Continuing the Story: November 2012

Sweep Your Love Away (K-3): Need 2 small brooms, 2 pairs of red socks, and tape for goal line. Divide into two teams and have players take turns sweeping red socks to goal line. First team who finishes first wins.
Heart Bingo (1-4): Need Bingo cards with word Heart substituted for the word Bingo and candy hearts for markers.
Heart Hunt (K-2): Need small colored paper hearts. About 8 for each child. Hide hearts about the room while class is out of the room. On your signal the children collect their 8 hearts only so everyone can participate.
Balloon Stomp (K-3): Need 2 balloons for each child in class and string already tied to balloons. Tie one balloon to each leg and then have children try to stomp each other’s balloons before someone stomps theirs.
Valentine Relay Race (2-4): Need one paper heart for each child. Write an action word on each, such as jump, crawl, hop, skip, walk backwards, clap hands, hop on one leg, tip toe, etc. Put hearts in the middle of the room face down. Establish starting lines for each team and have the players line up behind them. On go, signal the first 2 players from each team to run to the pile, choose a heart and then return to their team while doing the action. First team to finish wins.
How Many Hearts (K-6): Need small jar filled with cinnamon hearts candy & pieces of paper. Have each child guess how many hearts are in the jar.

Christmas Room Party Ideas

GAMES

The Christmas Stocking (2-4): Need stocking cut out of paper with word Stocking written on it. Have children write as many words as they can using the letters from stocking. Set a time limit.

Halloween Room Party Ideas

CRAFTS

Egg Cup Spiders: Give each child a cardboard egg carton cup and four 4” pipe cleaner pieces. Help the children poke their pipe cleaners through their egg cups to make spider legs. Have them bend the legs slightly downward. Let the children paint their spiders black and glue on plastic moving eyes.
Gourd Painting
Paper Bag Pumpkins
Pompom Spiders
Masks

GAMES

Pumpkin Bowling: Get 4-6 plastic pumpkin buckets and a small ball. Stack the pumpkins in a pyramid on a hard surface and let the kids bowl to their hearts content.
Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin
Mummy Wrap
Ghost Bingo
Halloween Tic-Tac-Toe
Musical Monster Mash: Musical chairs with spooky music

Classroom Parties

www.celebrateexpress.com

www.greatentertaining.com

www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/halloween

Saturday, November 10, 2012

As I was thinking about an old high school friend and her battle with breast cancer this week, an idea was planted in my head as to how I could help her raise the needed money for her medical expenses.

Melissa just began her aggressive cancer treatments to attack the cells threatening her body. Because of the plan of attack, she has had to leave her job until post-treatment and has far more medical bills to face than was originally expected. I don't know about you, but I know that when I am dealing with stress like financial problems, the problems seem to intensify. (Add to it that even tonight, unexpected bills are accruing due to an ER trip as a result to a severe reaction to her chemo treatment.)

A friend of Melissa's started a fundraiser through Give Forward, so that anyone could make a financial contribution. What a great idea! However, I also know that times are hard for so many, including my own family. A little creativity can go along way, though, and I hope that as Christmas approaches this may be an opportunity for someone to pick up a little gift for someone while helping my friend.

I will be adding more to this as I am able, but to start I have two sets of greeting cards for sale. The entire amount received (minus postage if necessary) will go to Melissa.

Bee Patriotic

This is a set of 4 blank notecards of the same design. Card size is 4.25" x 5.5." Envelopes included. Price is $10.00 (plus $2 for postage if necessary).

For the Love of Chocolate

This is a set of 4 blank notecards of different designs. Card size is 4.25" x 5.5." Envelopes included. Price is $10.00 (plus $2 for postage if necessary).

Although I am posting this on my blog, most of my blog readers know how to contact me. Currently I only have these two sets available (so first come, first served), but more are to come and special orders may be possible.

Most importantly, please keep Melissa and her husband in your prayers and thoughts.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

More Christmas...

In my last post, I shared ideas for participating in an Adopt-a-Family program for a local food pantry. However, so many possibilities exist; some are better for getting children involved in the process as well.

While the choices are really endless, I want to mention a few that might be a jumping board for those of you who are wanting to get started or are looking for new ideas.

If the idea of adopting a family is overwhelming or is too far out of your budget, consider donating a meal's worth of food to a food pantry. A couple of suggestions:

box of pasta, jar of sauce (spaghetti, alfredo, cheese), canned veggie and/or fruit, quick bread mix
bag of rice, can of chicken, cream of chicken soup, canned veggies
fixings for homemade pizza (pre-made pizza kit, pepperoni)
cans of chili, cornbread mix
can of chili, box of mac and cheese (the kind that doesn't need milk and butter)

Make a meal for someone who may be more overwhelmed during this season, especially those working in jobs that get crazy in November and December, like retail workers.
Buy a chicken (or other animal or milk or water or...) for a family in a third world country. I have a special place in my heart for Compassion International and World Vision, because I have seen both of them at work in Haiti doing amazing things.
Sponsor a child. Again, you can go through organizations like Compassion and World Vision for ongoing monthly sponsorships, or you can help with much smaller organizations like Joy in Haiti and sponsor a child's education for a year or a semester.
Buy a toy for Toys for Tots or any local program in your area holding a toy drive.
If you have a passion for animals, contact a local shelter and see what their needs may be at that time. It may be a good time to collect things from family and friends to drop off for them, and it may not cost you anything but a little time.
Consider making a visit to a nursing home. (Call first to see if this is an option.)
Take a treat to a neighbor (which does not have to be food related).

Again, the possibilities are endless, and these ideas are only a drop in the bucket.

If you have children involved in this, having a visual reminder can be a good thing. One very tangible way is to find a Christmas ornament with the theme of whatever it is you participate in. For example, if you buy a chicken, find a chicken ornament. (It is fairly easy to also find ornaments with children or various things that represent the world that can be used when it is too difficult to find the exact theme. Last year, Kohl's had a good selection of cloth people ornaments from other countries.) Write the date on the ornament somewhere with a permanent marker or paint pen. Wrap the ornament and have someone open it first before any personal presents are opened.

One other suggestion is to take a look at the philosophy behind Advent Conspiracy. Whether or not you share the same faith, the suggestions given are priceless on re-thinking gift-giving in order to provide for others (with clean water in their case).

Feel free to share your ideas.

Christmas Traditions

If you know me or have read much of my blog, you may know that I'm a bit of an organization freak...not that you would always know that with the state of my house!

One of my traditions each year at Christmas time is to take part in the Adopt-A-Family program at my preferred food pantry in the area. This food pantry uses this to help provide food for some of their neediest clients for the week between Christmas and New Year's when their office is closed. One of the things I like about their approach, compared to others, is that their focus is on the needs of the clients. (They have a different program for gifts, etc.)

After participating for several years, I realized I was recreating a list each year on what I wanted to include for the family. Therefore, in typical Mrs. Organization fashion, the following list was born. This has become the nuts and bolts for keeping me focused while out shopping, which I start a few months before the mid-December deadline. Because I never see a need to reinvent the wheel, I thought I'd share how I do it.

Since each family is different, I focus on what the family might use more from my outlined list. For instance, the presence of children and their ages, as well as the number of people in the family, plays a part in some of the food choices and toiletry items. However, I always try to include food items that can be made into a full meal (which you will see examples of towards the bottom of the list). Obviously, the family may not like the ideas or may have other things in mind, but I include a recipe card for my taco soup recipe, along with one for chocolate chip cookies (and anything else I may add). All of the ingredients are versatile for whatever the family may want to make regardless.

Non-grocery items are almost as important, sometimes more so, since food stamps will not cover these things. Picking up great deals at Walgreens or other stores really helps in this area. The items on my list marked with an asterisk (*) always go in a basket; everything else depends on variables like the make-up of the family and, quite honestly, my budget for that year.

Including a small gift for each member of the family is a priority for me as well. It may not be something much, but it is something that allows the recipient to know that they are cared for. Examples of small gifts include a calendar, scarf/glove set, a nice box of chocolates, scented lotion and/or body wash, a blanket, and greeting cards and stamps.

The organization suggests giving a gift card (of any size you would like) to a grocery store so the family can pick up any perishable food items they might need.

A little planning goes a long way and makes it a bit easier to plan ahead and work within a budget, especially one that gets even tighter in the month of December.

Maybe this year you are thinking about ways you can give back. This may be one idea, but there are so many others, which I will include in another post.

Be inspired.

ADOPT-A-FAMILY MASTER LIST

Non-Grocery: Household
[] aluminum foil [] tissues
[] baggies [] sponges
[] dish soap * [] cleaners: kitchen, bathroom, toilet
[] laundry detergent * [] toilet paper *
[] dryer sheets * [] paper towels *
[] plastic wrap

Non-Grocery: Toiletries
[] shampoo * [] conditioner *
[] hand soap * [] lotion
[] body wash * [] diapers
[] deodorant * [] toothbrushes
[] toothpaste * [] razors
[] shave gel

Food: Baking Items: (Chocolate Chip Cookies)
[] flour * [] sugar *
[] brown sugar * [] oil *
[] baking soda/powder * [] salt
[] chocolate chips *

Food: Pasta/Rice/Grains
[] pasta [] rice

Food: Breakfast

[] cereal [] oatmeal

[] granola bars [] pancake mix/syrup

[] canned fruit

Food: Cans & Jars
[] beans [] canned vegetables, various
[] jelly [] peanut butter
[] ketchup [] tomato sauce
[] tomato paste [] tuna
[] chicken [] pasta sauce

[] soup

Food: Sauces
[] mayo [] dressing

Food: Snacks
[] graham crackers [] nuts
[] popcorn [] chips/pretzels

Food: Drinks
[] juice [] coffee
[] tea [] Crystal Light

Food: Meal Kits

[] Ingredients for Taco Soup:
[] 28 oz can crushed tomatoes [] black beans
[] red kidney beans [] corn
[] dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
[] taco seasoning [] tortilla chips
[] Ingredients for spaghetti
[] a good pasta sauce [] Parmesan cheese
[] canned veggie [] pasta

[] quick bread mix
[] Pizza Kit

[] Chef Boyardee Kit [] pepperoni

[] Burrito Bowls

[] rice [] beans

[] salsa [] jar of guacamole and/or cheese sauce

[] tortilla shells [] taco seasoning

Continuing the Story

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Homeschooling Websites

Class or Co-op Party Ideas

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Opportunity to Give

Saturday, November 3, 2012

More Christmas...

Christmas Traditions

Blog Archive