First Preschool: Joy School for Jessica

Although Jessica was only 2 1/2 by the fall of 2012, my friend invited us to join a preschool-at-home group for 3-year olds in our ward. It wasn't expensive, and was only 2 half-days a week, and I wasn't about to turn down the chance for several hours of free time. Here we are on the first day:

Plus, it was the same Joy School curriculum I had learned as a kid, which brought back sweet memories to me. The material is quaint, but with a few tweaks it was really fun to teach. It emphasizes happiness and gratitude, and age-appropriate hands-on activities over pure academics.

Our units were joy of my body, the earth, honesty, sharing, order, goals, obedience, humor, trust, confidence, imagination, and family. We started the lesson sitting in a semi-circle to do the weather & date, stories, songs, and show & tell object starting with the letter of the week.

Super Hero Me day, from "Joy of Confidence" day is pictured here. (I love that Jessica chose to borrow a Batman mask over Supergirl outfit, which looks even funnier with her girly clothes.)

I took this picture after the obstacle course activity for "Joy of the Body". Too bad Jessica was being a pill; it just happened that 3 kids wore red and two wore purple, so I was trying to get a symmetrical shot. Kids pull the funniest faces...

Our "faith fall" (let your friends catch you falling backwards) during the "Joy of Trust & Confidence" unit morphed into 20 minutes of "Cowabunga!" during playtime.

There was 20-30 minutes of playtime scheduled into the beginning, middle, and end of the 3 hour block, so it wasn't too intense for little kids (or the teacher!)

The kids were so fun to get to know; each one had their talents that surprised and delighted me. Here Ian, Mr. Hands-On, helped me make "fried snowflakes" for a snack, and Julia sang "I Am a Child of God" perfectly, for our "confidence" talent show.

Joy School lesson songs are clever, but sometimes wordy. So most of the time I only taught them a few keywords or actions. This song (during "Joy of Service and Sharing" in December) I just sang to them as I wrapped each of them, laughing, in Christmas paper: 

I Have a perfect present

To give to someone true,

To make us all feel hap-happy--

I'll give myself to you!

Just wrap me in some paper, 

And tie me in a bow.

Be sure I'm covered head to foot

So wiggly ears won't show.

Then give me to whomever 

Should need some love today.

You'll have the Perfect present when

I give myself away!

Arms can hug you tightly,

And feet can errands run.

A song to sing or story tell,

Before the day is done.

During that week, we also played secret service elves, and cleaned up the neighbor's backyard.

We also taught holidays and seasons. At our house, each kid took turns doing each part of a Nativity play, which I narrated and directed at lightening speed to keep up with their 2-minute attention spans. If you look closely, you can see that Jessica, as a wiseman, brought a gold Liahona, body spray, and red pepper flakes as gifts to baby Jesus.

Since there were 9 kids in Joy School, we split into two groups. But we joined together for holiday parties at Halloween and Valentine's.

Our group includes Jessica & I; ladybug Julia on Kristina's lap; Melissa behind Kristina and her mom Emily top-right; Buzz Lightyear Ian and his mom Jessica (taking the picture); and Tanner the tiger and his mom Lauren in black.

The other moms in my group were so great to work with. Thanks Lauren Malone, Jessica Shorter, Kristina Randolph, and Emily Bingham! I loved chatting them twice a week. Jessica loved Joy School and her friends, and was always happy to attend. Frequently, after it was over, and I was finished talking to the other moms, I had to go find her (like below hiding in her friend's closet) and drag her away.

Thanks for all the great memories!

Hairstyles Part 2

Jessica, at age 3, still has not had the back of her hair cut; I only trim her bangs. I think I'll let it grow until she gets a sibling, then she'll get a shorter style. In the mean time, I'm having a lot of fun doing some simple styles in her long hair. I take these pictures usually not to record my handiwork, but because she wants to see the back.

"Triple" braids, "princess" braids, pigtail braids (for church) and half-pigtail braids:

Full and half-twists (probably getting ready for Joy School), and pigtail twists (Christmas morning).

Twisty buns (or kitty ears as she calls them) at her Valentines party, which unroll into cute curls:

 and I don't know what to call this: (french ponytails? triple pigtails?)

Easter 2013

This Easter, we dyed eggs and spent a beautiful day at the park hunting candy eggs with the Ayres, Malones, Wolfs, and Randolph families.

Dave one afternoon joined Jessica for a little contraband Easter candy under cover. 

Jessica's Easter basket wasn't overflowing with presents and candy Sunday morning.  The only mention of the Easter bunny was to say he was leaving a basket, because I like to emphasize the religious reasons for Easter. So I bought some new Christian movies: Ben Hur & The Ten Commandments, Prince of Egypt, and The Miracle Maker (a 60's claymation of the life of Christ, which was pretty good for kids.)

For religious remembrances, I hung up a picture of Christ for every day in Holy Week. We invited the Bonneys and Ayres families over for Monday's Family Home Evening. We acted out the triumphal entry (kids in a vest riding adults who crawled over blankets and plastic palm fronds) and the cleansing of the Jewish temple (knocking over little stools with dimes on them.) The kids thought it was great fun. Dave gave the lesson of the Easter symbols in plastic eggs, and we made resurrection buns for a treat.

On Good Friday we hosted a "Jerusalem Dinner". Not a Passover meal, but a meal like Christ would have eaten. We sat on the floor, eating food from the first century Jewish culture: cucumbers, grapes, dates and plain yogurt, lentil soup, fish, honey and flatbread, and the conversation dish: beef tongue.

The Albert and Young families brought food, but it was the Davids family that had a frozen beef tongue from having their cow butchered, and thought this a perfect meal to use it. They brought it made up in the Jewish tradition: rough outside peeled off, sliced, then slow cooked with leeks and carrots, and eaten topped with a salty anchovie and caper relish. I ate a few bites; it was savory, but the idea of it was too much for me to take second helpings. The missionaries however, despite a 15-minute tongue discussion, (i.e., how a whole beef tongue is the shape and size of a sneaker,) were clueless to the fact that they were eating tongue until after they ate several helpings!  You can see the glass dish of tongue at the top of the picture on the right.
 

And I decided to spend my birthday money on table decorations for Easter Sunday. {I wanted the tablescape to be turquoise, but tablecloth selection at stores these days is pretty bleak. And the only fabric at 60-72" wide is made for sofas, not spring tableaus. So I bought a 10-foot, banquet-sized white tablecloth, and topped it with purple fabric leftover from Jessica's birthday. I choose spring silk flowers and a birdcage for the centerpiece. (I shunned the summer roses and daisies for native daffodils, tulips, dogwood and cherry blossoms, and pussy willows.)} 

And voila! It was definitely bright, cheerful, and symbolic of new life with the nest of eggs and twigs laid in a cross. I know I could've made this a simpler production. But what does it say to Jessica when we invite friends over to eat the same everyday food on paper plates, buffet-style? This is not just any party; I want to make Easter feel very different, because it's as important to Christians as Christmas.

This year was extra pretty, and the food even matched the tableware to a degree: white dishes, purple and yellow cakes (thanks to the Wights), yellow ducky rolls, purple-dyed hard-boiled eggs, and a record-setting 10-layer jello (Jared! you're the man!).

And the best part of course was eating it with our new Lynchburg friends. We have really enjoyed getting to know so many great families at church. Over dinner we had fun chatting with the Wights, Gentrys, and Penrods.  Thanks for your friendship, and making our celebration of the Lord's Resurrection special!

The sacrament service was uplifting; we heard a talk with the theme of "What does the Resurrection mean to (various people)?". A double octet sang a beautiful, part a capella "Behold the Wounds in Jesus' Hands", and our choir sang a very moving version of "He is Risen", accompanied by me. I practiced a lot, because I wanted to add what I could to the spirit of the day. I injured my arm a little practicing it, the notes being very loud and complex, but it was worth it. Happy Easter!