Let Christmas Break Begin...

                                                     After we clean up this mess!

 

I am the luckiest person in the world to be able to spend each and every school day with these 24 kids.  Our Christmas party was a blast!

 

Santa came to interview each student in my class and Carley's class for his open Elf Position.  Don't worry, this is not my classroom with bare walls.  This is an extra room Santa used for interviewing purposes only.

 

This is Carley right here in the red sweater.  Santa had them sing "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in this particular interview.  In other interviews they had to do push-ups.  My little Cody even got to demonstrate some Tae-Kwon-Do moves on Santa's elf.  Cody told Santa he was capable of being his personal body guard.  Santa was impressed!

 

Check this little guy out in the front.  He came to school completely decked out as an elf.  He even had a light up necklace and bells on his shorts.  Very cute!  Needless to say, he was chosen!  Doesn't he look like the perfect elf?

We are all ready for a 2-week break.  I have to admit I am going to miss these little buggers.

A Sad Day...

 

Our sweet dog Kodi passed away yesterday very unexpectedly.  We will truly miss him as part of our family.  We know it was such a blessing to have him.

 

We will miss you buddy!

Snow, Snow, and More Snow...

 

We woke up to a dusting of snow on the first day of December and my first thought was, "Oh, how nice that we get to have snow on the first day of the Christmas season."  That was then.  It has snowed everyday since then!!!  Some days it  has just been light flurries, other days, quite a bit more.

 

We had our first "Snow Day" from school last Monday.  It was beautiful and such a nice gift to be able to stay in our warm home and get things done.  Christmas decorations now adorn our home because of that day.  The kids played outside from dawn to dusk, literally!!!

 

This was dusk!!  They showed up occasionally when they got hungry or needed a "warm-up" break.  Needless to say, the dryer was in full-force this day trying to keep everything dry and warm. 

 

 

My Hero!!!!

Well, we only  have three snow days this school year.  We usually don't start using them until mid-January and we have always had five in the past.  Another storm is headed our way tonight and when my students left on Friday they said, "We will see you Tuesday, maybe Wednesday."  I think we are going to be going to school in June this year to make up for all our bad weather.  Isn't it just beautiful though?  I guess it would be when you are the one taking pictures and not shoveling it!!!!

Here's to a great start to the holiday season!!!

The Master and His Pupil

 This young man has tried for many months to solve his rubics cube.  He has searched online for the solution, he has asked others for help, but there is only one that has been able to break through this barrier and teach like no other!

 I loved watching this process!  The master being so patient during his instruction, the pupil so intent on learning this puzzle.

And he has gotten to the point where he lets us mess it up as good as we can, and he can always fix it.  Thank you Master Mark!  After Mark left, the rubics cube got messed up and we thought we might just have to fly Uncle Mark out here to save the day.  But he got it after much perseverance.  Thanks for the memories Uncle Mark!

Express Yourself...

 

Should I encourage this?  She actually went to high school like this!

 

Luckily it was crazy day, but odds are she was the craziest of them all.  She does have talent when it comes to mixing and matching.

 

That's my girl! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

She loves to hunt with her dad.  They got this fine gobbler last weekend in the woods behind our house, she was thrilled!!!

I love this time of year when the leaves change and that crisp feeling is all around.

Full camo.  This is what she looked like when she bounded into my bedroom last weekend to tell me she got a turkey.

Our backyard right before all the trees are barren for the winter months.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family.

Hodgepodge...

Taylor shot the ball down to the hole and discovered that something was clogging the hole for the other balls to come out.  She stuck her hand in and kept pulling ball after ball after ball out of this tiny hole.

Taylor and Carley had some extra fun one night and she came down the stairs with various designs on her nose drawn beautifully by Taylor.

The beautiful Mardi Gras masks.

"Now I Can't Smile..."

For the next 18 months Dr. Scott will correct his over bite.  At the moment it is strictly a soft diet as he adjusts to the additions in his mouth.  What do you mean you can't smile now?  You look very distinguished!

With the Right Hat, Nothing Else Matters...

                            That pretty much sums it up!

We really are here!

We had to take one last summer get-away before the winter months hit.  So we headed up north to the Lake Erie islands for the weekend, did you even know there were islands on Lake Erie?  Neither did we!  We left the mainland on this fairy.This is the mode of transportation on the Lake Erie Islands.  Everyone drives a golf cart or rides a bike, it is awesome!!!

There was an amazing field of sunflowers we had to capture for mom.

 We enjoyed great seafood, the chocolate factory, putt-putt golf, mining for ore, and a fabulous time as a family in a little golf cart.  Taylor even got to pose with Lucille Ball!

Maybe we will take you there when you visit us in Ohio.