Preschool Week 12 (December 21-26)

Our theme this week again was Christmas.

• We continued talking about dependability, and the companion character trait of Steadfastness – “Not wavering in my beliefs and purpose.”
• We learned Luke 2:11 “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

Our book list included:

• The Christmas Story by Elisa Trimby – an illustrated version of the Biblical story of Jesus’ birth. The text comes from the King James Version of the Bible. It is an old book, but a good one. We read on Christmas Day before we opened presents.
• The Christmas Pageant by Tomie DePaola – shows children putting on a play telling the Christmas story (paraphrased from the Biblical account).
• The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats -- An illustrated version of the familiar carol. Jeffrey really enjoyed it and got into the “Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum” refrain.
• Silent Night by Susan Jeffers -- An illustrated version of the familiar carol. Beautiful illustrations. I especially enjoyed the pictures of Mary holding her newborn baby as if she is nursing him, and another of Mary and Joseph lying down sleeping. Now that I have had three babies of my own, I can identify with both of those pictures of a tired new mother resting after baby goes to sleep.
• The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie DePaola – A legendary account of the wise men who saw the star in the east and came to worship Jesus. Not totally Biblical, as it gives names and places of origin for each of the wise men.

Activities this week:

We talked about how Jesus probably wasn’t really born in December, but that is when we celebrate and remember the amazing thing God has done for us in coming to earth as a baby, to live a perfect sinless life as a man, and later to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, and then to rise from the dead on the third day.

Ronnie’s cousin Esther, her husband Tim, and Aunt Anne came to visit us on Christmas Eve. We had a nice time visiting over lunch and afterwards. The kids were not shy at all, but readily welcomed them to see their rooms and play with their toys.

Granny and Grandpa Shinpaugh came to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with us. It was a huge blessing to me to have them come here instead of us having to travel again. It was nice also to have a Christmas in our own home and begin some traditions of our own.

Goodnight hugs and kisses….

 

Jeffrey seemed to be studying the manger scene while drinking his milk…

 

 

Reading the Christmas story….

 

Great Grandma Shinpaugh made this manger scene many years ago.  It is made out of plastic canvas, so it is something safe for the kids to play with…

Travis was teaching us all he knew about Jesus, using the characters from the manger scene as props…

Heather couldn’t let her brother outdo her, so when he was done, she “read” her Bible to us….

 

We opened presents one at a time and the kids helped distribute them.

Our first gift was the baby Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a….wagon.

The kids got Ronnie a much needed new lunch box…

Our friend Bitsy made each of the kids a little box (out of plastic canvas), with a special magnet inside (Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Star). 

 

Granny made each of the children a special pillowcase…

   

Grandpa got each of the children a special space-related toy….

 

Travis let Jeffrey help open his present…

Ronnie got a very nice sturdy, but portable, music stand from Granny and Grandpa…

 

Heather got some “Little People” dolls for her dollhouse, Jeffrey got a stacking wooden train set, and Travis got some building blocks.  I was amazed that they actually waited until the very end to open their toy gifts from Mommy and Daddy.  But that worked out well because then they were interested in what everybody else was getting and after they got their toys, their were able to play with them uninterrupted for a while. 

 

Granny ended up cooking most of the Christmas dinner: turkey, cornbread dressing, baked sweet potatoes, green beans, Greek salad, and bread pudding with whipped cream for dessert.

 

On the day after Christmas, we went over to the home of some friends from church who invited many folks from church over for a time of fellowship, food, and singing carols.  Ronnie played his saxophone while two others played recorder and guitar.