More Christmas

Is there ever too much Christmas?

My mom asked for a picture of the whole tree.  Anything for my dear mother:

Of all the things I failed to teach my children well, decorating a Christmas tree is not one of them.  We build layers and they are good at it.  When Adam tried to hand them an ornament after he had attached a hook, they would say things like, "No Dad, we're just doing red balls now."

Braeden is a little less careful when he is here, but he is tallest and has the biggest motor and those things add a lot of value.  I missed him and Emma did too.  She said her Precious Moments ornament missed Braeden's Precious Moments ornament.  They've been hanging them next to each other on the tree since they were tiny little preschoolers.  Sniff.  

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Yesterday at school, we had a really great experience.  Our principal, Kristie, called Jason Wright (of The Christmas Jars fame) and was sort of surprised when he answered.  She asked him to come to our school and he said yes.  And he lives in Virginia!  

When she told the leadership team about it, she said, "He is either coming or I am being scammed by someone who I thought was Jason Wright."

He came!

Third through sixth grade assembled in the gym.  He talked to us about the first Christmas jar he did with his family.  He said it gave him the idea for the book.  He showed us a map of where people reported Christmas jars sightings:

There was an audible gasp in the room.  He talked about how if someone was sick or needed extra love or had lost their job, people may want to give them a jar.  One of my students turned to me and exclaimed, "My mom and my stepdad have both lost their jobs before!"

It was relatable, having hard times.

We watched the movie that BYUtv created based on the book.  It was a little cheesy but also good.  It was the right kind of feel good you need on a cold December morning.  There was a teeny tiny bit of kissing and most of my students covered their faces or pulled their shirts up over their eyes.  

The "Hope Squad" in our school had popcorn for the students which made a holy mess, but made the students excited.

It was a great time.  I left the room feeling uplifted and I think they did too.

In the afternoon, for writing time, I had them write their thoughts.  I said they could write their thoughts about the jar idea or the movie or any aspect of it. (I didn't use the word aspect....)

One girl wrote at great length about how it was boring and her chair was hard.  Even a New York Times bestselling author isn't Nutella.  He can't make everyone happy.

Another girl who I can rarely get to do much of anything despite her being pretty smart, wrote two pages about it.  She is one of my sweetest kindest souls, even though she is also pretty naughty.  She was touched by the story and I loved reading her writing about it.

After school, I walked around showing it to anyone who would listen.  Then I hung all their writing up in the hall.

I love Christmas!