I went into Emma's kindergarten class this afternoon to teach art. The parochial school where Ian and Emma attend does not have an art teacher on staff, so the teacher is responsible for weekly art. I volunteered to teach art once a month to the kindergartners to give Emma's teacher a break and to let myself play "teacher" for a little bit each month.
Today's project was paper plate angels. I asked them if they knew of any angels that were involved in Jesus' birth. They told me about the angel Gabriel as well as the angel who told the shepherds about Jesus' birth. (They're a smart bunch!) I told them that we would make our own angels today out of paper plates. I showed them one I had made and they were all very eager to get started.
I pre-cut all the plates because kindergartners and scissors do not usually result in precise cutting, which this project required. I passed out the plates and after writing their names on them, they got started coloring and drawing. More than one boy asked if he could make a mean face on the angel. I told them, "No, this is a Christmas angel, he or she needs to look happy." However, when the same boys asked if they could make their angel bald or with spiky hair, I told them, "Sure, it's your angel."
It's amazing the difference between kids in a class. Some kids were done drawing after about two minutes, ready to move on to the next step, while others were
still coloring when it was time to do the last step.
Now, if you've never been in a class of 22 kindergartners doing an art project, you might be amazed at the noise level. Kids all over the room asking me if I liked their angel, comparing what they are doing with the kid next to them, or even across the room from them. It is controlled chaos. But, it's fun.
What really made it difficult for me today was that there were three distinct steps that I had to help with, as well as having Zoe, my three year old daughter with me. Usually she just colors or eats a snack, but today she wanted to make the angel and therefore wanted a little bit more of my attention than usual. Couple that with the taping and passing out of yarn to 22 five and six year olds makes for a slightly stressful situation. At one point, while I was taping each child's yarn onto the underside of their angel, Zoe came over with her angel and wanted me to do the same. I told her she would have to wait a little bit. She looked distressed, but didn't say anything and just held onto my leg. That's when the sweetest thing happened. Lucas, a little boy in Emma's class, told me he could wait until after Zoe had her angel taped. I'm often amazed at the sweetness of little kids. It always humbles me and makes me happy that I'm taking the time to do this every month.
After the angels were done, several of the kids helped me pick up the extra sequins that they had been gluing onto their angels to make it pretty. Another neat thing about this help is that two of the helpers were little boys who are known to be troublemakers. It made me really happy to see their generous spirit come out. It also reminded me that no matter how difficult and little self control some kids have, they still are sweet little kids who want to do the right thing and like being recognized for their good behavior. It's amazing how much a pat on the back can encourage more good behavior.
After I cleaned the tables so the students could have their snack, Zoe and I left amid a chorus of "Thank you, Mrs. McKillip" and "Goodbye, Mrs. McKillip." It was fun. I can't wait to make paper plate snowmen in January.
Now, fast forward about four or five years. My youngest daughter requested a baby Elmo for Christmas. I wasn't sure what she meant, as I hadn't seen any in stores. Neither did Kevin. However, creative to a fault Kevin decided he would not allow my baby to go without her heart's desire, a baby Elmo.
Today during speech class Zoe got to see Santa in the library of the Early Child Learning Center where she attends. I didn't know they were going to see Santa, but apparently Zoe was very excited about it. When I picked her up she held up two mini candy-canes and loudly exclaimed, "I saw Santa in the library and I told him I wanted a new monkey and he gave me these!"
This weekend was a Christmas cookie weekend. The kids and I made our annual sugar cookie cut-outs, which are always a big hit. Emma, Zoe and I cut out all the cookies with our cookie cutters while their big brother played in the snow with the neighbor boy. Their were angels, snowmen, crosses, reindeer, stockings, Santa Clauses, holly, wreaths, and probably a few other shapes as well. 
We used Pillsbury sugar cookie dough sheets (two packs) to make our many cookies. They worked really nicely (although I can't find a picture to post of the packaging.) What was really nice was that it came with two dough sheets ready to be cut right from the refrigerator. After we used the sheets as they came, I took all the scraps and re-rolled them so we got lots of cookies. The packages also come with red and green frosting packs, which made for a nice variety of colors when decorating since I bought vanilla (white frosting,) too. The only problem I have with the dough sheets is that they are hard to find. None of my local grocery stores carry them except Meijer. all the other stores carry the ones with the shape picture inside it. Those are not nearly as fun as making your own shapes and decorating them yourselves, in my opinion.
Received this link from a friend and enjoyed it. Turn up the volume to make sure you don't miss anything. Germany is definitely my favorite, though Switzerland was a close second.
What really made it difficult for me today was that there were three distinct steps that I had to help with, as well as having Zoe, my three year old daughter with me. Usually she just colors or eats a snack, but today she wanted to make the angel and therefore wanted a little bit more of my attention than usual. Couple that with the taping and passing out of yarn to 22 five and six year olds makes for a slightly stressful situation. At one point, while I was taping each child's yarn onto the underside of their angel, Zoe came over with her angel and wanted me to do the same. I told her she would have to wait a little bit. She looked distressed, but didn't say anything and just held onto my leg. That's when the sweetest thing happened. Lucas, a little boy in Emma's class, told me he could wait until after Zoe had her angel taped. I'm often amazed at the sweetness of little kids. It always humbles me and makes me happy that I'm taking the time to do this every month.
The girls and I decided to make a gingerbread Christmas tree this weekend using a Wilton Cookie Cutter Kit and Betty Crocker gingerbread cookie mix. 
One of the perks of being a parent is being around your children as they sing Christmas songs over and over again. My five year old daughter is always singing one song or another. Lately they are mostly songs from her upcoming Christmas concert that they are practicing for on a daily basis in school. But she also shares with me her versions of Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and my personal favorite, Deck the Halls.
The first big snow of the season fell last night and by morning the yard was under about six inches of snow. After my kids oohed and aahed at the pretty snow, they hatched their plans for playing in the snow. My oldest was not happy that school was still in session. He stuck out his chin and defiantly told me he was going to play in the snow after school. Take that mom!
So, at around 3:00PM, Zoe and I ventured down to the basement to pull out our snow pants. I was a little worried as I pulled two pairs if snow pants and one snowsuit out of the bin they were being stored in. Ian's pair was a size 10/12. Perfect I thought. But Emma's pair (an old black set from Ian) was a 5. She currently wears a 6. Zoe's snowsuit was a size 4T. She is in 4's and 5's. I figured we could make do for today and buy new ones if need be. But, at 3:15 when Emma and Ian got home from school and tried on their snow pants, everything fit. After some snacks and a change out of their school clothes we all suited up for some fun in the snow.
It was pretty chilly outside, but of course the three of them didn't notice it at all. They just knew they were free to dig, roll around in, and throw snow any way they could. Ian brought one of his Bionicles out and played with the neighbor boys while the girls looked for ice blocks in the snow to make a big pile with. 
Emma got cold first and came in for a nice hot mug of cocoa. I enticed Zoe in with the promise of hot chocolate as well, and Ian finally came in when his hands couldn't stand the cold anymore. All in all, a successful first play in the snow day.
