Ron took this week and next week off, so we are all home for Christmas break until after New Year's. Yesterday we took the kids to see the movie Bolt, which was really good. Today we stopped to visit Ron's grandma and then took the kids to see a Lego exhibit. The Lego exhibit was really cool. It was so detailed. Here are some pictures, but they really don't do it justice.
The taller, red building was designed to look like the building that was housing the Lego exhibit. It took 12000 Lego bricks and cost $1000 just for that one building! A team of 25 people from a local Lego club assembled the exhibit.
There were a couple tables of Legos for the kids to play with. They were encouraged to design their own sculpture and display it. Tyler made a giraffe. There was also a scavenger type list of items to find within the display. It was a perfect exhibit for our kids.
After dinner tonight we made dangling snowman decorations, which we hung in our family room windows. I got the original design from the Family Fun website, but I changed it some.
Tomorrow we start our Christmas celebration by exchanging gifts with my mom, stepdad, and brother.
Tyler was recognized at school today for being a good citizen. Every month the teachers select a boy and a girl from their classrooms who, as Tyler said, "look for trash under the tables in the lunch room and show respect to everyone". His name was announced during announcements to the school this morning, he got to wear a big green sticker stating he was chosen for the citizenship award, he got a "special" blue pencil, and he got excused from class for awhile to enjoy a special treat with the principal and the other "citizens" this afternoon. He also got a very nice certificate. This was an honor that he has wanted since he heard about it in kindergarten last year. (Last year the kindergarten classes weren't included.) We are really proud of him for working hard to achieve his goal!
Tonight was Danielle's night to shine. She had her Christmas program tonight. Earlier in the day her teacher notified us that Danielle's drawing had been picked to be the cover for the evening's program. She was so proud! Here is a picture of the program:
The animals to the left of the stable are a bull and a camel (with a little man on top). The ones to the right are sheep. They had some of the older classes color her picture, so some of the programs were in color, which was kind of neat. Of course, we grabbed several to keep.
She looked beautiful and did a wonderful job. I think she had fun, too. For the grandparents that couldn't make it (and anyone else who wants to watch), here are the videos of her singing.
Searching for the King
If I Were a Camel
Mary and the Angel
In a Little Stable (all the preschool & kindergarten classes)
I made Christmas cookies with the kids today. They took turns cutting out the cookies (and eating the dough) this afternoon. After dinner this evening they decorated a dozen of them. Fortunately I didn't let them decorate all the cookies. As you can see, theirs turned out a little crunchy.
This picture is for Mamaw. (I didn't think you'd know how to open an email attachment.) :) Doesn't she look pretty?!
We built a gingerbread house today. We didn't have anything else to do, and it was too cold to spend any time outdoors - seemed like a perfect 12-days-before-Christmas activity.
Tonight the kids and I made snowflakes (also from the latest Family Fun magazine). Ron is out of town, so he didn't have to participate. The snowflakes in the magazine were white, but the kids wanted to make their snowflakes colorful. Since I didn't have enough white beads anyway, it worked out great. I don't know that they really look like snowflakes, but they are pretty and sparkle nicely. It was very easy and was a nice activity to fill a cold, dark, lonely evening.
While I was putting Tyler to bed tonight, we had an interesting conversation about Heaven and God. This is kind of personal, but I think it's worthy of sharing.
We got on the topic of Heaven after talking about Casey (our dog), who will probably be gone by this time next month. Tyler told me I shouldn't be sad because I would see her again in Heaven. Then his eyes suddenly teared up and his chin started to quiver and he said, "I know you said there wouldn't be any tears in Heaven, but if I die before Christmas, I just know I'm going to cry." It sounds so simple, but I know how he feels. Although Heaven will be a wonderful place, I don't want to miss all the good things in my life here, right now. It's hard to think of Heaven as being better than watching your children grow up, or holding your grandchildren, or growing old with your spouse, or, to a 7 year old, opening gifts on Christmas morning. I tried to explain to him that, first, he's probably not going to die before Christmas, and second, when he gets to Heaven, it will be filled with so many good things that it will seem like Christmas all the time.
Then he asked a ton of questions:
Will we just pop up there when we die? Will just our heads go up and our bodies will float up later? Are there houses? You mean we'll drive our cars on gold streets? Will we go potty? Will we eat? Will there be a Chipotle?! Will God be invisible?
I tried my best to explain Heaven to him in a way I thought he would understand. I explained that Heaven would be full of good and wonderful things, lots of them, and I believe that will include food because it can be good and wonderful. I explained to him that our souls will go to Heaven before our actual bodies do, but our bodies will make it eventually. And no, a soul is not something that shows up on an xray. I explained that God will not be invisible and we will get to see Him and talk to Him and even touch Him. And I explained to him that Heaven will be so wonderful because God and all of us will be there but all of the things that cause us to do bad things or make bad choices will be gone. There won't be any sin in Heaven, so we won't hurt each other's feelings or be mean to each other or yell at each other. It will be perfect in a way we just can't fully understand yet.
And here's the good part - I also asked him if he knew the way to get to Heaven. And he did: "to believe in Jesus and ask Him to forgive your sins". He said he had done that, "...but only 3 times. How many times do I have to ask?" I know the Biblical answer to that, but there are times when I feel like I just haven't asked enough because I still can't seem to get it right. I told him that if he meant it when he asked Jesus, he only had to ask once to be forgiven. I explained that we should try not to sin, but God knows and understands our hearts better than we do. We should say we're sorry to God when we know we've made a mistake, and He promises He will keep forgiving us, as many times as we need it. I also explained that I still need to ask for forgiveness because, try as I might, I still make a ton of mistakes ("like losing my temper with you last night and getting angry").
That evolved into a conversation about angels, which was pretty good, too. I know my son is mischievous, picks on his sister, doesn't always listen to his parents, jumps on his Uncle Ron, and struggles with how to be a friend, but he is a 7 year old work in progress who loves Jesus. I'd say he's on the right path.
First, I need to laud my brother's praises. On short notice, he came to watch Danielle today while I volunteered in Tyler's class. While he watched her, he took her to Tyler's school, where they are having their gingerbread shop. (The gingerbread shop has lots of little inexpensive goodies where the kids can shop for mom, dad, siblings, etc.) Uncle Ron helped Danielle pick out presents for me, Ron, & Tyler. After they were done, he took her back home and helped her wrap all her treasures. When Tyler got home from school with his purchases, he immediately begged to wrap them, and Uncle Ron volunteered to help him, too. The kids were so excited, and I'm grateful those tasks are completed. Thank you, Uncle Ron!
To kind of continue last night's blog, Danielle had another funny one today. She was showing me how to sign the word friend and said, "I know how to speak Hand." You know, speaking Hand - it's like speaking French or German, except it's Hand. I thought that was pretty cute.
Tyler, on the other hand, was not quite as cute but he was funny. While he was getting his pajamas on tonight, he informed me that the boy he sits next to in class told him all about the "f" word, the "a" word, and the "b" word. This was our conversation:
T: "The b word is the worst. Do you want to hear it?!!"
M: I kind of did, only to see if he really knew it, but I was afraid if he said it and it really was the "b" word, he might not stop saying it. "Can you spell it?"
T: "I'm not sure if it has an e or an i in it, so I don't think I can."
M: I still couldn't figure out if he really knew it."What does it rhyme with?"
T: He thought for a second, said, "meaner" and pointed to his... well... you know.
M: Phew! "That doesn't start with a b, that starts with a w! And that's not the right word for it!"
T: "I know! It's kind of funny but the words don't always start with that letter. They just call them that. Like, do you know what the a word is? It's [he pointed to his rear end]"
M: "You mean the a word is butt?"
T: "Yep! It's butt. I can't remember what the f word is, though." He paused and then said, "Did you know all those words before I told them to you, Mom?"
By this time his pjs were on and we were ready to pick out bedtime books, so I nodded that I did and changed the subject. I may need to speak to his teacher about changing his seat. I think we can still claim innocence, but I can feel it slipping through my fingers.
And while I'm on the subject of school, Tyler moved up another reading level today. They have a program where the kids are tested and then placed into groups with other kids in the class who are at the same reading level. Each group works at their specific level, so all the kids aren't necessarily doing the same work, but they're all doing work that is challenging to them. I guess they are tested periodically and his teacher tested him and the other girl in his group today. Tyler bypassed the girl he was paired with, though, so I'm not sure how his teacher will handle that since they are the best readers in the class. I know that lots of kids can read well and lots of kids read earlier than Tyler did and better than Tyler can; however, I think it's pretty cool that he's as successful as he is considering he's a boy and also just because I'm his mom and I'm supposed to think his accomplishments are amazing. (So there.)
Finally, I leave you with these videos of Danielle rehearsing her songs for her upcoming Christmas program. I think maybe she enjoys performing?
Danielle had a couple cute quotes worth repeating today. I guess what made them so cute was how earnest she was when she made them.
On the way to Danielle's preschool we always pass a field with horses in it. Danielle always comments on how pretty the horses are. Today, after admiring them, she asked, "How does a mommy horse lay a baby pony?"
Tonight we ate dinner at a local restaurant that often hosts banquets and large parties. The dining area is able to be sectioned off with sliding partitions if necessary. Tyler noticed the tracks in the ceiling and asked what they were for. We explained to him about being able to pull the partitions to section off the room. Danielle processed the info for a minute and then said, “Yeah, like if those people over there are mean to us over here. We can move the wall!”
Well, it turns out our tree isn't exactly the most perfect one we've had. Now that it's all fallen out, we can see that it's shaped a little funny. But once the lights and ornaments were in place, it looked better. Tinsel can cover a multitude of imperfections, so we'll add some once I get to the store this week.
Tyler vacummed up some of the needles after we put the lights on. He's using the $15 shop vac I picked up at 5am at Walmart on Black Friday!
The kids enjoyed decorating the tree. It's so funny to watch them clump everything in one spot. They really enjoyed looking at all the ornaments, too.
Our "nearly" perfect tree (minus the tinsel and tree skirt).
Although the high temperature today was only 27 degrees,
and Christmas shoppers were out in hordes, causing bumper to bumper traffic,
we set out in search of the perfect Christmas tree.
We wanted a big one, but not too big. (This one was $200!)
2 1/2 hours later we finally settled on the tree. It took so long because traffic was so bad driving from place to place. Despite the time, the kids were very well behaved. The gently falling snow just added to the experience.
Once we got the tree home and cut all the netting off, we found a praying mantis egg case on one of the branches. We decided to keep it to see if any hatch. I'm doubtful, but thought it was worth trying.
After church tomorrow we'll decorate the tree. I'll post more pictures then.
I have to admit that the snowflakes turned out better than I expected.
We had trouble keeping some of them stuck to the windows, so I resorted to using a glue stick on a couple. I don't think glue sticks hold well anyway. I figured the glue would dry up over time and if it didn't, I could just scrape it off the window. So far that seems to have worked.
What we have most enjoyed about the snowflakes, though, is their color. We used sparkly fabric paint. When we look at the snowflakes from the inside of the house, they look pink. When we look at them from the outside, they look blue. If we look across them, they look purple. They're very pretty. The kids have decided they need to make more for the windows above the door and maybe for the sliding glass doors, too.
For a project that cost $6 (only because I bought 2 bottles of paint to avoid fights), I would consider this a definite success. I can see us doing this again next year.
After school today the kids made the glittery snowflakes from the latest issue of Family Fun. (I really get my money's worth out of that magazine!)
We put snowflake templates (which I made) under wax paper. The kids used dimensional glittery fabric paint to copy the snowflakes. Once the paint dries, we will peel the snowflakes off the wax paper and stick them on the windows. I made a couple test ones the other day, and it actually works quite well.
Danielle has been fascinated with our nativity set from the time she was tiny. I gave up last year and agreed she could gently play with it, as is evidenced by the superglue on the donkey and shepherd. Tyler has never cared much about playing with the nativity, but a couple times last year I observed him rearranging the set to resemble the picture on the box.
I brought up the nativity set yesterday and let Danielle arrange it on the end table. She played with it for a little while first. A couple hours later, when Tyler got home from school, he noticed the nativity set. Without saying anything, he looked around for the box, found it, and took it over to the set. He quietly rearranged the figures to look exactly like the picture on the box. Awhile later Danielle decided to play with the figures again and rearranged them to her liking. Awhile after that, Tyler happened to notice the figures were not in their "correct" places. Once again he quietly found the box and lined them back up the "right" way. This behavior has gone on several times just since yesterday. I think this is so funny...and so characteristic of their differences. (When I asked him about it, Tyler didn't realize he did the same thing last year, which I found interesting.) Now that I've called attention to it, they will probably move the figures around just to irritate each other.
This started as a way to document the amusing antics of our 2 & 4 year old children several years ago. It has evolved into a great forum for keeping grandparents, friends, and other relatives involved in our daily lives. It is also a good place for me to share what is important in our lives, and to document those things I want to be sure I don't forget.
Ron took this week and next week off, so we are all home for Christmas break until after New Year's. Yesterday we took the kids to see the movie Bolt, which was really good. Today we stopped to visit Ron's grandma and then took the kids to see a Lego exhibit. The Lego exhibit was really cool. It was so detailed. Here are some pictures, but they really don't do it justice. 
The taller, red building was designed to look like the building that was housing the Lego exhibit. It took 12000 Lego bricks and cost $1000 just for that one building! A team of 25 people from a local Lego club assembled the exhibit.
There were a couple tables of Legos for the kids to play with. They were encouraged to design their own sculpture and display it. Tyler made a giraffe. There was also a scavenger type list of items to find within the display. It was a perfect exhibit for our kids.
After dinner tonight we made dangling snowman decorations, which we hung in our family room windows. I got the original design from the Family Fun website, but I changed it some.
