Friday, December 2, 2011

December is Here!

Well, this week has been a whirlwind but I'm so happy December is here!!  The Christmas season is in full swing and I love it.  Although, I did just realize it's also Nathan's birth month so my baby will be 2!!!  That is kind of shocking so I won't think about it yet.

On Sunday night, after what seemed like a l-o-n-g vacation from school and regular life, I made a *big* deal about 2 surprises I had for the kids on Monday.  That helped us all to feel some excitement about starting back!  The kids were not disappointed!

Here they are waiting for the 1st surprise!
 It was a Christmas sensory box that I have been working on since before Halloween, I think.  I found so many fun things at the Dollar Tree and in the dollar bins at Target!  This was our 1st time with a sensory bin and I was a little nervous the twins would feel too old for it.  I didn't need to worry!!  They sorted the items and played 'market' with it every time I got it out this week!  This picture cracks me up--real life pushing and shoving:
 Peek!  Nathan actually moved on before any of the other kids but he did enjoy putting smaller items into a plastic container.  Sounds fun?!

The 2nd surprise I had was homemade red, peppermint playdough.  This was also a big hit--with all the kids.  They loved to smell it and it was so soft!  I let them use the Christmas cookie cutters for the 1st couple days--then I took them back to wash so we're ready for our cookie baking!  :)

I also have been downloading free Christmas things online like crazy.  The kids have had Christmas-themed things to do all week.
Nathan with Christmas magnet sheets.  Actually, all 4 kids played with these, as well.  :)

Hunter and Lily had something Christmas-y every day but I got a picture of their parts of speech activity--presents had different words and they had to sort them under the right tree (noun, verb or adjective).  This was a hit--it was fun and it helped them to grasp these terms better.  (I can't link to it because I can't find the info on the product.)  They also did some Santa math today.  Fridays = fun days!

Something else that happened this week was a trip to the doctor.  Hunter and Lily had physicals and then we all got flu shots.  Always a fun time.  Anyway, I fit in the schoolwork in the morning so that we didn't have to worry about it in the afternoon--or lagging behind because Christmas break will come early here!  Having school with Nathan awake is not something I want to do every day!  It was definitely a louder, more chaotic experience.  Ha!

Hunter and Samuel are quite the best buddies lately, which I think is awesome.  I printed some gingbread books and had the twins draw the pictures, according to the story.  Here is Hunter reading his story to Samuel.  He later colored the pictures and we assembled the book--he proudly read it to his Dad later.  Lily doesn't like to draw so I think she would have preferred to write the book!  :)
 Doing schoolwork in robes.  Who wouldn't love that??  :)  Hunter is journaling and Samuel is sorting 'L/l' ladybugs
Not to be outdone, here are the other 2 kids bonding.  :)  Nathan does love "uh-wuh".

Some Christmas pics to round out the post.  Who doesn't love a frowning Santa?  Nathan loves this hat--he puts it on every day!
 Do you see the cat in the Christmas tree?  Bad cat!  It hasn't been knocked over yet, thankfully!

One more week of school (71 days so far!) done.  We have one more week of regular work + Christmas activities thrown in before we go to mainly Christmas-themed work.  :)

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