Christmas classroom

I love setting up my classroom for a little Christmas magic.  There are only 15 school days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and we have to embrace the season!

My students loved finding their names on the tree.  Some of them were surprised to be included.

They said things like, "My name is on there?"

A few of them timidly asked if they could take the names home.  I said, "Yes, right before Christmas.  They are part of your Christmas gift."

Eyes widened and they said, "Part?!?"

You will not find entitled children in a Title 1 school.  They are always grateful.  Always.

Since no one is home to enjoy the Christmas village, Anna set it up on the counter.  I was afraid it would be trouble to keep their hands off of it, but they were very good about just looking.

My favorite thing I was excited to show them was the little elf door.

Every day (sometimes twice a day) a different student's picture will be inside.  That student gets to put an ornament on the advent calendar.  The ornaments have numbers on them which are linked to treats or activities.  Yesterday they all got a Christmas eraser.  Which is more exciting than it sounds when you are 8. 

They (mostly the girls) wrote tiny notes for the elf and put them in the mailbox.  (The lid is removable.)

The elf responded with a note that was in 4 point font.  I for sure couldn't read it but those young whippersnappers with their youthful eyes could.

I read them Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree.  I love Christmas!

Home for the holidays

We packed a lot into a few days, evidenced by how much I was dragging on Saturday night.  It was a wonderful time though.

On Thanksgiving we prepared our feast and sat at a pretty table.

the little rosemary plant in our kitchen window is the gift that keeps on giving

Adam asked me to say the prayer and I said no.  He asked, "Because you'll cry?"

I said, "Yes."

So he said the prayer and I cried anyway.

In an extreme departure from the other women in my family, we did not have a ton of leftovers.  All the kids said that Thanksgiving leftovers are overrated, so I guess we all stood in the correct line in heaven.

In the late afternoon, we went to a movie. (King Richard, we all loved it!)

We came home for pie, which is always a good thing to come home for.

Friday, after doing my part for the economy on Amazon, we decorated for Christmas.  Those boys make quick work of carrying boxes. 

The highlight of decorating is opening the box of Christmas bears.  Anna sat in a chair and was bombarded with both stories about the bears and actual bears.

Each bear is loved and stories are told about them all.  It is the weirdest scrapbook in the world, but it's ours.

They put them in chronological order, Braeden at the helm

Adam and Mark set up the new big tree that is on wheels and lives in Adam's office closet.  It is slick and easy and when they were done, they commented that no one was even mad after the task.  Winning.  Adam and Braeden set up the other tree and no one got mad there either.  We're all growing up so nicely.

Mark has long been my sidekick decorator and he was up on a ladder and arranging things to my specifications and he said, "I think we need a third thing up here," and I couldn't have been more proud.  Emma and Anna helped with the arranging as well and we soon had the house looking festive.  We realized next year at this time, we will have a little one crawling around.  Hurray and also, that will change the decorating situation around here.

We watched the Great British Baking Show finale which had been highly anticipated by all of us (except Mark, he hasn't been watching, plus he said since he can't eat gluten, it's not fun to watch).  Mark hung out with his friends instead.

After, we had more pie and then watched A Mighty Wind.  Anna had never seen it and we all wanted her to watch.

Actually, I told her it wasn't a want, it was a need.

She complied like the sweet girl she is.

Saturday was another pack-a-lot-in sort of day.  I made cookies for pikkujoulu.  They were gluten free and also sort of unrecognizable as their former gluten selves.  Let's just say Paul would not have been handing out a handshake.  I still have lots of Christmases to figure out how to make them though.

We went to lunch and then to BYU for nostalgia for our BYU alumni kids.  Mark walked around in his Utah State sweatshirt which he was wearing coincidentally.  I told him I loved him anyway and I would love him even more if he would drop out of college and stay in my basement forever.

He said no.

When we got home, I folded mountains of laundry (dishes and laundry don't take vacations) and we sat around the fire pit briefly because it works now and it was a sputtering mess when Braeden and Anna were last here.  We brought in the couch cushions (the boys and Adam had moved all the deck furniture earlier in the day. And we decorated the big tree.  

Adam made clam chowder while we did that, because we were also going to have pikkujoulu.

The marathon continued.

We had a lovely meal, sans the bread bowls, but I think they weren't missed (plus I told Emma and Braeden that if anyone mentioned regret that we weren't having bread bowls, they wouldn't get Christmas presents).

The kids opened their new ornaments and Braeden and Anna opened a few presents and we sampled some treats (mostly gluten free, from Trader Joe's).   Everyone gamely ate the gluten free disasters I had made and told me they were delicious.

That's why they are all getting Christmas presents.

So happy together

Everyone together is my favorite.  

Mark and I picked Braeden and Anna up from the airport.  We stopped at WGU to see Emma and Adam, at their request/begging  (from Emma).  They didn't respond to our texts (they were, you know working) so we were stuck in the lobby, which is beautiful, but not the point.

We gave up and went and got breakfast.

Then we circled back and got to see them.  

Everyone except the workers went to my classroom and we decorated for Christmas.  I want my students to walk in and be sort of blown away by the Christmas decorations.  I haven't quite achieved that, but I think I am getting closer.

Emma and Adam came home a little early.  Anna took a nap (they'd been up since 3:30 AM) and I walked downstairs and saw this:

They are playing Mario Kart.  It's just about perfect, down to the messy boxes in the background.  I like our house lived in better than empty.

Anna has a little baby bump and it is adorable.  She cried when she saw Mark because she was so happy to see him.  She cheerfully wants to help with everything and anything and I couldn't love that girl more.

I made macaroni and cheese for dinner and a lot was riding on it.  That is one of Mark's favorite foods.  I selected the gluten free pasta that I thought would work best and I studied a few recipes to get the white sauce right with no flour.

It was good!

Mark was happy and I think I was happier.

After dinner, Adam and I went on a quest for pancetta, like you do.  After three stores, we finally found some.  When we got home, we were sitting at the kitchen table, reading different recipes in preparation for the big day.

Mark wanted us to go downstairs and play Quiplash.  He said, "What are you doing?"

I said, "Preparing.  Thanksgiving dinner doesn't make itself."

Mark said, "Hmmm.  That's always been my experience."

This morning I am the only one awake and I am enjoying the quiet until everyone bursts on the scene (actually Braeden is probably the only one who bursts scenes.  Everyone else will be more sleepy and slow moving).  I am planning some gluten free oatmeal apple muffins for breakfast and then that Thanksgiving dinner that doesn't make itself. (At least not for me.)

Mark

Mark spent the afternoon in my classroom yesterday.  I had the students who weren't finished with their essays work at my desk and Mark held court with the others.

He led them in playing with the marble run which is the role he was meant to play.  Building? Check.

I think they would have followed him anywhere.

I probably would too.

After they went home, I said, "Do you see why I come home tired?"

He said, "Yes, I'm exhausted."

Mark and I are about to head to airport to get our California kids.

There's no place like having my kids home for the holidays!

Getting the party started

Yesterday after school we had turkey bowling, a time honored tradition at our school.  I got a strike my first bowl, flinging a frozen turkey across the cafeteria floor.  Then I lost in the next round.  Since the prize was a (different) frozen turkey, I came to terms with the loss.  Only two of the male teachers were there and they, of course, got up to shenanigans.  All the female teachers, who are used to recalcitrant boys all day anyway, kept them in line.  Stop.  No, you can't shot put the frozen turkey.  Stop.

I was chatting with a second grade teacher and she told me her married daughter and her husband were coming for Thanksgiving and she was "giddy."

I know.

Last night, Adam got tickets to the suite at the Jazz game and Emma and her friend Omar went with us.  We had a good time.  I could get used to being whisked up to the VIP entrance and fed a fabulous meal.  The game was OK too.  During the game, Mark texted that his Tuesday classes were canceled.  Adam is leaving in a few minutes to go get him and then I'm hoping that kid will come to my class.  He'd better not scoot around on my wheeled chair and kick a soccer ball around the room.  That's what he usually does in my classroom.

I am so excited to see him! 

And then Braeden and Anna tomorrow!

My head is buzzing a bit from my late night, but maybe it's just that I'm like my friend Karla.  Giddy.

Weekend

We tackled the holiday grocery shopping.  We are having pikkujoulu next weekend in addition to Thanksgiving so it was an undertaking.  Also, Trader Joe's has gluten free peppermint Jo Jo's.  

Honestly, what more do you need in life?

Adam fit everything into the fridge and freezer and lectured me when I put the (gluten free) pasta on a random shelf in the pantry instead of in the designated spot.

I'm better at organizing the pantry than maintaining an organized pantry.

But don't worry, Adam is on the case....

Saturday, Adam and I were both given Covid booster shots.  I felt fine until the middle of the night when I got chills.  I woke up pretty achy and miserable yesterday morning, but it was short lived and worth it.

Saturday night, before I started feeling awful, Adam and I went to the Carlsons' for dinner.  Anna's parents moved to Utah this fall and they're only 30 minutes away in Herriman and that is wonderful!

They are our kind of people.  We immediately became friends when we met that first time and we truly love spending time with them.  It's fun to talk about our kids--particularly the ones we have in common.

We compared notes on our news from them and feel the exact same tension about wanting to give them everything and wanting to let them figure it out for themselves.

Adam told them all about the finer features of the strollers and carseats he's been researching.  We're going to share a granddaughter!  I'm so glad we're friends!

We talked to Braeden and Anna and Mark in a FaceTime call on Sunday afternoon and Mark was taking a walk around campus while we talked and Braeden was moving his phone all around their kitchen while he was getting his lunch ready and I told them to stop and hold still.

They didn't so I moved away and just listened.  I was getting carsick.

Later I was sitting across the room and Adam was holding the laptop.  I had my glasses off and I couldn't tell which boy was which.  They look a lot alike when they're blurry.

I love those boys even when they won't hold still (pretty much their whole lives)!  And my girls!  We'll all be together in a few days!

Last night we watched the latest installment of the Great British Baking Show, then I called Braeden and Anna to discuss because I had theories.

Braeden realized we'll all be together to watch the finale!  It's the little things that make life grand.

Grateful Friday

Dominating my gratitude today is thinking about next week when all my darlings will be under one roof! I am excited!  Everyone is!  I want everything to be perfect food-wise and I want the house to be in tip top shape, but then I think, "Who cares?"  We will be together and that matters most.  Also, these people have seen me at my worst so I don't need to maintain any charade of put togetherness.

I'm also grateful about small things like my heated steering wheel that makes me happy every morning.  I love that thing.

Speaking of warm hands, I have had morning traffic duty this week, before school.  I have spent the time chatting with one of my students from last year.  It's been cold this week and yesterday I took her out some gloves.  Just those cheap stretchy ones.  I told her she could have them and she threw her arms up in the air, exultant. 

She's probably lost them by now if she's anything like she was last year, but I love being able to help these sweet kids any way I can.  Their joy is mine and I'm grateful for the chance.

Yesterday we had the reward (finally, it was hard fought) of a fort party.

They could each bring one stuffed animal and one blanket.  I confiscated everything at the start of school and piled it on a top shelf they couldn't reach.  They all promised they wouldn't get distracted by their stuffed animals, but this is not actually my first rodeo.

At the appointed time, they made a tremendous mess in the classroom.  There were tears from students who didn't know where to make their fort.  There were boys running around throwing their stuffed animals at each other and there were students collaborating and creatively figuring out how to make forts.

This picture pretty much sums up the energy.

these smart girls enlisted some of my clips

And this, they are all tucked inside:

the reading books are heavy it turns out

It definitely left me with a never again feeling.

But...when they went home, I saw this.

It seriously takes so little to make them happy.  I'm grateful every day I get to be around such appreciative, rambunctious, creative little souls.