Gimme a Break!

First Grade ready to board the Polar Express!

We did it! We made it to Christmas Break! The school calendar is a weird one this year, forcing us to teach the Monday and Tuesday of Christmas week. Fortunately, all we had planned was our holiday party (snowman style!) and Polar Express, so we survived.

I love my snowman party. This is the third year I've done it, and it is always a hit. The kids wrapped each other (and their parents) up in toilet paper to "dress like a snowman", we had melted snowman ice cream sundaes, complete with pretzel "sticks" for arms and candy corn "carrot" noses. They also used my indoor snowball fight set to go snowman bowling in the hallway and made a snowman ornament using their handprint.

On the last day, I had everyone clean out their desks (no weird surprises this year!) and passed out brand new supplies... there's nothing like a fresh box of crayons to start the new year! Then we settled in to watch the Polar Express in our pajamas, drank hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream, and generally just tried to survive until dismissal. I busted my butt to get report cards done, papers filed, things ready for January, and I was ready to blow outta there 10 minutes after the bell rang! It's time to get this holiday started!

Nope, not a hair cut.

And let me tell you, I need a break. These last two weeks have done me in. Our kitchen sink started leaking. Matt thought he fixed it, but it started leaking again. We ordered a new mattress but then needed a different box spring, leaving us with a bedroom full of mattresses stacked around but nothing to sleep on. Then there was the Lice Incident. Which, after an immediate do-not-pass-go-do-not-collect-200-dollars visit to the Lice Ladies and eight straight hours of vacuuming and laundry, has resulted in me just feeling paranoid. But things are turning around. We got a new disposal courtesy of a very nice plumber. The old mattress was hauled away by a creepy hope-he's-not-a-serial-killer guy and the new box spring arrived, leaving me with a lovely new bed. Ninety percent of the presents are purchased, fifty percent are wrapped. Book club party, small group party, neighbor dinner have all been crossed off the to-do list. I got my pedicure for the wedding. It's going to be a whirlwind holiday, but we're going to make it. And it's going to be awesome!

Book club has become a family affair!