Scarves, Whisks, a Sing-A-Long and Percy

A few years ago, my cousin gave me this great idea for Christmas gifts for the kids in Jackson and Kendall's classes.  We make them scarves.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but we have fun making them with Yommy and the kids love wearing them.  Thanks to Malinda for the wonderful idea!

Wednesday night, we headed over to Yommy and Papa's for some scarf-making fun!  Yommy has some really cool tools that makes it much easier to make the scarves - plus Yommy can make anything, she's the best!

Each year after Christmas, my mom and I look for fleece on sale.  It doesn't have to be much - even remnants can make one or two scarves.  Leave the fleece folded lengthwise - that way you don't have to make so many cuts.  After you cut off the selvage, you measure your width about 7.5 or 8 inches depending on your fleece.

 

Next you cut - Yommy's sharp rotary cutter and awesome fabric ruler make it much easier!



Then you add the "fringe" - just make small cuts (about 2 inches in) about an inch apart from each other.  Again, a task made much easier with this great fabric ruler.  It has small openings, "slots", you can place your rotary cutter in once you have measured properly.



You sometimes have to go back with fabric scissors to make sure each piece of fringe has been cut all the way through.

 

And voila - a cute, fleece scarf!  Thanks to Yommy for modeling the process and the scarf!!!



For the past two years, Jackson has been old enough to help cut.  He especially likes helping make the boy scarves. 

 

Some of our finished scarves.  The hard part comes next - Jackson and Kendall have to decide which scarf to give to each student.  Well, Kendall sort of helped with this activity.  She was more excited to play with Papa and the musical Santa she found.



Last, we put them in a bag and attach a poem.  Don't worry I won't be writing poetry for Hallmark anytime soon.  It was so fun to see the kids wearing their scarves to school the next day!


And I'm always looking for cute Christmas gifts to give to those special people at Jackson and Kendall's schools (Music teacher, Principal, Secretary, etc.).  My friend Michel gave this idea to me about a month ago, but I guess I forgot about it until I stumbled across it on another blog.  Thanks, Michel!!!

A whisk filled with Hershey's kisses - If the kisses won't stay inside the whisk, Exhibit A, you can wrap them in red tulle. 

Attach a ribbon and a little message for a simple, cute gift!

 

On the last day of school before Christmas break, our school has a Sing-A-Long.  Each grade level stands up and sings a few songs and in between we all sing a few favorites together.  Even the teachers join the fun and sing for the students.  It's a fun way to celebrate right before the Holidays!



1st Graders singing "Away in a Manger" for the school.

Instead of exchanging Christmas gifts at their parties, our fifth graders decided to adopt an animal from the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.  Percy the Pelican made a visit to school on Friday to thank the fifth graders for adopting him.


Isn't he handsome - with a Christmas bow and everything?

 

And last to end this random post...

What does a teacher give her 1st grade students for Christmas?  Books, of course! We love Junie B. Jones!!!

Verse of the day - "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:14

Blessings,
Kelli

 



Cards, Parties, a Beautiful Tree and Bob!

Wednesday's events in pictures...



Mrs. Sevigny's brother came to read the "Texas Night Before Christmas".  He does it every year and the kids love it!

 

Nothing beats a good book!



Excuse the not-so-great picture, there is a point!  At our 1st Grade Christmas Parties each year, we exchange Christmas cards instead of books or presents.  It's another brilliant idea courtesy of Mrs. Sevigny!  It doesn't cost a lot and in return you get lots of great cards to read.  Plus, they are fun to make!  Yommy found a bunch of musical Christmas Cards at an estate sale this summer.  Jackson decided that he wanted to use these as his Christmas cards for school.


 

Each card had a place for a picture, so Jackson personalized the front with a message and a drawing.  He would open each card, listen to the song and decide which classmate would receive that card.  Not sure why I did not video that moment.  It was really sweet.  He would listen a little a bit and then say, "That has Taylor written all over it!" or "Zach would really love this one!".



Transition to my classroom - We decorate these cute bags to hold our cards.

Then we mail our cards the morning of the party.  We don't open them until the party so our parents and guests can help us read the tougher ones.

 

This is the beautiful tree section of this post!  Each year on party day, Mrs. Sevigny dresses up as a Christmas Tree.  Seriously, is she not the greatest teacher ever?  She looks so cute and the kids LOVE it!  I wish you could have seen and heard the kids when we picked them up from the gym.  They were mesmerized!



Michel and I with our favorite tree! 
I am so blessed to work with these fabulous ladies!!!



Jackson at his party!



The food was great!

 

Jackson opening his Christmas cards.  He couldn't wait to read them to me after school.  They really love those cards!




How could I not take this picture?  Two of my favorite people!



And now the Bob section - This is our classroom "Elf on a Shelf".  We named him Bob.  Yes, Bob!  Max and Peter were the elves in the other two 1st grade classrooms.  Bob has been a very welcome addition to our class this month.  The kids love coming in the room and finding Bob each morning.  This is where we found him on party morning - in the Christmas tree.  If you get to speak with me privately sometime, I'll tell you exactly how Bob made it to his perch this particular day.  It's quite humorous!

 

Bob is very hi-tech!  He can text Santa without moving.  How you ask?  Well, he has a microchip in his brain.  I could say things like, "Bob, could you please text Santa and let him know that *insert student's name* is doing a great job!" or "Bob, please text Santa and report that *insert student's name* is not following directions.  Oh, Bob - how I'll miss you come January 4th.  He has also elicited some questions from my students such as "Doesn't Bob get cold each night when he flies back to the North Pole?", "What do elves eat?", "Why does Santa sometimes wear glasses and sometimes not?", "When is Santa's Birthday?", "When is Bob's Birthday?".  Luckily, Bob could also send me messages via his microchip.  So, he helped me answer a lot of these questions!  Thank goodness!!!!



I hope that each of you get to experience Christmas through the eyes of a child!

Verse of the day - "The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world." John 1:9

Blessings,
Kelli

Character and Cookies

I'm going to try to catch up on the past week's activities one blog at a time...

Jackson's teacher chose him as Student of Character for this six weeks.  It's kind of like Student of the Month.  We are very proud of him!  He can be stubborn and hard-headed sometimes, (hmmm...wonder where he gets that from?) but most of the time he is very well behaved.  He loves school and he loves his teacher which helps a lot!

There is a luncheon for all the students of character and their parents.  Daddy brought Jackson's favorite - Whataburger!

Each student receives a medal and a program.  Our Principal reads a little about each student from a questionnaire that the parents fill out.

 

Jackson's questionnaire - it was very difficult to choose just one answer for these questions!



Love my boys!!!



Jackson and a fellow 1st Grade Student of Character.  Her parents couldn't make it, so she sat with us.  I think my sweet husband can make just about any kid laugh!  Plus, he got to share his love for Whataburger with one more person that day!

Jackson and our Principal, Mrs. Lopez

Many of you know that my friend Cheryl, a.k.a. Mrs. Sevigny, is Jackson's teacher.  Each year before Christmas, Cheryl's mom comes to school to make Rudolph cookies with the students.  They are so cute - I was so glad Jackson got to join in on the fun this year!


Mrs. Cloud, a.k.a. Mammers, gives some instructions about the icing.

  

Mammers gives some advice on placing the cookies together correctly.



Putting the graham cracker base together can get a little tricky...

Jackson works on his icing

Mammers, Jackson and Taylor with their finished products.  Taylor is Cheryl's great niece and Mammers great-granddaughter.  Jackson happens to be very fond of Taylor!  My sister-in-law and Taylor's mom were in Cheryl's class together a "few" years ago.  I think it's so neat that now Jackson and Taylor are in Cheryl's class together.

 

One Graham cracker cut diagonally + two pretzels + icing + two chocolate chips + one red m&m = Rudolph.  Mammers was so sweet, she sent this one home to Kendall!  Ever heard of the saying, "take a picture, it'll last longer?"

Verse of the day - "When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:17-19

Blessings,
Kelli

Christmas with Dickens

Another reason we love our church - Christmas with Dickens!



The Christian Life Center is transformed into a village straight out a Dickens novel.

 

Complete with street vendors, caroling, pigs-in-a-blanket, cookies, and wassail!

 Our wonderful choir started out the night's festivities with a beautiful concert led by Charles Dickens himself.  Then everyone made their way to the Christian Life Center for more fun.  The Children's Choir performed a Nativity Play.


Jackson as a Wise Man - he was excited to carry the myrrh!

  

Our friend Caroline made a beautiful angel!  The girls were excited about the wings.

 

The Wise Men deliver their gifts to baby Jesus - another tear worthy moment.

This is Jackson and Kendall's favorite Christmas song.  Kendall sings, "Go Tell It On the Mountain, Over the Hills and Everything!"

 The big finale - the angels, shepherds and wise men gather around baby Jesus...
"May my light shine like the star of Bethlehem,
May the world see God's love through me."

 The three wise men and their gifts -
I promise he's happier than he looks in the picture.

 There's a happy wise man!

 Kendall and John - future angel and wise man. 
Have I mentioned that Kendall LOVES John?

After the Nativity play we enjoyed some caroling.

Father Christmas was even there!  Kendall shook his hand and accepted a candy cane but would not stand next to him.  We'll take what progress we can get.

 Exploring the village - they really liked "Tiny Tim's Toy Shoppe".

The best pic I could get of two tired children! 
Our friend Dezz made Kendall's outfit.  Isn't it adorable?

I love this time of year!  I love the smells, the sights, the sounds, but most importantly the reason!  "God Bless Us Everyone!"

Verse of the day - "When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh." Matthew 2:10-11

Blessings,

Kelli