Christmas Parties & Preparations

On Monday, Caroline came home with her picture of Buck.  She won second place in her class and got to pick out a prize - she chose a green pen.  She said the first place winner did a really good job, but it was slightly unfair because while everyone else had to leave their pencil drawings in the classroom over the weekend, first place somehow brought her picture home and used watercolors.  

Early in the week the kids said they were starving for dinner.  That is key to the story.  It was a leftover sort of meal, which is never very exciting.  I wanted to use up the leftover cornbread that no one really liked because it came out incredibly bland.  I cooked the slices in a pan of butter.  But I did not keep the best eye on it, or it cooked quicker than I expected.  When I smelled the smoke, I flipped them over and they were definitely charred.  When I called the kids for dinner they all asked what was in the frying pan.  Blackened cornbread.  They all took a piece.  And they all ate it.  It's all in the name.  I actually thought it was pretty good.  

Henry has been working on a paper for his English class.  He said that at the beginning of the year, his teacher passed out a form for each student to fill out.  The students gave a self-assessment of their skills in grammar, writing, punctuation, etc.  Henry gave himself a lot of 3 out of 5s because he really did not know his skill level.  Now as the paper is due, he says his teacher should take that 3 out of 5 into consideration when she grades his paper and grade him higher because she's pleasantly surprised he wrote at a level higher than a 3.  His plan is to keep his self assessments in the middle of the road for all his school years.  Keeping those teachers pleasantly surprised for years to come.   

Mid-week, Josiah tried out for our school's spring play, Anne of Green Gables.  They had him read for the part of Matthew and he said it went well overall.  They called him back a second time and asked him to read as Rachel opposite another girl.  His teacher said she liked his Rachel voice.  If he was going to try-out, he was going all the way.  We're not sure when they'll announce the parts.  When Josiah signed up for the try-outs, he checked Minor Role, so hopefully he'll get something.  He wants to start small to see how it all works before going for a bigger role. 

Friday night, we drove to SWU for their Christmas party.  We almost left the younger two at home because they were less than enthusiastic to go.  They ended up coming and everyone enjoyed the buffet of hors d'oeuvres, especially the trays of cookies and the hot chocolate bar.  Santa and Mrs. Claus showed up.  Josiah wanted a picture for his friends, but it was hard to get a picture without a random kid on his lap.  As part of the evening, all the kids were given gifts.  The boys received envelopes with Amazon gift cards and Caroline got a karaoke machine.  She came home, plugged it in, and belted out Christmas tunes while the microphone changed her voice to a mouse voice.  It was like an Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas singalong. 

Caroline had a busy weekend.  She went ice skating with the church group in downtown Anderson.  It was a tiny little 'rink' - maybe 1/3 the size of a real ice rink, but she had fun and she didn't fall.  She grew an appreciation for figure skaters as her feet were killing her afterwards.  She went from there to her class Christmas party.  It was just the ladies from her class, and they decorated cookies and did a gift/sock exchange.

The kids have midterms this week.  They are not looking forward to their first midterms.  To relax himself before the week ahead, Josiah took paint to canvas after church today.  I see Bob Ross' influence.  

Then I commissioned him to help me with the Christmas party for my classroom.  I wanted a snowman cornhole with one big hole so the 3-year-olds could get the beanbag in the hole.  Josiah did not disappoint.   

Next week is both exam week and Spirit Week.  A little torture, a little fun.  Praying we make it through.