Holiday Happenings

So here are a few of the things that happened in December...

Girl Scout Ornament Workshop

Violet's Girl Scout troop took part in an ornament making workshop. The whole event was run by older Girl Scouts. I'm always so impressed when we attend these events. The idea that Violet is a part of an organization that encouraged girls to take on challenges and be leaders... it's cool! The troop is great this year - cookie season is ramping up and the girls are saving up for an overnight cabin camp-out at an official Girl Scout camp. 

One of my family goals this December was to do a faithful job following the advent calendar. I'd say we completed at least 75 percent of the activities! One night the activity was to make hot chocolate and go look at Christmas lights!

Taking our hot chocolate on the road!

Another great part of this winter break has been watching the girls play together. Violet can be so creative and inspire Annie to all sorts of imaginative games. They rigged a Halloween candy bucket on a rope and dropped it over the side of the stairs as a makeshift basket. They use that to play some game called "invention" that I haven't quite figured out the point of yet... Other favorite toys and games include legos (Violet is quite the master builder) and their Hatchimals. When I can tear them away from technology, that is.

Sweet girls!

Elf Violet!

I was blessed to be able to go to Violet's Christmas party at school this year. One of the great ironies of being a teacher is that while my own child is just a few steps away, that doesn't make it any easier to actually do classroom things with her. But pulling the strings to find a substitute for a few minutes was worth the effort.

Merry Christmas from First Grade!

Snow (Half) Day!

You know how the weather guys are always making a big deal about "potential" snow here in the South, and then it never amount to anything? They will claim a weather situation is on the way, the news hypes it up, everyone rushes out to buy their usual bread and milk, school closings start scrolling on the television, and then it all amounts to nothing and everyone on social media starts making fun of us for overreacting once again?

Well, when the murmurings of potential snow started cropping up earlier this week, no one really paid attention to it. Even the official email to school staff on Thursday was "you might want to consider being potentially prepared for possibly moving into our weather plan" but was followed with a "we're definitely not cancelling school though so don't get excited about anything" (paraphrasing entirely my own). However, not one to hedge my bets, I did suggest to the students that they put a spoon under their pillow and wear their PJs backwards. You know, just in case.

Friday morning, I checked outside and sure enough, it was just rain. Recess rolls around and still, just rain. Not ten minutes later, my phone blows up - look outside! Snow! I immediately called for silence in the room and then whispered to my little friends, "Get your jackets, it's snowing!" 

Bumped into Violet on the playground, enjoying the snow!

We got the official email from the county, saying "yes, there's snow but nothing is sticking and the roads aren't freezing so we're in this for the long haul and good luck trying to accomplish anything vital with your kiddos today." The kids enjoyed a snowy ten minutes before we headed to the cafeteria. My students have just all made it to the table and a new message comes blaring over the radio... The powers that be have changed their minds and we're having an Early Release. Whoo hoo!

Although there was a slight problem. Legally we have to feed all our students lunch. And during a regular early release schedule, everyone will already have their lunches picked up by 11. Now it was almost 11 and lunch was just starting! The cafeteria had basically one hour to feed over 1100 students. God bless those women. Then teachers started scrambling to call parents, figuring out transportation for all the kids scheduled for afterschool activities. God bless our admin. I must have had eight people stop by my room, making sure I had heard back from everyone, making sure we were good to go.

Since the day was a wash, I threw in the towel and went for broke, passing out the elf hats I'd bought for all my students to get us in the holiday spirit, as if they needed any help! We wrote letters to Santa, asking questions about life at the North Pole. We packed up and loaded buses in the quickest dismissal I've ever seen, then proceeded to hunker down and wait until buses reported back so we could leave as well.

Loading up and heading home in the snow!

Someone was excited for her snow day!

By the time we left the school, snow was starting to stick.

Talk about perfect timing. Friday is the perfect time to have snow - we had the rest of the day to enjoy it without a) having to deal with online learning and b) having to worry about going in the next day. Instead the girls got to run around outside, start building a snow wall (whatever that is!) and I got an extra three hours in my day. And let me tell you what a gift that is! In those three hours, I managed to get all my papers graded and school work done, I got to enjoy coffee with my husband, I felt relaxed enough to enjoy decorating the gingerbread house with the girls, I made a batch of cookies to share, I even started wrapping presents! We had dinner with the neighbors in a snowy repeat of our very first neighbor dinner together, now almost eight years ago. And the snow just kept falling! I've never seen snowflakes so huge and wet. And due to the fact that no one had really hyped this weather event, no one had really expected it to actually come through, made it feel all the more magical.

My snow bunnies!

Nice job, ladies!

Look How We've Grown

Oops, January is over

Snow day!

So when I said my word of the year was going to be "intentional" that clearly didn't apply to keeping this place updated regularly, since I've posted all of one time in January and we're already into February. Oh well. Fail. Thing is, I don't actually feel that guilty about it. I guess I'm just not feeling the writing juice these days. But since I had to hope on the laptop to finish something for school before the work week kicks off again, I figured I'd mosey on over to this little space and show you what happened earlier this month.

We had a snow day.

Hahahahaha! The picture above looks fairly legit, but if I zoom out, you quickly see the "snow" is rather paltry. All the promise of the Blizzard of 2017 quickly turned into a rain-freeze scenario that left a crunchy layer of ice over the grass, rather than the fluffy whiteout the entire state was hoping for. Oh well. It was a day to stay home and snuggle in our pajamas.

Just kidding. It's not really snow.

Of course, we don't actually get snow days anymore. Anytime our county closes due to weather, we have an online learning day. We teachers post lessons, the kids have assignments, I even have to hold "office hours" where parents can get in touch with me. We've had an online learning day or two every year since we adopted this new policy, and it gets smoother every time. I had a grand total of one parent email me.

Gus helps out with online learning day.

Other January highlights include... Our country getting a new president and the general sense of unease that has pervaded ever since, me getting to the point of probably needing to get off social media for a while and deciding I should probably only get my news from the BBC from now on, and the sense of disbelief and just about every headline I read these days.

Oh, and I turned 36. And Violet had her first grade school concert, featuring songs about the ocean. That little noodle (top row, third from left) was so cute during rehearsals, but then completely clammed up in front of a cafeteria's worth of parents watching. Sweet thing.

First Grade Concert!

Now we're just waiting for the Superbowl to start, ready to cheer on our Atlanta Falcons! 

The Wedding! Part 2

The bridal par-tay! 

Then it was wedding time! We took so. many. pictures. before the ceremony. (Note to all brides, please take your pictures ahead of time. You can have a romantic "first look" and all that, but for the love of your bridal party, guests, and anyone under the age of six, get those pictures out of the way!) Virginia asked all her bridesmaid to choose a black dress that made them feel beautiful to wear in the wedding, and the boys all wore silly socks under those austere suits of theirs. The pictures will be beautiful but man, was it chilly! The temperature dropped 20 degrees overnight, into the low 50s. We would huddle in our hoodies, then throw everything off to smile for the cameras. Matt surprised me with a cup of coffee when we all reunited at the photo site - it's true love, people. We finally wrapped things up and boarded the trolley back to the church for more pictures, followed by a very special blessing from both fathers, before the guests finally arrived and it was showtime!

My beautiful mother and I, waiting backstage.

Funny story. In the room where we were waiting for go time, we had thoughtfully been provided with a basket of snacks. Annie picked a bag of popcorn and wandered around the room, munching. At this point it was about quarter to five on a no-nap day where she had spent the majority of her time being told to alternately get in the picture and smile or get out of the way. The other flower girl had a total meltdown and I was worried it would set my girls off but neither of them seemed to notice. Annie just kept munching that popcorn. Well, it was finally time to line up for the processional, and still Annie has that darned bag of popcorn! I tried taking it from her, only to have my fingers nearly bitten off. I tried getting her to eat faster. I tried asking if I could eat some for her. Even Virginia tried her best, to no avail. Well, the music started and as I took my turn to march into the church, I had to leave it all in Grandma's hands.

I reached the front of the sanctuary and turned just as the maid and matron of honor are also taking their places. The previously crying flower girl made her way with no tears in sight. Now all that was left was my girls, carrying their signs that read "Uncle Lukas..." and "here comes your bride!" From the foyer I hear a loud and insistent "No! MY popcorn!" I see Lee Anne throw her hands up and send them on their way, Annie clutching her sign in one hand and that bag of popcorn in the other! (Hey, at least the black and white bag color-coordinated!)

The ceremony proceeded without a hitch until there was just one last thing to do. After the pronouncement of husband and wife, the girls were supposed to flip around their signs to now read "Mr. Fortunato" and "Mrs. Fortunato" and follow the bride and groom out of the church. As the final blessing is being given, I glance to the pew where they have been parked with Grandma and Grandpa and Matt's dad points at Annie... totally and completely asleep, Minnie Mouse underwear flashing the world, practically snoring in her exhaustion! But not to fear, Grandpa also motions to Violet, who grins and holds up both signs, one in each hand. Perfectly on cue, she hopped into the aisle just when she was supposed to. We walked out of the church, straight onto the trolley, and hightailed it to the reception. (I did have Matt text his parents to confirm that they would bring Sleeping Beauty to the reception since she missed her trolley ride!) Then we just partied the night away!

Look who I bumped into in the lighthouse!

What a great place for a party!

The view from the top (and the spot of the proposal).

She finally woke up!

Wedding selfie!

You know it's a party when the Chick-fil-a cow shows up!

The Wedding!

My brother got married! Honestly there could be 27 more exclamation points after that sentence and it still wouldn't feel like enough. Lukas and Virginia tied the knot on December 30 on St. Simons Island, her hometown. It was beautiful. It was incredibly well-planned and executed (there was a 15-page master schedule that covered the week, broken into 15-minute increments... these people were serious). There was so much smiling and laughing and praying. And I am more than thrilled to call Virginia my new sister.

The dawning of the Big Day.

We wrapped up Christmas in Peachtree City and booked it for St. Simons on Thursday morning, followed closely by Matt's parents, who were also invited to the wedding and would be acting as our stand-by babysitters (having both Matt and I in the wedding was going to make it difficult to wrangle our little flower girls so I was thrilled to have the grandparents along!) It monsooned on us basically the entire way to the island. We rolled in just in time to check into the hotel, change, and head to the rehearsal, or what I called the "listening and following directions" time. Given the circumstances, the girls did an awesome job. Violet asked me to run through her instructions over and over as we were in the church, making sure she knew exactly what to do the next day. Typical Annie just ran around and charmed everyone. We were given lovely gifts of matching black hoodies with our monograms on them - adorable! The girls loved them immediately - their first monograms! We headed to the rehearsal dinner and listened to stories from the bridal couple's nearest and dearest. Annie was escorted home by grandma and grandpa while Violet made fast friends with the other flower girl and hammed it up in the photo booth.

Look at these beautiful girls! (Every time I want to chop off Annie's hair, I see a picture like this and be still my soul and scissors...)

Quick, while she's actually looking at the camera!

The wedding kiddos!

Love it when Stephanie makes it out from CA!

The next day, after a quick run on the beach (with strict instructions NOT to go into the water!), the ladies of the wedding party arrived at the Belt residence for hair, makeup, hoodies, pictures, the works. This was the start of the hurry up and wait portion of the events. I was worried about my kiddos... waiting is not always the easiest. But they entertained themselves well. For what could have been a stressful time, everyone was remarkably calm. Videographers roamed around, the photographers flitted in and out, everyone just did what they needed to do, I attempted to be helpful and stay out of everyone's way.

Virginia and her girls!

Getting her hair done like a big girl!

Annie, continuing her trend of not looking at the camera.

The countdown to making Aunt Virginia our real AUNT Virginia!

Finally it was time to board the trolley (Violet made me google a picture so she could understand exactly what a "trolley" was) to take us to the St. Simons lighthouse, scene of the wedding reception and pre-wedding pictures. Overnight the temperature had dropped 20 degrees, meaning we were looking at outdoor photos by the ocean in low-50 degree weather. But the sun was shining and we were counting on adrenaline and love to keep us warm!

Merry Christmas!

Breakfast with Santa

Breakfast with Santa... and the principal! 

A couple weekends ago, we engaged in the age-old tradition of having breakfast with Santa. I don't know who came up with such an idea, but it's always a favorite event at our school. Last year Annie refused to sit on Santa's lap, so I have a beautiful picture of just Violet. But this year things went perfectly and both girls hopped up there. Violet panicked a bit afterwards and informed me she only had time to tell Santa one thing she wanted (a watch) and Annie apparently told Santa she wants a "cupcake maker" (translation: Easy Bake Oven... I think). Here's hoping the Big Guy remembers!

Halloween!

Ah, Halloween! Not my favorite holiday of the year, but I'll go along with it. This year we headed back to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens (thanks to the annual pass Matt got for his birthday) to celebrate at Goblins in the Garden. It was a rough start - the parking deck was full, leaving us to look for street parking in the neighborhoods across the street and then endure a half-mile trek just to get to the entrance... and again, the heat. Stupid fall. But we persevered (and perspired) and eventually gained entrance. It was super crowded but we had fun decorating pumpkins, building in the Home Depot kids workshop area, and just generally running around.

Decorating pumpkins at Goblins in the Garden

Not-so-scary black cat

And can you say yay to the easiest Halloween costumes ever?! The girls decided early on to be black cats, and surprisingly never wavered from their decision. A trip to Party City for ears and tails, then another stop at Target for black shirts, pants, and skirts, and boom. The least stressful Halloween costumes were complete. And they can actually wear these things again.

I love how Annie always checks to see what her big sister is doing when it comes to posing for pictures.

Halloween was on Monday this year (oh the horror). I hosted our usual neighborhood meal share, everyone jumped into their costumes, we gathered the rest of the troops, and set off to get our loot. Usually the boys opt for gross, creepy costumes, but this year was fairly tame (baseball player, pink unicorn, etc). I don't think the fake blood even made an appearance! Matt surprised us all by participating in his work costume party and nailed his look as Men in Black/Secret Service agent. I wore my token witch hat and called it a day.

Our Halloween crew!

Happy Halloween!

Wondering how this Halloween compares?
Halloween 2015
Halloween 2014
Halloween 2013
Halloween 2012
Halloween 2011
Halloween 2010