Sunday Night!

I love Sunday night when I know I don't have to go to work the next morning! Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but I am loving being home and being on vacation. I'm staying up extra late on a Sunday night...Yippeeee!
Christmas has just begun for me. I'm amazed how quickly some people take down their trees and put away the stockings. I like to keep those stockings up just in case someone wants to slip in a little more chocolate.I have exactly three ornaments to take off the tree this year. I put up five. Five minus two...Yep that's three. What happened to two of the five? This...

She wants to be the star! If she keeps trying to eat the bulbs she just
may light up....ugh!

The day school starts anew in 2014, I'll be having a class Christmas party since ours was planned on a day that ended up as a Snow Day. There are still plenty of reminders of Christmas in my room. This was my very favorite Christmas craftivity.

 My friend Kimberly shared THIS link to make these. I cut out the silhouettes and the kids carefully laid them down on clear contact paper. Then we carefully placed scraps of different colored tissue paper onto the exposed sections of contact paper. Finally, we covered the back with another piece of contact paper and cut the paper close to the outside of the silhouette. I love the way they catch the sun and I'm thinking we'll make penguins for January using only cool colors of tissue paper.

All but  of my parent Christmas gifts made it home. I sent them home a day before our Snow Day, so they wouldn't get mixed up with all the other trimmings! These little snowmen lit up our classroom for several days before being wrapped and taken home with pride. I saw this activity somewhere on Facebook... I wish I could remember where it was to give credit.

 I cut a hole in the back of the milk jug big enough to fit a strand of 100 Christmas light bulbs through. I had the students count each bulb as they stuck it through the hole to make sure there were actually 100 lights! We used sanitizing wipes to rub off any marks on the sides of the container. To keep the cardstock paper eyes and nose on, I used scrapbook sticker adhesive.
It worked great! We were able to light them all up at the same time. I was thrilled when one of my owlets observed that we had 1,200 lights on at the same time. I miss those little owlets, but I'm looking forward to a few more days of long morning coffees and being in my PJs until noon!

Joyful!

I have been overwhelmed lately by joy! I find it in what I think of as the usual places. The smiles from my students bring me joy. Your comments bring me joy. My "real" children bring me joy. It just seems to be contagious this time of year. Earlier this week I heard one of my owlets say, "I've got the Christmas spirit!" to one of his classmates. He does, too! He can't sit still and seems to be dancing most of the time. He spontaneously erupts into Christmas carols and before long he's got the whole class singing "Jingle Bells"! I probably shouldn't be pleased with this kind of behavior, but by golly, I want to join in with the caroling, too!

I miss the days when my own children were filled with the wonder and awe of Christmas. Not one of them is a believer any more and it's hard to think of new and fresh ways to surprise them with the little things. My youngest daughter is in her final year at the school where I teach, and confessed to me that she just couldn't get into the Christmas Spirit. I realize that for me the joy comes from making the magic come alive for others. Together we brainstormed and came up with a way that she could bring magic into the lives of others.

Enter under appreciated young ladies that provide childcare at our school. They are the sweetest kindest girls who would love to one day have a classroom of their own. They get the students at the end of the day when they are worn out from trying so hard to follow the rules. One sweet girl in particular is a hero to me! She love those kids and tries all kinds of different ways to interact with some pretty big handfuls. My daughter and I have decided to leave some secret surprises for her in different places. We have a week to give her some fun items that we found at Bath and Body Works and Target! She might know my handwriting, so we'll use these labels to disguise who they are from! Help yourself by clicking HERE if you'd like a copy of these for your own.( I have printed them out on Avery 8163 labels!) There is no better way to find joy than by thinking of others!

Today for 12-12-12 we had a joyful blast! We decorated Christmas trees with 12-12-12! 12 marshmallows, 12 stars and 12 chocolate chips were glued onto sugar cones...Yum! We read 12 books and thought of 12 math problems that equaled . . . 12! 

Our 12-12-12 Forest! These kids showed such restraint!

Is my house ready for Christmas? NO! Is my Christmas shopping done? NO Is the Christmas baking done? NO! Am I in the Christmas spirit? YES! Why? Because I found the secret to joy! It isn't looking out for my own pleasures. It isn't finding that just right gift. It isn't finding the right card to send or being a Secret Santa! "It" came in a manger and is God made flesh to bring light and joy into the world.