The Lee Family: Olivia's Mother's Day Brunch

This morning Olivia and the rest of the CES Kindergarteners performed in a sweet Mother's Day program and then sat with each of their moms to share a delicious meal together. The cafeteria tables were set with a handmade place mat and hand print plate made by each of the kids. I found Olivia's which was really sweet. The place mat included a hand drawn "portrait" of me by Olivia in the center. I found a good seat at the table nearest the grandstand where the kids would be performing and reserved a seat for Stacy, who was picking up the food for our meal.

Soon, our cute kiddos were entering the cafeteria and Mrs. Schultz' class climbed up onto the grandstand first so they were on the top row with Olivia in the middle right. She stood with Scout on her right and Walker on her left and looked completely comfortable standing in front of all the Kinder moms and was ready to perform. Olivia is our shy girl who doesn't like to the be the center of attention, so it was great to see her so comfortable. Soon all the kindergarteners were in their places and the performance began. It was so sweet! They sang a few songs, most of which I'd heard Olivia sing at home and they also did a segment where they each said "My mom always tells me....." Olivia's line was "My mom says to eat my sandwich before I eat my cookie." The kids didn't actually get to decide what they said, which is probably for the best since they would likely have just a few differences in what each of us moms actually say. Instead, it all flowed really well and was super cute and funny.

Unfortunately, Scout gets very emotional when her mom is at school. Kelley and I used to volunteer in the school library together before she went back to work and Scout would cry her eyes out every time. She was happy to have her mom but sad to know her mom would be leaving. It was really upsetting and hard on Kelley and now that she's working full-time Scout is absolutely fine each time I see her at the library. As the program started, Scout started crying uncontrollably and it was very distracting to all the kids around her. Olivia tried to comfort her and rub her back and the girl standing in front of Scout also tried to calm her down. Nothing helped Scout and she continued to cry and be upset. As they sang their first two songs, it was clear that Scout wasn't going to calm down and it threw Olivia off her singing. I don't know why Mrs. Schultz' didn't just have Scout get off the bleachers from the back so it wasn't noticeable. Instead she stayed and sobbed and cried when it was her turn to say her "My mom always tells me..." line. She finally got her lines out and continued to cry, but all the moms clapped for her finally able to do her part. It was then Olivia's turn and she took a few seconds before she said her line. She did a great job and the microphone continued to the rest of her classmates.

The kids sang a few more songs before they finished. It was such a sweet program! After the kids finished with their performance I gave Olivia a big hug and told her what a great job she did before we went to our seats. Stacy had the idea of ordering brunch food from Another Broken Egg in Southlake and asked if I wanted to order food for Olivia and I. I'd made blueberry muffins to bring with us since they are Olivia's favorite but also wanted to get something more interesting than Olivia's usual lunch food. I ordered chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon for Olivia and a Mediterranean omelette for myself. Stacy picked the food up for all of us and it was delicious! Olivia really loved her pancakes and gobbled them all up.

After brunch, we took a few pictures together and Olivia wanted to take a picture with Mrs. Schultz, who she absolutely adores and also her two closest friends, Hannah and Hayven. As we were finishing up, we gathered all the girls from Mrs. Schultz' class for a photo. They are all such sweet girls and we've had such a fun year together. I gave Olivia a hug and walked with her back to her class before I left. It was such a sweet program and so much fun!

Olivia's sweet handprint plate