Gratitude, Days 13, 14, 15

Day 13
Friday

• NOT going out to Black Friday sales!  Boy, I never thought I'd say that!  I used to love getting up in the dark, getting dressed, quietly waking up my daughter, and going shopping with her that day.  It was never about what we were going to buy, it was about being together.  I guess as you (and your children) get older, the crowds start to outweigh the fun.  Also, being away in Cancun for the last few years on Black Friday, I guess the thrill is gone!  Just no comparison...
• Online shopping!  What did we do before the Internet?  Thanks, Al Gore!
• Getting all our Christmas decorations up, including our new Christmas tree!

Day 14
Saturday

• 66 degree weather in November!  Yeah, you heard that right!  66 degrees... in Omaha, Nebraska!
• Getting up at the crack of dawn to avoid the crowds and buying my Christmas dinner ingredients (told ya' I was gonna'!).  Sam's tradition is lasagna.  I try not to judge...
• Starting a "snowball fight" with the neighbors!  We have great neighbors! 

AttaGirlSays

I used this one:

 

 

I decided to do the same with my co-workers, so I found this, which inspired me to create my own:

 

Click here for a copy without a school name or year

It's a little less wordy, I think I'll use it for my neighbors next year (it's the same, it just has the title "Snowball Fight!" and says "neighbors" instead of "co-workers").

 

Day 15

Sunday

• Successful delivery of our neighbors' "snowballs."  We decided to do three instead of two, just to get the ball rolling... (get it?  "Get the ball rolling?")
• Hot coffee, the paper, and a great documentary about Mel Brooks now that the weather turned frigid again overnight!
• Walking Dead Night!  So sad that it's the midseason finale though...

Throwback Thursday

Christmas in First Grade, 2 years ago.
You forget how much fun you can have with little ones...

 I had so much fun with you all, you made my heart grow three sizes that day!  So grateful for the time I had with you...

Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday
Day 12

So thankful for this day off and spending time with my husband.  Even though it's just the two of us (and sadly, we are NOT in Cancun), I can't think of anywhere else I'd want to be (except maybe Cancun!).  I thank God every day that my path crossed his eighteen years ago.  We started out as acquaintances, developed into friends, and grew into best friends as we supported each other through some very hard times.  We were both a little damaged and bruised, but came to realize that there really are people in the world we can trust, who will treat us kindly, and who will give as much as (if not more than) they are given. No matter what happens, we always have each other, and we remind each other of that each time something happens. 

Thank you, Sam, for standing by me through some very dark days.  I know it wasn't easy, and I appreciate it, and you, more than I can say.  "I'll love you till the day I die..."

And his response to me is always, "Grow old with me, the best is yet to be."

 

Wordless Wednesday: Art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gratitude Days 9 through 11

Monday
Day 9

• A two-day work week!
• No Spelling list/test
• No Reading selection/quiz

Tuesday
Day 10

• Our wonderful secretary, Carol, who opened the school 28 years ago.  Today was her last day with us, and she will be sorely missed.  Thank you, Carol, for fourteen years of kindness, patience, assistance, and most of all, friendship.  You are a very special lady, and I respect and appreciate you so much.  I truly wish you only the best, this is just the beginning of a new adventure!  Love you!
• Not having to pack lunch today, we all contributed to a Thanksgiving/Thankful for Carol feast
• Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and my lovely teaching partner, Denise, who brought it for the kids to watch!  Yay, Denise!
• December Art, done and done!  Parent Christmas gifts too!  What a relief with MAP testing the second day back.
   

Wednesday
Day 11

• My lovely, hilarious, and talented friend, Lisa
• My new haircut, thanks to sweet Lisa
• Having gone shopping for all our Thanksgiving groceries two weeks ago!  One of the smartest decisions I've made in a while.  I think I'll do it for Christmas, too!

Thankful Days 5, 6, 7,8

 I'm doing a few days per post, just going back and updating each day.  That way they won't be too long, and there won't be too many short posts:
Day 5
Thursday

• Getting all of my papers graded
• Getting my gradebook all caught up
• Local, organic honey... good for sore throats!

Day 6
Friday

• TGIF! 
• Spirit Day (Yay, jeans!)
• The weekend is here!

Day 7
Saturday

• Megan and Keith coming over for a Walking Dead marathon
• The day off!
• a freshly washed car

Day 8
Sunday

• Fresh coffee and the paper
• Warmer weather
• Walking Dead night!

Feeling Grateful

Our new Reading Street Curriculum offers us Persuasive Speech in Writing this week.  So, in an effort to continue to teach across the curriculum (for Historical Fiction, we made a Mayflower Journal, writing as someone who crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower, arriving in America, surviving the long, bleak winter, and celebrating by giving thanks), I decided to make a graphic organizer for a persuasive speech on NOT eating turkey for Thanksgiving.  I will read Gracias, The Thanksgiving Turkey by Joy Cowley, and then we will write speeches from the turkey's point of view.  Enjoy!

 Oh yeah, sheepish admission:  I will be having turkey this Thanksgiving!  Sorry, Gracias!