Back in the classroom

On Tuesday I got to go along to Katie’s school to be a parent helper and made reindeer with the kids in her class. It was so much fun to see her in action! I thought that I would post how we made it in case anyone was stuck inside with all the snow and ice!


Preschool Craft—Reindeer centerpiece

Wash out an orange juice container and dry. Cover with brown construction paper.

For cutting practice, draw a triangle on brown construction paper for the head. It should be the height of the can. Glue the head to the can, making sure that the point is at the bottom for the nose.

Glue on the eyes—either plain circles or crafty googly eyes. Glue on a red pompom nose.

For the ears, start with a 2.5 inch brown circle. Have your child draw a line down the center on their own and cut that line. Place a dab of glue on the tip and glue to the back of the corners of the head.

For the finishing touch, cut off some pine branches for antlers and just place in the can!

Reindeer games

Last Friday Katie, Maggie and I braved the chill to go see real, live reindeer in Rohrerstown. I thought the event would be more of go up and take a look at the reindeer, which led to my confusion when we pulled into the parking lot and saw a line wrapped around the front of the building. I packaged Maggie in coats and blankets in the stroller and Katie had on her puffy coat, hat and mittens and we made it maybe 5 or 10 minutes in line before Maggie's eyes were tearing from the cold. The couple in line in front of us were frustrated by the line and had what looked to be a 2 year old, so the husband went inside to see what was going on that the line was so long. When the report was that it weaved inside also, but we were welcome to go in and "see" the reindeer, but had to stay in line to pet them, we jumped out of line with them to go see the reindeer. Katie was crushed that she didn't get her picture with the reindeer but we went ahead to the free crafts table for her to make an ornament. As we were leaving the line went down considerably, so in line we went.

When we were only 2 kids away from the reindeer, Katie decided she didn't want to see them anymore. Like any good mother, I told her we waited in line and she was going to get her picture with the reindeer so Maggie could see why we made her wait in the long, cold line.

The greatest novelty to Katie was seeing Mrs. Claus! She talked with Katie then introduced her to Santa. Our talkative Katie got shy and forgot what she wanted for Christmas...

Visiting cousins

Alana, Tommy, and Katie got into the holiday spirit by building a gingerbread house. We are showing the good side since 4 of the 6 pieces of gingerbread was cracked when we opened the box. Wondered how that was possible when we tried to eat the gingerbread since it was so hard. The kids had fun though, even though Uncle Tom had to come to the rescue with the icing. We had a great visit--thanks! We should have stayed until the end of the Steeler game since the touchdown near the end wasn't quite the same over the radio.

We won! We Won!!!

Two weeks ago I got an email from Amy at Cuddle Up Blankets to let me know that I was the monthly winner! I had happened onto her site while blog-hopping and thought that they were the cutest blankets. I never seem to win (Even though we have plans of what we would do with the millions that we would get from the lottery, we never play...) so this was really cool. I got to pick out my favorite!

Most of Maggie's blankets are hand-me-downs from Katie so it was fun to pick something out for Maggie, especially since she loves blankets. She can't seem to sleep without one to grab in her tiny fingers. I picked out the yellow rosebud flannel with yellow minky.

We were so excited to get the mail when it arrived! It was packaged so beautifully (I had to take pictures!!!) and the materials are soooo soft. Katie and Maggie played with it for about an hour before bathtime.

Best of all, in the world of mass-produced, this is handmade and wonderfully done! I am so impressed! I encourage you to check out her site, www.cuddleupblankets.com and look at the seasonal blankets on a deep discount and all the collections she has! And don't forget to sign up for the monthly contest!!!

Thanksgiving

We went up to Mom and Dad's house for Thanksgiving this year. We got to see lots of people we haven't seen for a while and Katie had lots of fun playing with my cousins. Here are a few shots from the day. We gave Chris his birthday present, which was a cape that Katie and I made. It is superman appliqued on one side and Batman on the other but I forgot to get a picture of it before I wrapped it so all I have is the shot of him playing with the Superman facing out.

Aunt Glenda and Uncle Curt gave Katie a ceramic bears set that she is loving right now...they are all set up on her desk now!

If you are interested in making a cape (just like this one and the one I made for Katie's halloween costume, check out the tutorial on http://pukingpastilles.com/?p=57

Silly kids...Santa is for dogs....

The girls and I just completed something I do not wish on anyone else...2 days in a row at the mall this close to Christmas.

Why may you ask did I go back after the first day??? Seems that when I stashed a small package with a gift for our niece, it didn't stay stashed. Most likely when I dropped everything to help Katie with a drink of water out of a fountain or when we collapsed to drink a lemonade from Auntie Anne's. We came home to show John what we got and could not find this bag. I called this morning and some wonderful, kind person found my bag and took it to customer service. Whoever you are, THANK YOU! So...the reason for the second trip.

We didn't really have anymore shopping to do so when Katie saw that Santa was finally in the chair she wanted to take Maggie to tell him what Maggie wanted for Christmas. How cute is that? She already got to tell Santa her list (Barbie guitar) on her Christmas train ride with Grandma and Pappa. Maggie even sat on Santa's lap!

The line to get to Santa was another story....we were in line that was moving soooo slow (it took over an hour to get to the end) a couple got behind us with a dog. I just thought it was odd.... Then another and more.... decked out in Santa dog costumes and jingle bells. Katie kept her distance, Maggie was intriqued. Then the coffe kiosk workers started to clap and yell. Why the commotion? Dog poopy!

We weaved through the line with several more outbursts from the coffee workers. My head was so stuffed up and I already had that mall headache you get from just being there too long. Poor Santa had dog after dog pose with him with a few families with just kids in line. Turns out it was 'dog picture day'....wish I would have known ahead of time.

One closing thought: When I was a kid, my parents took pictures of me on Santa before the fancy Santa Portait session it has now become. Did you look at those prices? 15 is the cheapest you can get away from there and you can't take your own picture! You are rushed through so fast with filling out the form before the picture, quick sit on the lap and onto the check out station to pay your 15 for a single portait, 30 for a family set or 55 for the premium package...is it just me or is this outragous?