As I proudly watched

So I haven't written anything since Abby and Anne's play, and the reason for that is because I have been CRAZY busy!!! I have taken a ton of pictures of Abby and Anne's performances in their school play, but I am not going to post them today. Maybe tomorrow.
I did want to write about the performance, because it really made me feel as though I was the luckiest person in the whole world! You see, my girls go to a school where they learn Spanish. This school is INCREDIBLE!! The principal is FANTASTIC as well as the teachers are FANTASTIC!!! I just don't think that my kids could be getting any better of an education, even if they went to a private school!
Now, one of the great things about this school is that because they are teaching the kids Spanish, they really strive to teach the kids about the Latino culture. I mean, it isn't hard when the teachers are coming straight from Colombia, Mexico, Chile, and Venezuela. It is always fun to go to the assemblies (even if I only understand about 1/3 of the entire assembly) and watch my children be dressed in traditional Latino costumes and singing and dancing traditional Latino dances. It is so wonderful to watch my girls completely understand and speak a completely different language. However, I think that my most favorite part about the school is that they have not followed the ever growing trend of not celebrating Christmas. In fact, not only do they celebrate Christmas, they celebrate the birth of Jesus and they teach the kids about it. This is pretty much unheard of in my city. The other schools aren't even allowed to call their "Winter Holidays" Christmas break, and here my children are with nativity scenes up in their classrooms.
It was so nice when I went to go see my girls perform in their school play. Abby is in the school choir (an alto like her mama) and they performed 4 songs before the play started. All four of these songs had to do with the birth of the Savior. Abby asked me if I cried, and I told her I did. I didn't cry for the reason that she is thinking (she thinks that I would cry because she sang so beautifully and she did) I was crying because I felt so lucky that in the world today where we are really not even allowed to talk about Christ without the worry of offending someone, my oldest daughter was able to sing 4 songs about the Savior in a place other than home and church. It was probably one of my favorite moments as a mom.
The play that the kids did was "The Littlest Christmas Tree". It was a great play, even if I didn't understand a word of it because it was entirely in Spanish. The songs, however, were in English. My personal, favorite part was when Santa and Mrs. Clause came onto the stage. I think that Mrs. Clause was the most beautiful and perfect child on the stage. . . .because she was Anne! Anne was perfect for the part. And my heart swelled every time Anne recited her lines in a perfect Spanish accent. It was just so beautiful (plus we had spent 1/2 an hour curling her hair so she really was beautiful!!!). It didn't matter that I had no clue what she was saying, I was still the proudest mama in the audience!
Yesterday, I volunteered in both of my girls' classrooms because they both had their Christmas parties. I have to say, another great thing about this school is that because they are a Spanish school, they have imported experienced teachers from the Latino countries. This really makes a difference! Abby's teacher used to be a principal in Mexico and she is AMAZING! She has the most incredible parties where we come and completely decorate the room and the kids go around to different stations and do crafts and activities that are both fun and educational! The best part about Abby's teacher, though, is that she really really knows her students and she really really cares about them! I have never met a teacher that is more concerned about her students than Senora Wilkinson.
Anne's teacher is also amazing! This teacher really knows her stuff! She is an incredible scholar in Math and Science, and that makes her the perfect teacher for Anne. Those are Anne's strenghths too, and so Anne loves her teacher and Senora McCruden has the perfect teaching style for Anne.
As a mom, my children's education is very important to me. I worry about it constantly and I think about it a lot. As I have watched my children the past few days and spent so much time at the school this past year, I have really come to appreciate how lucky I am to have the rights and freedom and choice to be able to send my children to such an amazing school! I just wish that there was a better way for me to show my kids' teachers how much I appreciate them!