Preschool Program

It was Christmas program day, and Galina was decked out. I dropped Treyton off and headed to the church that was hosting this event. Galina decided to head right up on stage. Yep, she shook her groove thing.No timidity in this pipsqueak. "All the world's a stage, Mommy!" After walking all over the church she was okay to sit down for a couple minutes...in the reserved section. There she goes, the thumb and belly button. Galina's typical position when she's at rest. Which is hardly ever. Then the bus with the kids showed up. Here's Treyton and part of his class. Look at that little cutie next to him. She was made for the camera! Made me think of Galina in a couple years, actually. Especially when she kept lifting her dress up during the program.

Here they are on stage.

Take a looksie at this video. Bear with my camera skills as I tried to corral a 16 month old girl who didn't want to sit. Are they precious or what?

Here's Treyton's friends Ryan and Jonah.

Look at that cutie again smack dab in the middle. Made for the camera, I tell ya!

Later they had a few play the nativity scene. Can you take this cuteness?

Then it was back to Treyton's school for his party. Here they all are ready for their special snack time. My boy! It's still hard to believe he's in preschool.

By this time I was "done" with Galina. So I put her in the corner. She was soooo tired. She fell asleep after 30 seconds in the car.

All in all it was a good day. Christmas break has officially begun!

Reindeer

Treyton's really gotten into the Rudolf spirit lately. We decided to make a craft, an ode to Rudolf. First I traced the kids' hands and cut them out. Then I took lunch sacks and cut an oval on the top.

Next I stuffed the bag with the antler scraps and folded the top over.

Don't forget the ears! I used the paper bag scraps to cut out ears.

Glue, glorious glue.

The antlers were ready to mount. After a few tries that failed, we decided to mount them onto the back of the bag. (Good thing craft glue dries clear!)

Then we added the ears by tucking them into the fold.

While I helped Treyton, Galina played with googly eyes. (Please ignore the big laundry pile in the background. Somethings in my house just take second fiddle!)

Then it was Galina's turn. She really enjoyed gluing stuff onto her reindeer. I was surprised at her dexterity!

There go the googly eyes.

And a red puff ball for the nose.

Tah dah! Two Rudolfs and a very messy house.

Where to put them, where to put them....I decided on the top of our curtainless, sliding glass door (we recently had to replaced it). They are festive and help me feel better about the eyesore, I mean door!

Sick Kids

Last weekend was jam packed with fun Christmas plans. We were all set, in the van, on the way to Treyton's big dance show. I ran in to get some water for the rugrats and came back out to hear Bryce saying, "We're not going." Unfortunately, Treyton got sick....all over my car. Galina had been sick for two days prior but seemed to be better the night before, certainly well enough to go and sit for a half-hour show. Apparently not. About an hour later, this is what it looked like.So no birthday party at My Gym, no Bethlehem walk through with live animals, no Santa and live reindeer, no church celebrations. All our plans were wiped out. And Bryce...poor Bryce...was outside cleaning my car. Merry Christmas.

Stained Glass Christmas Tree

It was another pajama craft morning. Treyton wanted to make a Christmas tree. So here's what we did. I cut out a tree from green paper. Then I cut a variety of sized circles throughout the tree.

Then I traced the circles with glue.

And then Treyton had at it! He took the cut up tissue paper and placed them all over his tree.

Here's the underside of his tapestry. It sort of remindes me of God's will for our lives. It may look crazy and messy at times, but we don't see how all the mess works together to create beauty.

From another angle, it's beautiful. Just as God sees the whole picture, not just the underside.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28)

Blast From the Past

In high school I was a part of the elite dance team called the Bravettes. Facebook just formed a group, and I took this picture from my first year of high school. I am in the back row, 3rd from the right next to the blonde girl. I spent more hours with these girls than my own family, friends, or schoolwork combined! Our "season" was from June until Feb each year. We were always practicing, performing, or competing. Ah, the memories.

Prayer

A simple prayer routine that I am going to try to follow: P stands for Praise; R is for Repent; A is for Ask ; Y stands for Yield

Snowman

With the snow outside, we've been inspired. And the result...a snowman! After cutting out 3 circles I proceeded to paper punch the eyes and buttons. Then I realized that I could apply child labor to the task.

He loved it, and I thought it was a good activity for fine motor skill development. Then we took the dots and glued them on as buttons.

More fine motor practice!

Galina was upset that she wasn't involved so I put her in her high chair and gave her some dots to glue. She only ate a few.

Look at those little hands! I remember dreaming of this day when I was a little girl. Having a baby of my own. The Lord knows my heart and blessed me. Twofold!

Next we cut out and applied the carrot nose.

It's a little large....Barbara Streisand-ish. (sp?) Treyton made some red dots for the mouth and glued them on too.

Then he wanted orange boots so I cut some out, and he glued them on.

Well, after a while I looked at Galina's masterpiece. She did a really good job. Her first craft! I just cut it a bit and made it into a hat.

Bryce was really nervous when he saw this. He must've thought that I invaded his tackle box.

No worries, Honey! I just dug through some old teaching supplies and found this fishing wire. You could use yarn, string, or even thread. I simply taped the snowman pieces together to create a sort of mobile.

And there you have it! Our inspired snowman craft.

With the boy in the striped pajamas.

Christmas Card Kid Style

Nope. We haven't even started. Christmas cards are my least favorite thing to do this time of year. Procrastination at its best. But they are on top of things at Treyton's preschool. Here's a simple yet meaningful card that he made for us. Using thumbprints they made berries. Then the teacher simply drew on leaves to make holly. Cute, festive, and personal!