Christmas Parties!!

Today was Eli and Brynne's school Christmas parties. Eli's was an extravaganza from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and I was homeroom mom. We had a really great schedule worked out and all-in-all the party went great!

We did a really fun, but really hard, stocking craft that I will never repeat in another class again! The kids watched a Christmas movie while they sewed, with yarn, two felt stocking pieces together. The problem was that the holes weren't very big because I literally had to cut little slits into the felt for them to thread their yarn through. But they did so good! A couple of them needed extra help, but I was extremely impressed with how well they did! When they were done sewing they put on Christmas foam pieces, cotton balls across the top and we wrote their names on the front with a white paint pen. They turned out so cute!



When they were all done the kids stood in line with their stockings and those that brought treats walked down the line and placed them in each of the stockings.

Next they sat in a circle while we read Twas the Night Before Christmas. Each time the word "the" was said, the kids passed a wrapped gift to the student next to them. Whoever was holding the gift at the end of the story got to open it. The gift was a game for the class to enjoy.


The kids had a pizza party and played Christmas Bingo.

Then the moment they had all been waiting for ... gifts! It was hilarious! We did an old-fashioned gift exchange, with inexpensive toys. We put numbers on the boys gifts and another set of numbers on the girls gifts and let the kids draw a number to receive their gift. Then they had to sit and wait for all of the kids to have their gifts. We said, "1 -- 2 -- 3 -- Open!!" It was dead silent until we said "3" and then it sounded like a bomb went off. They went to town! They had so much fun!

Then the kids had Mrs. Sansone sit down to receive a large gift bag full of wish list items they had contributed. The kids loved seeing her open her gift from them!

They topped off the party by decorating sugar cookies and playing outside for a bit.

It was a fun party!

While they were decorating cookies, I slipped out for Brynne's little party. They did a candy cane craft and decorated cookies and had a book exchange. Their party was very short, but they had such a good time!

Here is a picture of Brynne in her adorable outfit! I made her the shirt. And my friend Amy made the skirt and bow to match. Too cute!


You can head over to Taulman Times: Special Edition to see more pictures!