Temple Square

We took a fun trip to Temple Square for our Christmas Nativity week.  T, EW, and G loved all the fountains and also were excited to see the shepherds, wise men, Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus on the different nativities. 

Here is G and T at the waterfall- probably their favorite thing.

We had a fun time in the Visitor's Center and were even able to watch a 20 min presentation on the family be the sister missionaries.  They thought that was pretty fun- they liked moving from room to room- although they kind of wanted to run around at the end, but it was really nice that they could have that experience with the missionaries.  Afterward we went outside and looked at the fun Nativity displays.

 The last nativity we saw was a large white one right in front of the temple in the fountain.  It was beautiful and the kids were excited to see baby Jesus in the water and they loved the temple.

 

Gardner Village- Elf Hunt

We had a really fun field trip to Gardner Village for a Christmas Elf Hunt.  (We had been planning on going sledding for our snow/winter week, but the snow all melted before we got the chance!)  It was a lot of fun and the weather pretty much cooperated- it was a little cold at first, but once we started walking it was great.  C had printed off a bunch of Elf Hunt scavenger hunts for us to follow and we walked around the village looking for the Elves on our list.  We actually ended up finding all but one, which they told us later was up high on a building so we didn't see it.  They were nice and gave each boy a candy cane anyway.  Afterwards we went over to the bakery and got some lunch.  We missed P and EM and hope to see them next week!

Here's the whole group in front of some of the first elves we saw that were roasting marshmallows by a fire.

T and G in front of a cute covered bridge.

 The Preschool boys on a Christmas truck with some elves.  G did not want to sit on the truck so he sat on the wheel which worked out just fine.  (Boys from left to right: EW, little J, G, and T.)

 

 T about to blow a kiss to this elf carrying Christmas packages.

 The Elf barbershop.  Really cute. They had very clever displays like this all over the village.

**Moms: if you have more pictures please share them!

The Aquarium

We took a fun trip to the Living Planet Aquarium for our Under the Sea week.  All the boys had a great time and loved looking at the fish, octopus, jelly fish, sea horses, manta rays, sharks, turtles, and penguins.  We were also sad that EM and P couldn't make it.

T, little J, and G climbing on the sea horses waiting to go in.

 T and little J cheesing it up on a giant frog.

Little J waiting to touch the manta rays.

 

The boys working on puzzles and matching games.

 E, little J, G, and T sitting in a little boat.

Before we left the boys all got their pictures taken in a little photo booth.  They all were really cute and had fun posing for the camera.

Afterwards we went to Chick-fil-A for a little lunch and playtime.

Thanksgiving Feast

We had a great preschool "field trip" making a Thanksgiving feast together.  The kids first sponge painted a tablecloth for our feast.  Then we read a story about the first Thanksgiving and how the Pilgrims and Indians had a feast to give thanks for all they had. 

The kids then got to go around to stations to help make our Thanksgiving feast with the Moms helping- one kid at each station then they rotated.  Station 1: they helped make air popped popcorn and cut up apples.  Station 2: they made turkey rolls.  Station 3: they learned to make mini pumpkin pies and rolled up slices of turkey.  Station 4: they helped make green beans and stuffing.  (When they had extra time we wrote a list of all things each boy was thankful for which we read at the feast together.)

The kids then all learned how to set a table properly (using their place mats from their lesson on Tuesday as a guide).  Afterwards we laid out our whole spread of food and, after a nice prayer, had a great feast.  We all had a great time and it was so much fun for the kids to help make the food and set the table.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Turkey rolls: You start with the Rhodes dough that comes roll shaped. You need two rolls per child. Take the first roll and just put it on the tray this is the body of the turkey. Take the second roll and with a rolling pin roll it out flat. With a butter knife have the child cut the flat circle in half. With one half of the circle roll it into a snake shape and this is the neck and head of the turkey. With the other half of the circle, cut with a knife to make the feathers. When you have all the parts of the body done, have the children brush on a beaten egg white. This makes it shinny and it also helps it to stick together. Bake the turkeys at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. You don't need to worry about letting them rise. When your turkey is done, place 2 pretzel sticks in the bottom of the turkey for the legs. *We found that one roll cut in half (half for the body and the other half for the head and feathers works best!)

Mini Pumpkin Pies for dessert!

Mini Pumpkin Pie:

Makes 12 mini pumpkin pies

1.      Use Pillsbury Allready Piecrust- Using a cup or 4 inch round cookie cutter, cut out 12 circles from your 2 9-inch pie crust doughs.

2.      Place each circle into a pre-greased muffin tin. Press them in, letting the sides come up for a fun look. Score the bottom of your dough with a fork to keep the crust from bubbling up as it cooks.

3.      Pour your filling into each muffin tin cup. Fill them to the very top

4.      Bake your muffin tin pumpkin pies at 425* for 15 minutes. Then turn your heat down to 350* and bake them for 25-30 minutes. (This is 15-20 minutes less than a regular pie)

5.      Add a dollop of whipped cream to each individual muffin tin pie.

**Blue Preschool mommies- if you have other pictures please post them!

Fire Station

Today the Blue Preschool Boys and their siblings visited Sandy Fire Station #35 for a tour.
They got a very detailed explanation of the fire engine and all the tools on board,
and they loved it.
EW, T, G, P, J & EM

Sandy Firefighters Friel and Taylor, along with the preschool boys & their siblings. (Thanks to those brave firefighters for taking on such a group of kids! Whew!)
(BPS Moms- if you have better pictures than these, please add them on. I won't be offended.)

Here are some of W's pictures:

 Making silly faces:)

Hooray for fire trucks!!!

Here are some of R's pictures and a little video

 In the ambulance

 On your mark... get set... GO!

The kids had fun racing across the bay together.

Parade and Flag day Picture add on

I was just going to add these pictures into R's post but it wouldn't allow me to so I am just adding them in a new post.

T helping hold the flag for his Dad.

G,K,T,EW,J intently learning about the flag.

...and they're off!

T

J

G

EW

Patriotic Parade and Flags

For patriotism week we got together at a park by C's house and did a little lesson on flags and a patriotic parade. P and EM were sick today and we all missed them- we hope they feel better soon!

First we had a guest teacher come speak to us about the flag of the United States of America.  The guest was T's Daddy who is also a Sergeant in the Army National Guard.  He talked to the kids about each color on the flag and what is represented.  He also taught them why the flag is special and how we should take care of it. 

 

 Each kid got a chance to hold the flag and then they all did the Pledge of Allegiance together (they have been learning this in preschool and some of them have it pretty much down).

 

After that the kids painted some flags with their watercolors. They all found their blue and red paints and tried their best to paint in the right areas on their flags.

The painted flags were then taped to their bikes/scooters for the parade.  The kids also were able to decorate by putting streamers, stars, and balloons on their bikes and helmets.  When they were all ready we had a little parade around the track with R waving the American flag, W and B holding up a USA banner, C taking pictures and helping, and the kids all riding around and singing songs.  It was really cute and we all stayed together for one or two minutes before a few of the kids took off, but they all had a great time and it was fun for them to do.

After the parade we had a flag for snack made by W.  The kids all loved it and so did the Moms.  C also provided string cheese and water.

Fall Carnival

We had a great Fall Carnival in preschool on Thursday.  We all got together and enjoyed the great fall weather for a fun morning. 

The kids had a blast running and jumping in a huge leaf pile.

 All the kids brought a pumpkin and had fun using their artistic talents painting the pumpkins.

After pumpkins we had a great snack.  W brought an air popper and popped popcorn for all the kids.  B also brought some yummy apple cider and cookies.

We then had the boys try bobbing for apples- which was pretty funny.  They all gave it a try, though, and eventually got their apples.  (Once we told them to grab the stem it went a lot faster.) 

The kids then played on the playset, jumped in leaves some more, and had wagon rides around the yard while C did face painting.

Finally we had a picnic on the lawn.  It was great weather and we all had a great carnival!