Our 2nd annual toddler nativity story

Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  While they were there, Mary had a baby.  She wrapped him in (orange and yellow striped) swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  

And an angel of the Lord  appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.  And the angel said to them, "Fear not, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.  A savior has been born today in the city of David.  He is Christ the Lord."

 And suddenly, more angels appeared filled with anticipation and praising God...

 and singing "Glo -o - o - ry to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

Then 3 (or 2 in our case) wise kings traveled from the East to find the baby Jesus.  When they saw the star they shouted joyfully.

When they came in and saw the child, they bowed down and worshipped him.  Then they gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (sort of like these gingerbread cookies our class decorated on the last day of school before break.)

Then, the whole crew traveled to TOT Time spirit day to spread the good news to all the people there.  And later, they settled in for a group pic in front of the beautiful Church at Charlotte Christmas tree.  Well done, little ones!

CAST:  Elliott as a shepherd, Bridget as an angel, Cannon as Joseph, Emma as Mary, Lemley as an angel, Graham as a wise king, Grant as a wise king, and Shiloh as an angel.

Happy Birthday Jesus and Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Thankful.

I trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break with friends and family.  I have really enjoyed my time and am also looking forward to seeing our little friends tomorrow to get started celebrating Christmas!

Before that though, here are a few pics from our time before the break...

 On hat day, we had winter hats and beach hats,

a baseball hat and even a fancy pilot hat!

If there would have been an award for who wore their hat the longest that day, this guy would have won.  He wore it almost all day long!!  Isn't this a sweet picture?

We did some color identification and sorting...this is something we will continue working on this month.

 They kept their headbands on long enough for a picture :)

 The girls had an impromptu meeting under the table in the gym.

 And these buddies just played and played.

 The class met Mr. Bear.  He likes to eat all kinds of colors and shapes, depending on his appetite.

 This group also likes to get serious with some puzzles in free play time...

Yes, they can be very professional when there is work to be done...

Our friendship snack turned out great!  Each child helped pour in their ingredient...

 And then we delivered a bag to each of the other classrooms.

 The tour was a fun time!  A few of the children made themselves right at home in the other rooms.

 And just in case you don't celebrate Thanksgiving with pumpkin pie (my favorite), I brought mini pies with CoolWhip to share with the class on Friday.  Poor little Cannon was the only one who didn't get to try because he needed a nap.

I think the rest of them liked it though!

We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow!!
PS...  We have seen from past experience that some children have had a hard time coming back to school after an extended break like we just had.  Please don't worry if there is crying at drop off.  We will get them involved in something and love on them!  As always, we will call if they can't settle back in.

Thank you for our blessings.

Welcome to November!  Time is flying.  Please be sure to check out our class on the hallway bulletin board (past our classroom at the bottom of the ramp hallway):

Your little ones are hanging out there...

Jumping back to last week,  Lemley's mommy brought in a special snack for the class on Halloween.  Yum!

In art, they painted with caps to make circles.  Ms. Heidi asked, "why do you always take pictures of them with paint on their faces?".  Our answer is this:  Because they're toddlers and it's one way they explore.  We also find it funny (because the paint is non-toxic and not hurting anything.)  And finally, we just like to keep it real!

 Oh and then the adorable animal costumes for our Noah's Ark parade.  I know you all saw them and took your own pictures, but we had...

a lion,

 an elephant,

 a bumble bee,

 a sneaky raccoon,

 a "mini" mouse,

 a monkey,

 a leopard (rawr),

 and a tiger.

 Here's our whole zoo before the parade.  Thanks for joining us there!  I know the kids were excited to see you!

 This week, Ms. Sue brought in the easel for a new painting experience.

 It was really exciting!

 They painted giant leaves...have you seen them on our classroom wall?

 We're getting better at sitting for a story.

 and matching pictures to first letters,

 but sometimes it's just nice to stand for a story too.

 Today there was some excitement over the landscapers blowing leaves outside our window.  Everyone had to take a look :)

Some important November dates for you to take note of:
 - November 13 (next Wednesday) is a school-wide HAT DAY.  Your child may wear a hat to school that day.
 - November 15 (next Friday) is Spirit Day.  Wear TOT Time shirts!
 - November 20 we will be putting together a "Friendship Mix" with the class and sharing it with other classes in the school. (Look for an email with more info about this.)
 - November 22 will be our Thanksgiving celebration day because after that day our class will not meet again until December!

Have a wonderful weekend and we will see you next Wednesday for HAT DAY!!!