Jackson's First Preschool Christmas Party

Last Wednesday was Jackson's last day of preschool before Christmas break, so of course there was a party to celebrate. I was the "host" for this party, which meant I supplied the snack and a craft or activity for the kids to do. This was the first time I had really seen the class in action, other than when I go to pick him up. I was really anxious to see how he would react to me being there and how he and the other kids interacted together. And let me just tell you, I have no idea how preschool teachers do it! I mean really, nine 2 year olds and two adults. Talk about outnumbered! His teachers are absolutely wonderful though. He talks about Ms. Edie and Ms. Judy all the time. He always tells me that they are who he plays with. And they are obviously so good with the kids. Jackson connected to them both almost immediately. He went through a little rough patch at school after Kate was born and didn't want to go to his music class unless Ms. Edie went with him. I'm just so glad his first experience with "school" has gone so well! We definitely made the right decision by enrolling him this year!

Anyway, back to the party. Monday night I baked oatmeal cookies to give as goody bags to all the kids and Tuesday night I made the cupcakes. The cupcakes turned out to be extra small, but that was actually perfect since they were for a bunch 2 year olds.


Jackson saw the cupcakes as soon as he came downstairs Wednesday morning, but I told him they were for his party at school and that he couldn't have one. Now if you've ever seen Jackson meet a cupcake then you know how feels about them. Well, needless to say, when I got to classroom with the cupcakes and handed them out, he was the first kid BY FAR to finish his cupcake. You may not get the full effect from this picture, but he had his mouth crammed full!

This is Claire. Ms. Edie told me the other day that Jackson and Claire are buddies. She is such a cutie!

Here is Colt, Kassi and Mia.

Again, you can't really see it in this picture, but Jackson's teeth were covered in cheese doodle and he was just a cheesing!

Time for crafts! They used foam stickers of circles and stars to decorate a Christmas tree ornament. Here's Kassi, Buddy and Colt working on there ornament...

Claire was one of the only ones to actually put her star at the top. Most of them just stuck it right in the middle!

It was amazing watching them during a structured activity. They were all sitting (fairly) still and working together on making the ornaments. But the minute they had "free" time, it was a wild place! I'm sure the fact I fueled their energy with a sugary cupcake and juice box may have a little to do with it, but Ms. Edie said they had all been very excited all morning!

Ms. Edie told me when I showed her the craft that they loved pulling the paper off the back of the sticker, so I was taking note of that when they got started. It was really cute watching them all concentrate so hard. Jackson was especially focused on getting the paper himself.

So serious.

Jackson proudly hung his ornament up on the tree when we got home. How sweet!? His first handmade ornament.After craft they had circle time. This is when they put their chairs in a circle (hence the name) in the middle of the room and say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing songs. Jackson was the first kid to have his chair in place and ready to go. But, when it came to singing, he was more concerned with making sure I was involved than he was actually singing himself. Ms. Edie told me afterwards that he is normally a lot more involved. I think he just wanted to make sure I got to play, too! :-) He's so considerate!

So, the party was a hit and it was so fun to spend a little time in the classroom with Jackson. Sean told me while I was baking the cupcakes that this was the first of many cupcakes I'd be getting ready for class parties through the years. It's crazy that Jackson's already two and in preschool! Kate is still so tiny, but I know I'm going to blink my eyes and Jackson's going to be in kindergarten and Kate in preschool herself. It's just crazy how fast time flies. I'm so glad I have this blog to document all of life's little adventures. If, for nothing else, I'll be able look back over the past year or so and remember some of our simplest moments.