Some of the Best Things in Life are Mistakes

New Year's Eve Ideas for Kids

Looking for some fun, kid-friendly ideas for New year's Eve? Here are the best that I could find on Pinterest...

If you decide to use one of these ideas, please leave the blogger a comment to let them know you enjoy their work. Try to follow their blog or Facebook pages. All bloggers love to feel the love! Enjoy!

Kid Friendly Champagne Ideas

Start a Tradition and fill out one of these each year

New Year's Eve Party Favors

Make Your Own Balloon Drop

Countdown Balloons

Free Goals and Resolution Printable

Countdown Bags

Create Your Own Photo Booth

Blessings Jar- You can start one this New Year's Eve so that you can use it for next New Year's Eve

Resolution bookmarks and door hangers

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The Best Christmas Teacher Gifts I Received This Year

So I will admit it, the day before Christmas break as a middle school teacher can be insane. OK, it is comparable to an insane asylum that ran out of straight jackets!

There are some fun moments too. The class mothers this year did a fantastic job putting together our class party. The kids had so much fun! They planned some really fun games for the kids.

Another fun part of the day is getting teacher gifts. It is like being a kid on Christmas morning! I love to see the children's faces as they come up to my desk with their cards or gifts.

The question I get asked the most by people that know I am a teacher is, "What should I get my child's teacher?"

For me, honestly, I don't expect anything. They really don't need to give me a gift. When they do though, it does make me feel really special and appreciated. Of course, gift cards are really helpful. What I enjoy most is reading the cards and notes that were written by the kids. Since I teach middle school, the kids are old enough to write their own sentiments.

Here are some of the cards that made me smile...

So when planning a gift for your child's teacher, don't forget to have your child write out a note. Make sure they share how they feel about their teacher. It will touch their heart!

Christmas House Tour (busy mom style)

Have you seen the blogs that joined the Christmas House Tour movement? These bloggers post tours of the Christmas decorations in their homes. If you haven't seen one of these posts, you can check one out at at my sister in law Hilary's blog. Most of these bloggers, like my sister in law, are people who have an eye for design & decor and have a knack for DIY.

Their homes are gorgeous and can sometimes make a regular homeowner like myself feel a bit inadequate. So if you are feeling abit overwhelmed too, I will make you feel a little better about yourselves. I am posting a tour of my Christmas decor.

Some homes have a "theme." My theme this year is "child friendly." With three small kids, all of my decor has to be either child friendly or edible.

These are Nativity scene magnets on the inside of the front door.

We decided to skip the full sized tree this year and go with a smaller tree that fits on the dining room table. This stops the two littlest Delmantos from messing with the ornaments. The table is in the front window so the tree can also be seen from the street and gives the appearance of a full sized tree.

Advent Calendar hanging on the hall closet door.

We hang our Christmas cards on the kitchen cabinets.

I love to use artwork made by the kids as Christmas decor. Sydney made this 5 years ago and I hang it up every year in the front hallway.

I have an 8x10 portrait of each child hanging in the hallway downstairs. We made Christmas lights to hang under each of their pictures.

We each have a matching stocking hanging on the staircase.

Sydney loves to create decor to hang on the walls.

Did you decorate for Christmas? Do you have an eye for design? Share a link to your blog if you blogged about your house this Christmas!

The Names of Jesus Bulletin Board

One my very talented colleagues put together this bulletin board to hang in the hallway of our middle school building. It is a word search where she hid 10 names for Jesus that are found in Scripture. She took the time to weave the red and white strips of paper to create that checker board pattern. It is hard to see but she also added Christmas lights around the perimeter of the board.

She and one of my other colleagues turned the bulletin board into a contest. The students had to search for the 10 names of Jesus in the word search and three passages of scripture. They also had to identify the references for the verses they found.

It is hard to motivate middle schoolers but this bulletin board really excited them. Many of our 6th and 7th graders accepted the challenge. it was fun to see them searching for the verses!