December Fest: Donkey for Sale!!! (Complete Video)

Scene 1: Bedouin Camp


Alfie, the donkey, is found amongst camels by the herders.

Scene 2: Donkey for Sale (song)...Nizwa Market


Alfie is put on sale!

Scene 3: Home...Hillside....King's Party


Alfie, Mary and Joseph head for Bethlehem.

Scene 4: Bethlehem....The Stable


Alfie enlists the help of the stable animals!

Scene 5: Stable Animals and Angels



Scene 6: All To See The Tiny Child (song)



Scene 7: Head of Primary Closing Remarks and Closing Song

December Fest: Vivian's Early Christmas Gift.... to us

Sometime November, Viv's teacher Ms. Smales comes up to me and asks, 'Vivian's good at memorizing lines of songs, that kind of thing?'. I confidently replied, 'Yes, she likes doing those things.' and asked why. Smales smiles, 'Good. We're thinking of giving her a big part in a play for next month.'. I thought, 'Whoa, cool!!'

Week after, the scripts come out and role assignments handed over. My wife and I scan the script entitled, Donkey for Sale. It's KS1's Christmas/nativity play about the donkey Mother Mary uses to travel to Bethlehem. The children's play is a fun smorgasbord of characters from men and women, to all kind of animals. KS1 is composed of three classes each from Years One and Two. So that's over a hundred kids in all.

Vivian says, 'You have to help me practice now.' We ask the little girl, 'So who are you in the play?'. She says, 'I'm Alfie.' My wife asks, 'OK. So who is Alfie?' Vivian replies, 'Alfie's a donkey'. Pause. My wife and I look at each other, I inhale and I slowly ask, 'You're a donkey? Your the donkey for sale?'. Viv says, 'Yes.' I ask again, 'You're the lead character?' Viv says, 'uhm yeah.' Burst of laughter. Mixed emotions... excitement and apprehension all shaken up.



A memory suddenly came to me. Last school year, my wife and I watched a young girl play lead for the KS1's Billy-No-Buzz school play that year. She was so good and we both thought at that time, wouldn't it be great if Vivian gets to be lead and be that good when she get's to that age. That would just be so great.

In preparation, we ran lines with her over and over - even though in less than a week, she already had her lines pegged. When we found out she had a solo part in a song, the more we were smiling like idiots non-stop. It was indeed an exciting time. We were both very proud of her work and confident she'd do very well but, at the same time, worried and praying nothing goes wrong. I had teachers, some of whom I didn't know coming up to me in school and introducing themselves, telling me how great Vivian was during practice. The build-up was unbearable.

We ordered her donkey costume online from UK and got it delivered just in time for dress rehearsals. There were two dress rehearsals planned but one got canceled as schools were closed because of the 'heavy rains'. We hoped that this would be the one and only snafu. Ms Smales suggests to me to attend the two runs of the play, sit up in front and keep a box of kleenex handy. Mental note to self, no crying - no crying during the play. no crying.

Finally. After several excruciatingly long weeks. Two runs of the play. One play a day for two days. Results of all the hard work are in. The play was very good. The children were absolutely entertaining and did a wonderful job during the entire play. The costumes looked wonderful. They all looked like they were all having fun up on the stage. Kudos to the KS1 teaching staff and the parents (especially the class links) who worked on everything and anything.




AND most importantly VIVIAN NAILED IT... on BOTH shows. She was absolutely delightful. She was fantastic. She was adorable. She was funny. She was just perfect. She spoke clearly. She naturally delivered punch lines. Thess and I couldn't be more proud of our darling girl. She was smiling the entire time. She was having a great time and had so much fun with it. We congratulated her right after each play and just gave her the biggest hug we could. Parents and teachers, again - some of whom we didn't know coming up to us after the play, giving praise to the little girl. The feeling is so indescribable. Joy. Pride. Relief that its over. All the little girl's hard work paid off.

Thank you so much, Vivian, for the early Christmas gift!!! Proud parents are we.

First show pictures. Second show pictures.

December Fest: Vivian's Birthday Bash

In the months leading up to December, we'd been playing with different ideas of how Vivian would celebrate her birthday. Past years, we didn't really arrange for any big parties for her but we decided that for this year's 7th, we would make a big deal out of it. A lot of ideas floated about. We settled down to a few choice options but we just couldn't make up our minds which one to focus on. So, finally, we decided to do all three of them instead and not tell Vivian about it.

Vivian's vote was on the nail spa option (this one she knew about) and she never budged on her decision. We made arrangements with Tips & Toes in Bareeq Al Shatti on the schedule, balloons, drinks, nail services and even the child-friendly Piggy paint. And so, a week before her birthday, Vivian sent out her invites to her friends (mostly her classmates). I was fortunate enough to be there when she handed them out and her girl friends learned of the party. All of their eyes lit up with excitement, unstoppable giggles and the 'oh my god oh my god oh my god'. accompanied by the occasional shriek. Ok, maybe I exaggerated a little bit but one thing was for sure, the slumber themed NAIL SPArty idea was definitely sold. Unfortunately, some of the girls already had other plans since it was right smack in the middle of Eid Holidays but most of them came. So, for about two hours or so, donned in their favorite sleepwear, they all took turns daintily sitting on the sofas, primly getting their nails done along with choosing their colors and the designs they had wanted on them, my wife's hair styling services (yeah, she fixed everyone's hair) and, of course, the occasional visit to the food table for quick munches. The little girl was so pleased with the party and she was smiling the whole time looking at her friends having fun too. She was genuinely concerned if her friends were indeed enjoying themselves, so much so, that when one of her friends' emphatically commented, 'best party ever!!!', her smile broadened just a little bit more than usual. At the end, she simply handed each friend a giveaway and said thanks for attending.

Right after the SPArty, we surprised the little girl with yet another one. This time it was a simple dinner at Silk Route with our Filipino friends and their families. Again, some were out because of prior commitments but we all filled up the table nicely. We'd chosen the menu a few days before so the food just rolled in and I must say, it was sooo good. After dinner, we brought out the Barbie Princess' cake for Vivian's birthday wish and candle blowing and had it for desert to close out the night and a rather long day.

What the little girl didn't know was that it wasn't over yet. We surprised her again in school (so that the boys can also join in to celebrate) with a cake and fun hats for the entire class, including their teacher Ms Smales. We brought out the Disney Princesses' cake, while they all sang Vivian a Happy Birthday in several different languages. The little girl made her silent wish and blew out her candle. After having a little bit of fun with the hats, everybody had cake (with seconds and thirds for some). It still amazes me how much these kids love cake. This year's cake was completely finished off by the whole class... as in nothing was left. Last year's, they didn't completely finish it off but I distinctly remember their eyes literally bulging out when they learned there was cake.

It was quite a busy week. I think Vivian would agree though that it was definitely a memorable one. Vivian thanks everyone for her gifts, for coming to her parties to celebrate and those who simply wished her a happy birthday! It truly made her birth week celebrations extremely special.