Celebration of Life

I went to class with Nicholas this morning so that I could be a part of his Celebration of Life ceremony in honor of his birthday today. Nicholas got to wear a big ribbon on his shirt that says, "Today I Am 4 Years Old!". He is very proud of his ribbon.

For the Celebration of Life, everyone sat in a circle on the floor. Mrs. Carrico placed candles in the center of the circle and surrounded them with the name of each month of the year. Mrs. Carrico asked me to go back 4 years and talk about Nicholas' birth. I said a little bit about it such as the day, time, and hospital that he was born. Nicholas added to my story by explaining to the class that he didn't want to come out so the doctor had to pull him out. He loves that story. We talked some about his first year of life and how active he was even as an infant. I told everyone that he travelled to Canada before he was one year old and that he spent his birthday in Louisiana with our families. At this point, I would have passed around a picture of Nicholas at one year old but I forgot to bring my pictures with me! Then Nicholas walked around the candles while everyone recited the months of the year to represent the passing of one year. Then Nicholas got to extinguish one candle with the snuffer (he loves doing this!).



We continued to talk about each year of Nicholas' life and look back at all the special memories and neat things that he has done. At the end of each year, Nicholas walked around the candles while we said the months. As the children said the months, Mrs. Carrico would have them clap or pat their knees or touch their fingers together to the rhythm. It was a really touching ceremony and it helps the children to understand the passing of a year and how much they've grown during that time.



Since we did his Celebration of Life in the morning, I didn't bring cupcakes for the class. Instead I brought donut holes for everyone. Nicholas helped me set the tables with plates and napkins and I passed out the donut holes and milk to everyone. Oh my! Who would have thought that donut holes would be such a hit! I brought extra ones for the teachers and more extras, just in case. Thank goodness! They devoured them and kept asking for more. Donut holes are yummy!





I'm always amazed at how well behaved the students in Mrs. Carrico's class are. They are loving, sweet, and always willing to help out. I would expect a class full of 3-5 year olds to be loud and disruptive but they are always quiet and respectful. Of course, today they were more quiet than usual since their mouths were stuffed full of donut holes. I apologized to Mrs. Carrico before I left for starting her students' morning off with a sugar buzz!