As I sit here on my first official day of Christmas Break (hello there, bed and TV), I am reflecting on how quickly this first half of the school-year has flown by! I guess since we are all in school this year and have so much going on, time has just hopped by in the blink of an eye. Speaking of all of us being in school, I'll start with my Clairy's very first school pictures. Isn't she lovely??
We have had a WONDERFUL school year so far, and everyone has adjusted and had so much fun!! Here's just a few of the "school-y" things we've been up to for the last 4.5 months:
Grandparents' Day
We always enjoy having the grandparents come and eat with us for Grandparents' Day. This is strategically planned to coincide with the Book Fair, so that the kids can beg to grandmommies to buy them $50 worth of books that they'll never read.
Hispanic Heritage Festival
We had our Hispanic Heritage Festival in September. This is always one of the best (and most delicious) times of the year. Home-made tamales from this festival will change your life:
Making crafts:
Hanging out with the mariachi band:
Playing games (they played the cake/bake-walk about 236 times):
Ella and her second-grade friends even graced us with a Spanish serenade!!
September Saturdays
Nora is in the chorus this year (that she's been dying to be in since kindergarten), and they had the opportunity to perform at the "September Saturdays" festival at the Douglas County Courthouse. So fun to watch the kids perform (sidenote - we've had a TON of Christmas performances lately, but those deserve a blog on their own) :)
The Random Bird
So, about a month ago, the third grade teachers and kids were out at recess minding our own business. All of a sudden, this random cockatiel comes flying out of nowhere, and finds a new home.....ON MY SHOULDER!!!
Like seriously, he WOULD NOT LEAVE. When I tried to "shoo" him away so I could take my students back in the building, he just returned to the other shoulder.
Some great teacher-friends and my student-teacher got my kids in the building for me so we could get animal control to come and help us. While we waited, I let him chew on my phone for a bit....
And he even took a SELFIE!!!
You will be happy to know that animal control helped to find an owner for him, and he is now living happily with other cockatiel friends. #myspiritanimal
Clairy's First Fieldtrip
I was so lucky that I got to attend Claira's very first fieldtrip!! We had a wonderful time visiting the Pumpkin Patch!!
First time riding a school bus!!
Decorating scarecrows with cousin, Matthew:
Milking cows:
And rolling balls....
Chattin' with "Grandmommie Carol" :)
These two...
On the tractor hayride!!
The hayride dropped us off at the patch so the kids could pick out pumpkins:
Feeding the animals...
Hiking through the woods (one hand holding Matthew's, the other hand twiddling her hair.....typical Claira):
Stopping for a funny photo-op with Mother Goose:
What's the kids' favorite part of the fieldtrip?? The playgroud. As if they don't play on one every single day.
Mining for gems:
Bubble Fun!!
Helping to stuff the classroom scarecrow:
Playing in the corn-filled tent (so genius)!!
Digging for fossils before we head back to school:
I had such a great time with Claira on her first fieldtrip!! Such a fun-filled day!
This is how she looked within 3 minutes of boarding the bus back home. WORN OUT!!
Dress-Up Days & Projects
We've had many dress-up days for Red Ribbon Week and Christmas!! I couldn't get a picture of all of them, but I was able to get a few: like "Mustache Day." We mustache you to be drug-free!!
And Pajama Day, my fav!! Roll out of bed, go to work.
Claira was assigned her first school project: turn a pumpkin into a book character:
Of course, she chose......
I loved this project so much that I made my third-graders do it (but they had to provide a book report with it):
A few weeks later, she was asked to "disguise a turkey" so it wouldn't be eaten for Thanksgiving. She chose to disguise her's as Ella!!
Nora and Ella have made some beautiful projects in art camp to celebrate both Dia de Los Muertos and Christmas:
Ella had to make a Christmas project for Spanish to explain her holiday traditions. I know it's so hard to read, but all of her explanations are in Spanish:
Claira made us her own little project out of her fingerprints. So precious:
While I love all of these projects, my favorite is the little red bird that my Ella painted me to represent my little visitor that I see almost on a daily basis. One of my favorite gifts of all time:
We also made some "edible projects" - Nora and her class made some ecosystem deserts:
My class made some gingerbread Parthenons while studying ancient Greece :)
Back to the dress-up days: Book Character Day!! My little scarecrow and bunny!!
Kenny G and I: "The Day the Crayons Quit"
Book Character Parade kicked off by our wonderful administration and.....Michael Jackson??? Wait, was Michael Jackson a book character???? :) :) :) heeheehee!!
Sweet babes in the parade!!
My first time ever using a selfie-stick, and I used it at the perfect time. Sra. Gist and I were reading the kids "The Day the Crayons Quit" and she was laughing so hard that I didn't know if she'd get through it. That book is HILARIOUS!!
Each day last week was some type of Christmas Dress-Up day. I really tried hard to win the ugly-sweater contest by sporting my 5th grade, handmade, puff-painted sweatshirt. But, I simply can't compete with Coach Hubbard who has won for like the 103rd year in a row. This year, he graced us with "Crossfit Santa," equipped with garland and two turtle doves:
Finally, one project that my students had was to write to President Obama about our concerns for the nation (of course, I made my own girls participate in this, also). They were SOOOOO excited that the president wrote them back, and even sent signed pictures of his family and dogs!!
Teachers' Night Out
Right before Halloween, the teachers headed out for a little Mexican food and the "Dark Woods" at Sleepy Hollow. Such a FUN NIGHT!!
We were skerd in those woods!!!!
We also had a our annual Christmas party recently, but as always, what happens at the Moore Fun Lounge stays at the Moore Fun Lounge. So much food and laughs and "JuJu on that Beat:"
Beta Club Induction
So, my Nora was invited to join the Beta Club this year for her grades, work ethic, and character. Made this Mama SUPER PROUD!!
We got to attend a beautiful Beta Club induction ceremony:
Such outstanding kids. BFFs since birth:
So very proud of my girl. All that she is, all that she has overcome, and all that she will be!!
Christmas Fun
We've had so much Christmas fun and performances (blogs to follow), and last Friday was our class parties. I couldn't be there for Nora's and Ella's parties since I was with my students, but they told me they had a WONDERFUL time. Santa came to have breakfast with our students, and he was just the jolliest Santa around. Thank you, Old St. Rio, for making our party so special:
I'm also grateful that Grandmommie got to attend Claira's and Matthew's Christmas party, pajama style:
And there you have it. Such a wonderful, fun-filled, and BUSY first-half of our school year. I'll leave you with one of the many songs that Claira has learned in Pre-K this year. It's a family-affair:
Cheers to school shenanigans!!
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