Ringing in the New Year!

 This fun bell shaped shadow is cast by a nearby town's Christmas decorations. 

Ding Dang Dong... 

Happy New Year!

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Merry Medley Photo Diary 2011

Oh my, after a week long bloggy break, I uploaded my Christmas Eve/Day photos. Guess how many there were. 

Over 300!! 

Can you believe it?!  Silly question, eh? Of course, you guys believe it. Most of you are crazy camera clicking bloggers too.  But still. That is a lot.  

Between getting back to work, parenting and housekeeping, it took another week just to edit.  Whew, I'm worn plumb out so without  further ado...

The Official DustyUs Family Merry Medley!

The main event?  

Talon, of course!

Stocking surprises are almost as cool as Santa toys.

 In the top right quandrant: A cool sportscar computer mouse with working head/tail lights;  Talon slicing a tiny Darth Vader candy dispenser with a light saber; Wonka bar!

One of my favorite things?

 giving Hub funny stocking stuffers. The paint sticks and gloves are hysterical... well, to me anyway! Don't worry!  My hub isn't only a skilled bone idle procrastinator... he is also a good sport! 

We love our...

MamaGram!  And not just because she gives great gifts!

A little bit of Lesa too.  And more Talon, of course... that little scene stealer! Making his mama share the limelight! For shame! 

Love me some Christmas merry making!

Can you tell?

Until next time...

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Children's Classroom Party Game Ideas

No more blah classroom parties!

Are you a teacher or homeroom parent responsible for hosting or planning a class party soon?

Check out these games for inspiration. They are Christmas versions of traditional party games but could be adapted to suit any holiday or theme. 

Musical Gift/Hot Gift Game

This is a version of the hot potato game (or musical chairs, if you prefer).  In this game, the players sit in a circle passing a 'hot' gift quickly around the circle while music plays. When the music stops, the player left holding the gift gets to unwrap a layer of paper.   The game continues until the last layer of paper is removed and that player keeps the gift.  

    

In this instant, the gift was a large Hershey bar wrapped in about 10 layers of varied giftwrap.  

Talon got to unwrap a layer of paper!

A very good game to increase motor skills and teach sportsmanship.



The gift wasn't hot enough for this girl-- she slowed the game down on every round which drove the other players craaazeee!

  Most of the kids loved playing this game but there were a couple of disgruntled players-- maybe they need to play again!

Snowball Toss

Toss the balls through the holes and win a prize. Harder than it looks since the styrofoam snowballs are light. Only two kids won prizes but they all had fun and there were no bad sports.

Yes,  my silly 'ham' of a boy was the only one who acted out scooping and forming a snowball.

Pin the Nose on the Reindeer

Played just like 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey'. The players who pin the nose somewhere on the face or closest to the face get prizes.

Mrs. R's party games were cute and fun. They made the party so much more memorable than just snacks and a movie.  Good on ya, Mrs. R! 

What a fabulously creative teacher! We are very grateful that Talon is in Mrs. R's class. He is having the best first grade year ever!

And not just because of the party fun, but because of the intense but fun focus on academics.  Talon has learned so much so quickly.

Throwing a mean party is just icing on the cake!

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Hope these party game ideas provide inspiration for your next children's party be it at school/home/church.  Please share any ideas for adapting these games to other holidays/themes. What other children's party games do you recommend?

Just had an idea pop into my head for a little boy's Nascar birthday. Pin the steering wheel on the Nascar racecar.  What do you think?

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Trimming the Tree

A mosaic of our tree decorating fun. Talon hangs most of the ornaments but I always hang my favorite little red cardinals. 

Which reminds me... I need to put out bird seed for our colorful little feathered friends. Cardinals always cheer up the drab winter view out of our kitchen window.

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My Little Angel?

At Talon's new school, the kindergarten and first grade perform a program together.

Cute as can be-- and isn't the little angel with an attitude too funny!

A few shots of my sweet little curly topped angel...

Oops... spoke to soon...

A mischievous angel but still sweet to me.

But I guess that is why he is in the chorus instead of playing a 'holy' character.

Hahahahaha

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Now That's A Big Christmas Ball

Talon spotted a trio of huge two-story size Christmas trees in Oklahoma City.

And said: The Christmas balls are as big as my head!

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Seasonal Scenes from Silver Dollar City!

The Old Time Christmas Festival at Silver Dollar City is a great way to get in the spirit of the holidays. There are music, shows, shopping and lights galore!  The festival runs the months of November and December so make plans for next year. Even if the air is shivery, there is plenty of hot chocolate and wassail to warm you from your nose to your toes.

A SDC take on Dicken's A Christmas Carol--- lots of singing, dancing, comedy and tugging on the heartstrings. 

This guy is just too much!!  Wonder how many 'Hey Mom, there's Santa!' he got...

Now that is a big tree! It puts on a light show at night which you can see in the video

My gingerbread goofballs!

Talon loved the cute Frosty The Snowman play. He thought the smart mouth raccoon and dumb mailman were very funny but when Frosty actually moved and talked-- that was too cool!  The first video shows a bit of Frosty moving and talking and the second shows the back of Talon as he gets into singing the song 'Let it Snow'

The parade of lights is very popular-- it is best to get in prime viewing position about 30 minutes early. Here are a few parade shots-- my little point and shoot can only do so much so I missed pretty much all  of the floats and cool characters-- but I'm upgrading soon-- more about that later!

  Funny ears and a funny schtick-- kept the riders entertained!

Pretty!  This is the only time of the year that SDC is open after dark so we get to see some of our favortite rides in a new light!



Look at my hubby working the headgear-- what a lucky girl I am! hahahahha 

Day two was uncomfortably cold and we didn't hold out till dark to ride the train through the animated lights. That was the only Christmasy thing we missed.  Talon and I still rode our fave rollercoaster, Thunderation, though-- We are tough!! 



Hot chocolate hits the spot! If you go to the right stand, the cocoa is made with milk with scoops of  chocolate chips and marshmallow added to your mug and a topping of whipped cream--plus a little candycane for a lagniappe-- didn't take us long to find the right stand!

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A DustyUs Christmas



Merry Christmas!



Talon gets jazzed about everyone's gifts. If he knows what it is, he can barely keep from spilling the beans.

My mother always finds the cutest little gift containers!



Tweet Tweet! I like my little cardinal ornaments. Cardinals flock the feeder outside my kitchen window all winter.




Talon placed a pinecone with a missing string in the bed of this cute little truck ornament.



I don't usually eat candycanes but they sure are festive!



a student gave this guitar playing Santa to Jim years ago



Santa left a few crumbs

Opening gifts from each other

Talon is ecstatic over the XBOX games from Dad

Dad on the other hand...

is not too sure about this gift from Talon!
It is a self-inflating whoopie cushion-- quite the hoot! 

Merry old me! How many years are these pjs gonna last anyway? Talon outgrew his Christmas penguin pjs three years ago!

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Zebra Surprise!

Wanda hasn't featured in a blogpost in many moons. Don't worry-- the lack of Wanda is only due to my laziness. She is as fabulous and fun and blingalicious as ever. 

Remember Wanda's penchant for all things zebra?

  So of course, this was the bracelet for Wanda-- plus a coordinating silver and black necklace. Poor Talon, he was so excited for Wanda to open her gift but he was feeling puny.  No worries, he perked up after a quick trip to the 'no appointment needed and no waiting' doctor. 

 

Zebra-tacular!

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