Preschool Christmas Program

A few cute pictures of Makenah's preschool Christmas celebration. The three and four year olds performed together. 

It was a sweet little event. Kind of a combo program/fun family time.

The kids sang us a song, we all listened to a story together then there was craft time and punch and cookies. 

Makenah was adorable, but we wouldn't have seen it any other way, ha! 

She sang so sweetly and smiled and waved when she saw us. Logan preferred not to sit still or quiet, so Bryan was awesome at chasing him around and maintaing order. (Logan liked cookie and punch time much better…)

This goes in the books as our very first program/performance for one of our kids. 

Front row, red bow

Craft time...

(Logan: Is this over yet…?)

Cookies make everything better.

Can't believe she'll be 4 years old soon!

 A few bonus pictures.

Bryan and I ready to head out to his office Christmas party. 

We had a great time, and owe a huge thank you to my parents for holding down the fort all night while we partied! 

 The kids before church on Sunday. Makenah sang during the service, and there I was beaming again…this time in the front row. I've got some phone shots of that. I didn't take my big camera because I didn't want to look out of place in the service, snapping and clicking away. But, when I saw moms high tail it towards the front with their big set ups, I now know, when kid cuteness is involved, go for it!! 

Have a great weekend!

Decorating the tree

Don't be fooled by my blogging schedule around here…this tree decorating happened before Thanksgiving. Whoa! 

For the first time, the tree went up before Thanksgiving, and I quite liked it! A combination of factors led to this decision and I think I'll carry on next year. The late holiday, combined with celebrating Thanksgiving early with my family, made me ready to get out the decor and enjoy it as long as we could! The tree went up first, and I followed up later with all the greens and decorations around the house. I should post those pictures too!

Makenah was my main helper for decorating, but we didn't want to leave Logan out, so we gave him some time before his nap to explore the ornaments (read: break a few) and be included in the tradition. After a little while, even Makenah told me, "Mama, I think Logan is being too rough with the ornaments." That was my cue. She and I finished the hanging during his nap time. (And then I spread the ornaments out a little after bedtime that night. Ha!)

Tree Assembly

 In his head I think he's thinking, "Oh my, oh my, oh my, these are mine, I'm touching these, I'm holding these, what do I do with these, you can't take these."

 Starting with the favorites. 

The kids pick an ornament themselves each year. 

(We started when Makenah was born. She has 4 now and Logan has 2. Makenah has been able to pick her last three all by herself, and she helped Logan pick one this year.) 

I'm not sure how that pipe cleaner creation made it on the tree again this year. I think it was fashioned and hung independently last year by a sweet little girl, and I just let it be, and even boxed it up with the rest. It was hung immediately, so I guess it stays. 

 The ornament cluster. 

 They each got a turn hanging the star that evening. 

 She thought the finished product looked great the next morning and commented on what a good job she did, so the spreading out of the ornaments went undetected. I still left all theirs at the bottom because they end up admiring them daily. 

If you like to look back, tree cutting/decorating of the past. 

2010

2011

2012

Nature Explore Center with Grandma

I'm sure you already know how much we love our library. We love to go to story time, we always have a bag full of books checked out, and we like to play in the kids room. I see value in spending time there, interacting with people, learning about the library, fostering a love for books and playing and having fun. 

So, another reason we love the library…

My mom is one of the directors for Russell Child Development, a center that provides early childhood services and interventions all over southwest Kansas. They have so many programs and impressive ways to meet the needs of little kids. It's been neat seeing many of the connections of her work in the community. One of these places, is the new Explore Nature outdoor classroom at the library. This cool space is an outdoor, interactive learning center with many fun areas to it. One morning when mom was the guest reader at story time, she took us outside to show us the new space. 

Through an exit out the back of the library, you enter a fully fenced in, beautifully landscaped and kid friendly explore area.

Reading books in the big chairs. 

 Places to sit, crawl, climb...

 Covered stage area

 Water play (no water because of the temps…)

 Pretty paths leading around

 Natural blocks

 Such fun instruments to make music

There were other areas I didn't get pictures of, since I wasn't planning on really using them to share, but I wanted to show some of the fun things there. 

So, add that to the list of why we love the library. 

Thanks for the tour Grandma!