Nursery Kiddos

As the end of the year approached, I knew there would be some changes to my calling.  I had been in the nursery for almost two years and I have enjoyed being there.  I have enjoyed having the time with Morgan and I have enjoyed being with these sweet little children.  I won't lie, nursery can be tough and there are days I wanted to literally pull my hair out, but most days were awesome and I LOVED it.  I loved when they would come to nursery and give me a hug, or fight over my lap to sit on during singing time.  I loved that they begged for bubbles and to play "ring around the rosie."  I took these pictures sometime in December.  I had planned to make an ornament with the kids to give their mommy's and daddy's for Christmas.  I'm so grateful I have pictures of these cute kiddos, although we are missing a few who weren't there on that day (my sweet Bennett Summerhays and cutie Aniston Wunderli).  Bennett will always be a special little boy to me.  When I first started in nursery, he was pretty attached to Mom and Dad and there was no way he was coming to nursery by himself like a big boy.   I made it my personal goal to work on that little boy.  I was going to make him like me whether he wanted to or not.  I was going to make nursery fun, so much fun that he wanted to come.  In the end, Bennett and I were good buddies.  He would walk right into nursery, give mom and dad a kiss bye and he was good.  He is so sweet and tender-hearted and I love that about him.  I miss him already!!  I knew that almost all of my class would be moving up to sunbeams and although it might have been fun to continue teaching them, I was honest when the primary president spoke to me.  I thought it was time that Morgan learned to go to class by herself, without mommy or daddy.  I wanted her to find  a teacher who she would love and respect and want to be with.   The primary asked if I would like to teach the CTR6 class.  I couldn't have been more excited.  This was Grant's class. I would now be able to him.  He is at such a fun age where he can actually sit and listen to a lesson and grasp gospel principles.  So exciting...and not to mention, I had a great group of kids that would be in that class. Funny thing is that about five of them had siblings in my nursery.  Now I was going to teach the sibling.  So fun and looking forward to it!

Christmas Card 2011

I had so much fun designing and printing this years Christmas card, but it surely wasn't without it share of struggles and difficulties.  I downloaded new fonts and purchased some new digital papers from etsy.  I played around a long time with the photos and digital papers, trying to achieve the look I wanted (which was basically a vintage 1950's look). I made several versions, but ultimately loved the one with the typography block on it.  I loved the mix of the turquoise with the read as well.  My choice of colors soon became my nemesis, however.  I thought I had everything perfect until I went to print a sample.  The colors were way off.  They either looks blue, not turquoise, or they were too vibrant and bright.  I played with it for hours, but it wasn't until Keri (our photographer) gave me a couple tips on what to change my colors to (using certain numbers in photoshop).  She was spot on and I had my color problem fixed in no time.  I was finally ready to order them from Gotprint.  I thought I was home free at this point, but it wasn't to be the case.  There were so many paper choices and I couldn't understand what they meant.  There was 14 pt. uncoated cover as well as others.  I knew I didn't want glossy, but I had no idea what to choose.  I googled some of the paper choices and was able to get some more information to make my choice.  I also didn't know whether I should just view my proof by email or if I should have someone on their end review it.  I chose the latter.  In hindsight, it made it take almost a week longer.  I waited nervously to get my order.  I was still second guessing my paper choice.  In the end, I was happy with it, but I probably would've chosen the heavier weight with a coating on it (not the glossy one though).  The choice I made also did not come in rounded corners which I wanted so I decided to just round the corners myself using a punch (thanks Maegen!).  Anyways...there were a lot of little headaches, but anytime you do something new, it is to be expected.  Next year, I will be more prepared and start earlier.  I do love the way they turned out though and we received many, many compliments on the final product!! 

1st/2nd Grade Winter Jam Performance

The first and second grade classes put on a "Winter Jam" performance.  It was a musical performance with songs and some instruments.  The place was packed and we were sitting on the complete opposite side of where Grant was sitting. (Note to self: ask your kids where they will be sitting so you can strategically place yourself).  We couldn't even really see Grant, but I was able to go up before the performance and snap a few pictures. 

He has been loving music time this year and talks about it all the time.  So fun to hear him sing all the songs they had been practicing.

So Many Santas

We saw a lot of Santa's this year.  It seems like everywhere we went, Santa was there.  We took these pictures with Santa when we saw him at the local Wal-mart.

We saw him at the Ward Christmas Party.  We also saw him at the Clubhouse (those pictures were in a previous post).

We even saw Santa Cow at Chik-fil-A one evening.  We saw Santa at the mall too, but didn't take a picture with him.  Mom was santa'd out!  Each time I listened carefully though to see if their requests from Santa would change.  Thankfully, by the time we had visited the final Santa, I had a pretty good handle on what everyone wanted from Santa. 

Cookie Party

 

I usually shy away from things like Holiday Cookie Parties, but my friend Liz assured me that her cookie exchange party was like no other!  She promised I wouldn't just come home with a zillion cookies that our family wouldn't eat and we would later discard.   And she also promised that I didn't have to bring ten dozen cookies (another reason I have stayed away from other cookie parties).  Liz made all these promises and did not disappoint.  Each friend was to bring 6 dozen cookies/treats.  I chose to make pizelles.  I knew they would be different and new, and a lot of people would enjoy them.  We got to Liz's house and put our cookies on display on her beautiful dining table.  She had tables and chairs set up for everyone.  We visited and ate snacks for awhile and then the fun began.  Liz had made sugar cookies and provided all the fixings for us to decorate them.  She also gave a tutorial on making chocolate dipped oreos on a stick and also little chocolate mice made out of cherries.  She provided all the things we needed to make these treats which we could later include on our cookie plates.  After we finished with our little projects, Liz told us how many cookies plates were able to make and take home.  The goal was not to take home a bunch of cookies, but rather, wrap them up beautifully, tag them and have them ready to deliver to other friends/neighbors.  This was a brilliant idea.  I made six plates, wrapped them in cellophane with gorgeous ribbon.  They were all ready to go and all I needed to do was deliver them.  I love that not only did we get to have fun visiting and hanging out, we also made treats and then came away with some wonderful gifts for others.  I can't say enough wonderful things about Liz.  I tell her that I want to be like her when I grow up.  It is true.  She always has wonderful ideas and executes them perfectly.  There is no detail left undone.  It was a wonderful night of food, friendship and fun.  Can't wait til next year!

Letters to Santa

We continued our annual tradition of making "letters to Santa."  We always collect the various retail mailers with toys in them and then cut them out and glue them on our letters.  This year, however, Loren couldn't find pictures of some of the things she wanted so she decided to write some of it.  Grant, who totally has the ability to write his letter still prefers to cut and glue his pictures on. 

Morgan was funny this year.  She definitely wanted her paper full, but was very selective about the things she chose.  Several times, she even glued something down, only to change her mind and remove it minutes later.  We finished our letters, put them in envelopes and sent them by mail to Santa. 

Loren also wrote a letter to Santa at school.  I didn't get a picture of it, but I thought it was so cute that she said that she wanted clothes for Christmas.  She does love her clothes and shoes and figured that she already asked for enough toys on her other letter!!

Grant's Class Christmas Party

I had the privilege of planning and organizing Grant's class Christmas party.  I was excited to work with Mrs. Maynard again and the other moms.  It's a tradition of Mrs. Maynard's to make Gingerbread houses with her students.  I loved the idea and was so glad that she wasn't scared of the mess or difficulty of such an undertaking...in fact, she had plenty of experience.  We decided to do the gingerbread houses, one other craft and then do a Christmas BINGO game (the Halloween BINGO was a hit with the kids).

I found an idea online to make snowflakes out of popsicle sticks.  I glued them all together ahead of time and the kids used sequins and jewels to decorate their snowflakes.  I also drilled holes (actually had Chris do that) and then hung each snowflake from a piece of string.  They turned out perfectly and the kids meticulously decorated them to their heart's content.  I love having an ornament made by one of my children so I hoped other kids/parents would treasure them too.

Tommy Trebinski's mom ran the BINGO game.  The kids got to play BINGO as they finished the other projects.

Grant with his masterpiece gingerbread house.  He actually said he made high-rise apartment building. haha!! I love the licorice steeple!

I love that Grant is in class with Avery and Lily.  These are two of the sweetest little girls I know.  After the kids finished their projects, they had time to eat some treats.  They had a wonderful time and so did I.  I love being the "room mom" for Grant's class.  There are some really amazing kids in his class and equally wonderful parents.

The True Meaning of Christmas??

Loren came home from Kindergarten one day and told me about a conversation that took place between the students in her class and her teacher.  They had been doing a unit on "Christmas Around the World" where they discussed different countries and their holiday traditions.  This day, they were discussing our very own country and what we celebrate at Christmas.  Mrs. Swanson asked the children what we celebrate at Christmas.  Loren, and many other children, said that we celebrate Jesus and his birthday.  Mrs. Swanson, per Loren, told the children, "No...we celebrate Santa!"  Loren came home so confused that day.  She knew that we had taught her that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, yet her teacher told her something totally different.  I am proud that our sweet little girls knows the true meaning of Christmas, even though we do enjoy other traditions of Santa and gift giving.  (And just for the record, I don't necessarily believe that her teacher thinks we celebrate Santa, but since she can't discuss religion at school, that is what she said.  Sad, but true). 

Morgan - All Bundled Up

In December, Morgan had a day at preschool where they were instructed to come to school all "bundled up!"  Morgan was so excited to wear hat, gloves, scarf, jacket, etc.  Look at this cute little snow bunny! Can you hear her laughter?  She was so stinking cute!!

The Woolley's Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

In early December, we attended the Woolley's Ugly Sweater Christmas Party.  I am not much into the whole dressing up sort of thing (seeing a trend? halloween, etc).  Maria was nice enough to let me borrow this hideous Christmas shirt and my friend Liz found this awesome sweatshirt for Chris at a thrift store.  I just found some jingle bells and foam snowflakes to pin on it to make it look ugly!  Chris was a good sport to wear it, as he likes dressing up almost as much has I do, haha!

Liz is one of the most creative people I know.  She found these giant stockings at the dollar tree and used them on their shirts.  I love the idea, but would've never thought of it myself.  Her hubby was a good sport too!!

  Maria, Liz and Me

These girls make me laugh so hard and we have so much fun together.  This party was no exception!

Clubhouse Christmas Fun

The second Saturday in December, Santa always makes an appearance at our Lincoln Crossing Clubhouse.  There is a yummy breakfast, followed by crafts, and a visit with Santa.  We had been looking forward to this event for weeks.  We got there pretty early as it is usually a very crowded event.  We opted to eat first and avoid the long line to see Santa initially. 

We sat with our friends', The Woolley's while we at breakfast.  Loren loves Sydney!!

After we ate breakfast, we headed to do some crafts.  They had stockings and foam frames for the kids to decorate.   The frames were to put their picture with Santa in.  They had a blast decorating things to the hilt. 

We finished up our crafts and headed over to wait in line to see Santa.  The line wasn't too long and there were actually moving people through pretty quickly.  They kids each wanted individual pictures with Santa so they could have it for their frames. 

These were great Santa pictures.  Yay..nobody is crying!

We ended our day by visiting the elves for a balloon treat.  These little elves were so good with the kids.

We had a wonderful time, despite the amount of people attending this event.  Note to self:  go around 10:30 a.m. when most people have eaten, seen Santa and are already leaving. 

Ward Christmas Party

We attended our ward Christmas party and I have to say it was fabulous.  They had an amazing dinner of tri-tip, mac and cheese and green beans for the adults and a chicken nugget plate for the kids.  It was catered by a gentlemen in our ward and it was the best dinner I have ever eaten at a church function.  We were served at our table and once we were done, we were able to take the kids into the relief society room to visit with Santa.  I love this picture!  Everyone is smiling and happy.

There was a short program including the primary children singing "Away in a Manger."  Grant and Loren participated in that and I could actually see them singing.  We love Christmas songs at our house and they had been singing that one non-stop for weeks.