{The Polar Express} Winter Party

Well... Christmas is over, the New Year has come and we are wrapping up Winter Break at our house. 

Its been a really fun couple of weeks, but I am sooo ready to get back into our routine!

I wanted to share some things that I made for the boy's Winter parties this year. Last year I did a Rudolph party for Noah's class, which was a lot of fun, but Roman really wanted a Polar Express theme for his class this year. 

(And I wasn't interested in doing 2 different parties!) 

Doing The Polar Express happened to work perfectly because both classes were having a pajama party the following day as well as watching the movie, so our activities just added to that.

For favors I made packages of hot chocolate as well as bell ornaments for the kids to take home.

{I wish I hadn't waited so long to get the bells for the ornaments. I never thought all the craft stores would be completely sold out of silver bells! So red bells it is. Next time I will know better!}

{I poured Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate mix in some zip lock baggies, along with marshmallows, mini chocolate chips and red & green sprinkles. I just folded my label over the edge and stapled the top.}

{I designed tags for both that you are welcome to use! Just click on the picture, save it to your computer and print on card stock. The images are designed for 4x6 sizing.}

For Noah's Kindergarten class I found these FREE, downloadable, coloring sheets from a 123homeschool4me website. 

During free time they had the option to color, or take them home. 

{Next time I plan to scale them down to size and make a small coloring book.}

His class enjoyed their hot chocolate during snack time and took their bells home to hang on the tree.

For Roman's 2nd grade class, We had a complete breakfast bar. Every child brought in a certain item and we made Belgium Waffles right there in the classroom! The kids topped off their waffles with all kinds of goodies, and then made some Christmas tree ornaments to take home. 

For our game we played "BELL BINGO." I had come across the idea on Pinterest but was annoyed that I couldn't find anything for free- class parties have a budget, ya know! 

So I made my own!

Print the following 2 sheets on 8x10 paper. 

1 of each, per child.

{It could be card stock or construction paper, but regular printing paper would work as well.}

{I suggest having the kids use glue sticks for this project.}

{Really encourage the kids not to copy each others placement, this will help the game go longer.}

{I used the bell ornaments and hot chocolate packets as Bell Bingo prizes!} 

{Make sure you have LOTS of marshmallows to use as markers!}

The following are your 5x7 calling cards. 

{I do suggest printing these on card stock and saving them for another time.} 

I hope you and your kiddo's class enjoy!

{Happy New Year!}

The 100th Day Of School!

Its Wednesday afternoon here in North Georgia. The sun is shining, the laundry is washing, the kids are home.... wait....

Welcome to the "GREAT SNOWPOCALYPSE OF 2014" folks! Where a major US city has shut down, leaving people to choose abandoning their cars on major freeways or sleeping in them for the night. There are actually kids and teachers bunkered up in their schools for the night as parents have no way to get to them and buses can't make the trek. 

Oh good grief.

I understand that this is the south and they are not prepared for this kinda weather. I, however, am from the north and welcomed this wonderous display of white, glittery, fluffy JOY! (It helps to know that we were all already home, safe and sound!) I'm pretty sure the delight on our faces explains it all!

Roman making snow angels

Lydia admiring the view

Sophia, my little snow bunny!

Me and my Holly berries!

Fun, right?! 

So that is life THIS week, celebrating the snow fall! But last week we were celebrating THE 100TH DAY OF SCHOOL! I don't remember celebrating this in school when I was growing up, so I hit up Pinterest and found a ton of cute ideas from other room mom's. Apparently 100 days is a big deal! The kiddos are 100 days smarter and are now about half way done with school! Roman was super excited and everyday came home to tell me what number day we were on. For the 100th day Romans class made T-shirts decorated with 100 objects and then wrote a brief explanation at the bottom.

"I chose this collection because... it looks like all the seasons. -Roman"

For both of the boy's class, I made some 100th Day Of School cookies! I found the idea all over pinterest. Heres my version:

I really need a printer... note for next time: I plan to use one of the many cute labels I found on Pinterest.

For Noah, who is in a very language based/sensory rich class room, I wanted to make some sensory bottles for the boys (theres only boys in his autism classroom). I gathered 100 items of each household item that I could find. I used just plain, empty water bottles and later duct taped the tops shut. 

Here is a list of items I used: 

It wasn't easy to find 100 of each item and then need it to be able to fit through the top of a bottle! 

As we explored the bottles there were different questions we could ask each of the kiddos. This can be modified based on age and where they are developmently. Noah just liked shaking them to compare sound, holding them to compare weight and verbally labeling each bottle. Here are some other ideas:

The 100th Day Of School was fun! I'm a fan!

Now, onto snow day #2:

Christmas Lights In Atlanta

Centennial Park is located at 265 Park Ave West in the heart of central Atlanta.

We have enjoyed this park several times since moving here, however, this was the first time we came to see the Christmas display. This is a free event and is open daily during the holiday season. The lights were beautiful and the weather was nice. It is sure to become a family tradition!

The Beautiful Christmas Tree

Me And My Oldest Son, Roman

CNN World Head Quarters

Outdoor Skating Rink

My Son, Wishing He Was A Tad Bigger

Beautiful City

Stones Depicting Athletes 

Statues Depicting Athletes

In Commemoration Of The 1996 Olympic Games

 Across the street from Centennial Olympic Park is The World Of Coke and The Georgia Aquarium. Between the two is a small park called Pemberton Place. There you can see all the large ornaments from The World Of Coke as well as the red and white Christmas lights in true coca cola fashion.

Roman 

The World Of Coke

The Georgia Aquarium

The View From Pemberton Place

Yes, He's A Ham

The American Cancer Society International Headquarters