Remembering the Reason for the Season {Simplifying the Season}

When Justine shared the concept behind her link up Simplify the Season, I was so excited. This is something I wholeheartedly believe in. I started thinking about what I wanted to share- a family recipe? A tradition? A holiday hack? And figured I had plenty of time to decide on the perfect topic. And then life happened.

This season has been anything but simple.

I've been sick the last two weeks. 

I've been scrambling to make memories of this Christmas with the girls as it is all so fleeting.

And then the bombshell. There was a death in the family. My father in laws sister, Aunt De passed away leaving her three children (28, 25, 18) and numerous friends and family with a hole in their hearts and lives. 

December has been crazy.

So, simple isn't quite the word I would use to describe the season we're in right now. Life is emotionally draining and feeling like an uphill battle. I'm so sick of being tired and oh so tired of being sick (super extra bonus points if you know who sings those lyrics) I'm feeling a bit hollow.

But then I realized in the midst of all the crazy I was still doing okay. Despite my not feeling well, I was still functioning. Despite the Christmas bucket list not going according to plan, we were still making family memories. Despite losing a beautiful, joyful, loving soul, we are comforted in the knowledge that she is now in Heaven with Jesus, without pain and sadness and weary. 

And that's what this season is about. Jesus. His entrance into the world, humbling himself before all His creation to show us love. It is His strength I'm running on right now and I couldn't be more thankful or grateful that "unto us a child is born, to us a son is given." Isaiah 9:6

Now that. That is simple.

Linking up here.

   

   

Christmas in the Classroom // For the Love of Learning

For our last For the Love of Learning Jess and I are sharing what Christmas looks like in our classrooms! This has been such a fun collaboration! I know Jess and I have both enjoyed showing off our classes and sharing fun Preschool projects with you. So lets jump right in:

Art Gallery Board:

Our school Director sent home Christmas tree printables as "homework" for the families to decorate together. I love how different they all are. My students cut out paper strips for me (a great fine motor activity) to make into this paper chain.

 Parent Board:

I had to brush up on my snowflake cutting skills but they turned out cute enough haha.

Crafts:

The children painted Christmas trees and decorated them using glue and collage materials.

Trees:

Alphabet tree- I made this using a circle punch for the "ornaments" and then traced 26 circles on the butcher paper tree shape. Both circles have upper and lowercase letters.

Felt tree- I made the felt tree a couple of years ago for Brielana and the ornaments even longer than that as they were from Kinsey's first Christmas.

Books (not pictured):

Always my favorite. I wrapped 10, one for each student, and had a different kid unwrap a book the first two weeks of December as a take off of our Book Advent calendar. They LOVED it. Its always the little things.

Parent gifts:

I've had these gingerbread frame kits for a couple of years from Oriental Trading Company. Such a cute make-for-parents gift. They all look different! That makes me smile. 

Decorating gingerbread house:

I went the easy route and kept our half pint milk cartons and affixed graham crackers to it with frosting. We had a lot of fun with this! And wouldn't you know I forgot to take a picture of the finished houses.

And some more little touches:

Bells at the science area just because :)

Christmas card display:

Thank you for taking the class tour and Merry Christmas from Room 12 to you!

Linking up here.

   

   

Kinsey and Brielana's Christmas Pajama Party // a link up

It's Christmas Pajama Party day!!! I'm pretty sure pajamas are my favorite things: they're comfy. They're cute. And they can be worn forever. Or in our case, until Kinsey grows out of hers and then we pass it down to Brielana, haha. It seems though that these days it's getting harder to photograph both girls so these pictures we're taken over a period of five weeks. Yes, you read that right. And I still have reservations about them but I take what I can get!

Brian and Brielana picked these sweet nightgowns out at Target in November. Perfectly coordinated, sparkly and festive (I can't get enough of saying "festive" during this time of year, anyone else?)

Anyone notice that brown stain on Brielana's collar? She had been guzzling cocoa and left the evidence. The girl is prone to stains and I really need to up my stain-removal skills.

Oh sweet sisters.

And now a little trip down memory lane... 

My have those girls grown! Kinda makes me a bit emotional. Last years Pajama Party can be found here and 2014's can be found here.

Thank you for joining Jess, Crystal, Jen, Liz, Ashley, Meghan, Chrissy, Amy, Julie, Natasha, Sara and me for the Christmas Pajama Party! Add your link below so we can get this jammie party started!

An InLinkz Link-up

Linking up here.