Holiday weekend

Such a nice time.  It was the perfect mix of getting ready for Christmas, resting and spending time together.

I did some online shopping, tied ribbons on gifts we already have, and we decorated for Christmas.  Well, mostly.  We haven't done our big tree yet and we need to switch our regular dishes for our Christmas dishes.  (Christmas dishes make me happy.)

I am steadily feeling better, but I am still trying to preserve energy when I can so I had Mark and Emma carry all the boxes up and down the stairs and I was just the boss.  Doing the actual decorating was really fast.  Mark handled all the up on the ladder stuff and he doesn't mind when I say, "Move it port side!" because that is easier for me than right and left.

My kids think I'm crazy but having a weird mom builds character.

Emma wasn't here to help decorate last year and it was a huge difference having her back.  Arranging things is one of the few things I'm very picky about and she always does it to my satisfaction.  She also keeps Mark in line.

For example, we were decorating the small living room tree and Mark was just sitting on the couch and throwing ornaments at it and Emma put a stop to that.  

Friday night both kids were at work and Adam and I had a top secret purchase to make in Salt Lake City (our kids don't read this blog but what if they start today?).  Adam said there was a German restaurant he wanted to take me to.

It was called Bohemian Brewery and that confused me because I think of Bohemian style when I think of Bohemian and this place was decorated in an Alpine ski lodge way and served things like schnitzel and brats.

Adam said Bohemia was a place and I didn't know that (there could be volumes written of things Adam knows that I don't). So we googled it, like you do, while we were waiting for our food and learned that Bohemia is a German speaking part of the Czech Republic.  Also, the food was delicious.  

Saturday I pulled out some felt and Emma and I cut circles for tree skirts.  She has a little tree in her apartment and I wanted a tree skirt for my little tree in my classroom.  She was going back to her apartment Saturday night to watch an edited version of The Shining for her horror film class.  Why she would take a horror film class is completely bonkers but she didn't ask me.  I showed her how to blanket stitch and do a running stitch with candy cane striped embroidery floss so she could work on it while she watched.  She wanted to embroider snowflakes.  I said, "You're artistic so you'll figure that out easily."

Before Emma went back to Provo, she joined Adam and me on a Trader Joe's stop.  For our regular grocery store shopping, I always have a list.  At Trader Joe's, anarchy reigns.  Peppermint JoJos, ginger scented hand cream, cedar balsam candle, peppermint meringues all got tossed in the cart with abandon.  Adam asked if we had a reason to buy lemon curd.  I said yes.

Because lemon curd.

Later in the evening Emma texted me this.

I don't think I've ever taught her anything that she didn't immediately become better at than me.

Yesterday evening Adam and I went back to Salt Lake to visit my grandma and my parents who were also in town.  We have had very few visits with my 93 year old grandma or my parents since the pandemic, but sometimes it just feels warranted.  We had a nice visit and ate pie (and my grandma chided me for not cutting bigger pie slices).

This morning I am back to school and I'm excited to see those little faces again.  I want to see their reaction to our Christmas tree.

Grateful Friday

When you are ridiculously tired and 1/3 of your family is in Virginia for Thanksgiving, Chuck-a-rama seems like a good idea.

Last year one of my friends posted pictures on Facebook of her family going to Chuck-a-rama for Thanksgiving dinner and at first it struck me as strange and then it struck me as genius. 

When I told my sisters, they said, "No!"

When I told Emma, she said, "Um..."

When I told Mark, he said, "Yes!"

When I told Adam, he said, "Whatever you want."

(one of many many reasons I love Adam)

It was pretty good.  We won't make it a tradition but when your goal in life is to be as lazy as possible so you can regain your health, it worked.

We listened to "Dave Cooks the Turkey" while we drove.  That is a tradition with lasting power.

We also went to a movie in an actual theater!  We hadn't done that in all of 2020.  We saw The War With Grandpa.  It was kind of dumb but also kind of funny and hey, we were in a movie theater!  We were eating popcorn just like they did in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. That counts for something.

I felt a little sad in the afternoon like I was a sort of unfit mother because I didn't make Thanksgiving dinner but my family rallied around me and hugged me and told me that it was fine.

They're keepers.

I'm grateful we got to FaceTime Braeden and Anna and I'm grateful to spend time with my family around here.  I'm grateful for the way they showed their stripes on Wednesday.  Adam and Mark drove Braeden and Anna to the airport in the 4:00 hour.  I said, "You should let me drive them.  I get up earlier than you do usually."

Adam said, "You would deny us guy time?"

Adam and Mark went to breakfast together after the airport and they love their time together.

I love that Mark went to help Emma clean her apartment because he "wanted to spend time with my sister anyway."

I love that when Emma got home, she was happy to leave soon after to run a few errands with Adam and me.  After teenage years of never wanting to run errands, I value every yes I get now. It's freaky.  She says yes to everything I ask.

Freaky.

 

Giving thanks

I have loved pausing to reflect on what I am the most grateful for this week.  It is humbling to recognize all the ways I've been blessed and all the wonderful things I experience just by being alive.  I have friends who have lost their sense of taste and smell because of Covid.  It has reminded me what a gift our senses are.

There's no ranking my gratitude list.  Who could say what is most important?  I think it's all interconnected though and at the very center is my Heavenly Father, the architect of everything wonderful in this world.  I know He loves me and I know He has a plan for me.  I know He doesn't take every hard thing away from me (even though I keep asking) because He wants me back and knows that it is through my trials that I will become better.

I know Jesus is the Christ.  I have felt the sustaining power of His mercy.  I have felt forgiven and the ability to forgive.  I have hope for a better world and I have hope I will see loved ones again because of Him.

I know President Nelson is a prophet of God.  He feels like an extension of God's love and the Spirit testifies to me when he speaks that it is the truth.

I love the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  It is grounding and soul giving to pause every day and read a little and be reminded of truths I know. I know that Joseph Smith was inspired by God to restore the Church of Jesus Christ and I feel connected to ancient people when I recognize that they worshiped Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ the same way.

Everything else that I'm grateful for can be traced back to these truths.

There is beauty all around

I think some really good evidence that God loves us is all the beauty to be found in the world. (Adam took every one of these pictures. 

The natural world is breathtaking.

I'm grateful for art and music and literature.  I'm grateful for the imagination people have been blessed with and then in turn share with the world.  I love art museums and libraries and book stores and museum gift shops where you can find all sorts of interesting things.

    I am grateful for National Parks where jaw dropping beauty is preserved.

I love color and texture and colorful contrast and sleek monochrome. 

I love sunrises and sunset and mountains and beaches and valleys and forests and everything in between.

There's nothing like blue blue skies, snow drifts sparkling in the sunlight, crunchy fall leaves, spring blossoms, warm summer nights.

It's a beautiful world.

Technology

Yesterday Mark went to the doctor and came home with a prescription for antibiotics and a diagnosed ear infection. 

It reminded me how grateful I am for modern medicine.

Without it, Adam, Emma and Mark would all be dead.  I would be blind in my left eye.  I think Braeden would be OK, assuming he survived all the various infections and illness he's had that have been treated with antibiotics.

It's humbling to think about.

I'm grateful for Mark's insulin pump and glucose monitor that not only keep him healthy, but are more convenient and pleasant than pricking his finger to test his blood and giving himself a shot six times a day.

I'm grateful for contacts and glasses.  

I'm grateful for central heating and air conditioning, indoor plumbing and a gas fireplace.  I'm grateful for refrigeration and a washing machine and a dishwasher.  There are many devices that free us up for other pursuits.

I'm thankful every cold morning for a seated heat and (glory!) a heated steering wheel.

I'm grateful for the internet and cell phones and the ability to stay in touch and find information.

I'm thankful for the little things that don't feel necessary but make life nicer like ice cubes and a toaster.  

I'm grateful for podcasts and streaming videos and online shopping.

It's a nice life with all this technology (especially when it works).

A good cry

Friday evening refreshed my soul.  

After school, we watched President Nelson's message which was wonderful.  I'm grateful for a living prophet who is kind and optimistic and in tune with what God wants us to know.  Whenever I start to worry about the state of the world, I like to think of the calm and hopeful and faith filled leaders we have.  They reassure me.

The prophet invited us to share our gratitude on social media.  I've never liked Facebook so much!  How refreshing to see a flood of gratitude.

Later in the evening we watched Emma's last choir concert.  In true 2020 fashion, it was virtual and the singers were wearing masks and were very spread out so it was hard to catch a glimpse of our girl.  (Men's Chorus sang after Women's Chorus and I never did see Hyrum although I enjoyed the sound!)

All the songs were songs of praise and hope and peace.  The messages made me cry.  All the weighty matters of the world just felt a little lighter.  My burden was lifted.  I don't live in the kingdom of Thelma. I live in the Kingdom of God and every time I'm reminded of that, I'm grateful.

The fact that it was Emma's last choir concert didn't help with the whole crying business.  Ever since she was in junior high, we have enjoyed going to her concerts and watching her sing.  

Emma called after the concert and I put her on speaker phone and we all cried together (except Mark who has ice water in his veins).  

I'm grateful for my little song bird who has brought so much beauty into our lives with her music.

Grateful Friday

This week a few students told me they wanted to sit in the front.  Then they all told me they wanted to sit in the front.  In our socially distanced classroom, those in the back are far away. 

I came up with several new seating charts that didn't work.  It was OK though.  I've been moving furniture my whole adult life.  I've been roping children into helping me move furniture.  I'm not afraid to say, "Pick that up and move it here."   "Actually no.  Move it here."  They were troopers.  

I finally came up with a solution that required moving a rug.  I said, "I need strong students to help me move this rug."

They all started flexing and showing me their muscles.  

They rolled up the rug and I said, "Bring it back here."  

They all grabbed hold and I noticed little legs kicking.  I have the tallest third grader and the very shortest third grader in my class.  This short little girl, who is small but oh so spunky, had grabbed onto the rug but when the other students lifted it, she hung on and could no longer reach the floor.

She was giggling and kicking her legs.

I grabbed my camera to take a picture because it was so funny to me.  The picture turned out very blurry. 

Adam said it was like an impressionist painting and captured the moment better than an unblurry photo.  It was a moment of pure joy for me.  These children I love were helping me problem solve and their cooperation and boundless energy and delight made me happy.

I'm grateful for joy.  

Covid tired

I had a very mild case of Covid and I feel very fortunate about that.  I feel very very fortunate that no one else in our family got it.

For the past several weeks, I have been SO tired.  I am relatively fine through most of the day and then in late afternoon, it hits me like a ton of bricks.  I will come home from school in a stupor and sleep for an hour and then it takes effort to stay up until 9:00.  I made the mistake of googling Covid and fatigue and I found all sorts of discouraging things.

Two mantras to live by for safety:

1-don't talk about politics online

2-don't google health topics

Both things end in gloom.

What I'm mostly trying to do is be patient.  I'm rotten at being patient so that is probably why I have lots of opportunity to practice.

Adam is picking up all of the housework slack which I feel guilty about.  The other day my guilt turned into whining and he said he'd rather pick up the housework slack than hear me whine about it.

I understand.

I hate it though.

I want to zip around and do things and I have no zip.

None.

I'm grateful that I can make it through the school day before the worst of the fatigue hits.  I'm slipping behind some with my prep because I get too tired but Thanksgiving break is coming and hopefully I can catch up.

I'm trying to be OK with being kind of worthless after school.

I'm trying to remember the world will be okay if I rest.

I also kind of want to smack people who refuse to wear masks because this is the worst and I know I don't even have it that bad.

Oh, to be a third grader

We have been doing addition and subtraction (once they passed the addition) timed tests every day.  I have students that have never completed one test.

Now we've started multiplication and even though it's kind of ridiculous because it's so easy, I gave them a multiplication by zero timed test.  I know they know that the answer to every question is zero.  They were incredulous and giddy because it was so easy.

Students that are never fast said, "Done!" before the time was up and they were exultant.

There was one student though who didn't get them correct.  She put all sorts of random numbers as answers.  I know about hard things in her life that are sad and chaotic.  I know that she hurt her foot at the recess right before the timed test.  I know she was having a bad day and that she'll get it eventually.

The students around her saw her test and a murmur flew around the room.  "______ didn't get it!" "______ got it wrong even though it was just all zeroes!"

Then one student said, "It's OK!"

Then a chorus of "It's OK!" went around the room.  The student who had struggled on the test grinned.  I think I took a breath because I'd been holding mine.

If third graders ruled the world it would be a kind place.

No one would be able to keep track of their pencil, but it would be a kind place.

Things delighting me

On our family text chat, in referring to our scripture reading in Ether 1-5, Mark wondered which sinners had to be on the barge with the bees.

Emma replied:  

She's also been known to say "Get glucced" when referring to diabetes....

She makes up words and no one minds.

***

Speaking of delightful text groups, Tabor has started sending a song of the day to our sibling chat.  It makes me happy.

***

One of my students who had been online moved to coming to school in person.  Yesterday was his first day.  At the beginning of the day, I could tell he was nervous.  After school he came up to me and said, "Today was a good day!"

***

Adam went to Jersey Mike's yesterday and made them nervous by asking to speak to the manager.  He explained the situation with the stolen sandwich and offered to pay.  Instead, she said, "Sounds like you had a free sandwich."

***

A third grade boy recently told me about how he helped make dinner with his family.  They were celebrating because the doctor said his grandma's cancer was gone.

Hurray for happy news!

In which Emma and Mark steal a sandwich

Emma needed a quiet place, free of distractions, to get a lot of work done on Friday so she asked if she could come over.  We said "Of course!" and "You don't need to ask!"

(Because we completely forgot about the governor's mandate not to mix households....)

I don't know how it came about because Adam was in Salt Lake at work, but Mark was home at lunchtime and Adam said he'd order them sandwiches from Jersey Mike's.  (Adam is that kind of dad--indulgent.)  Emma and Mark went to Jersey Mike's and said they were there to pick up the order for Adam.  It was one sandwich.

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Emma and Mark figured Adam had mistakenly ordered only one sandwich.  They shared the sandwich.

Hours later, Adam contacted them.  "I am sorry!  I forgot to order your sandwiches."

Emma and Mark had stolen another Adam's sandwich!

Later that night, Adam and I picked up some insulin for Mark.  The pharmacist's name tag said Adam.

I wanted to apologize to him for my kids eating his sandwich....

(Also, Adam is going to go to Jersey Mikes and pay for the sandwich.)

Grateful Friday

The other day, one of my girls said dreamily, "I'm grateful for everything!"  Then she hastily added,   "Except Covid."

Another girl, who is something of a sassy contrarian said, "I'm grateful for Covid!"

"What?!?" exclaimed the first girl.

"Without it, I wouldn't have realized how much I love school and I love seeing my friends."

The first girl looked at me incredulously, as if to say, "Are you hearing this?"

I appreciated the truth in the statement.  I'm not grateful for Covid but I was reminded of how much I love my job when it was snatched away.

I have a tree on my classroom door and I had my students write things they were grateful for on leaves.

It makes me happy every time I see it.

the hand sanitizer dispenser is new this year....

Mostly the students were grateful for their family and friends but this leaf makes me smile:

I guess she hears both /s/ sounds in Mrs. so she added an extra.

I'm also grateful for my children.  It still astounds me from time to time that I was lucky enough to be their mom.  They make my life better.

Utah is really struggling with Covid cases right now.  Wednesday night Adam was going to teach the deacons to make three types of gourmet burgers and the boys were excited.  It was all canceled because of our new restrictions.  Adam got home from a hectic work day and launched into a few hours of making sliders for each of the boys.  They each got three: BBQ cheddar and bacon; onion, mushroom and ranch; and green chili and jack cheese.

We delivered them to the happy boys and I felt grateful that I am married to the kind of man who would spend his evening making sliders magically appear on the doorsteps of six 12 year old boys.  (And then he cleaned the kitchen.)

Happy holidays

I have a collection of Halloween riddles and I wrote one on the board every day in October (every day I was there, so not every day).

How can you tell it's a cemetery?

From all the coffin. (coughin')

Yesterday a student asked me if I had any Thanksgiving jokes.

I said, "I don't know any."

Another student excitedly said, "I know one!"

"OK," I said.  "What is it?"

She said, "What did the turkey say to the cookie?"

"I don't know, what?"

"Wake up!"

It was one of those times when I really had no words.

Yesterday we talked about Veterans Day and I showed them my poppy bracelet that I bought at Normandy.  We talked about the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  We talked about what a veteran is.  Everyone wanted to tell me about the veterans in their lives.  Then they wanted to talk about wars.  "When was the Revolutionary War anyway and why did they cross a river?"

Things like that.

It's nice to have those conversations though.  Veterans matter.

On my way home, I turned on the radio and they were playing Christmas music.  Mark would have had an aneurism if he had been in the car.  Christmas music before Thanksgiving is a high crime to him.

I didn't change the station though.

And I'm not even sorry.  

Covid facts

 People are super curious when you've had it.  So many people have asked me about my symptoms, duration, where do I think I got it?  For months, around here at least, no one knew anyone that had it.  That has changed, but I'm still sort of a novelty.

I'm tired.  On Sunday one of my friends, who's also in the I've Had It Club, asked me if I was tired.  I said yes.  She said she was too and she goes to bed early.  I'm embracing it.  I went to bed in the 8:00 hour last night.

We're in a state of emergency.  Mark has essentially been grounded by the governor.  For at least the next two weeks we can't have casual social interaction with anyone out of our household so Mark can't hang out with even one friend.

We're used to masks.  I have to remind my students to take them off when they go to lunch because I don't want them to get lost (it's happened).  Sometimes I'll be working in my classroom alone and after about an hour, I'll remember, "Oh, I can take this thing off."

Our classrooms are a little chaotic with students quarantining and some online students coming back and some in person students going online.  So far no third graders have actually had it and we are knocking on all the wood!

Masks keep your face warm on recess duty.  We don't have to wear masks for recess but I think we just might.

It's bizarre.  Yesterday I sent my students home.  "See you tomorrow!"  

One girl yelled back over her shoulder, "OK!  Unless I get Covid!"

Curly boys

I'm glad Braeden and Emma came over Sunday because Sunday night our governor mandated that no casual gatherings could happen between households.  (Anna had stayed home because she was feeling sick.  Our kids are conscientious rule followers when it comes to the coronavirus!  We did FaceTime with her a little though.)

Braeden got a table from the garage and set it up in the other room out of an abundance of caution I guess?  I don't know.  I've already had it and Mark and Adam must have immune systems of steel since they didn't also get it.  Braeden said he was the sovereign, sitting at his own table, and he grabbed a blanket to wrap around himself because he has never not loved costumes.

After dinner and after FaceTiming with Anna, we started combing Mark's hair which is incredibly long and every time I tell him to go get a haircut he says it's no shave November, which isn't really applicable if you ask me.

He took his shirt off because this style took water

There really was no end to the fun we could have with his hair.

Then Braeden said, "Comb my hair too!"

And I wondered why they weren't like this when they were little boys and I was combing their hair before church.

Both boys could get a really good flip going with those curls.

What is the point of all this?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

Weekend

I have felt encouraged this weekend about the state of things in our country.  I know that we are "deeply divided" as every news article states over and over and over.  I can see that.  At the same time, I can see the way nearly everyone I know who is a Trump supporter (and I know a lot) has graciously moved on.  That is what I love about America.  

The person I wanted to win, did.  I am fairly conservative but I can't stomach Trump.  He's awful.  The people I know and love--my inner circle--made a choice.  Vote for Trump because you can't vote for someone who is in favor of abortion or vote for Biden because you can't vote for someone who is as morally corrupt and divisive as Trump.

I understand both viewpoints.

I'm always wary of people who "can't imagine" who would vote for someone else.  Really?  Because I think I have a pretty average imagination and I can do it.  It takes listening.  Sometimes you have to wade through a lot of off putting vitriol but it is still good to listen.  It takes sitting humbly for a minute and thinking about where someone is coming from and what life experiences would bring them to that point.  

It's possible.

Kamala Harris wouldn't be my first pick ideologically to lead our country, but it does matter to me that we have a woman elected as vice president.  It matters.  I think it matters to me mostly for Emma.  And then I think of my granddaughters.  They will be born into a world where it is a given that women can hold that office.  Even if you have no aspirations to do so yourself, it matters.  I loved this from Kamala Harris Saturday night:

Our weekend was not just about politics though.  We did all the Saturday chores and errands, we watched a movie and ate cheddar cheese so sharp it was crumbly on Biscoff crackers.  We moved the last of the deck furniture.

Last week we had highs in the 70s and my students would come in hot and sweaty from recess.

Sunday we woke up to snow.

It happened abruptly and jarred my thinking that I need to get myself in gear with Christmas plans.  I've done a few preliminary things.  Before I was working, I'd have all my ducks in a row for Christmas in October.  

Now I can't even find all my ducks.

Grateful Friday

I'm grateful for connection.

I'm grateful for the secretaries who stop what they're doing to chat with me when I go in the office.

I'm grateful for fellow teachers who have to share a wacky story and want to hear my wacky story.  (We all have wacky stories.  Every day.)

I'm grateful for a young woman who dropped off cookies and a really kind note thanking me for being her YW president. (So out of the blue and so nice!)

I'm grateful for texts from my kids.  Funny texts, texts asking questions, texts bragging about some random accomplishment.  I love every text.

I'm grateful for a date night with Adam and for my friend Susan who invited us.  It was a dinner theater and we sat at a table with people we'd never met.  They had three children about the same age as ours and we had a nice time getting to know them.

I'm grateful for hugs from my students.

I'm grateful for every time I hear some version of, "Oh!  I get it!"

I'm grateful for the third grader from a different class who came to my class instead of his own to have his shoe tied at the end of recess.  I asked, "Did you know I'm an expert at this?"

He asked, surprised, "No, are you?"

I said, "Yep!"

He grinned and I told him to go to class.

I'm grateful when my blend of pantomime and key words results in my non English speaking student understanding me.

I'm grateful every time my last year's students come find me to introduce their kindergarten brother, to tell me about their recent birthday or to ask me how third grade is going this year.

Don't believe the hype about our divided country.  There is a lot of connection too.

We the people

There is no accounting for where third graders get their information or how it morphs in their minds to be real.  

Yesterday in my reading group, one of the boys said that he'd heard if Trump won, everyone who is brown would have to go back to their country.  Most of the children in the room were brown, including the speaker.  They looked at each other wide eyed, then they looked at me.  One boy held up his hand and said, "But I'm brown."

I said, "That's not going to happen!"

They wanted to know how I knew.

I said, "Because we won't let it."

After school, since students from all three classes had been in my room at the time, the third grade teachers discussed.  I had been so knocked sideways by the fear in their wide brown eyes that I hadn't been too eloquent.  We decided that our united front would be to explain that the government was bigger than one person.  It doesn't matter who the president is, they can't unilaterally make huge changes.

In high school, Mr. Coates, my government teacher, pointed out to us that usually the president was from one party and the majority in Congress was from another.  Sometimes they were from the same party but then voters would change it in the midterms.  

Our government is meant to be messy.  It's meant to be slow.  It's meant to keep any person or group from having too much power.

I choose to believe in that idea.  I choose optimism and hope.  I choose to believe that whatever happens in this unusual election in this upside down year, the majority of the people will peacefully accept the outcome.  There will be disappointment because about half the country feels at odds with the other half politically, but I choose to trust that most of us will get on with life anyway.  

When it comes down to it, red or blue, we are all we've got.

Not about the election

 Because it's all we're going to hear about for a few days and it's all we've BEEN hearing about.

Yesterday Emma texted that a good get to know you question was what you requested to eat for your birthday and why.  She and her roommate had been talking about it.

She said that she realized that she always wanted spaghetti with browned butter and mizithra cheese because we would go to The Old Spaghetti Factory on our way home from picking up Adam from the airport when he would fly home from London.  She said she was always excited to have him home, even though it meant she couldn't stay up reading as late.

(I always went to bed earlier than she and Adam did....I still do.)

She's a scoundrel, but I love her and I loved remembering that time in our life when we'd have a party every time Adam came home from London.

Alexa, can the election be over already?!?

Mark said his shoes were wearing out.

I said I would order him some new ones on Amazon.

Later in the day, I saw this email:

Alexa is freaky.  Always listening.  I texted Mark we needed a safe word.  He wrote back, "How about, 'Hey Siri'?"

Since she knows my life, my students could ask Alexa who I voted for.  They really want to know.  School teachers = neutrality though.

We've been talking about the election.  I asked them why they thought our votes were private.  

"Because someone might erase your vote if you voted in pencil and they didn't like it."

"Because someone might judge you."

"Because who you voted for might make someone mad or sad or angry with you."

I asked, "Can you still be friends with someone if you disagree with them?"

They all said, "Yes!" like it was a ridiculous assumption to think otherwise.  Let's shout that from the rooftops.

Maybe Alexa can tell the others.

Halloween

Here's my third grade team.  I love these two.  About a month ago, Kate overheard one of her students say that Halloween was cancelled and she decided not on our watch.  Our whole goal for the day was to have fun (and give them obscene amounts of candy).  I think we accomplished our goal.

Here's our administration.  They are awesome.  No one takes Halloween lightly.  No one.

Here is the faculty.

And here are some more of my favorite people in the world.  They are troopers in every sense of the word.  They are diligent hard little workers and they are diligent mask wearers and hand washers.  I asked them multiplication questions and threw candy at them whether or not they got the answer correct.  Some of them even caught the candy (which is impressive because I'm not that good at throwing).

 None of them knew what I was dressed as.  A few of them ventured soccer player.  "Baseball!"  I said, "I'm a baseball player."

One little girl said, "You're a baseball player who throws candy!"

I'll take it.  (I'm also super good at tying shoes.)

***

On actual Halloween, we got a knock on the door and it was our neighbor's cute grandchildren.  We had NO candy; it felt like Halloween had happened the day before.  We had nothing.  Mark found some cashews in the pantry, which had a certain "no" about them.  We turned off the lights and crept around in the dark for the rest of the night.

(We went to the basement and watched It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown which Mark had never seen!  There are holes in that child's education but I'm trying to rectify them.)