Today was the annual 4-H Christmas Party. We made a mess and had a great time. It’s not an event planned by me unless an unholy mess is made. Because of the weather and the Romanian tradition of cutting the pig, our attendance was a little thin. That made things much less chaotic! It’s not that I don’t love all my kids, but 15 is a much more manageable number than 30, 42, 70, or 103!
We started the day by decorating Christmas cookies. I had made 100 sugar cookies in the shapes of trees and people on Thursday night with Vica’s help. Today, the kids got to demonstrate their artistic talents with colored frosting and candies on a cookie canvas. The results were very colorful and delicious. Andu gets the award for best decorated cookie. He made a snowman with a heart. It was cute. Vale’s godparents from Bucuresti brought their little daughter, Clara, to the party. She was absolutely adorable and very excited about cookie decorating. Before the party started, Vale went to buy plates and Gilda and I prepared the frosting. Clara kept coming over and asking us when we were going to start. She wanted to decorate cookies, now!
Cookies!
After cookie decorating, it was time for the cozonac eating contest. The cozonac contest is a laugh riot. We did it for the first time last year and Vale insisted that we do it again this year. The object of the game is to eat two slices of cozonac as fast as you can. The winner is the first person to finish their slices. For those of you unfamiliar with cozonac, it’s bread filled with chocolate and nut paste. It’s rather dry and very difficult to eat quickly. Hilarity ensued. Paul was the winner. He managed to cram both slices in his mouth. Nick, who was sitting next to Paul, was laughing so hard at the sight he was unable to finish his own. Radu won second place and we had a three way tie for third.
Next, we tried a new game. I’m sure some of you have heard of the game “Chubby Bunny”. The object of the game is to cram your mouth full of marshmallows and say the phrase “chubby bunny” with out chewing or spitting out the marshmallows. The winner is the one who says it the clearest. This was also hilarious. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t hold the camera still. We offered a Romanian variation and the kids could choose to play in English or Romanian. If they chose Romanian, they had to say “Portocala si Mos Craciun”, which translates to orange and Santa Claus. We had several winners in this contest because it was just too hard to decide. The boys dominated as they were able to say the phrase with all four marshmallows. Clara also got an honorable mention. She was only able to do it with one marshmallow because she’s so little. She was so cute and so determined that I had to give her a prize.
Next we made some Christmas ornaments for the kids to decorate their Christmas trees with. We made candy canes from pipe cleaners and some Christmas mice from felt scraps.
Finally, we ended the party with a number drawing for prizes and Christmas presents. As we were passing out the gifts, the kids spontaneously broke into “Jingle Bells” and Lavi serenaded us with “Let it Snow”. “Let it Snow” was the perfect song as it started snowing halfway through our party. We were inside in the warm teacher’s room, having a good o’ Christmas party, while fluffy while snowflakes fell outside. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day. The kids had a wonderful, messy time. I couldn’t have asked for a better team to work with for this special day; Vale, Daniel, Cris, and Gilda. Today was just another beautiful day in paradise! I’m so thankful to work with such amazing people and a great group of kids.
Merry Christmas One and All!
Merry Christmas One and All!
