Monday, 11/26/12

Hi! I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I was able to spend time with my parents, which is time that I always cherish, so for me it was perfect. I did some great indulging and some great shopping. What more could a girl ask for? ;)  As difficult as it was to hear that alarm go off this morning, it sure was nice to see the kids. I think this is the first time each year that we all realize how very much we really like each other. That old saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" seems to come true after having not seen each other for such a long time. My heart definitely grew fonder (and dare I say, by some of their actions, the kids' did too)!! <3

Like moths to fire, the kids came in to class this morning immediately noticing something that even I had not, despite that I'd been at school for over an hour. A little elf came to our classroom and it appears, will be with us through Christmas. He left a note saying that he will be in our classroom each day and then go to report to Santa each night. He warned that we are not to touch him or he'll be forced leave, and he asked that we give him a name before the day was over because that would be the first question he'd get upon returning to the North Pole tonight. The children suggested 35 various (and VERY different) names. The initial vote resulted in a four-way tie. The names were narrowed down to Elphie (my favorite due to my addiction to the musical "Wicked," if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about), Magic Man, Elfster and Mitchell Jr. We took a re-vote and Mitchell, Jr. won. I opted to call him M.J. for short. I figure the kids can have their homage to me, and I'll have mine to a basketball great. Love me some #23!!!!! =)

Here is M.J. and the note he left us. He was sitting on top of the Smartboard this morning. Tricky little elf!

Last Monday when I was here for parent/teacher conferences, I was able to get some work done in the classroom. One of the things I did was decorate our classroom for the holidays. It was fun for me to hear the kids discover the decos throughout the day today. I hope you'll hear about them, but if not, I'll post some pics over the next few weeks.

Lastly, how can I close without mentioning yesterday's Bears game? (and it will be the ONLY game I mention from over break.....ahem) I know that people are very harsh and critical of Jay Cutler. I am the Queen of the Underdogs, so I've always had faith in him-----and I hope that any of the fair-weather Cutler fans will be able to look back at the events of the past few weeks and see that he deserves some respect. I don't know the intricacies of football---only the big (obvious) stuff, so I can readily admit that someone could take me to task over stats, etc.  but here's what I know----when the guy is out, the team loses (and BIG), but when he's in and protected, I get to add to the WINS side of my classroom graph. I like adding wins, so I like it when he is healthy and plays.

Well, I think that's all of my rambling for one night. I have remote start on my car (greatest investment EVER), but I'm not in the habit of starting it yet, so I guess I have to go and face the cold leather. Wish me luck. (I'm so pathetic, eh?) LOL!!!!

Have a good night!