Get in the spirit!!

We have had a crazy, fun week... here are a few highlights!

We started the week with a "Santa's Stuck" craftivity inspired by this book. It is going for a great price on Amazon right now! Click the picture to take you there.

Mrs. Brietzman remembered a hilarious song about it from one of the Christmas programs quite a few years back. Here's a You Tube video of another school's performance, totally cute!

Here is our cute writing craft to go with the book:

We did quite a bit of traveling for Christmas Around the World and discussed American traditions and Mexican. The kids were interested to know that Las Posadas is celebrated for 9 whole days... they said, "Whoa they're lucky!" :) We learned nina is mom in Spanish and padre is father. We also got to whack at my homemade pinata. This was my first attempt, so I took an empty cereal box and decorated it. Turns out the cardboard was pretty indestructible and the candy got a little smashed... I will have to experiment for next year. I'm thinking a wrapped paper bag and hard candy! It didn't matter that I had to open it, just smacking something as hard as you can is pretty enjoyable :)

The treat inside was a kit kat for each child and they had to glue the wrapper as a remembrance into their scrapbook.

We also read The Legend of the Poinsettia and learned about the nativity parade that takes place each Christmas eve in Mexico. They made a cute little poinsettia for their scrapbook, too. We used Google Earth to locate that map of the U.S. and discussed the compass rose to figure out which direction we travel to get to Mexico. It was fun to find Soo Hill School on there and see what it looks like from a satellite photo. You could search your own address, too. Google maps is another excellent program for this!

We had to practice a lot for the Christmas program as well. Here are all my darlings waiting to sing on stage. I can't wait to see them all dressed in their Christmas best on Tuesday! I wonder what I can wear over my expanding bump... and how is it that my ribs can hurt this bad without actually breaking!! Our bodies are really amazing... at least that's what I am going to keep telling myself when I am so uncomfortable! :)

At the beginning of the week Hailey used her Read a Book to the Class reward to share Green Eggs & Ham. We only made it part way because it is so long, but she did a fantastic job reading!!

Ha! Look at my sad tree... I need to put some ornaments on that thing!! The kids love it at least!

We are OUT of dry erase markers, crayons, and glue!!! So if you were thinking of getting us a classroom gift, please let Christmas come early... please, please!!

In Chernick Family news, my sweet boy and his daddy helped Nana decorate her wagon. This photo is so precious that it is going to be on our Christmas card. You got the inside scoop! 

We are trimming the tree tomorrow and we bought ours by from the stand at Elmer's County Market, true to my expensive tastes, the thing cost $55!! My husband couldn't believe it... I think we'll cut our own next year. I will try to get you some shots around the house in the next week so you can see my traditional Christmas style, as with everything I like to mix the new and the old and it really makes it special to dig out things that have been passed down to us! Happy Holidays!