Christmas Break is Here!

We had school on Monday and Tuesday of this week.  On Monday, we had a pretty normal day.  On Tuesday, the kids dismissed at 1:00 and teachers stayed the normal contract time.  So, Tuesday was a pretty busy day. 

1.   Kids opened their presents from me:

I'm like Crystal-I get the kids a scholastic book from the scholastic book club.

2.  Those that earned the movie watched a movie.

3.  We had our Christmas Party

The kids made these adorable ornaments.

The kids decorated me as a Christmas Tree-they thought this was pretty funny!

It was a busy day!

I am now on Christmas Break and was able to enjoy having my mom visit for a couple of days.  We decorated the Christmas Tree and sang Christmas Carols.  We were so into it and talking that when we looked at the clock it was 4 am!!!!  I don't even remember the last time I stayed up past 11 pm, let alone in the early morning!  Needless to say, I loved the time that I had with her!

Here is the decorated Christmas tree:

As you can see, my cat is guarding it.  He did pounce on it one time and knocked it over.  So, we had to do some redecorating.  

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas!!

Christmas Break...Soon?

Happy weekend (and Christmas break to some of you)!

First, an update on my son. We're praising the Lord for good news from the doctor. The MRI showed the ACL was fine. They couldn't really see the problem, so they think it could have been a scar tissue or meniscus issue. Based on how he is doing, they are going to let him rest it another week and try to play basketball again. If he continues to have problems, they will want to go in and clean it up. We're praying that isn't necessary...at least not until basketball is over. 

Second, I have my student gifts wrapped and ready to go!

I always do Scholastic books. They are easy and come in handy if we have extra time to fill on party day.

We have two days this week. 

Monday morning we'll be making our parent gifts. We've planned some fun rotations for the kids in the afternoon. 

Tuesday we are giving them some movie options in the morning. Caroling after lunch. Then it is PARTY time. :-)

I plan to embrace the crazy and survive!

Home Projects Complete w/ Freezer Breakfast Recipes

Happy New Year! 

According to me, this is my last day of break. 

I don't count Saturday and Sunday because I would be off anyway, but my husband disagrees. Ha!

 I thought I'd show you some of my home projects I've been working on--sorry, this chick has truly taken a break from all things school!

First, I updated my cookbook.

Notice this one was from 2010. I had TONS of recipes stuffed in the front cover of the binder and it was past time to get them incorporated into the cookbook, update the table of contents, and reprint them. There are so many good recipes in here that we forget about, so we've decided to cook our way through my cookbook this year (kind of like the movie Julie and Julia). I'd also like to cook through my Pinterest boards... Hee hee.

Part of my motivation for updating the cookbook was because of this second project--our menu board.

 

I bought this at Hobby Lobby, but I really wanted a cork board for my menu board. Keep scrolling and you'll see why.

 My husband cut the cork board down to fit and I bought the clothes pins and stickers (also from Hobby Lobby--I love that place).

 

Ah...much better!

 

Then I got to work typing up all the main dishes from my cookbook and printing them on colored cardstock. 

Off-white is for chicken dishes. 

Tan (looks purple in the pic) is for ground beef dishes. 

Green is for salads and soups. 

Mustard is other meat or no meat dishes. 

And red is for non-cooking nights (leftovers, game day, our parents houses, and whatever for those fend for yourself days).

Project complete! LOVE it!

If you look closely, you'll see I misspelled fettuccine on one recipe. Argh! The perfectionist in me won't let it go, so I'll have to redo. It also has tequila in the title and we are not drinkers, so all in all that recipe title is a fail. Ha!

 I also bought this shelf from Hobby Lobby (Merry Christmas to me) with the four wire baskets. My daughter and I lined them with burlap. She added the tags and ribbon. Now we each have a little "cubbie" for our phones, chargers, keys, sunglasses, etc. I'm so excited about how this is shaping up!

Last project was to stock my freezer with all things breakfast! This seems to be a tradition, as it popped up on my Facebook feed from a year ago on the exact date we did it. LOL!

A new one this year (for the freezer anyway).

No Bake Energy Bites

We love these things--thanks to Instagram I got some feedback on this picture that said they were okay to freeze. Yippee!

Also, new to the freezer for us. 

Blueberry Muffins

The recipe calls these healthy, but they really are just homemade. I did substitute whole-wheat flour for the white flour. As for freezing, hubby tried one today. Popped it in the microwave for 30 seconds and it was melting butter. He approved! 

Waffles

These are just Bisquick waffles. 

My kids love them and I don't have to buy those frozen waffles that taste like paper, so I'm happy!

Breakfast Burritos

I don't follow a recipe...just cook 2 lb sausage, 18 scrambled eggs, 2 lb. hashbrowns (cooked in oven for approx. 20 minutes), cheese, and salsa. Fill tortillas, roll them up, let them cool, and then freeze. Pop them in the microwave for about 90 seconds and you're good to go. I like to thaw them a bit to try and keep the tortillas from getting too hard.

 

 Last, but not least, is Breakfast Cookies. 

Forgot a picture--sorry!

We all love these! 

Someday, I'd like to freeze more lunch and dinner dishes. I think I stick to these because they are fairly inexpensive and it helps our crazy mornings.

I hope you've had a great break! Enjoy what is left of it! ;-)

BRRRR and Christmas Break thoughts!

We had our second winter storm hit here in Kansas this year.  Our last one was over our Thanksgiving break and now here it is again.  We actually didn't get any snow but a lot of ice.  I tried to walk out to my mailbox to get the mail and I believe it took me a long time because I had to walk very slow because I felt like I was ice skating on the sidewalk.  I'm just glad that I can be inside and curl up with a warm blanket today and not have to be out in the cold and ice. 

 

We are still on Christmas Break this week and I saw this and thought how true it was:

 

 

 

I have to say that I do catch myself eating very fast when I sit down to eat even when I'm at home.  I think I forget that I can slow down and actually eat my meal at a normal speed when I'm at home.

 

I hope you are having a great day!

 

 

Christmas Break

I am officially on my Christmas Break!  I am ready for some down time and rest time.  :-)  I was able to enjoy a wonderful night with a dear friend of mine last night.  We went to Botanical Gardens and they have a beautiful display of Christmas lights.  On my way to pick my friend up there was a beautiful sun set!  Check it out!

Here were some pictures of just a few of the lights we saw (there were hundreds of lights....it had to be a lot of work).

I hope if you are on your Christmas break, you are relaxing some and enjoying your time.

Merry Christmas Break!

Merry Christmas break!!!

I'm so excited to be relaxing on my couch as I type this...no work, no housework, no nothing! I saw this on FB and thought...yep, that sums it up for today. ;-)

 

I thought I'd share a few pictures from yesterday, our "Grinch Day" (and we thankfully had early dismissal)!

 

Presents wrapped and ready to go late Thursday night (so much for being ahead...).

We started the day caroling at our local gas station/restaurant (remember we are in a VERY small town--it's the only business in town). 

 

Then we gathered all 50 K-2 kids in the gym (I mean Whoville) for a showing of The Grinch. 

 

 

This is me feeling pretty excited about the short day and upcoming vacation.

 

 

Halfway through the movie, we stopped for some Grinch inspired snacks. Our Title I teacher, paraeducator, and PTO all chipped in to make these cute goodies!

After the movie, we had yummy pizza brought in from previously mentioned store/restaurant. Love pizza parties!

Then our class Christmas party (before dismissing at 12:30--yikes--talk about packing in the FUN).

 We reviewed our CHAMPS expectations and the kids did an awesome job!

 
 

 The generosity of my students (and their families) always overwhelms me this time of year. Our PTO had us fill out a "wish list" this year. It was fantastic! I'm completely stocked up on dark chocolate--I have 1 piece after lunch most every day--along with plenty of my other favorite things. So sweet!

And finally... 

This was me at 4:00 yesterday afternoon. EXHAUSTED!

Enjoy your break!

 

Decorating Gingerbread Man Cookies

We had our extra fun thing and decorated gingerbread man cookies for it.  To get to go to the extra fun thing, the kids have to have all of their work done for the week and have good behavior throughout the week.  The kids were so excited to decorate the cookies (unlike me!)  LOL!  You have to understand that first of all, I am not a baker and second I'm not good with art or decorating things.  Luckily, my co-teacher was nice to bake the cookies for us (I did offer to go to the grocery store and try to find some already baked).  

During our lunch time, my co-teacher explained how to use the frosting and everything to have them decorate the cookie so it would be easy for them and me.  Can you tell that she was concerned about how I was going to handle this extra fun thing???  LOL!  

I was nervous for the moment and then the time came.  The kids had a great time decorating and they were very creative in the way they decorated their gingerbread cookies.  As for me, I survived it, but ended up with frosting in my hair and on my slacks (how does that happen?).  The good thing about it was the kids had fun with it and they got to enjoy their cookie at the end of it all.

We have a busy week ahead with 4 more days until our Christmas break starts.  How many more days for you?  

Have a great week!

First Day of Christmas Break!

Last Friday, was my last day of school before our break.  We ended our week with watching a movie (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) which my co-teacher had for us.  It lasted longer than we had anticipated because we had some technology issues with it.  :-)  But it worked out and the kids liked watching it.  Can you believe that there were actually some kids that had seen it before?  We thought for sure that none of the kids would have seen that one.  

At the end of the day, we had our Christmas Party which consisted of some Christmas bingo and decorating Christmas trees (which was an ice cream cone) with icing.  The kids had a lot of fun!

So, today I officially started my first day on Christmas Break.........my plans were to sleep in and be lazy for the day.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen.  Wouldn't  you know it on the the day that I could actually sleep in I woke up at 3 a.m.  When I woke up I was sure that I would be able to fall asleep but I couldn't.  Around 3:30 a.m. I gave up trying to sleep and decided that I should get up and accomplish some things.  So, I got up and started working.  I did get a lot done (cleaning and organizing my closet and dressers, laundry, etc.).  I am now just deciding that I will take some time to relax.  I'm hoping that my afternoon will consist of a long nap and being lazy.  

I hope you are having a great day today!

Merry Christmas Break!!!

Good morning!

This little cutie couldn't wait for me to open her present! These glasses were included with all the other goodies. Ha!

I finished up my last week yesterday and am sitting at home this morning with nothing planned---woohoo! I suppose I'll be wrapping some presents later and that is as hectic as my day gets. 

This week was so much fun! I tried to keep Monday and Tuesday pretty normal. Then Wednesday afternoon while we worked on parent gifts, we watched a movie. Can you believe I took NO pictures? We used round styrofoam ornaments and turned them into snowmen with earmuffs using pipe cleaners, poms, wiggly eyes, and felt for the scarf. They really did turn out super cute! We also made some foam ornaments using the sticky Lifetouch pictures and glitter to jazz them up a bit.

Thursday was Polar Express day. Need I say more? :-)

Yesterday we took a trip to the store here in town and did our Christmas caroling first thing in the morning. I had a little time to throw in a problem solving activity before our early pizza party lunch, followed immediately by our class Christmas  party. Students were dismissed at 12:30 and then the whirlwind was over!

I will say it was fun to take this guy with me to work yesterday. 

Birthday picture - he turned 15 this month!

Now that he is in high school, he was able to opt out of finals because of his good grades. The kids just love it when a "big kid" comes to school. My para's son also came and they were a huge help--cleaning up the stage (from concert and North Pole for Polar Express Day), playing with the kids at recess, and eating everything in sight! Ha ha! I'm so thankful I work in a place that doesn't mind my kids coming along when it works out. :-) 

Merry Christmas! Enjoy your break!

Cottonball Snowman Craft!

Well, we went back to school for in service day on Wednesday and then kids on Thursday and Friday.  All I can say is that I can really tell that during Christmas break I was extremely LAZY!!  I knew on Wednesday that it was going to be hard for me because I was so tired after the day.  Therefore, by Friday I was really dragging. 

I definitely needed to get back into a routine and was glad that I had just 3 days of the normal routine.  Hopefully, next week I won't be as tired since I have been broken back in.  :-)  I will have to remember this during Spring Break and try to stay more active so I am not so tired when I go back LOL!

Crystal and I decided that we needed to change our bulletin board outside our rooms as soon as we could since we had reindeer on them.  So, we found this cute cotton ball snowman craft and decided to combine our classes and do it as a fun activity Friday afternoon. We found this craft idea at the following and tweaked it a little bit:

http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com/2011/01/s-is-for-cottonball-snowman.html

We ended up running out of time and not everyone finished it.  As soon as we have them all up, I will post a picture of it.  We did have a few finish and realized that we definitely have a variety of snowman and not one of them looks the same.  LOL! 

I know that many of you don't go back to school until the 7th, so I hope you have a great first day back!  Kristi