Fall Festival Party

Oh my goodness, I can NOT believe how cute they are...I miss them so much...please give them each a HUGE hug and kiss for me. AND SEND ME PICS...I KNOW YOU TOOK THEM. SEND THEM.

Lys and Landon enjoying cupcakes. And I think that is Maddie's arm.

From left to right, Snow White (I mean Alexa), Brooke...what a cute shirt!, Shawn, Jay, Noah, Landon, Alyssa ( I mean Minnie Mouse), Maddie (she is SO CUTE IT IS SCARY, and Boston got cut out!

The whole bunch...Sabrina, please forgive me...we promised we would never post pics of each other...but it was too cute to resist.

Landon, Minnie, and Maddie with a ballon head!

Lexi/Alexa/SNOW WHITE

Ahhhh...look at my little pumpkin heads. So cute- Half of Noah, Alyssa, Maddie, and Boston.

Snow White waiting for her cupcake!

Send me more pics.

Bring us wipes.

Thank you for everything!

Love-

US

What a week!

This was a weird LONG week...but great. Not only did we have an AWESOME chapel, some of the MOST GORGEOUS weather this year, Shawn's first birthday, a visit from a fire truck and some fire men, we also enjoyed some just plain ol' booty shakin' fun.

Alyssa in her fire hat
Leah sporting her fire hat

Jay, the only "fire chief" I know with a sippy cup

Landon ready to go...

Noah preparing for his fireman of the year pose

Some of our group, with the firemen. the rest were a little scared and we were holding them.

In front of the truck

They were actually shorter than the bumper and WAY smaller that the tires...it was so crazy.

Explaining the gear...

An oxygen tank

No, that isn't smoke. Apparently when you go from nice air conditioning to HOT and humid you get a foggy condensation on your camera.

Looking and listening

THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, SHAWN.

We love you!

Halfway through October...

Can you believe it is already half way through October? Even stranger…can you believe the heat index was over one hundred degrees today? I guess that is Houston for you.

So on with the classroom news.

Picture day was a SMASHING success! I think we were finished getting all eight of the kiddos adorable pictures taken by about 8:30 (we there were a couple of little one who went back a time or two). And even better they were clean still. I think you are really going to like them. And I am pretty sure everyone had their hair bows in, faces wiped, shirts/outfits changed, shoes tied…not bad, not bad at all. And if you do like the pictures and buy a package, remember all three of us would love a copy of your little angel.

Secondly, over the next few days, maybe even into next week, we will be working on a SUPER cool top secret art project. It does involve marker though. Don’t worry, Crayola Washable ones, and the children will work in groups of one or two so really there is only one day they might have marker hands. But I did want to warn you.

Also, if you volunteered to donate something for the auction baskets (or would like to-there are still a few odds and ends we need) I would really appreciate you getting the items to me as soon as possible. The church is so impressed with our class and wants to set them out for display so people can start to see what all the classes are doing. So really I just need to get all the pieces together and then PUT it together.

Along the same lines the “Jesus Celebration” is from 6-9 PM October 31st at the church/school. There will be food, games, auctions, rides…typical carnival things. And they are more than welcome to wear costumes.

As for our Fall Festival party, the invitations have gone out and look like this:

If I skipped you or your child(ren) got lost in transit somehow…let me know. I have a few left. Or you can just refer to the one on here. Also, unless or a family member is going to be there to physically change them into a costume…we would prefer no costumes. I would hate to have something get spilled or ripped (or honestly you NEVER know what might happen with our group) before the actual 31st. I have suggested to many families a cute Target t-shirt or Old Navy or something like that. I found SOME ADORABLE ones at Target. But it is up to you.

Please remember parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles…are all welcome to join us for the party. I will put together a tray of some adult friendly foods and some punch or something (that is unless you are all big fans of yogurt, cheese cubes, and rice puffs). Also Mrs. Kelly offered to bring extra cupcakes so we should be good. Just give me a general adult head count when you know.

I know this is long…but I am ALMOST done. I am calling ALL DADS. I feel like I am always asking the mom’s to bring things or do things and now it is your turn (please note-in general I am a very P.C. gal…but I really do think men just tend to be better pumpkin carvers than women-at least in my house anyway- plus I thought it would be fun). So here is the deal. We will scoop out a pumpkin one day just feel the guts and get the whole texture experience. I might even roast the seeds and send them home for y’all. And then at school each of your children will paint a pumpkin. But I found the greatest patterns for Sesame Street characters the other day and our class needs a set. So I think there are six total, and I will provide the pumpkin (unless it goes against all your creative MOJO to not pick it out) AND I’ll even let you use the little tools in the kit. Travis and I did one this weekend and it turned out ADORABLE (unfortunately my dog Thai sat on it)…and we have a few tips and not letting your 90 pound dog sit on it is NOT a tip-although it should be). So are there a few Y chromosome members of the species out there who take great pride in their pumpkin carving skills? Also Grandpas, mom, sisters, grandmas all count too.

Who is up for the challenge? Let me know and I will get you the patterns- I made copies. I have a feeling Elmo might go fast. The tools, the pumpkin and anything else you might need. And not only will our class be AWESOME with a set of Sesame Street pumpkins…it will be a lot of fun getting ICKY with your babies.

I guess that is it for now…wow, I sure hope that is it.
Have a wonderful night and I will see you all tomorrow...

Cookie Monsters

Noah is SERIOUSLY the neatest warm gooey cookie eater EVER.
Landon...cookie...yummy!

Someone loves cookies and milk...

Someone REALLY LOVES cookies

Brooke seems to enjoy cookies and milk too.

Jay even got chocolate behind his ear! SO precious!

October is here...

Just a quick reminder...

If you have not "done your homework" yet, please do. Just like you are waiting for an exciting letter from a friend, so is the classmate you are sending a card to.

Have a great weekend and see you Monday.

What a beautiful day...

It was a gorgeous day today and I have got to let you know we had a WONDERFUL day. We enjoyed our goldfish cracker snack as a picnic this morning under the warm breezy walkway. We had a WONDERFUL time in Chapel talking about Christ's generosity and charity. And, ALSO, we seem to have taken the "Walker spirit" to the MAX as we pulled ahead in the "families helping families" leader boards. I know...I know...I am a bit (or A LOT) competitive. But come on guys...WAY TO GO! By lunch today, the school had already met our ENTIRE goal for the week. So what is a group of such kind and giving people to do? MAKE A BIGGER GOAL! As you can see reflected by the picture posted below the "little walkers that could" came out with a BIG BANG. In fact, we pretty much shocked everyone-even admittedly, myself. So, now we are only 150 more items away from our school goal...and we still have TWO WHOLE MORE days. So come on Walking Angels let's DO IT!!!

I am SO proud! You should see how happy the food pantry staff is to see the BINS of donations!

Maddie with pig tails


Lys with pig tails (and doing something weird with her tongue!)

Landon, pointing at himself, pointing at the camera...does that make sense??

Boston



Also for out Jesus Celebration baskets we have had donations already pledged towards our two baskets. For our date night basket we have babysitting and movie tickets donated. And for the family night basket we have a game and snacks and the actual basket donated. Which pretty much leaves us needing restaurant gift card(s), and anything else you can think of in that category, a family movie or blockbuster gift card, maybe a pizza gift card or a special family dinner. Any ideas? Also don't forget I do not mind putting the baskets together and picking up the odds and ends. Apparently, last year, the date night basket was the high ticket item. Sounds like y'all aren't getting out as much as you would like. So if you have any specific ideas or know of something you would like to donate...please let me know and I will keep y'all updated!

Finally, for our Fall Harvest Party, I would like to thank Mrs. Kelly who has taken to time and energy to decode my preschool language and take care of getting the most of the preparations and decorations together. She has done a FABULOUS job and I cannot thank her enough.

As for the food sign up sheet it seems the only things we have left are:

Cheetos puffs, cubed or rolled lunch meat, goodie bags (don't worry- I have some great ideas of safe things to put in them), fruit, and yogurt or pudding.

Please let me know what you would like to bring, or if you would like to offer an alternative suggestion.

Have a wonderful night and see you tomorrow!

WELCOME LEAH!

We have a new, wonderful, perfect, little friend I would like to introduce to all of you...so "walker world" this is Leah...Leah this is your new class family. I told you, you would fall in love with that smile!

News from the Walkers...

First of all, welcome LEAH! Leah is the beautiful little brunette that has most recently joined our bunch. Unfortunately with my crazy week last week and today being, well I guess the only excuse I have is Monday, I do not have pictures of her to post yet. Keep looking though…they will be up soon. Please take the time to come on in and introduce yourself. She is precious and VERY lovable. Trust me one look at that toothy grin and you WILL melt.


I really want to thank all of you who were able to bring in donations for our food drive this week. Y’all did AWESOME! And, yes, I will admit I am a bit competitive, but I had no idea exactly how well we would do. I think by the end of the day we were in second place. I could CARE LESS if we win (literally: I think the kids win a pizza party- most of them don’t or can’t even eat pizza) but it felt SO great to show our “Walking Angel’s” pride to the other classes. So thank you. Do keep in mind that the drive is for the rest of the week, although, you cannot get the tuition discount for any items donated the rest of the week, each item helps. I am about to go through my cabinets and pantry in a few minutes, so if you didn’t get a chance yet, please do too. It really isn’t about a contest. It is much more about what some big hearts and kind people can do for others. Let’s show the kids that!


I have gotten some GREAT ideas about our auction basket for the Jesus Party (if you are clueless as to what I am talking about please just read the previous entry)… and so far the greatest interests seems to be in a date night basket and in a family night basket. So unless someone has a serious objection to these ideas then this is what I propose: we are going to shoot for the stars and do both. Divide and conquer group. So between the three teachers, nine children, and all the super parents and families this is what we will do. I will post a sign up sheet outside our class room or maybe by the sign in book (maybe we should keep it a secret from the other class- our ideas are pretty great!) and here so we can get what we need collected- so I can get it all together, looking cute, and ready to raise some money for the ministries.


Let’s start with the Date Night Basket:


- First of all, what is date night with out a babysitter, right? And come on, let’s be realistic- I think it is pretty obvious who that one is going to go to… So I will donate my childcare giving services in the form of a gift certificate so the lucky winners can enjoy their date without sticky fingers, crying, or juice boxes. –Amy
- Next the Kelly family has signed up to donate movie gift certificates.
- So if another family or couple of families would like to join together to donate a restaurant gift card we should be pretty good.
- Any other ideas for that basket? Feels like we are missing something…hmmmm.

Then for the Family Night Basket:

- I was thinking a good family DVD (y’all would know what is out their much better than I do) maybe even a Blockbuster or Hollywood movies gift card.
- Pizza gift certificate
- A game…Uno, Monopoly, Clue, Candlyland…whatever…
- Some snacks and sodas/juices
- Any other ideas?
Please e-mail me to sign up for a specific thing so we don’t end up with 10 DVDs and movie tickets. I will keep the list updated so you know what we still need.

The next topic on our agenda is our classroom Fall party:


-We are planning on doing it Friday, October 30th starting at about 2 or 2:30 depending on when we get them up from nap, changed, and ready. This will also serve as their afternoon snack too.


-We will have cute decorative plates, yummy party food, decoration, fun music, dancing and FUN FUN FUN!


-And LOTS AND LOTS OF pictures.


-As for food, I will hang a parental sign up sheet outside our room and post it on here.


We will need:

Fruit (fresh or canned):
Sandwich meat (either cubed or rolled or cut appropriately):
Cheese cubes:
Puffy Cheetos:
Cupcakes: Mrs. Kelly
Goody bags (with stickers, little snack fruit packs, and other age appropriate things like that):
Yogurt or Pudding:
Juice or Milk:


We will need enough food for 10 children and 3 teachers


-Also the school is setting up a pumpkin patch either earlier that week or that day...so the kids will get to go and pick out their favorite one to take home.

-We will also scoop out the guts from a pumpkin but I am pretty sure we will not do that on party day. It is just a fun experience for them...some love it and some hate it. It is really pretty funny!

Finally…this week’s curriculum:

Walking Angel’s Room

September 28 – Oct 2, 2008
Teachers: Miss Amy, Miss Sabrina & Miss Monica

Theme: ‘My Neighborhood ’ Color: Variety Christian: “God Wants Us To Love Each Other”

Objectives: This week’s them focuses on the people who live & work in our neighborhoods. Use props for our mail carriers, police officers, grocer & firefighter. Kiddies are going to love the dress ups.

Circle Time: Our good morning song, Pledge of Allegiance, weather, weekly calendar, alphabet board, shapes, body parts & colors. Discuss ways to keep our neighborhood safe, clean & happy. Talk about safety on our streets when we ride our bikes, taking walks, etc

Language: Looking at catalogs, flyers, & junk mail. Math/Manipulative: 1. Pounding golf tees into foam board. Science & Sensory: 1. Cornmeal & H2O. 2. Scented cotton balls. 3. Kneading flour. Use cookie cutters for shapes. 4. Sealing envelops. Placing stamps on them.
Arts & Crafts: Make & send a card to someone special.

Dramatic Play: 1. Pretending to be the neighborhood store. 2. Delivering mail. 3. Pretend to be cleaning neighborhood. 4. mailing letters to one another
Movement/Music: 1. Everyone has a home, everyone has a home. It can be big or small, everyone has a home. 2. Tune to ‘Mulberry Bush’ The barn is where the horses live, horses live, horses live. The barn is where the horses live, in this great big world. The forest is where the deer live...The desert is where the rattlesnakes live...The ocean is where the whales live... 3. A shopping we will go, A shopping we will go, We will buy some cinnamon buns, A shopping we will go. A shopping we will go, A shopping we will go, We will buy some vegetables, A shopping we will go. (let children make up what they will buy at neighborhood grocery store to continue song).
Experiment: Mail letters to one another

Okay, sorry guys...I know that is a lot.

Have a great night and I'll see you this week!

Few Reminders...

Dear parents,

- We are having a canned food drive all next week to help restock and plump up the church food pantry. You may have already gotten a flier about it, but if not here are the details: - It is called "families helping families"- We will have a box outside of our classroom to collect canned goods all week EXCEPT Monday.- On Monday, September 28th all donations must go to the front office BECAUSE HERE IS THE EXCITING PART- for each 10 canned food items donated 5 dollars will be taken off your child's tuition- The fine print "you are only eligible for one 5 dollar certificate per child and it only counts if the canned food is brought in on Monday."- However the classes will be competing so if you are in a position in which you can give back- please do. It really means a lot to the people in our community and helps us to teach the little bits about charity, love and giving.

-Also, the first of the month this week is Thursday which means it is time to bring in wipes. However due to the storage issues and ALTHOUGH we do go through them like CRAZY...we don't need nine six pack boxes each month. So unless someone has a problem with this, we have decided to do divide up the months. Which means 3 children per month and you only have to remember every third month. Is that good for everyone? This is a preliminary schedule so let me know if you want to switch or have problem:

For October: Shawn, Alyssa, Brooke (and since you brought a big box just the other day- no need to bring more and we will keep using the sensitive ones on just her)

For November: Jay, Landon, Noah

For December: Leah, Boston, and Madeline

- Also, Gateway Bible Church- which is the church that supports the Gateway to Learning Ministry we are all involved in hosts a "Jesus Celebration" on October 31st as a safe christian alternative to Halloween. This is COMPLETELY separate from our fall party and activities but a fun event to attend. Each year we have a booth in which we sell or auction off items to raise money for the church and ALL of its ministries. We have several options as to what we can do as a class...but I guess I just kind of wanted to put feelers out there to see what special talents or gifts or things of that nature you would be willing to donate. Some of the ideas that were passed on to me were:- scrap booking supplies/lessons (I really have no clue what that means)- Sports tickets and or paraphernalia- spa certificates/ women's treat baskets/ candles, lotions, pedis/manis, massages...- Christmas wrap, ribbons, bows, tags...- wreaths- craft items- A family game night basket- couples night out,movie tickets, dinner card, babysitting (wonder who will do that part :) ) I know it sounds like a lot, but we only NEED to have one basket so if we all pitch in we should be good. I will take care of getting it all together and we can separate it into smaller more unified baskets if need be...so just start thinking and let me know if you have some awesome ideas.

Pics Doe took

Serious driving Alyssa
Shawn playing with a puppet

Hello Shawn!

Smile Maddie!

Always trying to sneak in the gate- Alyssa and Jay

Alyssa thinking...

Maddie with a pop up toy

Girls just want to have fun!

Landon

Jay and Mommy

Sometimes you just need a little cuddle....Maddie and Amy

Brooke

Boston

Boston with "poufy" hair

Fun Pictures

Silly boys wrestling
Jay with his Grandma on his birthday

Jay opening his birthday gifts!

Cheeto hands..mmmm

Brooke loves cheetoes too!

Madeline and Boston enjoying party food.

Everyone LOVES party snacks

(Brooke, Alyssa and Landon)

Birthday boy- Jay

Madeline playing with a pop up toy

Alyssa's pretty new dress

Shawn- how cute!