Posted in FIAR book activities

 Daniel’s Duck was an excellent FIAR book to follow up with the model work the boys did for the Rain Gutter Regatta. For once we actually read the book most days of the week, showing how much the kids really enjoyed it. We tied it in to the week we got to start reading about Audubon in our science lessons.

Scouts: All they did was review Bobcat Badge material. It was kind of frustrating to Ted, and dull for the boys, but they need to get it finished. The refresher was probably good for Ted, anyway. We’ve got a bouncy set of boys, for sure.

Storytime: we got to hear stories about hibernation, including Bear Snores On and one about groundhog waking up, whose title I always forget. The kids made bear puppets to take home, the lunch bag variety.

Friday we went to a Christmas party with our playgroup. The usual format is that everyone brings a snack and an activity. This year most of the moms brought crafts, since the room we were using didn’t have enough space for most games. So the kids ended up making a big variety of goodies to take home, including felt mice with candy cane tales, candle drawing (using wax candles to draw and then washing it over with watercolors, making the wax stand out), cards with ‘coupons’ in them for gifts, and all sorts of other things. The kids had a blast. And so did I, though I didn’t get to do a whole lot of chatting because I had to keep going back and forth between the kids. Ted was a little shy of going off on his own, even though we were in the same big room. But at the snowflake cutting table, a teen boy helped him design a snowflake and Ted got absorbed in it, letting me go help Maddy paint her pine cone with glitter.

Saturday was a rehearsal for the Christmas play. Sunday they had one final rehearsal and then their performance, “The First Leon.” (find link?) Ted was initially one of the villagers, meaning he was in the chorus and got to dress up in the final scene … he was set to be a shepherd. But at the last minute, they realized they were short a few wise men, so he got a promotion to a much cooler looking costume. The kids did a pretty good job with the show (much better than I had expected from the rehearsal!) and Ted had a lot of fun with it. Grandma and Grandpa Glenn got to come, and we all enjoyed the reception afterward. Maddy sat on Daddy’s lap the whole time, very well-behaved and attentive. It was hard for her to see, since we were sitting so far in the back, but she was great about it.

Ted’s second tooth fell out Sunday, too … another exciting surprise. He was munching on an apple and spit out what he thought was a seed. We’d just about forgotten that tooth was loose, it had taken so long.