It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Tonight, after the Christmas parade, we took our annual drive to Callao to see the Christmas lights at the Latchford's.  I don't know them personally, but I enjoy visiting with them every year when we go to check out their display.  It's always amazing and full of interactive things the kids enjoy.  I can't imagine going to THAT much work, but they enjoy all the people that come to Callao just to see their home each year.

Mickey and Minnie were glad to see Gracie and Ella.  They really bonded two years ago when we were at Disney World!

Fall Classroom Moments

 Now that it's time to flip the calendar to December I wanted to take a few pictures to remember some of the fall decorations we had in fourth grade.  Our "Tree of Thanks" was a classroom project.  Every day in the month of November, the students had to write one thing they were thankful for on a leaf.  Then we hung it on our tree.  You can see that it is nice and full now. 

One student was sick the day I took this picture, but our classroom helper Chloe got to join us instead. 

Ella's First Day of Dance

Ella has been crazy-excited about this day for a long time now!  Today she began dance classes.  She takes from the same teacher as Gracie, but you won't find a picture of Gracie on this post.  Today was all about Ella (and Gracie didn't want me to take her picture). Above you will see Ella with her dance teacher, McKenna Nelson.  We love McKenna!

Ella gets to be in the same class as several of her friends.  Savannah has been one of her "besties" since we moved to Macon.

Ella, Savannah, and Anastasia looked so cute in their dance gear.  I hate that this picture is a little blurry.  In a few short months I'll probably be posting a hundred pictures of their dance recital!  Can't wait!

Jim Gaffigan Again

 We were lucky enough to score some great tickets to see Jim Gaffigan.  The best part was that this time, we took some friends with us.  Our friends Matt and Emily are big fans of Jim Gaffigan, so it was a perfect match!  We laughed so much on the way to St. Louis, and it only got better after we had fresh material to laugh about.  Here are a couple pics of us in the Fox Theatre.

"It's A Wonderful Life"

One of my students was in the play "It's a Wonderful Life" at the Maples Repertory Theatre this week. I took Gracie and Ella and also opened the invitation up to the rest of the class. Two students took me up on the offer, and we had a good time.

Shae played the part of ZuZu, and she did a great job. She's definitely an actress! (plaid dress)

Callie (Shae's big sis), Alyssa, Callie K. (my cousin - back row), Shae (the star), and Tyler - It was great to see so many Tri-County kids participating in the play!

Gracie and Ella loved having Alyssa with us at the play. Maybe we'll have to do this more often! It's good for them to experience a little culture one in a while.

Straight Haired Beauties

Gracie and Ella love to have their hair straightened, so occasionally they ask for it. I always think they looks so much older or more mature. It's kind of sad to see them look this big. :-(

Fall Party

Tri-County had our fall parties today. The first thing on the agenda was a scarecrow building contest. The kids have been super excited since we decided to build a pregnant scarecrow. There are 4 pregnant teachers right now, so they thought that would be cute. Here they are proudly display our head we worked so hard on.
Next year I'll know that you need something to physically hold the scarecrow's body up with. The teachers who have done this before came prepared with buckets and wire. Ours had a saggy body, so it kind of looked like on of those African women who have stretched their necks out. We still won "Best Dressed Scarecrow."

This week we started building our "Tree of Thanks." I made a paper tree and stapled it to the wall. Everyday they kids write one thing they are thankful for and we staple it to our tree. By Thanksgiving, I think it should be nice and full.