Christmas Wrap Up

I always order the kiddos a book for Christmas.  (Is there a teacher that doesn't??)  Anyway, the books finally came on Monday.  I was beginning to panic, let me tell you!  So last night I came home to wrap, but was out of paper.  I don't think I've been out of paper for ten years, since my daughters sell Innisbrook gift wrap every year for a school fundraiser.  I was shocked!  But I was too tired to run out and get some so it had to wait for today.

Tonight on the way home, I stopped and bought some paper.  Actually a lot.

When I got home, I was pumped to wrap...but no tape!  What?  Come on!  The girls have been busy decorating their rooms, dressers and bedroom doors obviously.

So after going to pick up my oldest from a bowling party I stopped and got a few rolls of tape.  By this time I was a bit of a grouch.

Over the weekend, I saw a cute idea at a friend's for candy cane seeds.  Simply a handful of soft peppermint candies.  I grabbed a huge bag of these delightful mints at the store (along with my tape) and whipped up a tag. I am going to put these in a baggie with the tag folded over the top and attach to the top of each child's gift.

My printer wouldn't print the color red for some reason even though I had just put in a new color cartridge.  Big time grouch by now!  I finally put in another new color cartridge and it worked.  Arrrrgggg!!

This is the tag I made using graphics from ThistleGirl and KPM Doodles.

Click here to get a copy for yourself.

I know many of you are already out of school, but hopefully you can use it next year.

Two more days!!

A Wacky Christmas Story

I grew up with Mad Libs and loved them.  My family would sit and take turns filling out those darn things and pretty much laugh ourselves senseless for hours.

As my brother and I got older some of the games even got a bit raunchy!

Years ago, I made this wacky version of The Night Before Christmas.  I know my inspiration didn't come from the internet because I didn't use it like I do now.  I believe I just took my copy of the book and took words out based on what parts of speech we had studied so far.  Anyway, I know there are similar ideas floating around out there.

I don't give any hints to the kids about what the story is so they turn out really silly.  I also tell them to try to come up with words on their list that are unique, one-of-a-kind words.  We want words that sizzle and pop, people!

So, the kiddos get the word list form to fill out first.

Click here to get a copy.

Then after I've checked to see that they have the correct kinds of words and we proofread for spelling, I give them the wacky story template to fill in using their word list.  There is no word changing allowed at this point!

Click here to get a copy.

At this point, the giggles and snickers start.  Pretty soon the whole class is in stitches and so eager to share, which I have forbidden until everyone is done.  

Finally, we have a read aloud time where each child gets to share.

Guaranteed to be a holiday favorite.

Elf Photo Op

So yesterday I forgot to get the elf photos on my laptop before going home. Silly girl! Sometimes I'm lucky my head is attached or I'd probably forget that, too!

Here are the first few photos.

One of my little darlings did a gymnastics move (back bend kind of like thing) to get a peek at the title of the book Bluey was reading. It was Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus!

Foam math tiles are fun and the perfect size for an elf. My kiddos love building with these when we are stuck inside for recess too! Another little darling obviously added to Bluey's creation while we were at recess because there were an extra handful when we returned. I'm pretty sure I know who the culprit was.

We've been painting. Remember the art project I mentioned in yesterday's post. Who can resist watercolor painting? Certainly not Bluey.  Best of all, watercolor painting is all kinds of calming.  Do you think anyone would notice if all we did was paint until vacation starts.

BTW, I thought our last day of school before vacay was the Wednesday before Christmas.  Oh, no!  At our staff meeting this morning, it was rudely brought to my attention that THURSDAY is our last day of school!  I.am.so.depressed!  Sob, sob!  Boo hoo!  Ruined my whole day...almost.

When the kiddos come in tomorrow they will find Bluey hugging up with the Grinch! If anyone can melt the Grinch's heart, it would be an elf for sure.

On a side note, I got my Nook tablet last night and am all kinds of excited to download my first book and settle in to read this weekend.

It isn't going to happen tonight though because I've got a date with my favorite nerds from the Big Bang Theory. I LOVE those guys (and girls too)! Then Person of Interest is on and I have to say that Jim Caviezel is pretty easy on the eyes. (Much more so in this show than as Jesus although that was an awesome and heart-wrenching movie.) Interestingly enough I saw him on a TV show and he is really a man of faith. Makes me like him even more. Sorry hubs!

TGI(almost)F people!

95 & Counting

I can't believe I am at 95 followers! Stacy over at 2nd Grade Paradise was talking about reaching 100 followers by Christmas. I thought as I was reading that, yeah, wouldn't that be fan-tab-u-lous!? Now I am soooo close.

Did I just jinx myself?

Probably!

Monday our elf on the shelf showed up. The class was ecstatic! The kids each picked a name and I drew one from a hat. Its name is Bluey.

Over the weekend I purchased Sunny Days Elf on a Shelf Classroom Resource Pack. It is amazing! If you have an elf, you need to check it out.

Each day we are journaling about where Bluey is found and what we think he did during the night (besides going to the North Pole and reporting to Santa if we were naughty or nice). They are SO into it.

Because of how busy we are with practices for our upcoming (Sunday afternoon :( ) Christmas program and all the other crazy things this time of year, I am taking a photo of Bluey each morning to paste onto the day's journal page instead of having the kids draw a picture. As soon as they find him, I grab the camera and we are good to go! The kids are thrilled to know they will have a little book about our elf to keep forever.

So far, Bluey has been found reading Christmas books, building with foam blocks, and painting a picture! The kiddos are even brainstorming where they think Bluey will end up next and what he'll be doing. I love it! My 12 year old daughter is having fun helping me after school each day set things up.

All my pictures are on my school computer, but I will post a few soon.

I also want to share a really neat Christmas art project with you all.

Off to bed. Goodnight!