Christmas Party

We are down to one kiddo that still has classroom parties for holidays.....sad sad:( I helped again with Emmrey's party on Friday, which was their last day before break. We had an hour for the party and we decided to do 4 stations to rotate through. We had a cookie decorating station, craft station, snack station, and game station. I was in charge of the games and I planned Don't Eat.....{one of the reindeer names}, Silver Bells and Snowman Slam {although we ran out of time for this one}. It was a fun little celebration for just the right amount of time. It was also PJ day, so the kids got to watch a movie {Sound of Music} and eat popcorn

The high school had finals that week and Bailee didn't have to take any on Friday, so she was able to come along for the party and spend the afternoon in 2nd grade. Seems like just yesterday she was there herself:)

Speaking of parties....we had a Christmas dinner/party at our church the previous week that was unforgettable. We listened to carolers outside by fires and hot chocolate, ate yummy soups and had a gingerbread house decorating contest. We started out with great plans that soon failed and we ended up going with a dump truck idea out of desperation. Things went from bad to worse and our poor truck soon looked like it had been totalled ....{no, our truck didn't win}

The party itself was fun and all but it was what happened as things were ending that will leave a mark. Just as things were winding down and we were thinking about taking off, we were told that the church was on "lock-down".  There was a manhunt for an armed suspect who had fired at a police car. He had jumped out of his vehicle and was on the loose in the neighborhood.  We were stuck at the church for nearly 2 extra hours, before we finally reached our limit and essentially snuck out the back door {we did have an armed escort to take us to the parking lot} We didn't get home until close to 10:00 pm ....4 1/2 hours is a bit long at a church dinner;) They did catch the guy, but not until the following day.When we left the church, the surrounding streets had all been barricaded and we had to detour home. Definitely not something you experience everyday.