Traditions

Someone on facebook asked everyone what their favorite Christmas traditions are.  I thought it would be fun to blog about ours.  One of them is that each year, the children pick out a new ornament for themselves.  They get to choose whatever they would like.  We write their names on the bottom of the ones that they have chosen over the years.  Adam and I choose one for the both of us.  When the kids move out someday, they will get to take all of their chosen ornaments with them to decorate their own Christmas tree. 

A new tradition that we started last year has to do with these handmade stockings that Adams grandma made for each of us.  We have our own stockings that are used on Christmas, so all of these extra bear stockings really had no home.  Last year we decided to hang the kids' stockings up on the outside of their bedroom doors.  Occasionally, they find a small surprise inside!  Sometimes a small chocolate, a note, a hot chocolate mix, anything.  

The stocking on the left is Adams.  It has been his stocking since he was a child.  We hung ours up for the first time this year just for fun.  You can only imagine the goofball surprise Adam left for me one day.. I'll save it for your imagination. :)  I like this tradition.  ♥  An important one that we have is that the kids open new pajamas on Christmas Eve.  My great grandma started this one, I think.  Traditions are so fun and we look forward to each of ours every December.  I would LOVE to hear about yours!

♥♥♥Happy Thursday!♥♥♥

Baking Shortcut

Thursday we will decorate gingerbread cookies.  In order to keep in the confines of our schedule I decided to bake the cookies ahead of time.  Yesterday the kids had a free play day while I busted out cookies.  I bake cookies from scratch unless they are gingerbread cookies.  I love the shortcut that the box of mix in the photo above allows.  SO easy and fast!  I baked two boxes in no time at all. ♥

Meanwhile, the kids enjoyed this playhouse!  It was donated to us by some regular clients of ours.  We feel so blessed!!  I have always wanted to have a playhouse in the yard for them, but the small budget has never allowed us to purchase one.  Boy were the kids happy- they crammed themselves into it for an hour at least. 

We have plans for renovating and weather proofing it a bit before it goes into the yard.  Right now it is safe under cover on the patio. 

No room at the inn. 

♥♥♥Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥

Carol Of The Bells by John Williams. ♫ I think it's my favorite version.

Jesus Books

We talk about God all year, but especially in December.  It's time to teach the kids and make sure that they really understand who Jesus is.  I love books that help me out with this.  I can say "Jesus is Gods son and was born in a stable to save us all from hell."  They don't understand that very well.  It's so much information!  I tell all of the families that come into our home that we will always talk about God and Jesus.  I am thankful for books that simplify it just a little bit so the kids can grasp the truth.

How else can I get them to understand what an angel might have looked like, appearing in the sky to shepherds?  If the kids don't know the story, they will soon. 

We will continue looking at and reading stories about Jesus being born this month.  Thanks to Scholastic Book Clubs I have a good selection.  

Another GREAT book is S is for Snowman.  God's Wintertime Alphabet.

"A is for Angels with wide sweeping wings- let's find the wonders that God's winter brings."♥

"In winter, be Kind doing chores great and small, for we are God's workers and He loves us all."  What a great book about the beautiful things God has created for us to see in winter.  Each page is BEAUTIFUL. 

♥♥♥Happy Tuesday!♥♥♥

In my dreams I am a ballerina.  'Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy' by Tchaikovsky.♫

Hand Wreaths

We created hand cut out wreaths on Friday.  The easiest way to prepare for this project is to stack 10 sheets of construction paper and staple them together.  Trace one hand from each child and write their name inside of the traced hand.  Then cut the hands out ahead of time and keep them in a stack with the name on top.  Cut the center out of a paper plate to use for the wreath base. 

We decided to glue green tissue paper squares onto the wreath base to hide the white. 

This was fun for the little ones, too. :)

The next step was for the kids to glue on their stack of hands. 

We went a step further and used a hole punch to punch holes around the wreath to prepare for ribbon lacing.  It was a long project and the kids were losing interest at this point.  So guess who ended up completing the lacing?  ME!  I will remember that for next time. 

The wreaths look sweet with the ribbons. ♥

I hung them in the playroom to create some more festive color. 

♥♥♥Happy Monday!♥♥♥

♫'What Child Is This' by Sarah McLachlan. ♫

Tracing

I love tracing worksheets.  We have been working on tracing different shapes and angles lately.  It's all just preparation for writing.  We practice holding the crayon correctly, and this little guy has it down perfect. 

We had some squirrel drama this morning.  Chippy has been showing up at regular intervals throughout the day lately.  He was here for his morning nuts.  What a big baby.  Adam and I want to build him a "nest" of sorts to keep him in our yard.  We won't, but it's a fun idea.  He's been pretty spoiled over the past couple of weeks because we are out of peanuts and have been feeding him almonds and chestnuts. The kids never get tired of seeing Chippy. 

"Hey lady, what are you waiting for?  I'm hungry, here."

He's bold.  If I am not fast enough, he  (or she) just comes on in. 

Oh silly Smudge.  Chippy knows you are there and he is not afraid.

♥♥♥Happy Friday!♥♥♥

♫Angels We Have Heard On High by Josh Wilson. Excellent album!♫

Laughter

One of the greatest things about running a childcare center is the laughter that erupts at times.  Sometimes the noise level gets to me, but other times it is joyful welcome noise.  I love to hear a good hearty gut laugh coming from a child.  It is nearly impossible to not smile or laugh in response!  We have this little stuffed animal display up on top of our desk because it has a button.  Once the button is pushed, the characters sing and dance. 

Someone saw this for the first time and was hysterical with laughter! I am so glad my camera was near, look at that genuine smile.  Our day yesterday was pretty crazy and we didn't even start our work.  Crazy day or not, laughter sure saved it.  Happy Thursday!♥♥♥

♫Ding Dong Merrily On High by Celtic Woman. ♫  I am loving Christmas music!

Gloves

Every year when the weather turns cold we have the same problem on any given day- cold hands during outside time and kids who did not bring gloves.  Last year I got smart and purchased a whole bunch of these gloves after Christmas when they went on clearance. We have a drawer in the hallway that is now stuffed full of gloves for kids.  Look how many pairs we needed yesterday?  I'm thankful that we had them.  Now if someone forgets to bring some, we can still keep hands warm.  The kids think it's fun to wear them and they enjoy their outside time more. ♥

We are plugging along with the number six and the triangle shape.  We colored a 6 and glued on 6  triangles. Easy squeezy!

The kids are coming along with table manners as well.  They now know both of our snack and lunch time prayer songs and are great about waiting to eat until we have completed the songs.  Even the little ones participate. 

Because it gets dark so much earlier now, the kids have been enjoying more play room free time. I think now might be a good time for me to swap out some of the toys in storage and take the tired toys out. 

♥♥♥Happy Wednesday!♥♥♥

Christmas Anthem by Landon Smith and The Real Matt Jones. ♫