All About Caleb

This blog is all about Caleb, mostly concerning activities he's recently done in preschool.

Star of the Day:
Each child in Caleb's class is in rotation for being "Star of the Day".  When they're star of the day, they get to be line leader, bring "show and tell" and a snack to share with the rest of the class.  The Monday after Thanksgiving break was Caleb's scheduled day and he was one super excited kid when it finally arrived!




Being the son of a baker has Caleb requesting rather demanding treats.  The first time he was star of the day, he wanted Twinkies cupcakes:  homemade chocolate cupcakes with homemade cream filling and chocolate frosting.  This time, he requested sugar cookies with everyone's names on them.  All this is just fine with me!  It gives me a great reason to bake more without overdosing my family with sweets!




And being the son of a farmer has Caleb requesting to take in different "show and tells".  He asked if he could take in some of the baby chicks we recently hatched.  After gaining permission from Miss Atchison, we did just that!  We took in four of the thirty-some chicks that we hatched several days before.




 I think the kids enjoyed it.  After answering their questions, Caleb took the chicks around so the kids could "pet" them. 



Thanksgiving Feast

The last day of school before Thanksgiving break was the day Caleb's class held their Thanksgiving Feast.  The teachers along with Room Mom Holly did a lot of work to make the day special for the kids.  Along with all the special decor, the kids were especially excited about having lunch in their room (instead of the cafeteria) and skipping rest time in exchange for a movie AND popcorn...making this Thanksgiving celebration the hap'nin' place to be!





Each kid made their own placemat.  I'm not sure where the Mayflower boats and dessert cupcakes came from, but it was a neat name marker.  They were recycled from milk cartons (the boats, that is... I'm sure the cupcakes were completely fresh and un-recycled!).  Caleb still has his boat on his nightstand! 




Ready for a feast!





The kids got to pick whether they wanted to be Pilgrim, a Pilgrim Lady or an Indian.  Here's  Jayden getting fitted for an Indian headdress.




Lookin' good!  And waiting for the food!




How great would it be to be back in preschool for the day?!




Part of the special feast was making and eating homemade bread and butter.  From my understanding, Mrs. Shepard provided roll dough that the kids got to shape into rolls to be baked for lunch.  They also got to shake cream to make their own butter (which is what is in the orange bowl).



They also helped make sugared craisins to replace the traditional cranberry sauce.  The meal consisted of turkey, corn, mashed potatoes, craisins, fruit and rolls provided by moms and the teachers.  First rate, I'd say :-)



Getting help with buttering her homemade roll!



After the feast, the kids stretched out their rest towels for a movie on the big screen and popcorn.  I think they had a really fun time!

Thanksgiving Break

After being kept pretty busy at school, Caleb sometimes finds it hard to find things to do when he's at home and Mama's busy.  (As much as  I would love to just throw myself on the floor and play with the kids all day, the cooking and cleaning and laundry and office work (among other stuff) still calls my name and has to be done!  All of us with kids can relate, I'm sure!)  T.V. is limited and he can only play with toys or read for so long before he's requesting school work to do. SO.....



We pull out the activity books.  He has several things he likes to do.  He loves crosswords (the puzzles with clues) and fill-it-ins (crosswords without clues, you have to fit the words in according to just their letters), wordsearches, dot to dots and mazes.  Since he can read the clues and words himself now, he just grabs a book and starts to work.  (By the way, he takes after his mother in this area... I love puzzles, too!)



Almost done with a fill-it-in.  He wasn't happy with this puzzle because it was "too easy".  Maybe some harder books will find themselves in his stocking this year? 

Supper for Mama!
It is not often that this Mama gets supper cooked for her.  Josh is a man of many, many wonderful talents... but cooking is not one of them.  I'm not exaggerating when I say he can only make toast, coffee and cereal.  (He's been too busy providing every need of his family, above and beyond, to take cooking lessons!  And I don't mind a bit being the sole soul in the kitchen!)  And the kids are a little young for me to be asking them to do the cooking.   (Maybe next year?)  BUT.....

Last Thursday, Caleb's preschool class created a great surprise for their families!  To wrap up their recipe/cooking themed week of activities, they made chili to bring home to their families!  Very neat.  Caleb was thrilled to bring home the surprise and his little face just lit up when he shared it with us for supper that night.




Caleb loves to tease Daddy as much as I do.  So when Josh came in for the evening, Caleb told him there was a surprise waiting, but wouldn't tell him what it was until after he showered.  (Josh comes in smelling pretty bad.)  I think it was as hard for Caleb keeping it a secret as it was for Josh not knowing what in the world Caleb was talking about!  But the time finally came when Josh was smellable and Caleb was ready to announce the secret. They both had fun with it.  In this picture, Caleb's explaining how they made the chili and pointing out the beans that he got to help open (I think...sometimes a four-year-old's story is hard to follow!).




Tasting.  It passed :-)




We had enough chili for Sarah and Caleb's supper with enough for Daddy to have a nice little taste.  Caleb was so proud!  Thank you to Ms. Atchison, Mrs. LaRue and Mrs. Shepard for all the extra work they put into making preschool something special for the kids every day!  Your work is very appreciated!


Well, that's it for Caleb's post.  We are so very proud of Caleb and the boy he is growing up to be.  He has changed so much in the past year that sometimes Josh and I just watch him in quietness and marvel at the difference.  A year ago, he was extremely shy, wouldn't stay by himself for church nursery or Sunday School.  And now he looks forward to school and meeting up with his friends, can't wait for Sunday School and Children's Church and insist on doing things alone without Mommy and Daddy.  While its hard to watch him grow away from needing so much attention and assistance from us, it is very rewarding to watch him blossom into his own person.  "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old , he will not depart from it."  I think we're off on a good start!