Look at that sweet, beautiful, angelic face. Isn't she cute?
That's my baby girl after receiving her first ever Terrific Tiger award. A highly coveted award that's handed out to one student each month beginning in kindergarten all the way through to 8th grade.
There are only nine Terrific Tiger awards given out each school year, and there are always around 20+ students in each class, so it's not something that all the kids get. It's earned, fought for, and honored.
Each Terrific Tiger receives a certificate and a special t-shirt.
When I received the email on Sunday that Jelly would be receiving December's award, I was super excited. It means a lot to me when my kids earn special awards. This is Jelly's first academic award she's ever received, but being that she's only been in school for four and a half months, I think she's off to a great start.
Peanut has received countless awards for reading and other academics, yet she still hasn't been able to snag a Terrific Tiger award yet. Which upsets her. She tries hard for it, but never seems to make the cut. I was so happy for Jelly, but I felt a little bad being too excited about it around Peanut, because I know it's something she's been trying to get for over a year.
I made sure that Jelly didn't have a clue. After I received the email, I kept it very quiet. The Terrific Tiger award is supposed to be a surprise. Yesterday morning, our routine stayed exactly the same. She rode to school with me, and then got on the bus that takes her from my school to her school. She had absolutely no idea.
Even when I arrived at her school. I watched her file in to the cafeteria and take her seat on the floor. She was completely oblivious to me even being there. They started the ceremony off by recognizing all the December birthdays, and Jelly got to be a part of that. Here is a really fuzzy picture of her standing up in the front while everyone sings "Happy Birthday" still completely missing that I'm sitting in the back of the room taking pictures...
After the birthday song, she sat back down in her seat and the award ceremony started.
Jelly's teacher was the first to go. She stood up and told everyone that the person she chose for the award could receive the award each and every month. That the student she had selected was hard working, super smart, and always did what she was asked to do. She explained that her Terrific Tiger loved to write, could draw amazing pictures, could count very well, and was able to read stories to her teacher.
All this time, Jelly was sitting completely unaware that she was the child being spoken about. I watched as other students in her class were trying to figure out who the Terrific Tiger was as the teacher was speaking. Jelly just sat. Then, when the teacher said Jelly's name, it took her a second to realize that her name was the one that had been called. She jumped off the floor and rushed up to the front with the most excited, goofy smile on her face.
What made me laugh is the fact that even as she was receiving her award, and I had moved up to try and get a better picture (failing miserably because there wasn't very good lighting), Jelly still hadn't noticed me there...
Finally, her teacher pointed her in my direction, and I received a very shocked and excited smile as she realized I was the one taking pictures of what was going on....
Once the ceremony was over, I was able to go over and give Jelly a big hug. She was so happy to see me, but the first thing she said was "Why are you here?" She didn't ask in a mean way, it was more a very excited but she wasn't sure why I would be there way. When I explained that it was a big deal for me to see her get her award, she gave me another hug and thanked me for coming. *Insert heart melt*
I took a few more pictures and got in a few more hugs before I had to head back to work, and Jelly had to head back to class. I was a little nervous that she'd get upset about me having to leave, but she didn't. She was super happy I'd been there, but was OK with the fact that I had to leave and she had to get back to learning.
The morning set the tone for the rest of the day. It was a great first day back to work after being off for ten days.
The kids weren't as crazy as I expected them to be. They didn't complain about picking up right where we left off, and worked hard trying to remember everything we had done before the snow hit. I had Christmas music playing for most of the day, and the kids all seemed to enjoy that.
I think it helped when I told the kiddos that we just had to finish up all the loose ends from before we left, and then we could focus on doing some fun Christmas activities. They realized that it would take a couple of days to finish up our math and reading units, and to review and take a test for social studies before we were a go for Christmas themed arts and crafts. They understood that the work we didn't get to before the snow was still waiting for them, and wasn't any less important. They still were going to be receiving grades on it all, and even though we are all excited about Christmas only being a week away, there was still some work to do before the fun could begin.
I'm still trying to get my mind around the fact that one week from now, it'll be Christmas Eve. It'll be the day we go off to P-Momma's to enjoy our Christmas together.
Which also means I really need to get my butt in gear with wrapping and making sure all those loose ends are taken care of. I had planned on doing some wrapping last night, until I remembered that I had bought wrapping paper, but had forgotten the tape. Very hard to wrap Christmas presents without any tape. I plan on picking that up after school today, and then tonight I'm going to make a dent in getting the wrapping done.
Right now, though, it's time for me to get ready for work. I'm going to wear jeans today. It's not a jean's day, but thanks to some jean coupons I'm holding on to I've decided I'm going to use them up this week. I might as well.
OK, have a terrific Tuesday everyone!!
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