We will be open on Wed. from 7:00-3:00!

In order to make up for some of our lost snow days, we are offering child care on Wednesday, Dec. 31 from 7:00-3:00. Please email your child's teacher if you'd like your child to attend.

Have a great few days off!

December 24, 2008

When Gianluca and I awoke this morning, we found it snowing again. This is day 5 of being housebound with snow with a sick little guy. As you can see in the picture taken this morning, he is on the mend. Since my only visual option is the front or back of his home, that's the only viewpoint I have had for pictures. Have a Blessed Christmas. It is a white one that provides us memories to share on Christmas’ to come.

December 24, 2008 at 8:00 am

 

 

 

 

Food for thought

How much is your time worth?

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: ‘Daddy, may I ask you a question?’

DAD: ‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the man.

SON: ‘Daddy, how much do you make an hour?’

DAD: ‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the man said angrily.

SON: ‘I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’

DAD: ‘If you must know, I make $50 an hour.’

SON: ‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: ‘Daddy, may I please borrow $25?’

The father was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.’

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn’t ask for money very often The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

‘Are you asleep, son?’ He asked.

‘No daddy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy.

‘I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier’ said the man. ‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $25 you asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you daddy!’ he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the father grumbled.

‘Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied.

‘Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.’

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.

More Snow Pictures 12/22/08 West Linn

Hi All,

If you have time, scroll down and compare the snow height accumulated on my daughter and son-in-law's patio table. There is a significant difference from Saturday to yesterday. Blessings, Ms. Patty

A Christmas Letter

Dear Parents,

I haven't seen this much snow since I left Ohio in 1971. When the media weather broadcasters predicted snow, I thought the usual light dusting, maybe an inch or so...we have over 12 inches of snow in the driveway at my daughter's house (no shovel) and on her back deck, there is up to 30 inches of accumulated snow on her patio furniture. The pictures I have uploaded have been taken at her home in West Linn where I am sitting with my grandson. She is back east with her dad who is in his final days after battling pancreatic cancer. I am literally housebound and my car is safely tucked in her garage. Until I shovel or the snow melts some, I cannot drive through the packed snow and ice even with chains--my car isn’t tall enough! Yesterday, the snowplow came down the middle of her street piling all the snow to the sides along the curb and in front of everyone’s driveway. It’s good to see our tax dollars at work. Did I say work? Well, let’s say that the person operating the snowplow exerted some energy driving the plow and lifting the lever to raise and lower the plow; but, the work is one-sided. Not only did this contribute more work to the neighborhood, the only relief Ponderosa Drive received was a one-lane, plow width scraping, for cars to attempt travel hoping that no one would come from the opposite direction on the same path.

I don’t know what road conditions are in Portland or the main thoroughfares; ours at 500-foot elevation is white, icy and unbelievably beautiful. Thank goodness for internet--I haven’t been able to send gifts off to relatives who live out-of-state. John is keeping the fires warm at our home, also in West Linn. He and Chewie have been hunkered in watching the snowplow attempt to sand our hill. The irony, the snowplow couldn’t make it either.

Despite all the flutter about the weather, it’s been somewhat surreal for me. This brought back childhood memories of playing in the snow, walking to school (we didn’t have bus service), making maple syrup snow cones (the real stuff) , putting on snow suits for recess, and eating homemade cookies and drinking hot chocolate. Gianluca, my grandson who is two years-old, and I have been busy bonding. I’ve enjoyed the one-on-one time alone with him as I do with all my twelve grandchildren. I’ve enjoyed his sweet personality, his twirling of his hair when he is tired, his boundless energy as he runs laps around the house, and his priceless hugs as he struggles with croup. It’s been hard for his parents being away. Thank goodness, for the telephone as they check in on him and keep me posted with updates. Danielle was to return tomorrow; the weather has changed those plans.

Our best-laid plans can never be absolute. That’s difficult for me; I like to plan and know what to expect. It’s difficult as an adult to live in the moment; children live in the moment ~ that’s all they know. I’ve learned a lot from the children in my life. And, I’ve grown to become a better person because of them.

Father God, I lift up our families, staff, loved ones and friends and ask that you bless and guide them. Father, this is a season of giving, loving, and remembering that you gave your Son as a fulfillment of prophesies because your love is steadfast. Thank you, Father, for all you have given me; thank you for my family; thank you for fulfilling my desire to work with children and families; thank you for my loving and supportive husband; thank you for all the support and love you send through ‘earthly angels’; thank you for the struggles for they keep me humble; thank you for faith, forgiveness and mercy through these gifts I grow spiritually. Most of all, thank you for loving me. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May God bless you and your family this season and through 2009. Ms. Patty

12/22/08 Snowy Day

 

 

 

 

A laugh for those of us who have read countless children's stories

I love children's literature. I always have, probably since I was a child. :-) As a preschool teacher and parent I continue to read between 5-10 kids books a day. I love every minute of it. The characters, the messages, the children's laughter and smiles, I cannot imagine a day going by without that.

I stumbled across this website and felt I had to share it. It is one minute (less really) condensed versions of stories that we-as parents-have read too many times to count. I chuckled at each one, knowing that they do, indeed, get the main point across in just a few sentences.

So, enjoy...have a laugh...and then go read your child Goodnight Moon for the thousandth time. Love it, live it and remember, in time they won't let you come anywhere near them with a book.

http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/bedtime.shtml

:-) Have a wonderful snow day and a good laugh!
Krista

12/21/08 Snowy Day

 

 

 

 

December 20, 2008 More Snow

 

 

 

Snow Pictures December 20, 2008

 

 

 

 

December 20, 2008 Snow Pictures

 

 

 

 

A Special Christmas message

For all those who are serving, (American, Australian, Canadian and British Soldiers) or have served, so that we can live the life that we do, have a blessed Christmas

T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE,
MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY,
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO,
IN THIS HOME, DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES,
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT,
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR,
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED,
AN AMERICAN SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO,
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES,
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS,
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE,
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM,
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
I COULDN'T HELP WONDER,
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE,
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT,
A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES,
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED,
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL,
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED,
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE,
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR,
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
ITS CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD
NIGHT."

PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favour of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to all of the service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.

Open at 10:00 am December 19

The Children's Hour Academy will open at 10:00 am at both campuses. We look forward to seeing everyone. Weather Advisory still warns of another storm. If the weather turns, we will call you in advance to allow safe travel. Thank you.

Christmas Fun and Decorations

We would love to see your Christmas tree, pretty decorations or all the fun you have opening presents and attending Christmas events. Please send them to Krista at benemma1802@gmail.com. They need to be sized to 8 megabytes or smaller. Thanks!

~Krista

Fun in the Snow Photos!

We would love to share photos of our friends and families of CHA to see all the fun we had in the snow. If you have pictures you'd like to share, please email them to Krista at benemma1802@gmail.com and I will post them as soon as I can! Please size them down to 8 megabytes or smaller. Thank you! I can't wait to see all of our friends having fun!

~Krista

Helpful Hints For School Closures

A few helpful reminders for inclement weather closures

For The Children's Hour Academy…

• We use the Lake Oswego School District as a "guideline" when we make our decision to open or close. Please be assured that our decision to close is not taken lightly and is made with a great deal of consideration for both staff and families.
• We will update the messages at both locations by 7:30 p.m. each evening. In the event we do not make a decision until the following morning we will change the messages by 5:30 a.m.
• We also have a blog that we update with current closure information. It has valuable information regarding activities happening at CHA. The blog is http://www.chaconnection.blogspot.com/. You can sign up for email updates, located on the right hand column that will automatically update you each time there is change to the blog.
• The news channels websites list us in their closures. If you log into http://www.kgw.com/, their website appears to be the easiest to navigate and read. We are listed under 'Private & Charter Schools - Portland area'.
• We belong to the same service that the public schools use to announce closures. You can find us listed under the running banner on all the local news stations.

Thank you for your patience over the last few crazy weather days and what appears may be on the horizon for future weather as well.

CHA Staff

Meridian Campus 503-635-2139 Jean Road 503-534-1818

Open at 9:00 am December 18

The Children's Hour Academy will open at 9:00 am at both campuses. We look forward to seeing everyone. Weather Advisory still warns of another storm. If the weather turns, we will call you in advance to allow safe travel. Thank you.

CHA - Thursday, December 18.

We will not make a decision regarding school closure or delayed start time for Thursday, December 18th until 5:30am Thursday morning. This will allow us time to assess road conditions and current weather.

Please call the schools' answering machine for a decision after 5:30 am, tomorrow morning. We will update our blog with current information. Thank for your understanding.
Phone numbers: 503.534.1818 (Jean Road) or 503.974.9720 (Meridian Campus)

School Closure

The decision has been made to close The Children's Hour Academy on Wednesday, December 17, due to continuing frozen conditions and the likelihood that additional snow and/or freezing rain will arrive Wednesday morning. Many of our staff live in outlying areas and cannot safely make it to work because of compacted ice and closed roads. Please be assured that our decision to close is not taken lightly and is made with a great deal of consideration for both staff and families. We will continue to keep you updated for Thursday. Just a reminder, we follow Lake Oswego School District's as a guideline for inclement weather closures.

Pageant and Potluck Information

Annual
Children's Hour Academy Christmas Pageant
&
Potluck Luncheon

Saturday December 13^th, 2008
Athey Creek Middle School
2900 S.W. Borland Road~West Linn Oregon

~New roundabouts have been installed on Stafford near Borland Road (Wankers Corner)~

Children at the Meridian Campus are asked to arrive at 10:30 am for practice. Our Jean Road performers can arrive between 10:30 - 10:45 am. Since Jean Road has the 'youngest' performers, a parent is invited to be with their performer on stage for support.

The pageant will begin at 11:00 am promptly.

The Silent auction and luncheon immediately follows the pageant.

A 'special elf from Santa' will visit during lunch to meet with the children and share a special treat. Bring your cameras ~ he's a cutie :)

"21st Annual Christmas Potluck"

feast brought to you by an amazing community of parents, teachers, friends & extended families
Where you may meet some of the nicest people, and where some of the nicest people might meet you. . .

We really hope you can attend! Our tradition is to divide dishes by last name. If your last name begins with:

A-M ~ Please bring a Main dish (serving size for 25 people)

N-Z ~ Please bring a Salad or Side (serving size for 25 people)

CHA ~ Fried Chicken, coffee, tea and dessert

Our wonderful Staff ~ Gallon juice and a dessert

While this is a buffet, please be mindful of the large amount of families and friends that attend this spectacular event. In order to make sure we have enough food for everyone, please oversee your child's portion to cut down waste. For health and sanitary reasons, only adults may serve children. Just a gentle reminder: We are limited to access areas. Children are not permitted in the library area, steps, stage, or gymnasium (after the program). We are permitted in the dining area, bathrooms and foyer area only. Thank you for your help and understanding.

Santa's Christmas Elf

Christmas Program December 13, 2008

The Children's Hour Academy

21^th Annual Christmas Pageant, Luncheon &

School Auction

"C H R I S T M A S

P R E S E N C E"

Saturday, December 13^th 11:00 - 2:00

(Students must arrive by 10:30 am for performance preparation)

Athey Creek Middle School in West Linn

Potluck Lunch details will be provided by your child's teacher.

Please let your teacher know how many people from your family will be attending.

Silent Auction

(Christmas Program 2005)



This year we are hosting a small silent auction to help defray the costs of renting the facility for our Annual Christmas Pageant. The themes included are:

• Ayla, Heather, Jessy & Kelley: Rest and Relaxation


• Yvonne & Teresa: Warm and Cozy


• Briana, Gus & Sarah: Movies


• Jennifer & Felicia: Family Game Night


• Rita & Whitney: Arts and Crafts


• Krista: Bedtime Fun/Bathtime Fun


• Rodica: Coffee Lovers


• Mariola's Preparatory Kindergarten: Valentine's Day in a Basket/Family Outing


• Sally Ann's Preparatory Kindergarten: Breakfast in Bed


• Gina: Old Fashioned Candy Shoppe


• SallyJo: All About the Senses


• Hayley, Sean, Tarsah, & Erin: Movie Night


• Staff: Gift Wrap Extravaganza
  

Arrive early to shop and place your bid at the Christmas Pageant at

Athey Creek Middle School

Sat. Dec 13 from 11-2.

Our Annual Christmas Pageant

(Mitchell & Jess Christmas Program Dec 2004)

You are cordially invited to come to Athey Creek Middle School on Saturday, December 13th from 11-2 for a unique Christmas program. In Christmas Presence our Infant Toddler and Meridian Campus children will focus on building a tower of Christmas presents to honor the presence of Christ on earth.

From our littlest ones from Jean Road, to our teachers , every small group adds wrapped presents to the Christmas Presence Tower while talking about presents we offer Christ on his birthday this year. Each class will sing a song, some traditional, some new. It will be a beautiful celebration!

Stay after Christmas Presence for WRAP IT UP, a grand part celebrating Jesus' Birthday! Guests are invited to enjoy a potluck lunch, dessert, coffee, tea and beverages in the cafeteria. Put it on your calendar today! We will also hold a silent auction to defray the costs renting the facility.

We can't wait to see you there!

Poinsettia Fundraiser

Thank you to all the parents, children and teachers who helped out with our poinsettia fundraiser! We sold 83 beautiful plants and made $688 for the school! The plants will be delivered to the Meridian campus on Wednesday, December 3rd and then distributed to Jean Road and to the families who sold them.

A special thank you to some of our top sellers (by family):

-The Martons (Caden and Addy)
-The Gerritz (Jocelyn and Caden)
-The Fisher Family (Sarah and Sophia)
-The Davis Family (Piper)

Thanks for taking the time to help out our school!

Heart of Life - By The Book

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

By The Book

When was the last time you felt successful? Or can you even remember? To look further, we must understand, in our minds, what the vision of success?

How it looks like to us. Our ideas of success will differ not only geographically, and demographically, but it will certain differ dependent upon what we have been breed to believe success was, growing up, in our own households, and in what we surrounded ourselves with.

To live in a society where success is measured by money, education, assets, or specific accomplishments recognized by highly acclaimed decision makers, we may, individually be ultimately brushing off what our own true sense of success is.

To truly be successful, is to truly be following our dreams, taking individual steps to be in integrity with our set vision, and ourselves, and to walk a path that we, for ourselves, are creating with the our best interest at heart, and those around us. We don't have to attempt to be what others have been, or do what others are doing, to make it successfully, in our lives.

Measure your success by doing what feels right, in your heart, creating your own destiny, based on using your own skills, talents and actively working on continually being the best "you". Don't feel pressured to go by the book in all instances in your life, unless you wrote the book, yourself.

Posted by LuCy sMiLeS at 7:40 PM

This posting was written by a very talented friend, Diane, who is an inspirational writer. I have her permission to copy some of her postings that I find meaningful. I hope you find them inspirational too! Patty

Poinsettia Sale!

We are happy to announce the beginning of our annual Poinsettia sale! There are a variety of sizes, types and colors available. There will be a form in your mailbox that you may use to take orders. Orders are due into your child's teacher by November 17. They will be delivered the week after Thanksgiving.

We have four styles available:

1. Four inch personal size are available in standard and premium.
2. A deluxe two-stem option is available in the six and one/half (6.5) inch variety.

Four-inch pots are available in the classic colors:

• Red Cortez
• White Mars
• Pink Mars

Six and one/half inch (6.5 inch) pots are available in the following colors:

• Red Cortez
• White Mars
• Pink Mars
• Marble Star
• Burgundy Cortez
• White Glitter Jingle Bell

The six and one/half (6.5) inch sizes are available in standard, premium and two-stem versions. The premium poinsettias have more blooms and are larger than the standard. The two-stem pots include an extra stem which adds more blooms as well.

The plants come from a local grower and are of excellent quality. Prices vary from $9.00 to $25.00 This is a great fundraiser for the school.

Poinsettia Picture Samples Set 1

Poinsettia Picture Samples Set 2