The Big Rolex Giveaway

Oh, did you think I was giving away a Rolex?  Just kidding!  I already gave it away for Christmas.

Alright, so I didn't give away a Rolex...it was a RollRex and hence the entertainment value.

Hmm... these RollRex look strikingly like Ferrero Rocher.

What do you think?  Should we give this company bonus points for their ability to be creative? 

I tried to exercise a little more creativity in my Christmas giving.  For my Mom, I made this set of cards.  I really loved the way the way each one turned out different but had the same papers and colors.  What a blessing that I was actually able to send this gift along with one for my Dad with someone traveling back to Toronto!  So they had a present to open from me on Christmas day.

Here's another little card set I made by playing with a bunch of my fun new scrapbooking papers.  Yum!

I also made some fun hair things which I forgot to take a picture of but I think I'll be making more in the future so maybe they'll get their day in the blog spotlight. Mmm, crafty Christmases are so fun!

Santa's Vacation

Santa was passing through today on his vacation.

 He gathered his friends and admirers for a little sack revelation.

 Then it was off to climb the slide.

 But as his tummy was extra wide,

 he needed help from every side.

No method was left untried.

 Until finally, he ascended

and did a dance that's been just a little upended!

Love Notes and Boxes of Love

Love notes...I got one today from a student.

Now, how can that not put a smile on your face?  It came along with a gift of homemade hot chocolate mix and I have to tell you that to me that hot chocolate mix is like a little love note from God.  The mornings are cool and I have been drinking hot chocolate like it is going out of style.  Just this week, I looked into the container and thought to myself, "Hmm, that's almost finished.  I'm going to be sad when it's gone."  And voila, God took care of a small insignificant desire by using a student to bless me with the very thing I desired!

 Nothing says love to me like mail and wouldn't you know it when I arrived home, I had two very unexpected packages - one from a former student with a joke a day calendar - love it!  The other one from the LAC Bible Quizing Team.  They made a poster/puzzle and when they prayed over who to send it to, God brought me to mind so they sent it along with a box full of goodies...

not just any kind of goodies - these are some of my favorite goodies.

M & Ms

Candy Cane Hot Chocolate

Out of all the things they could have sent? Amazing!

So needless to say, I was crying over my hot chocolate. 

These two jars of hot chocolate may not look like love notes but today they communicated to me the love of children in my life, faithful people praying for me and most of all a Father in Heaven who delights to demonstrate his love in tangible ways.

Psalm 33:22

"May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you."

Let It Never Be Said

Let it never be said...

...that I haven't taught angels.

 ...that angels can't have strange itches in their armpits.

...that angels can't make you laugh.

Simply Beautiful

This is fast becoming one of my favorite traditions here.  It's so beautiful to be out under the stars remembering and wondering over that first Christmas.

Craftiness

Every year there is a Christmas Bazaar here in our fair city.  Two of my friends, Cathy & Shannon were going to have a booth with lots of Christmas ornaments and other handmade items.  I had been kind of toying with the idea of trying to sell some of my cards so they invited me to join forces with them.  In the end, I didn't count how many cards I made but there were big and little ones, cards in bunches and even little bittie ones.

Here are some of my favorites.

This weekend was the Christmas Bazaar and thanks to Cathy and Shannon, I got to hang out in a nice shady spot soaking in their craftiness, greeting lots of people and make some money to buy some new fun crafty stuff!  Now my only problem is that I am a long way from my local scrapbooking store! :)

The Progression of Imagination

Transportation is the theme as of late in our classroom.  One afternoon we were talking about transportation before wheels and I brought a box to school so the kids could pull each other around in the box and get a feel for how difficult it was. 

Then I brought out two little four wheeled carts so they could see the difference in moving someone when you have wheels. 

Our lesson ended but I let them continue playing with the box and carts and it wasn't long before one little boy convinced everyone that the box should be placed on the two carts for a whole new toy.

 How fun to watch the progression of imagination!

The SIM AIR Guys - Not Just Pilots or Pretty Faces

The SIM AIR Guys - they aren't just pilots or pretty faces (as one of them who shall remain nameless but might just be pictured directly below likes to say).  Yes, they will fly you wherever you want to go in Niger, within reason and they are even willing to fly you across borders but they also know how to give a mean field trip. Of course, when four of the children in your class belong to them they are bound to rise to the occasion.

They will explain how the plane works and let you try out the headphones.

They will even let you climb in the pilot's seat and handle the yoke.

You'll get a chance to try out the passengers' seats.

You will even get to eat lunch in the pilots' lounge and leave your crumbs everywhere.

They know how to make a grand entrance

and an amazing paper airplane which they'll even let you fly in their hangar.

They can do all this and what's more they are even willing to use their amazing airport connections to get you out to see the airport fire station, climb in the firetrucks and watch them spray the world's "biggest" water gun.

Like I said, they aren't just pilots or pretty faces...they know how to put on an unforgettable field trip!

The Intergalatic Space Fair

The Sahel Student Council planned an Intergalatic Space Fair last Saturday evening which took me back to my K.A. days and the anticipation of waiting for Fun Fair, a veritable carnival of fun.  That's pretty much what we enjoyed this past Saturday as well.  There were carnival games like

Meteor Blast

 Fish Upon a Star

Destroying Blazlack Germs

and Astroid Defense System. 

But the highlight had to be the SI-MUL-8R  KR8.  The kids got inside a crate which had been outfitted with seat, control panels, headphones from our friendly SIM Air guys.

Then the door was closed and the crate which was on top of a wagon was tipped back.

 At this point lift off began complete with countdown and all the sounds of a real takeoff. And then our director spent the next few minutes rocking the crate back and forth giving the kids their own personal ride through "space".  All the while a video camera which had been hooked up inside the crate, displayed for the outside world the riding astronaut's reactions.

 

Can I just tell you that I work with some pretty creative people!  Kudos to Brian and Cathy for dreaming this amazing ride up.  Brian especially deserves a gold star for standing there and shaking and rocking the kiddos all night!

Amazing Fun!  And on a side note the crate has been outside the library all week and it's been fun to watch the kids climb in and close the door while a friend on the outside rocks them back and forth...reliving the fun. :)