School Christmas Parties

Today both girls had their Christmas parties at school. Unfortunately since Olivia came home from school early on Tuesday with a fever and cough and hasn't improved, I texted Mrs. Michelle to tell her that Olivia wouldn't be able to attend her party. But, I had little Christmas gift baskets for Mrs. Michelle, Mrs. Jane and Mrs. Jan that included Christmas kitchen towels, body lotion, body wash, nail polish, an owl ornament, and homemade gingerbread biscotti in a glass snowflake jar. I wanted to be sure they were able to enjoy their gifts and especially their biscotti, so I dropped by the school at 9:30 and left Olivia in the car while I ran in and delivered their goodies. Mrs. Michelle told me that I should bring Olivia back to the classroom after chapel at 10:30 so she could participate in the stocking exchange. It was so sweet of her to include Olivia and we returned an hour later. Each child brought in 12 gifts for their classmates and they sat in a circle with their stocking while each child took turns passing out their gifts to their friends. It was so sweet and I loved being able to watch the exchange. As soon as Olivia sat down next to Georgia, her friends Ava and Alexandra got up and moved so they could sit next to Olivia. She has sweet friends in her class and is very happy to go to school, which is great. Of course, since she knew I was watching, she became very shy and reserved and Mrs. Jane told me she isn't like that unless I'm there. So, I stood just outside the classroom and took photos on the sly while watching. After all the gifts were handed out, Olivia and I wished everyone a Merry Christmas before heading home. I was so glad she was able to participate and she got some cute gifts including a Christmas coloring book, a small play dough set, a candy cane, a candy ring, a ruler, a nutcracker ornament, a Frozen washcloth, and other goodies. We returned home and she played with all of her new goodies.

Sofia's Christmas party was scheduled for 12:30-1:30 and I originally planned to meet her for lunch at noon and help set up the classroom as well as attend the party. However, because of Olivia's fever I wasn't sure I was going to be able to attend. Before school I told Sofia that I wasn't sure if I could be at her party and she was so sad. So, I decided to go and drop Olivia off at Adventure Kids. I felt terrible about bringing a sick kid to the hourly child care center, but according to the nurse we saw on Wednesday, she didn't have strep and no one in our house has gotten sick from her, so I was hoping she wasn't able to pass anything to anyone.

I arrived a few minutes late and Sofia didn't even notice as I walked in with Mrs. Feaster's gift. The class was playing a game of Peanuts Bingo and were having fun. Once the game was over, Sofia ran over to me and I gave her a big hug and hung out with her while she and her classmates played "Pin the ribbon on the ornament" and had fun being silly and laughing together. After the games, the class was split between boys and girls and given "snowballs" which were really big cotton balls. The kids had a snowball fight for the next ten minutes and I'm certain it was the best part of the party for the kids. At first, Sofia was a little uncertain but she soon got really into it and was throwing snowballs at the boys with everything she had! The party ended and I gave her a hug goodbye before picking Olivia up and heading home. Sofia is so excited to have 2 whole weeks off school, more for her ability to sleep in and not have to be in class at 7:45am than anything and I'm also looking forward to not having to get up at 6am!

Sofia is ready to go to her Christmas party!

Mrs. Michelle handing out the Christmas stockings in Olivia's class

Olivia passing out her goodies

Olivia with her stocking of goodies

Our sweet girl!

Christmas party selfie!

Pinning the ribbon on the ornament

The snowball fight starts!

She really got into it!

Had to take this picture! Kids could post their reading recommendations on the wall and Sofia posted a laundry list of books instead of just one like everyone else did.