Christmas Festivities

I love all of the family togetherness that comes along with the Christmas season. My family begins Christmas on Christmas Eve with Mom's family. Then, Mom, Dad, Allyson and I go to the Christmas Eve service at church. This is one of my favorite services because so many families are there together. It's a wonderful evening of worship and catching up with old friends. On Christmas morning, the four of us wake up and have Christmas breakfast before opening gifts. Usually Mama Barb, my mom's mom, and Uncle Don come over for breakfast. This year, Lee Anne and Andy both joined us! Then, we get all loaded up and head to Grandma's for a few days. There is never a dull moment with this crowd. You would think now that all of the grandchildren are older that this time would run smoothly and in order. However, when you have a Grandpa who gets more excited on Christmas about opening presents than any child you've ever met, things get interesting. Someone has to keep a constant watch on Pa to make sure he doesn't open gifts out of turn. It's just so hard for him to wait for his turn to come back around!

The day after Christmas shopping can get interesting as well. Wal-Mart is about the only place to shop when we're at Grandma's, but we go all out and stock up on wrapping paper, decorations, and tape to last several years. Someone from the group inevitably gets lost, which sometimes causes us to have a Wal-Mart employee make an all-call and have the missing person report to the front. This year I stocked up on stuff for me and Stephen to decorate with next year! It's crazy to think we'll be married next Christmas and starting new Christmas traditions, but so exciting at the same time!

This year we were blessed with snow on Christmas day! Once we all made it to Grandma's, through the treacherous driving conditions, we had a lovely dinner with everyone's favorite: Andy got his spaghetti; Allyson got her chicken and dumplings; I got chocolate pie; and we all got a big breakfast on Sunday morning due to church being canceled. Then, came time for sledding! It took us a while to get a good track packed down with snow since the snow was so fluffy this time. After several crashes and many many walks back up the hill, we were good to go! It was cold but lots of fun! And, Andy may have lost his pants after tackling me in the snow...we'll keep the pictures PG though.

Here are a few of the highlights in pictures: (warning: picture overload!)

Mom's side of the family

 Mama Barb with all of her grandbabies

 Us!

 Mom and Uncle Don

 Me and Ally Poo

Christmas morning breakfast

 Pa anxiously awaiting his turn to open that big pile of gifts in his lap!

 Grandma and Pa looking at the family calendar we make for them each year.

 Pa entertaining the crowd

Fun in the snow!

 Making the track pushing Andy down the hill

 One of many walks back up the hill

 Faith and I really got the track going

 And then I needed a break

 Two peas in a pod

 Me and Pa

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and that it was at least half the fun mine was!

PS this boy comes home on Friday from Africa!! 

EKA

We had our annual EKA (Erin, Kelly, Ame) Christmas get together last night. This friendship began way back in middle school and I am so thankful it has continued through the years. We might not have crazy sleep overs any more or make silly music videos, but we still keep in touch and always pick up right where we left off when we're together.

Love these girls!!

Christmas Break

I am officially on Christmas Break. Although, I think they call if Winter Break now because Christmas Break is not politically correct. Either way, I'm off for two weeks!!! Since I've been in school for the past 18 years, Christmas Break has always been part of my year. So, it's easy to take these two weeks for granted. However, I am reminded of the awesomeness of this break when I talk to my friends who are no longer on a school schedule, friends who will be working right up to Christmas Eve and then going back to work shortly after Christmas Day. It's when I talk to those friends that I am so very grateful for my schedule. I'm sure when summer break rolls around, I'll be reminded even more how well I have it made!

We had our first snow day this past week. I know some teachers get frustrated and annoyed with snow days, but I still love them! This time I almost didn't get to enjoy the snow day because I was supposed to be down town at some professional development meeting that didn't get canceled. However, after assessing the road situation, I decided it would be too dangerous to try to leave home and so I stayed home. It was great!

I had this long post planned about how I had been on the bitter bus since Stephanie, one of my best friends and a teacher in Boone, has already had 9 snow days. Her first few snow days were last week, the week I felt like would n.e.v.e.r end. I so wanted a snow day and was so jealous when she was getting them. I thought I would stay on the bitter bus for a while, but then I got a snow day and got to see how crazy things are with her from missing 9 nine days and decided I wasn't all that jealous anymore. I wouldn't mind another snow day or two, but I don't want so many that I have to start giving up spring break and other breaks in the coming months. I know how crucial those breaks are. After the holidays, breaks become far and few between. When my kids are getting antsy and needing a break, I want to still have those days and not use them now on snow days. So, as nice as the snow is and as nice as it is to have random days off, I'd be okay with the snow holding off during the week.

Quotes and Pictures from the past week:

I think this picture speaks for itself.

I was doing morning duty last week. My morning duty spot has been re-assigned to the end of the hallway instead of the stairway. Standing at the end of the hall provides me with many opportunities to over hear conversations among seventh graders. Their conversations are random and often hilarious. My favorite from this week was on Monday morning. A seventh grade boy randomly says, "Oh man! My mom made this dessert this weekend...she's for real like Betty Crocker. She took brownies and put cookie dough in them. They were amazing! We called them...(dramatic pause)...(with his hands in the air like he was making a grand announcement, in a whispered awe)...crownies!"



One of my girls, after seeing me and Stephen at the band concert this past week said in class, "What's your fiance's name? ... [Me: Stephen] ... Oh yea, he looks like a Stephen because he looks like one of those football players I be seeing on TV and stuff." I told her Stephen would be thrilled to know she thought he looked like a football player that she would see on TV.

I couldn't make this stuff up! Here's to a relaxing, restful two weeks of no school...

Have You Ever Thought About...

Why we have toenails?

Why we put holes in our bodies and then stick metal in them for decoration?

Why we don't eat dogs, cats, or guinea pigs in the United States?

Why getting a cut when you're shaving bleeds so much?

Why exercising is so good for you and makes you feel so good yet we're often too lazy to do it?

Why more people don't become professional students? (Who doesn't miss college and the freedom that comes with it?)

Why laffy taffy jokes are so funny? (Okay, maybe they're just funny to me...)

Why we insist on doing things our way instead of listening to those who are smarter and wiser than us to begin with?

How cool an eye ball is and how it works?

How interesting people are?

Why some people ask so many questions?

Not Me Monday

I did not go to the grocery store this past weekend looking like a complete bum.

And, I did not hide from one of my students to avoid her seeing me look like such a bum.

I did not drive to school one day last week with my windows covered in frost. That isn't safe.

And, I did not drive to school that way because I was running late and didn't have time to scrape my windows. I am always a safe driver and never run late.

I was not on facebook when my students came to class last Friday.

And, I did not finish reading people's statuses before getting off facebook and allowing students in the class.
I am much more professional than that.

I did not open one of the presents I got my Mom for Christmas because I wanted to use it.

Okay, I really didn't hide from one of my students in the grocery store, but I did plan on had I seen one of them. I was looking really rough!

T Minus 10 School Days

That's right, folks...only ten school days left until Christmas break! Thanksgiving break was just a tease. It was hard enough going back after three days off. I don't want to think about how hard it will be to go back after two weeks off for Christmas. So, I'm not thinking about...I'm just looking forward to the break!

This week was fairly uneventful. I was trying to think of something interesting to write, but couldn't come up with much. I hope I'm not getting too used to seventh graders and beginning to take their quirkiness for granted.

We had our first field trip this week. At camp the past few years, I have been the one organizing everything when it comes to field trips. I knew very little about the details of this trip going into it. At first it stressed me out, then I decided to just go with the flow. It ended up being a really good trip. It amazes me how well students behave outside of school. Like I told one of the parent chaperones when she mentioned how good they had been, I would much rather them act crazy for me at school than out in public.

We went to the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill. An art museum has the potential for disaster with seventh graders considering there are strict rules to follow and the fact that art museums are not always the most exciting places to visit. However, the museum did a great job organizing our time there. They had something for the students to do in each exhibit. Having a task to complete occupied and entertained them. I was very impressed with how they handled 100 seventh graders at one time.

Even though they behaved well and had plenty to do, see, and learn, their favorite part was still that Mr. Ackland is buried in the museum. This intrigued some of them, shocked others, and freaked some of them out. That was the first thing they told the teachers and students who didn't go about when they got back to school. At least they took something away with them...

They were quite humorous to watch on UNC's campus. The boys were having a contest to see how many college students they could get to wave at them. The girls were on the look out for a college boy they could date. They were all intrigued to see so many students riding bikes around campus. I heard one student explain that he needed to go to a smaller college because he didn't like walking so much. And, before we left one of the Language Arts teachers explained to the students that when we were on UNC's campus, we would be seeing normal people (e.g., students, professors, university employees). As we were walking across campus, an older gentleman, in a suit, carrying a briefcase stepped out of one of the buildings and began making his way across campus. One student proceeded to point and exclaim, "Professor!" While the adults wanted to crawl behind a bush, he was very proud of himself for being able to identify a "normal" person.

As thrilling as I'm sure it is to read about a field trip, I won't bore you with any more details. Maybe next week will provide some more entertainment!