Jesus, this card is for YOU!

My oldest child, Jack, is three and a half years old. His first and second Christmas' were all about the presents and the infant-size Santa hats. But over the last two Christmas seasons I've become more conscious of the responsibility I have to help him understand the meaning of Christmas. This week at school was all about the story of Jesus' birth and how it is translated in the way we celebrate Christmas today. We also managed to work in a few references to "M" and 8.

After calendar time the kids did really well listening to the story of Jesus' birth. These snacks, which they ate while we read, might have helped with concentration.

White powdered donuts, orange slice candies, candy eye decorations and some gel food coloring

\

Laughing Cow cheese wedge, olive nubs, cherry tomatos and pretzel twists

We made it in the Jesus Storybook Bible (thanks, Lindsay!) to the story of the three wise men following the star to baby Jesus in Bethlehem and presenting him with three gifts. A perfect segue to working on some fine motor skills by wrapping presents and making cards for moms.

The kids selected their presents from a fine selection of items procured at the Dollar Tree, wrapped them in paper, and (with a little assistance) taped them shut.

The kids also practiced writing their names on cards for the gifts.

Good old Eisley could even write her mom's name!

Then Jack gave the kids their gifts from him: FLUBBER. This stuff is strangely addictive and so amazing. You can cut it with scissors, crush it with a potato smasher, and stamp it with cookie cutters. Or get it stuck in your hair, whatever floats your boat.

Look, the letter "M"! We did something educational today!

...and that's an 8. TEACHER OF THE YEAR!

Flubber 

2 cups Elmer's White Glue

2 teaspoons Borax

1 1/3 cup warm water

liquid food coloring

Glitter (optional)

Instructions

In a small container combine:

• 1 1/3 cups very warm water
• 2 tsp. Borax

Stir until Borax is completely dissolved.

In a large container combine:

• 1 1/2 cup very warm water
• 2 cups Elmer's White Glue
• liquid food coloring (approximately 20 drops)
• Glitter (optional)

Mix thoroughly. Pour the contents of the small container into the larger container. Mix well using your hands. Break up the Flubber between your fingers, and lift and turn the mixture until it is fully combined. Good Flubber will leave your hands and bowl clean.

On the second day of school we had a birthday party for Jesus! 

It's the letter "M" again, formed out of red velvet cupcakes!

Hot cocoa bar! Candy cane and Andes mint chips, along with some Christmas-shaped marshmallows

Inspired by a dinner I made last week out of laziness and desperation, we made our own lunch during the party: we swaddled baby Jesus (a hotdog) in a warm blanket (made of Crescent rolls). 

Addison didn't want to "eat baby Jesus!"

While Doc was cooking our lunch, we read and listened to "Pete the Cat Saves Christmas". Note Doc in the background working hard, turning on the stove, locating sharp knives. 

I believe this was also the point in the party when Juliette was eating the cat food. PAR-TAY!!

 Preparing our hot cocoa:

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus...

Ellie :)

...and eating:

The kids brought birthday cards for Jesus to the party. I LOVE THESE.

The blog post title finally makes sense! Thank you, Annabelle, for this beautiful card.

I still love infant-size Santa hats (as evidenced below), but as my babies are becoming people I feel so excited for the future as we can continue to learn about about the amazing story of Christmas and apply the principles of kindness, generosity and thankfulness during the holidays. 

Gus, the latest victim of my tiny Santa hat addiction.

When the Teacher is Grouchy...

I was feeling really good about school after Monday's "class". I think the big kids are really getting the hang of what's expected of them, and they seem to be enjoying our school time a lot. It seems like each of the moms has sort of established her own routine when school is at her home. It's not the same from house to house, but the kids know that when they come here, we always start with calendar and Bible time on the blanket. Addison got to put the number in the calendar (sometimes I forget to call on my own child :)

This week we learned all about the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den. Monday we read the story in our Jesus Storybook Bible (this is seriously the BEST kids' Bible ever...)

 

Then we recited our memory verse, Luke 1:37 - "Nothing is impossible for God." And we danced to the song "My God is So Big". The kids LOVED this song! I think doing the hand motions makes it even more fun for them.

 

Then we got busy working on building strong hand muscles by cutting snowflakes! This was definitely challenging for the kids. The regular printer paper was too thick for them to cut through once it was folded, but they did better with coffee filters. They all worked very hard to make those scissors go!

 

 

 

 

All that cutting worked up an appetite! Our snack was lion rice cakes! I mixed peanut butter and honey together and pipped it on to make a mane. Then I stuck on chocolate chip eyes, a craisin nose, and oriental noodles for whiskers! They were a hit!

 

 

 

 

Doc didn't hesitate to get right in there...mmm...

 

Instead of reading the book of the week from the curriculum, I decided to share some of our favorite Christmas books during snack time. Monday's book was Mortimer's Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson. This is one of our favorite stories to read at Christmas!

 

After snack and story time, it was time to get our hands dirty! We made a giant batch of salt dough so we could roll and cut ornaments. We all took turns mixing the dough...

 

 

 

And the kids rolled it out all by themselves! Our arms and hands got quite a workout today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salt Dough Recipe

• Mix 1 cup flour, 1 cup salt, and gradually add 1 cup water.
• Mix until it forms a ball. (You may not need the whole cup of flour).
• Roll out on a floured surface and cut shapes with cookie cutters.
• Poke holes in the shapes using a straw (so you can add ribbon later for hanging).
• Bake at 200 degrees until dry.

If they are thick, you may need to flip them halfway. Our thin ones took about 3 hours to dry, but the fat ones took much longer. Then paint, or add glitter, gems or any other decorations you like. I doubled the recipe for our school group...just wanted to make sure everyone had enough dough!

 

Thursday...

 

As great as I felt after school on Monday, it all went out the window today. In reflecting on the morning, I realize that the majority of the problem was MY attitude not the children. I've been strugging with a 17 month-old who is teething and has decided that 5:15 is his new wake up time. By the time school starts, he is exhausted and clingy, and it made the morning very challenging for me. My patience had long vanished by the time our friends even got here today. Shame on me for being so foul...

 

But we pressed on. Huckleberry-dog decided to join in for calendar and Bible time today!

 

 

We retold the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den using our felt board. We sent the babies outside at this point so all was calm :)

 

 

 

Then we practiced making straight lines for writing "L's".

 

And we colored lions to make puppets! They really enjoyed this today. We don't give them enough time to color...

 

Cute!

 

 

Today's snack was "trail mix" with pretzles, wheat chex, yogurt-covered raisins, craisins, and Christmas M&Ms. And I read the story Humprey's First Christmas. Story time was a bit of a disaster. Doc whined the whole time and wanted me to hold him. And he managed to sit on everyone and spill at least 3 cups of trail mix. It was a challenge to even get through the story. I was extremely frustrated with him by the end and decided to just throw in the towel and let the kids play. We were supposed to do a number sorting activity and we were supposed to decorate our ornaments...but the kids were squirly, and I was in a foul mood so we ended school there. The kids played for a bit longer, then we put on Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas while we made lunches.

 

Evelyn led the kids in prayer before they ate...

Seems to me like we should have STARTED the day with prayer. Ah well...live and learn :)