The Patricia Kiyono Christmas Collection Read Online Free PDF

the
choir room and ran headfirst into each other. Doc VanEss came and
looked them over and then sent them back to the choir room. Of
course they decided to return to the choir room by streaking
through the sanctuary. Apparently Sam managed to pull one off the
pulpit before it fell over, but the other one had climbed almost
all the way up the drapes covering the wall behind the pulpit, and
the entire curtain rod came crashing down.”
    “ Oh, good
heavens.”
    “ I want to kick them both
out of the pageant. Can I do that?”
    “ I’m not sure. I’ll have to
check with the Sunday School Superintendent. Oh wait, that’s their
aunt. She might not back you up.”
    “ Wonderful. All right then,
if they’re going to act like animals, maybe they can be animals in the
pageant. I just won’t tell them ahead of time. But it’s not going
to be any animal that flies, swims, climbs, or runs.”
    “ What does that
leave?”
    “ An amoeba, maybe. But
listen, that’s not the only problem we had last night.”
    “ What else?”
    “ The songs we chose were
too difficult. I had the words on a slide show presentation, but
many of the kids can’t read that well yet. There were a lot of
words they didn’t know or couldn’t pronounce. I’m going to have to
simplify it.”
    “ Okay. Do you have any
ideas?”
    “ Not really. I think I need
easier songs that give the same message.”
    “ Good idea. How about if I
call Marylou Grant? She’s the music teacher at school and I heard
she directs the kids’ choir at her church. Plus, I think sometimes
she writes songs for kids.”
    “ That would be a good
start. Do you know how to contact her?”
    “ I’ll leave a message for
her at the school and ask her to call me back when she has a break,
or at the end of the day.”
    “ That works. And do you
have any idea how to reach Old Mrs. VanMeter?”
    “ Agnes VanMeter? Why would
you want to talk to her?”
    “ I need to get some ideas
on how to handle those twins during rehearsals. I’m pretty sure
they wouldn’t dare act that way if she were the one directing the
program. So I need to talk to her.”
    “ Great idea. If anyone
could get them in line it would be her. Let me think, she was
friends with Great Aunt Susan. I’ll call her and see if she knows
where Mrs. VanMeter is.”
    “ Wonderful. You get on
that. I’ll scramble some eggs and fix whatever else I can find in
your fridge. If you find Mrs. VanMeter, I’ll run over to Zylstra’s
after breakfast and get you some flavored creamer.”
     
    ~~~~
     
    Mitch compared the two boxes of macaroni and cheese. One was a lot
lighter than the other, and it had a packet of powdered cheese. The
other was larger and heavier and contained cheese spread. It cost
more than the other one, but the directions seemed a lot easier.
Could he ever hope to manage this cooking thing? He supposed he’d
better try. He tossed both packages in the cart. He’d do the easy
one tonight and save the other one for later.
    Next, he needed some vegetables. Something
to go with the macaroni and cheese. Something that didn’t involve
reading directions. He headed to the produce section. Seemed like
he’d read somewhere that fresh fruits and vegetables were healthier
than canned. They sure tasted better, he knew. But what could he
give a six-year-old? She liked carrot sticks. Better grab a bag.
Nice and easy. And maybe some beans. He knew she liked green beans
because she ate them up whenever they were served. If he remembered
correctly, they just needed to be boiled for a while. So that took
care of a couple of nights. His gaze caught the bagged salads. Ah.
Salad in a bag. Just pour salad dressing on top. Easy. Doable.
Three bags went into the cart.
    His mom would be so ashamed to see he’d
turned out so lousy at cooking. Rita Carson had raised her three
sons and daughter to be self-sufficient. They’d all been expected
to do their own laundry and clean up and take turns in the kitchen.
For the most