Class Christmas Crafts & Caching Event

Tyler was so excited going to school yesterday. He was going to have both of his parents visit his classroom. In the morning, Steve went over to his class because the teacher asked him if he could take the photos for her class calendar she does every year. He took individuals photos of the kids, as well as group photos. They all turned out so nice!! The teacher told me afterwards that Tyler was so proud to see his dad there. Then after a lot of work planning and organizing, the day had finally arrived for myself and the other classroom mom to go to school and share our Christmas crafts with the kids. The teacher set aside yesterday afternoon for us. The other room mom picked me up around 10:30am to go in early to set up and prep for our fun to begin. While the children were at lunch, we set up everything and placed the crafts on their desks. When they returned, they were so surprised. They all commented how much they loved the Christmas camels I made for them to decorate, which totally made me happy. They also loved the other crafts, the bracelets and Christmas bulbs. We were really impressed with how creative the kids were doing their crafts. We helped them tie their bracelets, and put together their ornaments. We also made some bracelets for some of the other staff as we had some kits left over.

After their crafts were made, they ate Christmas shortbread cookies that I made for them and drank juice that the other class mom brought in, while watching 'The Elf on the Shelf' movie. Once the movie was over, Tyler was asked by the teacher to go to the front of the classroom to share with the other students a photo of Peter, his elf. He had brought in a photo earlier in the week to show everyone, as the other kids were doing the same with their elves. Finally, it was his turn to share his elf story. He told the class the elf's name and how he brought him stuff to get a cat. Then the children asked all sorts of questions. It so sweet! I should have taken a video of his elf presentation. I noticed other kids that didn't have elves were making signs in hopes that one would appear at their house, as that is how Tyler and his friend, Sofia, received theirs.

The fun lasted until the bell rang. When we were on our way out, the teacher passed myself and the other room mom each a gift bag. Inside was some tea (how did she know that I'm crazy about tea?) and a cookie baking kit. It was so kind of her and totally unexpected. Anyway, then Tyler and I went over to Dad's office on the base. He had another hour to go before he got off work, so we went and mailed some Christmas cards, did a little shopping, and then went to the playground until Dad was ready to go. We went straight to the mall where we were meeting our caching friends for an event. The host was buying an ice cream cake for all of us to share while we talked about our favorite hobby. By the time the event was over, it was way passed Tyler's bedtime. Here are some more photos of the caching event that Steve took and my surprise from the teacher.