The Countdown to Christmas

Vacation, that is!

We celebrated Christmas with my family last weekend.

This will be a short school week.

Our Christmas parties are Thursday, and my kids are SUPER EXCITED.

This year we have had an "Elf on a Shelf" in the room.

The kids named him P.J.

P.J. sometimes leaves notes fro the kids.

Sometimes he leaves treats.

Sometimes he leaves messes. 

One day he left a "Naughty" list.

(YIKES!)

Another day he brought letters from Santa.

P.J. has only 2 more visits with us before he leaves for the North Pole until next Christmas.

(I'm a little relieved, but don't mention it to P.J. or to Santa.)

 

We've done a lot of fun activities at school.

Most deliciously...we've had food days in the lounge.

Teachers will eat anything.

We leave the lounge with stacks of papers from our mailboxes in one hand

and mounds of mouth-watering treats in the other...hoping these sugary bits will provide enough energy to get us through the afternoon with indoor recess because the wind chill is 32 degrees.

(Sigh....I know it's Pathetic!  It's all true, though.)

 

We had a field trip to the Christmas tree farm and the movie theatre to see Santa Paws.

We wrote letters to Santa.

We were BUSY elves making gifts for our parents!

We had a food drive to donate to the Fire Station to help local families.

This was one of my favorite activities. 

Our whole school was involved.

We made it a contest to see who could get the most cans.

We did not get off to a good start. 

No.  Really.

It was terrible.

They announced that the classes in the lead had over 100 cans.

When I emailed asking how many we had brought....I was mortified!

We had only brought in 26 cans!

Good GRAVY!

That was NOT acceptable. 

I am a little too competetive sometimes.

I quickly fired off a group email to my parents alerting them of the severity of the situation.

The winning class got to take the food TO the fire station AND get ice cream!!!

Uh.  Huh. 

I wanted to win!

The next day, we brought in 124 cans!

Whew.  We were in the race!

We continued to bring food for the next few days,

watching the numbers of cans we brought as well as those of other classes. 

We were in 1st place for one day.

But then...another class mom brought in a dolly full of flats of cans.

They won. 

 Holy moly, did they ever!

I was really proud of the kids though. 

They kept bringing cans and cheering each other on.

Mr. even bought them ice cream for their good effort.

(yeah...I know.  I'm a lucky girl!)

 

Anyhow...Christmas is only a week away. 

I can't believe the school year is half over!

Where does the time go?

I know I say it over and over, but seriously friends...

don't blink.

The milk spilling toddlers turn into finals taking freshmen before you can even say sassafrass.

Every single minute has the potential to become a memory.

Make the most of every single one of them.

 

Be Present.

Life is a Gift.

 

Enjoy the days leading up to Christmas Day.

Mmmmm.  they are delicious!!