Christmas Around the World

I just can't say it enough. We have the BEST group of kids in preschool this year. And to go along with those amazing kids are the greatest parents. A huge Thank you to Sandra for putting on our amazing "Christmas Around the World" party. We visited so many countries in such a short amount of time. Who would have thought that you could make it through the airports with such ease and speed. I guess only at Shining Stars Airlines!

Thank you to my own personal photographer Heather for taking these amazing pictures. Below is our trip around the world. What amazing things we learned about other countries and their Christmas traditions. And of course it was so much fun to watch/listen to our very own Children's Choir. Thank you to everyone who helped with our party. It was a HUGE success.

In Sweden they celebrate with the Saint Lucia ceremony where the boys dress up as Star Boys with their pointy hats and the girls dress up with a crown of evergreens and illuminated candles and they present their parents with coffee and lucia buns (kinda like cinnamon rolls).

After opening the CRACKERS!

In England they would make decorated oranges with whole oranges with cloves pressed into them. My how these smelled so good. And they turned out so beautifully.

In Finland their make some sort of a bird feeder and place it outside in their gardens for the birds to feast upon. We made ours with pine cones, peanut butter and birdseed.

The story from Italy of La Befana.

The kids seemed to enjoy their airplane (aka sheet hanging from the ceiling with rope lights along the floor.)

What more can I say. The pictures speak for themselves. The kids had fun and went home for Christmas Vacation with huge smiles upon their faces. Thanks again to everyone who helped.

Experiencing Italy

During the month of December we learned about Italy. Miss Heidi came in and taught the kids all about their flag, Italian words for different Christmas words, and shared a few traditions with us. One of the things that Italy is known for are Mosaics. Miss Heidi taught the kids what a mosaic was and then helped them assemble a mosaic star ornament. It was fun seeing the kids' creative juices flow.

All of the mosaics turned out so beautiful. And it was so fun to each of them different and unique in their own way.

One of the other Italian favorites that we participated in was making our very own pizza. We had a great time spreading the sauce, sprinkling with cheese, and then a few added pepperoni. The kids loved watching their pizza's go into the little Pizza Dome.
Many of our preschoolers had big smiles on their faces after creating their beautiful edible masterpieces.

And some at times were wondering how long it would be until they could cook their pizza and eat it. Patience!
Thanks to the Ludeman's for letting us borrow their fancy Pizza Dome. What a cool kitchen aide.

Finally the pizzas were out of the dome and ready to eat. YUM! Hot, Fresh, Homemade Pizza! Could you ask for anything better? I'm pretty sure we didn't have any unhappy preschoolers that day.

A HUGE Thank You to Heidi for coming in and sharing her Italy expertise with us. We now know so much more abour Italy. We have enjoyed learning more about the different countries around the world.