Grandparents, visitors, and Pilgrims... oh my!

Hi everyone! Are you recovering from the big Thanksgiving feast?  Or Black Friday?  A comedian once said that Thanksgiving dinner is not over when you're full... it's over when you hate yourself!  While I didn't eat to that extent, I did fill my plate with yummy goodness and still somehow had room for dessert!  What a great day filled with family, friends, and food!  Now onto the Christmas decorating!

Speaking of great days, it was so fantastic seeing so many of you and your relatives/friends at Grandparents'/ Special Visitors Day!  I've never seen our Kindergarten room so packed!  Here are a few photos of the crowded room- crowded as it was, boy, you could feel the love! I really enjoyed meeting so many special visitors- and if you're one of the friendly out-of-state visitors that told me you follow our blog, then this one's for you! Maybe you're even in these photos!  

 The kids were so thrilled to have so many people there to visit them- they must have felt like little celebrities!  If they didn't feel like a celebrity in the room, then they must have definitely felt that way in the Church- all eyes were on them!  They stepped up to the plate well beyond my expectations!  They sang (or yelled) their little hearts out! Soooooo proud of them!  I cannot wait until our Advent Program (save the date- Thursday, December 19th at 7pm in the Church).  We will be practicing our two songs, "Away in a Manger" and " Here Comes Santa Claus" as soon as we return on Monday. I'm sure they will knock our socks off!  Our dress rehearsal with the entire school is Wednesday the 18th during school hours, and we really hope every child will be there that day for their rehearsal- it helps us out a lot!

Here are a couple photos the paparazzi snapped during their big debut:

Sorry I don't have more photos of the event... I was a little busy!  I'm sure photos will be posted on the Shutterfly sight.  And, if anyone took a great video of their performance, be sure to let other parents know- I know there were a few parents that couldn't be there that day that would love to see it!  A special thank you to our wonderful Music Teacher- Mrs. Haas- for helping our kiddos rehearse their song, even while she is 8 months pregnant (or, permanent, as one of our adorable kiddos said in class the other day!)

The week leading up to their performance was a week of half-days thanks to our friendly and insightful Parent Teacher conferences.  Thank you so much for taking time to meet with me and discuss the reason we are all here- your wonderful children.  It is always great for me, their teacher, to find out as much about each student as possible in order to best meet their learning needs.  Changes, big and small, in any household really do affect children, and any time something changes in your house that you think could possibly affect your child's behavior, please let me know.  Working together is key in this relationship!  Did you know that years ago teachers would actually come and visit each child in their own home in order to have a better glimpse into their student's home life? Wow! I can't really imagine that happening these days!  

Since the week was filled with half-days, I wasn't able to snap as many photos as I typically do.  And, since this past week was only two and a half days, I really didn't get a chance to take too many photos, either!  Here are the few photos I did snap:

Here is one of our students circling some Bb's during our week of letter review- I love our interactive whiteboard, and so do our kiddos! 

Here we are in the 5th Grade room with our Study Buddies watching "Happy Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown"

 

Here we are painting the faces for our scarecrow project

Our first time painting was very successful- I was the only one who got paint in their hair!

And here we are holding up our completed scarecrow art projects!

Here are some Mayflowers the kids drew by following directions during a directed draw activity

They turned out wonderfully!

Masterpieces!

 Well, parents, December is upon us! Please don't forget that all of our Adopt-a-Family presents are due this week!  If you could turn them in by Wednesday, that'd be even more helpful than Thursday.  Thursday MORNING is the ABSOLUTE latest time to turn in your present- I will be packing them up that day into boxes that will be taped shut.  Thank you again for participating in such an awesome program- you are truly spreading the Christmas spirit!  

When we return to school, things will be back to "normal"= we will have Centers Monday and Tuesday in the afternoon this first week of December.  There is still one spot open on Tuesday the 3rd to volunteer at Centers, so please see if you can help out!  We also have several openings the following week for centers.  We really can't run centers as smoothly as we'd like with only one parent volunteer, and it is a great way to see your kids working with others in a learning environment.  

Wednesday we will be meeting with our Student Buddies again, and there will be an all school mass on Friday.

Speaking of prayers, each Monday morning in the month of December, the school will be joining together in an Advent Prayer right outside the school office/Kinder room.  We will "light" an Advent candle on our huge Advent wreath and pray together. Parents and siblings are welcome to join us!

We will have our Christmas Kinder Club on Friday December 13th, and it looks like we still have a few volunteer slots available!  You won't want to miss this!

Lastly, we will be meeting with our Study Buddies one final time before the end of the year 2013 on Thursday the 19th for a special Christmas movie.  It is a St Jude tradition for the study buddies to watch this particular movie about believing in Christmas with the Kinder kiddos, and we are really looking forward to it! Here's a hint: "Choo-choo!" 

Well, enjoy the rest of this beautiful weekend! We will see you all on Monday! Oh, and our share this week will be something that starts with the letter Jj.  Bonus if you are able to combine something that starts with J and something Christmas-y!  

Take care!