Christmas Parties

Christmas parties (and thankfully now that the kids are at a christian school we can actually call them that!) are so much fun and I love being able to help out at the kids' school. I volunteered to help out for both Wyatt and Sadie's and thank goodness they weren't on the same day!! 

Wyatt party was on the Thursday before break (over half their class was going to be at the Mall of America on friday for choir) and we made gingerbread houses.

I was official!

Blake and Will, one of Wyatt's classmate's little brother--checking everything out

Again, this is another one of those things that really shows different personalities--the differences between future engineers, artists, those that like specific instructions or those that want to figure it out on their own. Participating in a party like this is a perfect setting for a sociology experiment!

Wyatt was very careful and methodical about his gingerbread house

Wyatt's friend Nate and his mom Yuchien--they actually live just down the street from us but we didn't know them until this year. Wyatt and Nate were both new to NLA and they have pretty similar personalities, both loving sports and talking about football nonstop! Nate is a great kid and we have been so thankful to get to know his family this year.

So blessed to be a mama to these two boys!

I took this picture because I'm always amazed at how quickly Blake just joins in, regardless of the age or size difference with the kids he's around. Wyatt's teacher was reading a book to them about Christmas and Blake just squeezed his way right in--he's sitting on the far right. (I don't think I've mentioned this but I absolutely LOVE Wyatt's teacher--she is by far my favorite teacher of all my kids' teachers thus far. She is firm yet kind, has very high expectations for the kids yet also recognizes each kids' strengths and promotes those. Plus, she's a mom of 3 school-aged boys, so she isn't bothered by the energy level that comes with boys--so blessed to have Mrs. Kroohn!!

The next day, Friday, was Sadie's class party. And her teacher always does a Christmas breakfast which I just happened to think was the best idea ever!! We didn't have to feed the kids before school and then they were able to focus for the rest of the day because they weren't anticipating the party! (The other moms I volunteered with also agreed that maybe we should do this the last friday of every month!)

We set up the breakfasts (bacon, clementines, bagels and cream cheese, yogurt and juice box) before the kids came into the classroom.

And they were out in the hallway doing their "Minds in Motion". It's an amazing program that Sadie's teacher learned about at an education conference a few years ago and has implemented for not only her class and the other 1st grade, but several other classes as well. The kids start their day off by doing various physical exercises that involve balance, coordination, concentration, etc. An article was recently written up about it on the school's website, which can be found here. But it helps to get some of the wiggles out, allowing for better focus during the school day, while also helping with integrating mind and body. (Walking upstairs backwards with a bean bag on their heads, standing on balance balls, hula hoops, etc.)

The kids all loved eating breakfast in the classroom and they each went around the room and shared their family's Christmas break plans.

Sadie's friends Jaslyn and Audryn

Jasmine (Sadie's friend who also goes to our church) and Sadie

And once again, Blake managed to find a seat of one of the students who was gone that day and he just slipped right in, enjoyed a great breakfast and participated as if he were in 1st grade!

Just one of the kids!

Sadie's friends Kellijean and Kate

As I looked through all these pictures, it's amazing how many kids both Wyatt and Sadie knew before coming to NLA that I didn't even know about! After being in BSF (both kids) for the last 4 years, they both knew several kids who also went and recognized them at school. They also knew kids from sports, church and other things around Woodbury, helping the transition to a new school seem not so scary! And Christmas time was one of the best parts about being at a Christian school. Allowing the focus to remain on Christ and his birth meant there was little time for Santa, elves and the other commercialization that comes in our culture. SO thankful for NLA and blessed to have the opportunity to send our kids there!