Fiesta Night 2009

Tonight was Ben and Joshy's school program debut. It was so strange to be the mom in the audience instead of the girl playing her violin recital on stage. I remember the plays and the Christmas programs and always having your parents there at the end, always proud. Tonight, sitting on the other side, I felt so...adult. You know, you get married and then have children and live in this fog of sleep deprivation and "If I have to tell you one more time..."s but in those moments the fog lifted. Holy crap. I have kids. I'm a grownup. Fortunately, the proud part came too easy to be affected by my panicked acceptance of adulthood.

I love taking pictures of Ben when he looks up at the camera and so I decided I would get one of Joshy sitting next to his star. Well, Reuben is in stage where he will not smile in a serious fashion for a camera. He either looks like a goof ball or like he wants to kill you in a dark alley. This time was sort of pirate-esque.

In addition to the program, the school had a book fair. The books were set up in the back of the auditorium for the kids to browse through and like a...a...well, I can't think of the phrase but basically something that hones in exactly on what it wants and goes straight for it without looking back, Joshy took aim at the "jedi" book. He has the light sabers that he and John received at Christmas and caught the Empire Strikes Back on television and the well illustrated cover made ease of the connection. For Ben I picked up a book for us to read, which came in handy as we all had to sit around for a good 10 minutes while everyone meandered their way in.

The kids (nursery through 3/4 year olds) sang five songs on stage. It was late enough that you were losing a good bulk of the kids, but they were dressed up in goofy hats and glasses and even if there was more screaming than singing, it was perfect all the same. Joshy's favorite was Skinamarinkidinkidink (sp). I remember it from when I was little so I, without thought, would start singing along whenever he practiced and one time, when we were singing, I caught Ben in the corner of my eye, doing the motions. He would shake his hand on the Skinama part and then point to his eye at the beginning of I love you. Of course, memories of that song brought back memories of the song that never ends. How clever I thought that was as a child. If I remember correctly, I even made up my own verse to spice up the never ending cycle. Still, better than the song, was seeing Joshy interact with his best friend Jackson. As soon as they see each other they are pretending fighting as red and black spiderman. They make for quite the team.

As I sat in the cafeteria of the church, eating my taco salad and waiting to head into the auditorium, nostalgia didn't sweep over me...it kicked me in the balls. It felt so much like CHA. Everything about it. Everything. The tables, the hallway, the artwork, the program, the parents. It was like a time warp, excepting this time I wasn't forced to wear a Mexican wedding dress bought at the street shop in Nueva Laredo. I loved CHA and my time there. I loved the ridiculous dinners and countless programs. I feel so fortunate that my kids are getting to experience those same things and see how proud their "grownup" parents are of them. It is not just a girl and three boys. It is a girl and my boys. Lucky me.