That's the Way it Happens...

... on the Polar Express!!

We were able to successfully pull off one of the best Christmas surprises ever! Since June, we have been planning to take the kids on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad's version of the Polar Express. All three kids are obsessed with the movie, and watching it together is the first sign that the Christmas season has arrived. We have to force them to wait until after Thanksgiving to watch it the first time. This year, they learned to sing the song, "When Christmas Comes to Town." Even Becca knows all of the words!

The day of our train ride, we dressed them in their pajamas around 4:00 in the afternoon and began the long drive to Cleveland, stopping only to get dinner and take a quick bathroom break. The kids eyes lit up when we got there and they saw the sign for the train. The weather was frigid, and they had a hard time waiting to board the train, but once they were on board, they loved it!

The ride started with an elf welcoming everyone and reading aloud the book by Chris Van Allsburg. After that, they served everyone hot chocolate and cookies made by "Mrs. Claus," and the conductor came around and punched each child's ticket with the first letter of his or her name. After about 45 minutes, we reached the North Pole, which was a makeshift village covered with Christmas lights and staffed by a handfull of volunteer elves and other Christmas characters. All of the kids were glued to the windows while we were there. Hannah announced that Rudolph was not a real reindeer - he was merely an elf dressed up as a reindeer!

As a family, we have struggled with the idea of Santa at Christmastime. We have not encouraged the kids to believe in Santa, but we have not banned him from our house either. We have talked about him mainly as a story, a fantasy like Charlie Brown or any other book or movie - something that is fun to think about but that is not real. Now, however, both Hannah and Ben are convinced that Santa is real. Even Hannah, who is a bit more skeptical, thinks we really were at the North Pole and wonders why they had no snow when we went. She also expressed to me that she thinks that millions of Santas exist all over the world - after all, she told me, she has met at least three of them just in our town! So, we are entertaining their belief, but not really encouraging it. If they want to believe he is real, they can, as long as they still understand that the real meaning of Christmas is celebrating Jesus' birthday.

Once we left the North Pole on the train, we sang Christmas carols together for the rest of the ride. Santa himself even visited our car and gave each kid a sleigh bell to take home as a souveneir.

Overall, the kids had a wonderful trip. Ben still shakes his bell next to his ear, listening and saying, "I believe... I believe..."

I appreciated that they had a chance to see the book and movie that they love come to life. It was a magical experience for children who already adore all things train related, and though the focus was definitely on Santa, the kids can still tell me why we really give gifts on Christmas, and that is what matters most.

Christmas Ornament Craft

I was responsible for planning the kids Christmas party at preschool last week. I wanted to express to the children that the best gift they could give Jesus for his birthday is their hearts. I came up with a wonderful Christmas craft idea!

First, cut a strip of card stock - about 1/4 the width of a sheet of paper, lengthwise. Fold it four times to get the sides of a box, plus a tab for gluing. You can allow the child to color the paper if you wish.


Then, fold the strip into a box and glue the tab to the opposite side. A glue stick works fine for this.

Using another piece of card stock, cut a small heart, poke a hole in it, and thread a 20 inch piece of yarn through it. Put the heart in the middle of the yarn, and tie a small knot in the yarn about a centimeter above the heart. You can write the child's name on the heart if you wish.

Poke a hole in the top of the box, and pull both ends of the yarn through, allowing the knot to remain inside the box.

Tape a strip of Christmas-colored ribbon around the box to look like a Christmas present. Then, tie the yarn loosely over the top of the ribbon and make a nice bow. Tie another knot just above the bow to keep it from coming untied when the ends are pulled.

Tie the remaining ends together to form the loop to hang the ornament on the tree.

This is Hannah's ornament hanging on our Christmas tree.

This craft turned out very nicely and got lots of compliments from the parents, and it is so simple!

The Difference Between Boys and Girls...

Hannah and Ben both enjoy reading. Hannah will sit and read for hours at a time sometimes. Even when she was first learning, she would usually read through a whole book, though she would sometimes get tired. Ben reads this way:

(Sitting on the couch)

Ben: Ssss - aaaa - mmmm. Sam! (Bounces emphatically off the back of the couch.)

Me: What comes next? (Pointing to the word.)

Ben: Sam! Bam! Mam! (Bouncing head off couch with each word.)

Me: No, Ben, look at the word.

Ben: H - haaaaa-ssss - Has! Sam has! (Bouncing his head off my cheek!)

Me: Ouch, Ben! Are you sure you want to do this right now?

Ben: Yes! (Bouncing his head off the couch.)

(Repeat for each word.)

Did I mention that Ben cannot sit still? At all? Even to do something he wants to do?

So that is how we read together... cuddling and bouncing off the couch!

Ben is Reading??!!

Yesterday, Ben shocked me by attempting to sound out a word. I decided to see just how much he knew...

We began by reviewing letter sounds, focusing on the short vowels in particular. He struggles with the difference between a short "i" and a short "e," and he also mixes up the sounds of "w," "y," and a short "u." As most kids his age do, he also sometimes confuses the letters "b," "d," and "p." Other than that, he knows his letter sounds very well.

So, I used Hannah's old Sing, Spell, Read and Write (SSRW) curriculum to demonstrate how letter sounds go together. It has a song called the "Ferris Wheel Song" that uses short vowel sounds and adds the consonants one and a time. First, it reviews "a, e, i, o, u" and then does "ba, be, bi, bo, bu" and continues for the rest of the letters. Once they master that, they tackle letter blends like "bla, ble, bli, blo, blu" and so on.

Ben and I sang the song for a while, and then I helped him sound out some basic three and four letter words. He did a great job!

Today, I pulled out the very first reader in the SSRW series - "Dad, Sam, and Pat." He actually read the entire story with very little help! I think I am going to see if his preschool teacher will let him do the sight words that the older class learns, since he is definitely ready for them. I cannot believe that my three year old is beginning to read!

A Rustic Thanksgiving

This year, we did something a little different for Thanksgiving. Josh's parents live near a beautiful state park in New York, and the whole family rented a few cabins in the park for the week around Thanksgiving. The cabins were actually fairly nice, although they were very rustic. We had heat (a necessity in New York in the fall/winter), a stove, and a refrigerator. We did not have indoor plumbing!

It was quite an adventure! As you can see in the above picture, we brought a potty for the kids so we did not have to trek outside with them every twenty minutes to use the bathroom. If you look out the window, you can also see that the ground was covered with snow. In fact, we had about 18 inches by Thanksgiving day. This was our walk to the bath house:

The kids loved the snow and enjoyed sledding and playing with their cousins. I told them that we were experiencing Thanksgiving a bit like the Pilgrims experienced it - although easier! I am not sure I would do it again, at least not until the kids are a bit older, but we did have a lot of fun. Next year I'm hoping for a more comfortable Thanksgiving!