Our Holiday Events 2009

Gosh - I take a few days off and forget to post half of the month! I'm old so I can't remember everything we did...I'll just hit a few highlights before Christmas. Away we go!

The third graders at Claire's school were asked to become entrepreneurs this month. They held a "Holiday Market" and sold handcrafted items to the 1st graders. The 1st graders paid with "brain bucks" they had earned from their teachers. After going back and forth (and back and forth!) on what she wanted to make, Claire finally decided on flower pens and pebble magnets. Claire was extremely proud of her creations and happily sold ALL of her items.

Before Christmas break, Claire's class had their formal lunch party (well, as formal as third graders get). After lunch, the students took turns telling what they were thankful for this year, and then made a toast with bubbly cider. It was SO cute!

The REAL Santa always visits dad's office, and he made the stop again this year. The kids know this Santa is the real one because he always knows details about them (what their teacher says about them, how they're doing in school, how they're behaving with their siblings, if they're keeping their room clean, etc.). Claire was excited to see Santa again, and Max ran up to the jolly man like he was a best friend. We quickly realized that what Max truly wanted was the candy cane Santa was giving out. :-)

First visit w/Santa, and first candy cane (lasted maybe a minute)!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We had freezing rain and snow late Christmas Eve, so the roads were really icy on Christmas morning; therefore, we stayed home instead of going to Grandma's. The kids had a great day playing with all of their new goodies. We exchanged our homemade gifts again this year (with exception of Max since he's too little). Dad made Emily a "to do" tile for her bathroom (in hopes of getting her to stop writing on the mirror!); Emily did a pencil drawing for Claire; Claire made a mod-podge eyeglass container for dad's desk; I made a ink transfer photo for Allyson; and Allyson made a jewelry box and photo mouse pad for me. The kids LOVE making gifts for one another and have already asked to do this again next year.

Emily & Allyson with their hand crafted gifts.

Max - not sure he likes the dinosaur