I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas

                        

Well, I'm back.  And Christmas is over.  Two days I took off from blogging to enjoy the holidays with my family...and I'm already a little sad that it went by so quickly.  I often feel this way a day or two after Christmas.  I feel like the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day flew by in a blink of an eye, and I just didn't get to do as much as I usually love to do leading up to the big day.

But, apart from me already missing Christmas and wishing it was like Christmas everyday... I did have an amazing Christmas.  In that picture is EXACTLY what I wanted for Christmas.  Three very happy, satisfied, and shocked children (even though the picture doesn't show all three emotions).  

Christmas Eve at P-Momma's house was AWESOME.  The kids had such a good time, I had such a good time, Hubby had such a good time...and hopefully P-Momma, her son, and her granddaughter all had a good time.  

P-Momma put out an amazing spread of finger foods and cooked up a big pot of white chili that was delicious.   After we all chowed down, we opened up presents.  Everyone got something they really wanted, and had been wanting for a long time....

We started off with a couple of small gifts....

                            

A light up mohawk for Butter

                            

A LED glowstick for Jelly

                             

And a leather bracelet and phone case for Peanut.

Then it was on to the main gifts.  The moment the kids had all been waiting for....

                            

Cuddles the Fur Real Monkey for Jelly.  This was one of the toys that was at the very top of her list to Santa this year.  She is a devout collector of monkeys, and has around 20 or so stuffed toy monkeys.  She loves all of her stuffed monkeys, but when this thing came on TV during a commercial, her eyes lit up.  She wanted a "real" monkey.  And Grammy sure did deliver for her.  It is one of the cutest toys I've ever played with.  Even though it's mechanical, it has a soft body, and the stuff that it does is amazing. It interacts with sound and movement.  It sleeps.  It eats.  It burps.  It kisses.  It makes the cutest little monkey sounds when it's thrown around and gets to hang upside down.  I spent my fair share of time playing with it, because it's quite hard to put it down once you get the monkey started.

                             

A remote controlled helicopter for Butter.  He's actually asked for one of these for the past couple of Christmases, and Grammy thought that this year he was finally old enough to take care of one properly.  We've explained that it's something he will have to work in to using, because he won't be ready to just take it outside and have at it.  And since Christmas Eve, I've heard the sound of the helicopter being flown around his room, as he finds his air legs and gets accustomed to the controls.  

                              

A titanium plated flat iron for Peanut.  Again, something she had at the top of her list to Santa.  She's received a flat iron last year, but it wasn't a very good one.  She is cursed with hair just like her mom's, and it doesn't take straightening very well.  Thankfully, Grammy got her a flat iron that's top of the line, better than ceramic, and will flatten just about any hair type.  It works, too!  She decided to try it out when we got home that night, and was very impressed with how smooth and silky her hair looked after being straightened.  I believe this Christmas gift will get PLENTY of use.

                              

A new blending stick for Hubby.  P-Momma knows how much Hubby likes his kitchen gadgets.  The blending stick can basically replace the mixer, food processor, and blender that we own.  I am all for him getting new kitchen toys, because it means he wants to try it out pretty fast.  I have a feeling we'll be trying some new creations in the coming week.

And for me?

                               

An entire case of paper for my classroom.  Some may think it's an odd gift, but it's not AT ALL.  The last couple of times I've been at P-Mommas, I've told her how much I've wanted to start keeping my own stockpile of paper in my classroom to use.  Paper is available to teachers at our school, but it also never fails that when I'm in a bind and need to print stuff up, there's no paper available.  Plus, having my own supply means more drawing/craft stuff that I can do with my students.  And, what I really wanted my own paper supply for was to go with a printer that I wanted to get for my classroom.  Well, thanks to Hubby and P-Momma working together... I got my printer.  The next day.  Along with a spare toner cartridge that P-Momma also got for me, but had been slipped home quietly without me knowing so that I could open it Christmas morning when I unwrapped my new printer.

Every year, I make P-Momma a calendar.  It has pictures on it that have been taken throughout the year.  It has become the normal gift, and something I've done for the past four or five years.  This year, Peanut asked if we could do something different.  I was all for it, but we had to think of something that P-Momma would enjoy as much as she loves her calendars.

                                

So, this year, we bought a giant picture frame and filled it with pictures of the whole family.  There were school pictures and baby pictures, a picture of Hubby and I, and we even left a couple of spaces open so that P-Momma could put a couple of her own pictures in there.  I realized this morning that I didn't actually take a picture of the finished product.  But, I created a special picture to go in the very center of the frame.  This picture...

                          

I really liked how it came out, and so did P-Momma.  

All in all, it was a WONDERFUL day.  We had so much fun.  We left around 6:30PM, and it was home to take care of getting ready for Santa's arrival.  

Peanut took care of leaving Santa his snack.  He got some cookies, egg nog, and even a small bag of carrots for his reindeer...

                                  

Then, it was off to bed for her, and the other two kids followed shortly behind.  I did my usual Christmas Eve tradition of putting on 24 hours of A Christmas Story and watched a full showing before I decided that it was time for Santa to arrive.  After Santa had filled all the stockings and placed the gifts under the tree, Hubby and I called it a night.

Here's the tree once Santa had arrived....

                                   

I know it doesn't look like it, but there are 45 gifts under the tree... not including the gifts for Hubby and I that were added to the mix the next morning.  

Christmas morning, I woke up around 6:30AM.  I was awoken by the buzzing of Butter playing with his new helicopter, of all things.  Peanut and Butter were already awake, which was a first.  I'm usually the first one up.  Jelly was still asleep.  She had woken up at some point to open up her stocking, as all of the stocking stuffers were strewn all over her floor, but then she had apparently gone back to sleep.

Hubby and I decided to grab a cup of coffee, but even after drinking it Jelly hadn't woken up.  I couldn't contain my excitement anymore, so I decided to take matters in to my own hands and walk in to Jelly's room yelling that Santa had came.  Yes, just like a little kid.  But it worked, and Jelly was up and out of bed in a flash.

For the next hour and change, we all opened gifts.  I wish I could share all of the photos that were taken that morning, but it would take FOREVER to upload that many pictures on here.  If you're a friend with me on Facebook, you can always take a looksy later on today when I finally get them uploaded.  

There were LOTS of very excited and shocked faces as each gift was unwrapped.  For the 8th year in a row, I had successfully convinced the kids that Christmas was going to be smaller than what they were used to.  And for the 8th year in a row, they fell for it.  Not only did they fall for the muse of having a small Christmas, but I even had them convinced that there was going to be no big electronics this year.  Each and every year, they've always received some form of electronic as their main gift.  This year, I told them it wasn't happening.  

Butter had asked for a tablet or iPod and a Playstation 3... two gifts I told him he'd absolutely NOT be getting.  Jelly had asked for a tablet...again, not happening.  Peanut had asked for a camera, a smartphone, and a Playstation 3...yeah, no.  

I had told each and everyone of them to forget it, I was NOT buying electronics.  

But, guess what?

I got Butter and Jelly both a Nook HD.  I got Peanut a camera and a smartphone.  And, Peanut and Butter were both blown away when the last gifts that they opened, together, were Playstation 3s for each of them.  

In fact, this year, I had pretty much bought every single item off of their Christmas wish lists.

Peanut got tons of new clothes, new boots, new Bob's shoes, trivia board games, a curling wand, make-up, perfumes, infinity scarves, her camera, smartphone, and PS3.

Butter received new clothes, a remote controlled car, a football, a dartboard, K-Nex, a Duck Dynasty pillow and throw, the Nook HD, and his PS3... among other things.

Jelly got Barbies, a newborn baby doll, a styling head, a Furby Boom (that she's been asking for since Halloween), new clothes, and the Nook HD...among other things.  

I got the printer I wanted, a replacement toner, a massaging pillow, and a new wallet with matching cell phone case.  

Hubby got a new knife and an Atari game controller for his iPad...and the iPhone 5s that I bought him last week.

It was a great Christmas for EVERYONE.  

After spending a couple of hours of opening up and trying out the new toys, we got ready to head to my mom's.  Which I'll save for tomorrow's entry.  I really have to get ready cause I'm taking Peanut to her check-up doctor's appointment.

I still have so much to share, but I have to stop somewhere.  I'll pick up where I left off tomorrow...but for today?  

Have an awesome Friday, everyone!!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!!

                          

'Twas the day before Christmas at almost four in the morning

While everyone else was in their bed snoring

Momma was sitting with iPad on lap

After waking up late from a late evening's nap

She had tried to get the little one snug in her bed

But she wanted to stay up and watch TV instead

For Momma still had lots of wrapping to do

But figured she might as well just take a snooze

When at 2AM, she rose with a clatter

And realized she had to take care of an important matter

Away to her bedroom she flew in a dash

And finished the wrapping as quick as a flash

The lure of sleep had decided to go

So, she settled in and thought all about snow

When what to her wondering mind should appear

But the thought of her blog, and to write it, my dear

Thoughts of Santa coming the very next night

Gave her excitement thinking about that sight

More rapid than eagles will Christmas Eve pass by

After being with P-Momma, and then making that cry

"Now Peanut, Now Butter, Now come on Jelly

We have to go home, we've got to get ready

We've been here all day, I'm making this call

Dash away, dash away, dash away all"

As sleepy eyed kids to their beds must fly

When they are met with the obstacle of saying goodbye

They won't want to go, after so much fun

But for Santa to come, it just must be done

And then, in a twinkling, we shall leave P-Momma's 

To head on home, to ready the clutter

After brushing of teeth, and laying the kids all down

It will be time for Momma to start rushing around

She'll be dressed in her pajamas from her head to her toes

And she'll be trying to stop the running of her nose

A bundle of toys she'll fling on her back

And she'll make a few trips to the tree to unpack

Her eyes how they'll twinkle, she'll definitely be merry

Except for the cold that's made her nose look like a cherry

She'll sneak back and forth with the stealth of a ninja

Cause she can't risk waking the kids and let the moment linger

Momma's chubby and plump just like Santa himself

And will laugh when she realizes she'd make a perfect Pole elf

In the blink of an eye and a mad rush through her head

She keeps looking and calming all of her dread

She must speak not a word as she enters the rooms

And fills all the stockings in the quietest of zooms

And slowly closing the door, and then blowing her nose

And giving a nod, off to the next one she goes

Once it's all done, she can spring to her bed with a whistle

She's exhausted, and knows that she's about to fizzle

She'll lay there and think about all of the day's sights

Thinking Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight

Not a bad version, being that I'm writing it at 4AM.  It's basically a description of how I see today playing out.  

Last night, I knew I had a few last gifts to wrap.  I was waiting out Jelly to fall asleep, but that little toot just didn't want to call it a night.  Around 11PM, I gave up.  She was still wide awake, watching TV.  The next thing I know, I'm waking up, still on my chair, and it's 2AM.  Awesome.  She's, of course, sound asleep on the couch.  I contemplated just going to bed and finishing up the wrapping today, but I couldn't.  I knew I'd lay in bed worrying about it.  So, I decided to just go ahead and finish it.  The problem was, when I was done, I was wide awake.  Thus, leading me to sitting up at 4AM writing this blog.

Being that we're supposed to be heading to P-Momma's around noon today, I figured I might as well get my blog all done so I can go to bed and sleep for a while.  I won't have to rush around, now, to try and write my blog before heading to her house.

Yesterday actually flew by a lot faster than I thought it would.  Peanut and I went out to take care of a few things, and it actually started snowing while we were gone.  By the time we got home, it was almost time to think about dinner.  After dinner, Jelly and I made some cookies.  

And I can't stop thinking about writing in rhyme, now.  UGH!!  Everything I write, I'm reading back with the same rhythm as 'Twas the Night...

All I can hope is that the kids are all exhausted by the time we get home from P-Momma's so I'm not having to stay up too late to take care of my "Santa duties".  I don't think I could do another night like last night.  I know I won't have any problem getting Jelly to go to bed, but making her fall asleep?  Yeah, that will be the challenge.  Then, I'll spend however long it takes to get the gifts under the tree panicking that a kid will come out of their room.  

The part that really scares me is the stockings.  The kids all keep their stockings in their rooms.  It's a rule in my house that the kids can wake up and open their stockings, but they can't come out of their room on Christmas morning until I get them.  It keeps them occupied for a while, but actually filling the stockings is a nightmare.  I try with all my power not to make a sound, but I always do.  I really have to make sure that I clear a path in to Jelly's room before putting her to bed tonight, so I don't hurt myself getting in there.

Oh well, I better try and get a couple of hours of sleep before our Christmas fun begins.  

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas Eve!!!

Joy to the World!!

                                                   Joy to the World

                                                   I'm almost done

                                           Now I, can get, some sleep!

Yes folks, at 1AM this morning, that was the song I was sining because I had just finished up wrapping for the night.  I have only a couple more things to wrap before tomorrow,  and I would have gone ahead and finished it all up... but I was  missing the last couple of gifts that need to be wrapped.  I hid them in my car, and Hubby took my car to work last night.

I don't think I did too terribly bad as far as timing goes.  I started around 10:30PM, so I wrapped for two and a half hours.  Of course, now I'm praying to The Lord that the kids stay out of my room because trying to hide presents isn't going to happen.  I've done the best that I can, but not near as good as I'd like.  Thankfully, I've just got to get through the next two days.  

You see, if my kids were anything like me, then I wouldn't worry at all.  I absolutely LOVE surprises, so I'd never in a million years try and snoop to see what my gifts were.  I know that I have gifts hiding in my house somewhere at this very moment, but I have no desire to know what they are until I unwrap them Christmas morning.  My oldest two kids, on the other hand?  Yeah, not so sure they wouldn't be digging around in trash cans looking for any clues if they had half the chance.

Plus I have to worry about keeping Jelly out of my room so not to crush her dream of Santa coming.  She has no reason to snoop around, because she hasn't the slightest inkling that there's anything being hidden.  But, if she happens to accidentally stumble across what's currently stockpiled in my room, it would be extremely hard to try and explain.  

I kinda expected to be a lot more tired than I was when I was finished.  I mean, I spent two and a half hours on my bedroom floor wrapping gifts.  My back was killing me, but it didn't make me sleepy tired.  Around 9PM, I wondered if I was going to be able to stay up long enough to do what needed to be done.  I was getting pretty sleepy at that point, but I guess that feeling wore off.  Even after all the wrapping, I ended up staying up until after 2AM playing iPad games and watching sappy Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel.

Yesterday, I made the really smart decision to go grocery shopping.  I have decided that from this moment on, if I ever need to do grocery shopping so close to Christmas, I'm going to stay up late and do it during the middle of the night. I'd gladly sacrifice sleep for the sake of my sanity.  Walmart was absolute pandemonium at 2PM yesterday afternoon.  

I didn't even bother trying to find a close parking spot when I first got there, I just parked in the first spot I saw open.  Then, I fought my way through completely packed aisles trying to get where I needed to be.  I had taken Butter with me, so that he could help me pick out a gift for my dad.  I let him push the cart, because I figured he'd have a lesser urge to ram people out of the way than I would.  

After aimlessly walking around for what felt like hours (probably more like 30 minutes) coming up with absolutely NO idea what to get my dad, we gave up and focused on the grocery shopping.  Of course, once I was back in the car driving home I realized what I could get for my dad, but there was NO way I was driving back to the store.  I'll get it today.  Because I wasn't going to tackle that store again during daylight hours on a weekend until Christmas is over.  Maybe it won't be as bad today being that it's a weekday and people might still have to go to work.  

Grocery shopping was complete torture.  Trying to maneuver around all those people and carts was for the highly skilled and trained.  Something neither Butter nor I are.  We, meaning I, just did our best to keep our, meaning my, cool and get the grocery shopping done as quickly as possible.

We were in and out of there and on our way home after spending only 2 hours in the store.  Two.  Freaking.  Hours.

But, the worst is over, and now it should be pretty smooth sailing until Christmas.  

Today, I'm going to bake all the cookies that need to be baked for Santa.  For some reason, we have to bake about 3 to 6 dozen cookies for Christmas, even though Santa gets 3 cookies.  But, being that we usually don't get home until late Christmas Eve, I figured getting all the baking done the day before will help my time management for Christmas Eve and will help today go by faster.  I'm going to have to let the kids do the majority of the work, because I've somehow developed a little cold.  Nothing major, just a blocked up nose.  But just to be safe, I'm just going to explain what to do and let them handle all of the food preparation.

I'm hoping I can stay busy today.  I absolutely HATE Christmas Eve Eve.  Because I'm excited and ready for Christmas.  Christmas Eve is spent at P-Momma's and we enjoy the day so much that the day just flies by.  Then it's home and in bed early for Christmas Day.  But today will be long and drawn out just because I'm so excited about tomorrow, so I have to come up with stuff to occupy myself with.  I suppose baking is a good an activity as any to do just that.  Plus I have crocheting to do.  Plus I need to run to the store (AGAIN) and pick up my dad's gift.  Maybe, some time will be passed while wading through shoppers and waiting inline for at a check-out counter.

I woke up this morning at 5AM, and I really thought I wasn't going to get back to sleep.  Luckily, I did until 9AM.  But, that leaves me about fourteen hours to kill before taking myself to bed tonight.

OK, time for a coffee refill and coming up with something to do.

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!!

Christmas Wrapping

                                            "Bah, humbug" no, that's too strong
                                         'Cause it is my favorite holiday
                                      But all this year's been a busy blur
                                          Don't think I have the energy

That's the first verse of the song "Christmas Wrapping" by the waitresses.  Even though there is not a single mention of wrapping in the entire song.  But the first verse does fit perfectly with my feelings of wrapping gifts.

It was my goal, yesterday, to get as much wrapping done as possible.  I told myself that as soon as I was done writing my blog, I'd go and get a start on all of it.  Well, when I went to start, I decided I had better start my laundry first.  And then once my laundry was in the washer, I realized that I needed to fold and put away laundry that I had done a few days ago that was still sitting in a basket.  After the laundry was all put away, I went in to the kitchen to fill up my coffee cup and saw that the kitchen really needed to be cleaned, so I decided to wash dishes and clean all the counters and stuff in the kitchen.  

If you know me AT ALL, or have at least gotten to know me through my blog, you have to really reread that last paragraph and weigh what I'm saying.

I would rather DO LAUNDRY and DISHES than wrap Christmas presents!

On any other day, I'd rather shove hot pokers in to my eye sockets than fold laundry and wash dishes. But, when it comes to finding stuff to do that distracts me from wrapping, apparently laundry and dishes were my best options.

I did finally make it in to my bedroom to wrap a few gifts.  I put on a Hallmark Christmas movie, but honestly I couldn't tell you a thing about what was going on with the movie.  I was focused on the wrapping.  Even though there's a lock on my bedroom door, I spent the whole time panicking that someone was going to walk in.  Trying to wrap gifts while my kids are playing in the very next room is extremely stressful.  Inside I knew that I was fine, but it didn't stop the adrenaline from taking over...and I wrapped as fast and as carefully as I could.  I don't think I did too bad a job, and I was surprised how many I wrapped in such a short amount of time.

But, I had to go do something outside of my bedroom a short time in, and that required putting everything away, hiding what had been wrapped, and not leaving the slightest trace of what had been happening in that room while I was in there.  That was just too much work for me to do just to get it all out again when I had taken care of what I needed to take care of, so my short wrapping time was over for the time being.

I spent the rest of the day doing more laundry and crocheting.  It felt good to just relax, but I have to admit that the wrapping that was still waiting to be done was irking.  As much as I take pride in being the Queen of Procrastination, I know when enough is enough and there's just no more time to wait around.  I did my best to try and ignore it, and told myself that I still had two days to finish up.  I kept myself occupied until Hubby made dinner, and then after dinner I even decided to make some dessert.

I ordered some pears from the FFA a while back, and they were delivered to me the first week of December.  What was left were starting to get a little too soft, so I decided to bake the last of them up with some brown sugar and cinnamon.  Very Christmassy, right?  I made some hot custard to serve with them, and the kids and I chowed down on some baked pears and custard.  My house smelled very Christmassy, and the kids really enjoyed it.  

I then decided I really needed to get my rear back in gear with the wrapping, but had to wait out Jelly to go to sleep.  And, of course, wouldn't you know that last night was the one night that she decided to stay up until close to 10PM.  

I swear, that child is usually out by 8PM every. single. night.  No matter if there's school or not, whether she's had a nap or not, she's usually in bed by 8PM.  But, not last night.  After getting up at 6AM, not having a nap all day, she still managed to muster up the energy to stay up until almost 10PM.  She ended up falling asleep on the couch, which was actually better for me because then I could lock myself up in my room and I was at the opposite end of the house from where she was sleeping.

I, once again, locked myself in my room and got a huge stack of gifts wrapped.  I had brought in a big load from my hiding place and worked my way through all of those.  Unfortunately, I still have plenty more to do... which is on the agenda once again today.

Before I can get to wrapping, though, I have to go grocery shopping and buy the last gift that I haven't bought yet... and that would be for my dad.  I'm taking Butter with me, because he hasn't had the chance to help me with any Christmas shopping.  If anyone can find a gift for my dad, it's Butter.  He also needs to find something small for Hubby to open Christmas morning.  Hubby already has his Christmas gift, the new iPhone 5S I bought him last week.  But, I can't have Hubby not unwrapping something Christmas morning.

So, it's going to be another jam packed fun filled day around here.  Which if I have any chance of getting everything done, I better get to getting!

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

                    

Yesterday morning, we loaded the majority of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades on to a bus, and took them to see Frozen.  The newest Disney classic, that up until a couple of weeks ago I had never heard of.  The title of today's post is a song featured in the movie...and is the connection to today's post.

It was kinda funny, because when I arrived at school yesterday morning it was 62 degrees outside.  By the time we loaded the buses, the temperature had already dropped to around 45 degrees.  By the time we got to the movie theater, the temps were in to the 30s.  It had gotten "frozen" pretty quickly.  

But, that didn't stop us all from enjoying the movie.  All of the kids loaded in to the theater, and my seat had been saved by some of the 5th graders that I taught last year.  Let me say, that was one of the most heartwarming gestures of the year.  Since my kids from last year have moved on, I haven't really gotten to see much of them.  I have seen them occasionally in the hallways, but that's about it.  I've seen some stuff that they've written or heard some of the things they've said about their new teachers being "the best teacher in the world" and I will admit, it's hurt.  Knowing how quickly that position can be filled, as they said the same thing about me last year, made me a little sad. But, to walk in to that theater, and here that call of my name that I've missed so much from them, it really warmed my heart.  As much as I wanted to sit with my own class, there was no way I was turning down my kids from last year.  It really meant a lot to me, and I was going to make them happy by sitting with them.

They had me sit right in the middle of the row.  There was some moving and rearranging done so that the kids that were in my class last year got the seats closest to me.  And they all thanked me for agreeing to sit with them.  I thanked them for asking me to sit with them.  Then one of my sweet boys from last year said the words I've been wanting to hear all year "We miss you".  Awwww...such sweetness.

Then, the movie began.  

I will say right now that Frozen is one of the best Disney movies I've seen since The Lion King.  It was heartwarming, funny, sad, and had a story line that had us guessing the entire way through.  The characters were AWESOME, the music was AWESOME, and I haven't enjoyed a movie that much in a very long time.  In fact, I liked it so much I totally plan on taking Jelly to see it because I think she'd love it.

The entire day was full of fun.  Before school even started, my team all exchanged gifts.  I had bought my team mates a box of chocolates each.  I received some body scrub and lotion from our sweet, newest addition to the team.  She has such a sweet, kind heart.. and even apologized that it wasn't more.  Little does she know how much I enjoy stuff like that, so that I can relax and make myself smell good in the process.  I received a Kohls gift card from my Mama Bear teammate.  She made me promise to only use it for myself, and not to buy stuff for other people.  That's her, through and through.  She wants US to enjoy the gift she gets for us.  And she sure does know that a gift card is the perfect gift for me, because I will wait until after Christmas to use it.  HA!  From my mentor/ Papa Bear teammate I received a coffee mug.  Not just any coffee mug...THIS coffee mug...

                             

She knows me all too well!!  I am a HUGE collector of anything zebra striped, and I will admit that a lump formed in my throat when I saw this beauty come out of the gift bag.  As soon as I got home last night, I cleaned it out and filled it with coffee.  And I did the same thing this morning.  I have a feeling it will be the most used coffee mug in my house over Christmas break.  

Here's a picture of the awesome gifts I received throughout the day...

A snowman coffee mug full of candy is missing from the picture because I left it at school.  I plan on using that coffee mug while at school. Also, a calendar and a candle warmer bar is missing that our awesome Title 1 Math teacher got for me, because...again...gonna use them at school.  And a beautiful ornament to hang on the tree is missing, because some silly person ran off and left it sitting on my desk.  I was so worried about it getting broken, I wanted it to be hand carried home.  Yet, once my hands were all full of the bags that had to come home, I ran off and left the ornament. BOO!!

My students had decided a few weeks ago that they wanted to do a Secret Santa gift exchange.  To make sure that I had parental support, I sent home permission slips for the kids to participate.  Unfortunately, I only received 13 permission slips back.  But, I decided to go ahead and let those 13 do it.  I was very surprised at the gifts that the kids brought in throughout the week to give to a classmate.

We decided to do the gift exchange before starting the party.  Even though only 13 students were participating, all of the class wanted to help guess who had bought the gifts.  I selected a student to start, he opened his gift, and then had to guess who bought it.  The person that actually bought it then stood up.  And then that was the person to open the next gift.  I was very impressed with the gifts and the courtesy and the appreciation shown by my students.  

Some of the gifts received included a stocking full of snacks and candy, a pillow pet, a model car set, a ceramic painting set, puzzles, giant bags of chips, candy, stuffed animals, and there was a lot more but I can't remember all of them.  I received the Russell Stover chocolates from my Secret Santa.  I bought a calendar, some candy, a lip gloss, and put it all in a Tinkerbell tote bag for the student I selected.  And of course, I forgot to take pictures.  I'm so bad about that.

The kids all had a great time, and then it was the time they'd all been waiting for... FOOD TIME!!  The kids handed out chips and cookies and candies and soda.  They all sat together and ate and drank and laughed and had a good time.  After a while I put on the movie they had all voted to watch - The Grinch.  

For the rest of the afternoon, the kids lazed around the classroom in their pajamas watching the movie.  Some had brought blankets, some used the bean bags I have in the classroom, some just used their coats as pillows.  During the middle of the movie, I made the students hot chocolate to enjoy while they were watching the movie.  

When the end of the day came, I gave them all a talk about how much I wanted them to enjoy their time off, how I hoped they enjoy their Christmas, and how I'll be thinking of them while we're gone. I then stood at the door and gave each one a big hug as they left.

Once the classroom was empty, I packed up the mounds of stuff I had to bring home, and we were out the door a little after 4PM.  Which is some kind of record, because I don't think I've left before 4:30PM since August.

When we got home, I grabbed a cup of coffee, sat in my chair with my crocheting, and relaxed until dinner time.  Shortly after dinner, I feel asleep.  I was exhausted.  And I slept pretty much all night up until 2AM on my chair.  Then, I got up, went to bed, and stayed there until 8AM.  I must have needed the sleep.. HA!!

Today, I am going to spend some time wrapping, crocheting a gift I'm trying to finish, do some laundry, and just enjoy the day.  I have two weeks off, but I know that a lot of that time will be spent in crazy mode, so I need to pace myself.  

Alright, I need to start doing something productive. 

Have an awesome Saturday, everyone!!

Here Comes Santa Clause

                       

Yesterday was another very fun filled day at school.  

Before school started, I got my gift to my Secret Pal ready and delivered and when I returned I found that my Secret Pal had delivered my gift.  I had two packages, beautifully wrapped, waiting for me, and that super cute sled made out of candy canes and chocolate.  I already knew who my Secret Pal was a couple of weeks ago when she gave out a hint on Facebook that I deciphered.  It was the co-teacher that comes to my room everyday.  She is such a sweet person, and she has been an amazing Secret Pal.  It all made sense when I found out who it was, because I mentioned in a post last month how my Secret Pal always seemed to know the best times to deliver a gift.  Well, I hadn't even considered that it was the person I spent every morning with.  HA!!  If anyone was going to know everything going on with me, it was going to be her.  

Inside the packages were an awesome assortment of games.  Which is totally fitting, being that I have been wanting some games to use in my classroom with my kids during station times.  However, she did such a great job in picking out some games, I'm going to have to use a couple of them at home.  Here are the pictures of the gifts unwrapped...

                                

Dominoes, cards, card games, and a wooden puzzle.  And I also got an awesome trivia game that I'm not revealing because it may or may not be used as a gift to one of my kids.  And another gift I may be regifting to one of my own children is...

                                

Jelly LOVES games like this, and has been wanting some to play at home.  She already has Candy Land, Pop the Pig, Break the Ice, and a couple others, but I think she'd really like Chutes and Ladders.  It was a favorite of mine when I was her age.

I feel kinda guilty regifting gifts that were given to me, but my Secret Pal has really helped me out.  I have been looking for games, and I know I'll be the one that ends up playing the games with my children so it all comes out where I end up getting use out of the games all while saving myself some money.  Saving money is a gift my Secret Pal doesn't even realize she's giving me...and that's a HUGE gift to give me this time of year.  The rest of the games will stay in my classroom and will be used by my students, as I'm sure they are intended to be used.  The best part about that is that my Secret Pal will also get some use out of them while she's with me.

I got to pick out a new Secret Pal for when we come back to school in January.  I'm really excited about my new Secret Pal.  Not that I wasn't about my last one.  My Secret Pal this semester was a new teacher to our building this year, but she's a person that I went to college with.  So, I knew her a little better than anyone else would have had they picked her.  I love the idea of having someone I don't know very well, or interact with very much, so that way they have absolutely no idea who it is delivering gifts to them.

My hope is that next semester I can have a lot of fun with the Secret Pal thing, and not forget to buy gifts as often as I should.  I felt bad for this semester's Secret Pal, because with everything that's happened with my mom and the snow and other stressful stuff that was going on earlier in the year, it was hard for me to be as good a Secret Pal as I should have been.  

There are also a lot of gifts piling up under the Christmas tree in my classroom.  My students wanted to participate in a "Secret Santa" activity for the class party that takes place today.  All week, the thirteen students that opted to participate have been bringing gifts for a person they selected.  That person doesn't know who they are, and won't until the unwrapping takes place this afternoon.  Being that there was an odd number of students participating, I stepped in to do it as well.  I selected a student to buy for and a student selected me.  

The kids are getting super excited about it almost being Christmas break, and it's getting just a tiny bit harder to control the noise level in my classroom.  I decided to use the Christmas music as their noise control device, yesterday.  If I couldn't hear the music, they were too loud.  I only had to give them one noise time out all day, so that's not too bad.  For ten minutes they had to sit in complete silence while they worked.  Being that all of the "work" we did was Christmas themed, it was so hard for them not to talk about it with their friends.  But, they got through the ten minutes and then kept it under control for the rest of the day.

Last night was our Christmas concert.  We had to practice for over an hour yesterday afternoon, and last night several of my kiddos showed up to perform for parents and grandparents and anyone else that wanted to see a very cute show.  The 3rd through 5th grades sang Let it Snow, Jingle Bells, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Christmas Don't be Late, Silent Night, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.  The band also performed a few songs, and there was a song sung by the Jr. high choir.  

During rehearsals, I had been given the job to sit in the very back of the bleachers and help direct the students through the words of the song.  I had also come up with little actions to perform for the Twelve Days so that I could help the kids remember which one came next.  It was quite a sight to see me up there demonstrating geese a-laying, maids milking, swans swimming, ladies dancing, Lords leaping, pipers piping, and drummers drumming.  It was apparently so entertaining, that the lady sitting next to me who had been recording the kids singing decided to turn her iPad on me so that she could get a video of my "awesome" performance.  I'm sure that'll end up on YouTube at some point.  Being that she was less than a foot away from me, I'm sure the camera probably added about 50lbs.  As long as I don't end up on one of those TV shows that makes fun of YouTube videos, I don't mind.

At the very end of the concert, a special visitor arrived.  Yep, Santa finally came to town.  Due to all of the snow, the Christmas Parade was cancelled.  I teach in a town called Noel.  The Christmas City. To not have Santa make an appearance at some point or another just isn't right, so I'm so happy that he decided to stop in and take some time to see the kids.  He stayed until every kid that wanted to take a picture had the chance, and even handed out some candy and pencils.  As you can see from the picture up top, Jelly got to see him and Peanut decided she also wanted a photo with Santa.  I missed out on Butter, who tried to photobomb everyone else's picture, but wouldn't actually get a picture by himself.

I still can't believe that Santa will actually be coming to town in only four days from now.  I have SOOOO much to do before he can deliver gifts on Christmas Eve.  I sure wish I had some of his magic or a few of his elves to help make all that wrapping get done.  

Today is the last day of school for 2013.  The next time I set foot in my classroom, after today, it will be 2014.  Weird to think about.  But, we are leaving out today after a full day of fun. 

This morning, most of my class along with most of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades are going on a very special trip to the movies to watch Frozen.  It is a reward for making growth since the start of the semester.  The kids that had 90% attendance for the month of December, AND had made growth on their STAR testing are getting this reward for all of their hard work.  I didn't have anyone that has to miss out due to attendance, because my class has all been present the whole 8 days in December they had to be there.  But, I do unfortunately have five students who don't get to go because their growth performance wasn't on par.  

It makes me sad that some kids have to miss out, but I also stand behind my principal for doing incentives like this one.  The kids have to work very hard to show their growth.  It's a requirement that the kids demonstrate their learning, and show that they are getting what they need.  Most of the time, the tests that the kids take to show that are pretty accurate, but if they don't try their best and give it their all it reflects that, too. The kids that are having to stay behind have demonstrated to me that they are learning, but when it came down to demonstrating to others.. knowing full well what the incentive was...they fell short.  And I don't see anything wrong with showing that hard work pays off, and that hard work is rewarded.  

When we come back from the movies, it will be time for our Christmas parties.  The kids voted to watch The Grinch for their party.  We'll have the gift exchange, eat goodies, and I'll hand out the small class gifts I got for all of them.  It will be fun, food, and relaxation for the entire afternoon.  They are even going to bring their pajamas to wear for the movies, as well as blankets and pillows.  Might as well be comfy while they are watching, right?  I'm going to sit right down there with them and watch the movie.  Why not?  I deserve one day to act like a kid and take myself out of the role of teacher and have some fun with them.

Speaking of which, I better get to getting if I'm going to get myself ready in time.  I still have to stop at the store and pick up goodies for Jelly to take to her class party today, and get to school early enough to prepare 20 small gift packages for my students.

Have a wonderful Friday, everyone!  I know I will.

If You Just Believe

                           

The Polar Express is one of my most favorite Christmas movies.  The storyline, the actors, the animation, the music....all bundle together to make one heck of a holiday classic.  Yet my blog post really isn't that much to do with The Polar Express.  It's more about it's main track "Believe" sung ever so sweetly by Josh Groban.

In science, I've been teaching all about weather.  We were able to finish up the unit before the snow hit, but when we got back I didn't want to start a new unit with only having a week left before Christmas break.  I really wanted to do some kind of something focused around the North Pole.  The weather, the seasons, the terrain.  Stuff that kids don't know about the North Pole.

However, 4th grade is a REALLY tricky grade when it comes to Christmas.  It's what I call the transition year, where several kids are making the transition from believers to non-believers in Santa Clause.

Last year, and this year, I made all of my kids write a letter to Santa.  Not for themselves, but to ask for things for three important people in their lives.  When I explain the assignment to the kids, I do it by first sharing a letter that I have written that sounds an awful lot like the song "My Grown Up Christmas List".  I ask Santa to bring health for the sick, security for the poor, safety and guidance for those closest to me, etc.  I am very general in my letter, but I ask the students to be specific in who they pick and things they want if they could ask Santa for ANYTHING.  When I present it in that way, I'm not met with the usual "I don't believe in Santa" remarks.  

In 4th grade, there are kids who have already made up their minds that Santa isn't real, kids who are unsure whether Santa is real or not, and there are still a few firm believers.  So, when I think about something to do with the North Pole, I knew I needed to be very careful in my approach.

On Monday, I had come up with the idea to just teach about the North Pole and take my chances.  By Tuesday, I had ditched the idea, because I just didn't have the heart to teach my kids that there is no land at the North Pole and for a few months out of the year there's only water, so there is no way that a man could live with thousands of elves in a place that doesn't even have a place for them to live.  But, after listening to Josh Groban's song yesterday morning while the kids were working, an idea struck that gave me a way of dealing with the situation.

So, during our science time I explained the kiddos that we were going to watch a Brain Pop video all about the North Pole.  They had to pay attention to the video, and take some notes, about things they didn't know and shocked them.  I then explained that lots of people don't believe in Santa because of what they were about to learn.  I then explained that it was going to be there job to prepare a poster explaining how Santa lived at the North Pole with the information used from the video.

I didn't get a single "I don't believe in Santa" or "Santa doesn't live at the North Pole because he isn't real" comment from anyone.  In fact, they all were pretty intrigued, and committed to doing what was asked of them.

So, I played the video.  

I love Brain Pop.  It really explains a lot of stuff in a way that kids relate to.  Moby and Tim (the cartoon characters from Brain Pop) explained that there were two North Poles, magnetic and geographic.  They explained that the magnetic pole moves constantly.  They explained that the geographic pole is nothing but ice, and during the summer the ice melts leaving nothing but water.  They explained that during the winter the temperature could be as low as -43 degrees and in the summer would only get up to the freezing mark.  They explained that for six months it is nothing but total darkness all day, every day.  The other six months there's nothing but light all day everyday. The kids were fascinated.  Which gave me a huge sigh of relief, because the last thing I wanted was to push any kids on the fence completely over, or hurt the feelings of kids that were still believers.

Once the video was over, we had a great discussion about what they had learned. And then I gave them the challenge of creating the poster explaining how Santa lives and deals with those situations.

For the entire afternoon, the kids worked in groups all over the classroom floor.  They discussed and planned and came up with strategies.  They started drawing out blue prints.  They labeled and listed facts about the North Pole, and how Santa deals with certain factors.

One group explained how Santa's village was built on top of HUGE titanium poles that went down in to the ocean.  A group created a sort of "snow globe" that Santa lived in that protected from the harsh temperatures, and the constant light and darkness. Other groups explained special lights that lit the North Pole when it was dark all of the time, and special shields that came out at night when it was light all of the time, so the elves could get some sleep.  I even had one group touch on solar power, and explained that Santa stored the solar power during the times of 24 hours of sunlight in order to light the workshop during the six months of total darkness.  

But regardless of the ideas that were coming out, I didn't have anyone upset.  I hadn't crushed any dreams.  And I think I'd even given the non-believers something to think about as they approached the situation.  Even though they'd been told that Santa wasn't real, there was a chance that he lived at the North Pole regardless of the fact that it was geographically impossible.

I was very surprised when I told them that it was time to pack up and heard whines and disappointment.  I assured them that they'd have time to work on it the next day, and that made them all happy.

I think this is another assignment I'm going to stick in my Christmas Toolkit, right along with the letter to Santa.  Educational, yet still fun.  And I'm nurturing another generation of fantastic Santa believers, just like I consider myself to be.

I am a self-proclaimed Santa Non-Believer Slayer.  I can come up with reasons and explanations for just about every question kids have about Santa's authenticity.  I've been doing it for years, and that's probably why my oldest two were in sixth grade before they stopped believing in Santa.  No matter what my kids asked, I was always ready with an explanation.

How does Santa make it around the world in one night?  Simple.  Time zones.  When most people think it only takes one night, he actually gets a full 24 hours to deliver gifts thanks to the time zones.

How does he deliver gifts to every single child in the world in just 24 hours?  He doesn't.  In fact, he only delivers to about half, because there are lots of cultures and religions that don't celebrate Christmas and so he doesn't deliver gifts to those kids.  He also doesn't deliver kids to non-believers, so once a kid stops believing in Santa, it becomes the parent's job to buy gifts which are never as good as the ones that Santa brings.

Why do some kids get more presents than others?  Well, because parents still have to pay for Christmas.  Santa does what he can, but because of the new technology that has taken over, Santa can't make all of the gifts that kids want nowadays, and he has to buy them.  Parents are now expected to pay for some of the gifts that get delivered...he's got a lot of mouths to feed as well!  While Santa doesn't like giving more presents to some kids than others, he does what can for the kids that can't afford very much.

Why are there so many different Santas in stores and the mall?  They aren't really Santa, they are his helpers.  Santa is always so busy, that he can't visit places to meet with kids... but he can send helpers to do that for him.  Plus, it's a cardinal rule that no child ever see the REAL Santa.  

And I can go on and on and on.

When I say I'm just as bad as kids during this time of year, I'm not exaggerating.  I think it's so important to keep the magic alive, and do so with pride.  I know there are lots of people out there that disagree with my methods and think I'm not very nice for lying to children.  But, I will also point out that I have two kids that have made the transition from believers to non-believers and they are not permanently scarred for life.  They don't hate me for lying to them all these years, and don't even think that I lied to them.  The way they look at it is that I kept Christmas alive for them, and they still enjoy the stories and making it "magical" for Jelly.  I didn't have to have a special talk with them, I didn't have to come up with ways to break the news without breaking their hearts, they just stopped believing one year and were perfectly fine with it.

Today is going to be another day full of Christmas activities.  Oh how happy I am that I teach in a school that still embraces Christmas.  And it's a school that has 27 different languages spoken, and just as many cultures represented. It is a fun time for all!

Tonight, I have a Christmas concert to attend.  The third through eighth grades are performing, so I expect it to be one amazing show.

OK, time to get to getting.  This week has flown by... it's crazy to think that tomorrow is the last day before Christmas break!