Winter Concert

Heading out to go sledding Saturday morning 

Sam, Katie, and Grace's international school held their Winter Concert today.  All grades, from preschool to grade 10, performed.  It was awesome.

Grace and her preschool classmates.  Each child held the flag(s) of their parents' home countries.  Grace is at the far left of the second row.  The preschoolers sang "We are the World."

Grace and her favorite teacher - Mr. Mauro

Katie singing a Norwegian Christmas song with the 1st-3rd grade choir.  She chose to wear three skirts - our girl has some clever fashion sense.

Sam in the back row with the third graders.  Sam also let his fashion sense shine in his Butler Broncos tshirt and a tie.

Grace and her other favorite teacher - Ms. Katarina

Katie and the 1st graders sing "It's a Small World."  Each child went to the microphone and said what their family's winter holiday tradition is.  Katie is in the middle.

Sam and the 3rd graders sing "Light a Candle."  Sam is on the far left. 

Sam and his friends Christoph, Adrian, and Levi.

Grace, Katie, and Isaac work the ladders on the side of the gym.

The grand finale of the evening was the whole school singing "Silent Night."  They sang it in six different languages: Norwegian, Spanish, Arabic, Serbian, Latin, and English.  All the children held lit candles (except the preschoolers and 1st grades, who had battery operated candles.)  This would never happen in the U.S. 

Grace kept trying to blow out her (battery operated) candle. 

After the concert, we went outside to the field below the festning for the lighting of paper lanterns to celebrate the Loi Krathong festival.  The third graders (Sam's class) organized it as part of the last unit they studied.  The money they raised from selling sponsorship of the lanterns they will donate to the House of Grace Orphanage in Thailand.  Loi Krathong is a Thai festival, and the lighting of the floating lanterns represents the release of all ones bad thoughts, grudges, and anger, and gives a fresh start to the new year.  The lanterns were pretty nifty - they had a big wax candle inside that was lit, and would then heat the air inside the paper cylinder.  After a few minutes, the air would heat enough so that the lantern would begin to float.  It was a beautiful sight to see all the lanterns float into the dark, snowy sky.

Dave pulling Grace and Isaac home. 

Sam, Adrian, and Katie playing by the soccer field on the way home.  Adrian came over for a sleepover.  The kids are trying to squeeze in lots of quality time with their Norwegian friends before we head back to Texas in a few weeks.