him, we'll probably eat it."

And perhaps our most embarrassing Catholic school moment came when Marco was selected to decorate the prayer table.  His three prayers included praying "that animals would live as long as people," "for the homeless man on Lakeshore," and "for Uncle Mike and Aunt Mariesa to have a happy marriage."  So far, so good. 

Jeff also managed to scare up some table adornments from his confirmation circa the late 1980s.  As Marco was unpacking them to decorate the table, the teacher asked him to describe each item.  "And this is my Dad on the cross when he was a little boy..."
 
Catholic school fail? 

Here's some fun school pics from the kindergarten website.  Which of these kids is doing his own thing?  Sigh.

 Spirit Day!  Marco's class color is purple.

 Marco's favorite school project so far.  Butterfly growing and release.  Ew.

Catalina 2013

Once again, our Catalina trip was a favorite for everyone.  After a slight adjustment to August to accomodate kindergarten (darn school!) we headed off to the boat for a week of cooking, swimming and relaxation.  Notables for Marco include his first jumping in and swimming in the ocean without a life jacket (pretty sure he beat Jeff by 15 years), snorkeling, kayaking (in his own kayak this year - with tow line) and paddleboarding.  He's a natural.