Merry Christmas!

Today was our Christmas party and our extended day. The children always look forward to this day because we get to go inside of my house and watch a Christmas movie. I don't know why they love it, but they certainly do!

I didn't take many pictures today. We were so busy with all of the Christmas activities. Thanks to everyone for bringing such wonderful goodies for us to eat. We really enjoyed it!

We finished up our ornaments and I hope that all of those made it home in one piece. I tried to wrap them in tissue paper this year since Syan dropped one last year and was so upset about it.

We had a full day of fun. It was a great way to end the year 2008 together. It wasn't quite complete because Charlie wasn't with us but we hope that he and his family are all recovering from that awful stomach bug.

Oh, I almost forgot! We opened the last three boxes of our "What God Really Wants For Christmas" activity and we found out that what he wants is us! The 7th box contained a mirror.

I hope that everyone has a healthy, safe and happy Christmas. See you in 2009!

Christmas Lists

We decorated the glass ornaments today which has become an annual tradition. It's an activity that we all really enjoy. I've posted a picture of our tree with all of the ornaments that we've made so far. Our "Charlie Brown tree" looks so beautiful now. Don't worry, I promise to send all of the ornaments home next week:-)

We read the story, How God Decorates Heaven For Christmas. The children shared their favorite holiday traditions during circle time. We also made a list of things that each child wants for Christmas. I hope that Sean and Dawn Patterson read this! Here's the list:

"I want Legos and a Thomas Train." Charlie

"I want a dirt bike with all of the equipment, clothes, and Slimmers." Jackson

"I want Elvis Cd's." Syan

"I want makeup, a phone, a brother, a TV, a pony, and a pretty bow." Michalea

"I want a Buzz Lightyear toy." Andrew

I don't know if your child has mentioned it or not but we are doing a special activity that is similar to the Resurrection Eggs. It's called, "What God Really Wants for Christmas" and each week, we open two boxes. In each box, there is something that tells us about the birth of Jesus. We'll open the last two boxes next week.

Next week is our extended day so we'll meet from 9:30-3:00. It's an early Christmas present for the mothers. I hope that each mother can take advantage of a few extra hours of class. We'll also be having a Christmas party that day. I'll email reminders about what each child is bringing.

Here is a new little song that we learned today:

(Tune of Happy Birthday)

On the first Christmas Day

From the Father above

Came the little Lord Jesus

To show us God's love.

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

I love you dear Jesus

Happy birthday to you.

Ornament Making- December 3, 2008

We had a wonderful time together this past week! We began our study of Christmas by reading the book, The Pine Tree Parable. Did you child tell you child tell you about the tradition of Christmas trees and how they represent about the birth of Jesus? Here is how:

*Triangle shape of tree is symbolic of the Trinity

*Jesus died on a cross (tree)

*A Christmas tree is an evergreen- eternal life and Jesus lives forever

*The tree points towards Heaven

We made Styrofoam ornaments using Styrofoam balls, glitter paint, glitter, and jeweled sequins. They look beautiful hanging out our little tree! Check out the posted pictures.

We'll make glass ornaments during the next two class meetings. This is a favorite art activity each year in December.

The children worked well together this week. The kids spent a lot of time working on robot. I was so proud of their cooperation. You can see their creation in the group picture that is posted. Also, several of them put together an alphabet puzzle and a math puzzle which required a lot of thinking and adding/subtracting.

We'll have "show and tell" next week! See you then!