Dear Parents,   Wow! Time flies when you are having Fun! We were off and running after Halloween as we dove into an assortment of bear stories. Each of the small groups has been preparing a story to act out as a play and we are just about ready for the performances! Katey’s M/W group is performing Bear Feels Sick and her T/TH group will perform Bear Snores On. Jane’s M/W group is performing TipToe Joe and the T/TH crew is doing their unique version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Goldilocks is replaced by Tigers!) Kara’s M/W kids will perform We’re Going On A Bear Hunt and her T/TH pals A Pocket For Corduroy. Janet’s little ones on M/W are performing Bears in The Bath and T/TH are performing Bears On Chairs. Following the bear plays we will continue to study bears and learn more about them. Studio Discovery Fridays has also made a change. The children will be exploring variations on SNOW, ICE and WATER. PS. Thank you to Gus Condon’s parents, Natalie and Jason, for providing us with all of those pumpkins that we thoroughly enjoyed for Fall and Halloween!!!!!!

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SNOW DAYS It’s that time of year again. Check Channel 9 News website when in doubt, or on the “Latest & Greatest” page on our website! FnF will be listed on 9news.com for school closings or we will be listed as a “late start.” We will make the decision to close based on the safety of all – children, parents and community. If you have questions on snow days please call Janet (303-818-4842) or Jane (303-775-1531). We’ll do our best to keep you informed. Thank you.

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ANNUAL TREE OF THANKS – BY FRIENDS ‘n FUN FAMILIES – We invite you to join us in creating a leaf to attach to the tree in our front yard. We will be sending home paper cut in the shape of leaves and a few fun things to embellish your leaf. We would like you to work with your family to think about whom in your family, friends, neighbors and/or people in the community you are grateful to and why. Then please write a short note of thanks explaining this on the leaf, let the children decorate it, and then cover it (front & back) with the contact paper. Make sure your child’d name is on the leaf! Teachers will have ribbon at school for you to use to tie the leaves onto a wire we will have affixed to the tree. We are in the hopes that you and your children will take time to read the collection of leaves of thanks on our tree. We also hope that the community of walker-bys in Lafayette might see and learn more about us as a community at Friends ‘n Fun.

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FAMILY TRADITIONS The holiday season is upon us. It all began with Halloween (from the children’s perspective) and has rolled into Diwali, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Las Posadas, Christmas, multiple New Years’, and many other wonderful celebrations that honor special cultural and religious traditions. We join together with family and friends to enjoy this season. We treasure all of the unique and distinctive differences and unifying similarities that make up our school community. This holiday season we would like to recognize all of our families. On Saturday, Dec. 13th from 1:00-3:00 we have once again reserved the John M. Taylor Conference Center at Imagine! We would like to invite your family to join us to decorate a tree branch with photographs and small objects that represent special things about your family. We will provide an assortment of yarns, beads, wire, buttons, jewels, etc. – and a tree branch for each of you. You can bring photographs, small objects and your wonderful children. We will work together at Imagine! to create these beautiful branches. We will then bring them back to school to display for all to enjoy. The things you bring to embellish the branch should represent your family’s interests (biking, pets, skiing, etc.), as well as special celebrations. We hope you can attend this gathering to get to know each other and share in an activity with your children to celebrate this special time of year. Drop by anytime between 1 and 3 and spend as much time as works for you that day. We will post maps/directions to Imagine! on the bulletin board closer to the event date.

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FUNDRAISER In December we will create note cards using your child’s artwork – easel paintings, watercolor paintings, self-portraits, collages, etc. Packages of your child’s note cards, with envelopes, will be available to you at $12.00 per package of 8. In the past families have sent them to grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. for holiday gifts. The money raised goes to help purchase art supplies at Friends ‘n Fun. Watch the parent bulletin board for additional details. This is our ONLY fundraiser of the year and it typically brings us about $1000 for use in our supply budget. We hope you can support us and enjoy this celebration of your children’s efforts. Thank you for your continued support of our small program.

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IMPORTANT DATES !!!!!!!!!!! Nov. 18-19 – Tree of Thanks leaves to be sent home on the 18th and 19th. Return to us anytime from the 21st on, and attach them to our tree so our neighborhood community can enjoy. Nov. 27-28 – CLOSED for Thanksgiving Holiday Dec. 13 – FnF Family Traditions Workshop – Imagine! John M. Taylor Conference Center 1665 Coal Creek Drive, Lafayette 1:00 – 3:00 PM Dec. 24 – Jan. 2 – FnF Closed. We will be closed from Wed. Dec. 24th through Jan. 1, 2015. We will reopen on Friday, January 2, 2015.