From Our Family to Yours...

Christmas is in the Air!

Earlier this month, we met up with our friends, the Macks and the Cos to walk Christmas Tree Lane.  There have been years when we're driven through the lane in our car, but it is always much more memorable to be able to walk it with friends.  I'm not sure why the kids wanted a picture in front of the Abominable Snowman when there were sooo many other Christmas-y things along the lane, but when I look back upon this picture in years to come, it'll trigger for me the night of Crazy Gracie (she unleashed her wild side that night!).  When we got home later that night, we poured on the praise and rewards for Jeremy (cookie and hot chocolate) and sent Grace to bed with nothing.  Talk about a role reversal for those two!    

On Dec. 11, our church held our annual Children's Christmas Program.  Both kids were as cute as can be. 

Grace (back to her regular, sweet self), recited part of a Christmas poem and sang some songs with her Sunday School class.

Jeremy did great with his Sunday School class on stage.  We thought he'd be a deer in the headlights, but he surprised us by singing along and proudly ringing his bells. 

For reasons we haven't been able to understand, mine and Jason's school districts have different winter breaks this year.  I certainly enjoyed getting off school last week and having a few days to myself this week.  This change in schedule also allowed for me to finish up Christmas shopping, cleaning house, fitting in doctors' appointments, etc.  I even got to volunteer in Grace's classroom for her Winter Party.  I was so glad to be able to come and help out.  The kids got "sugared up" and then were sent off to vacation!

It's such a busy time of year- now that our whole family is on Christmas break, we look forward to spending some quality time together!

5th Grade Trip to Sacramento

I don't often blog about my work, but part of the reason why my life has been so hectic as of late is due to my work!  My grade level partner, Michelle, and I took our classes to visit Sacramento during the first part of December.  We went on Amtrak through their incredible program, Kids N Trains.  A lot of work went into planning the trip, but once the day came, everything pretty much went off without a hitch.  It was a very long day- I left my house at 5:00am and got back at 8:30pm. 

This school year has been without a doubt, one of the hardest I've had in my teaching career.  I have had my faith and confidence shaken, many trials, meltdowns, and sleepless nights.  It has been hard to hold onto the positive moments... Maybe that's why I had to blog about this particular day- it will certainly be a highlight of our year. 

Thanksgiving at the Family Cabin

I better hurry up and catch up with my blogging before Christmas!  The last few weeks have been quite the whirlwind!  First up was Thanksgiving.  We are lucky that we both got an entire week off during Thanksgiving.  We headed up to the Isaac family's cabin at Shaver Lake.  Last year was wonderful because there was so much snow on the ground.  We all have fond memories of playing in the snow and seeing the beautiful snow-covered trees.  This year, not so much!  Jason ended up driving to find areas for the kids to go sledding.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to join in the fun this year because I wasn't feeling well.  That did mean that I got to rest, relax, and stay cozy at the cabin.  Here are a few pictures from our time at Shaver!

Thanksgiving with family... Doesn't get any better than that!