t-minus 16 hours until takeoff

In less than 24 hours I will get on an airplane with my boys. Alone. I already feel like hyperventilating. We almost got a nonstop this time but at the last minute I caved. Instead we will be traveling 2 hours in the opposite direction before heading west. I feel nauseated at the thought. I have a game plan that involves some activity books, the ipad, the dvd player (with a short battery life), and lots of junk food. But lets face it, two VERY ENERGETIC boys sitting on a plane for 5+ hours is just something you must endure while pretending to ignore all the people staring at you. If only they knew...

On a similar thread, Luke had his primary program last Sunday. His very first primary program! (The primary program is when the kids 4-12 take over the church meeting and present short messages and sing songs. It is the cutest hour of church we have all year).

I was on the stand this year since I teach one of the Sunbeam classes (4 year old kids). The program was great, but sitting next to Luke for 40 minutes in front of the whole ward was not so great. During rehearsal he did SO well, but on the actual day they switched our seats at the last minute to those bouncy, nice seats. Right in the front row, no less. Big mistake. Plus Luke was tired. So it was basically me doing what I do normally at the back of the congregation, except now I was up in front of everyone with no supplies (crayons, paper, books) to keep this boy entertained. All he had was his bouncy seat which he took full advantage of. He also got down on the floor and rolled around a few times but hopefully no one saw that. And hopefully no one heard the threatening whispers I was breathing into his ear while trying to look calm and collected. I basically promised him all the fruit snacks his little heart desired if he would just sit in the chair and stop talking to me in his normal speaking volume.

I'm sure no one noticed, right? Everyone is just watching their own child, holding their breath, hoping that everything goes okay. That's what I keep telling myself. By the way, the ten or so other sunbeams are all girls except one. So you can probably picture them. Sitting nicely in their seats the whole time...barely fidgeting. Little girls are miraculous like that.

The up side was that Luke did say his part into the microphone. Memorized and everything. I think he was nervous because he jumbled it up a little and it was hard to understand. But I was so proud of him for getting up in front of everyone and remembering his line. He had a great smile too. Slightly impish but mostly genuine. It was the best 5 seconds of the program (in my humble opinion). He may not be able to sit still for long periods of time but at least he has a fun personality.

Note for next year: I am sitting no where near him during the primary program. If that is the case, he will likely be a little angel.