KIDS JUST KILL ME...

This blog must be jammed with kids. I'm in a funky mood right now, my husband downloaded some MC Hammer on my ipod...what was he thinking? Anyway, I have to tell everyone about how funny these little Italian kidlings are that I teach at the pre-school - one day I'll talk about the middle school and high school kids, but they're a whole different breed. Well, there is this one group of four year olds that I've been teaching for two years and in this class two puppy love couples have formed...one couple, Andrea and Giulia must be soulmates because I have never seen any couple as in love as these two niblets. They hold each others hands, hug each other and have deep conversations during my English lesson only taking time out from each other to Hokey Pokey, and I just sit there watching them and laughing to myself. I swear the last lesson they kissed each other on the lips, so of course I jumped up and was like, "Whoa, no hanky panky on my shift!" Shocking. In that same class there is another couple, Ginevra and Filippo who hold hands and hug during English class. I promise all I do is sing, dance, use flashcards and stuffed animals! WELL, during the last lesson Giulia(the girl from couple number 1) was absent and Filippo (the boy from couple number 2) was absent as well. So, loverboy Andrea (Andrew)started making the moves on Ginevra...when he tried to hold her hand, she shot him a look like "BURN AND DIE SCUM" and said, "I have a boyfriend and you are not him!" I was on the floor, lost it totally, geeze they start early in this country! I'm so naive.
Just thought I'd jam-pack this blog with some amazing cochlear kids, my four year olds inspire me every day...(TO DEACTIVATE THE MUSIC CLICK ON THE STOP BUTTON IN THE UPPER RIGHTHAND CORNER)
AMAZING BROTHERS ELLIOT AND OLIVER!!


HERE'S GAGE AGAIN:

HIS MOM VAL BLOGGED:
Gage is very dramatic about the weather. Our power was out for 18hrs. We read and told ghost stories. They had a ball.

NOTE: CHECK VAL'S BLOG REGULARLY BECAUSE SHE IS ALWAYS POSTING AMAZING VIDEOS OF HER KIDS!

I ALSO WANTED TO ADD THIS LINK TO A WEBSITE WHERE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD FREE LYRICS. JORDAN LOVES MUSIC BUT HAS A REALLY DIFFICULT TIME WITH THE LYRICS, SO I HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOWNLOADING TO HELP OUR KIDS REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THE SONGS ARE SAYING!!! THANKS TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COCHLEAR FORUM FOR POSTING THIS!

THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS LIVES UPSTAIRS FROM MY MOTHER-IN-LAW!!!

UNBELIEVABLE!! First of all, I haven't blogged because I can't freaking open my email, my server is constantly down...it is driving me CRAZY!!!!!! Okay, I'm calm, kind of, because Christmas here is like a 72 hour marathon of pasta al forno, chicken salad, crostini with sausage, mushrooms, fish stuff, eggs, salami, roast beef, fried polenta, french fries, potatoes, chicken broth and AMAZING tira mi su - my mil's specialty and WINE WINE WINE. I didn't eat that much this year, I'm watching my line:)But it is like a non-stop eatfest, you spend four hours at the table, sleep for two, and then plow in the car to go to visit friends where they shove more food down your throats. We went to my husband's cousin's podere, an amazing traditionally tuscan-styled farmhouse in the middle of the countryside, to die for beautiful, roaring fireplace and lots of family cheer. The game of the evening was PAN FORTE, a traditional Sienese Medieval Christmas something something that is a flat, round, rock hard disc of candied fruit, almonds, sugar, etc - I don't eat it and the people here throw it, literally, across a looooooong wooden table where the person who comes the closest to the end of the table without going off the table wins. It's kind of like the paper triangle football game that we played in Middle School during recess. Jordan rocked! I opted out after I sucked and spent my time in front of the fireplace listening to my NEW IPOD! WAHOOOOOO! I cannot believe I am finally home, exhausting three day marathon - and this is how it all started:

As I blogged in a previous post we were preparing to unmask Santa because Jordan is eleven and is the only one in Middle School who still believes - he's convinced- that Santa exists. Well, as my brother-in-law Alessandro prepared to dress up as Santa and left a couple of presents on the landing between floors of the condominium, I went outside to get some more packages to stuff "Santa's" bag. On my way outside, I saw a neighbor, a woman live-in who looks after an elderly woman, walk in the door to the condominium. We exchanged best wishes and she went on her way. I brought the extra packages inside, sat down and tried to calm down my hyper agitated can't-wait-for-Santa kids. As we're sitting there, I hear Alessandro, my father-in-law and my mil arguing because they couldn't find the packages they had left on the landing, they had disappeared. When they realized that none of the three had touched the presents, Ale went upstairs and knocked on this woman's door, who spent twenty-five minutes saying she had walked upstairs in the dark and hadn't seen any packages. Ale called me upstairs to identify the woman and when she saw me she suddenly changed her story to "Yes, I saw you as I walked in the condominium, walked upstairs in the dark, saw a couple of packages that I didn't touch and went in my house." Whoa! At that point her story had changed and Ale who is a police officer in Florence lost it totally! He screamed for ten minutes, threatening her and said he was going to call the police if she didn't whip out the presents...well, that must have convinced her because she hightailed her dishonest butt to her bedroom and SURPRISE SURPRISE PULLED OUT THE MISSING BAG OF PRESENTS!!!!! THIEF! GRINCH! CHRISTMAS WITCH! WOULD YOU WANT YOUR SICK MOTHER LOOKED AFTER BY A THIEF!!!
It took Ale twenty minutes to calm down and we were all in shock, times must be really bad if you have to steal a kid's Christmas presents!
AND NOW FOR THE MOMENT I HAD BEEN WAITING FOR...
After Santa came into the house, Jordan was flying out of his pants and Sofia...after one "HO HO HO!" said, "You're not Santa, you're Zio Ale!" (that's my girl!)(NOTE: don't think that the fact that Jordan couldn't hear Santa's voice has nothing to do with the fact that he believes in Santa)The kids opened their presents and my mil said, "Okay, Jordan, let's go unmask Santa!" I stayed with Sofia and this was the report back from the big event...
Apparently, when Jordan took off Santa's beard, the first thing he did was hug Ale with an ecstatic face, the second thing he did was say, "Zio, you're Santa Claus, but how is it possible that YOU give all the presents to all the children in the world!"
And...that's my boy!

SORRY THIS IS LATE, BUT MMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!