SnowMEN Cookies.

Home! My parents' house has been amazing so far. Every day/night we've had different friends stopping through town. By tomorrow night the entire family will be home. Tonight after my sister and her family arrived we were sitting around eating various treats including the one pictured below. My mom and her sister made some beautiful sprint-cookies shaped like Christmas trees, poinsettias, and snowmen. They very intricately decorated the snowmen.... with eyes of coal, carrot noses, pipes, and..... 'buttons'.

Do those look like buttons to you?

Ahhh, the humor we have had at the expense of these little snowmen. I do not know what my mom and aunt were thinking!

Twas the week before Christmas and my class was filming...

Can you tell yet that I really like Christmas time? This past week seemed very difficult to stay motivated in teaching. The kids were excited but I think I was even more excited. We read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The kids LOVED it. I loved it too. To make literacy learning more fun than Venn diagrams and story mapping, we decided to make commercials for the book. Each group chose a scene to act out and then had a little tag line at the end....something like "To find out what happens, read...blah blah blah."

Filming 4 or 5 different shots with fifth graders, was EXHAUSTING! We filmed several takes on most shots and they were still just so-so. But the kids had a blast. Now I just have to teach the editing skills so the kids can put their commercials all together.

As I sorted through the video footage I found several clips where the kids left the camera on by accident. It was interesting to watch myself in the classroom. I noticed that 1. I think I looked a lot better than I previously thought I did. If nothing else, I looked better than last year. Ha. 2. I specifically remembered kinda yelling at this one kid and I had felt a little bad about it. Well it was on video- it didn't sound mean at all on the video. So maybe I'm meaner in my head than outloud.

We ended our week with a movie, a story and a party-like I said I was lacking motivation to teach. Vacation has begun and I can't wait to get home to Colorado tomorrow! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Movie Mania

My Christmas movie watching has gotten a little out of control this year. I've turned on movies while I graded, cooked, cleaned, folded laundry, and napped. I've watched all the classics: White Christmas, Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, Scrooge, Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch, etc. I've wanted more recent releases like The Holiday, The Family Stone and Four Christmases. I ashamedly admitted to watching a TV movie on Lifetime. This week I found some movies from my childhood on TV so I added Prancer and All I Want for Christmas to the list.

I love the clothing. I love the cheesy story lines and even cheesier dialog. I LOVE the happy endings that bring families together. I don't know that I've ever watched this many Christmas movies in one year but I can't get enough. The only movie that could tear me away from these beloved Christmas classics is New Moon, which I can't get enough of for some reason...hmm, maybe its Taylor Lautner with is shirt off.

(Disclaimer- I've also read 2 Christmas books....so I'm not completely rotting my brain- its just easier to multitask with a movie).

They Had a Real Baby There

I was able to attend a live Nativity here in SLC this week. It was amazing. The weather was freezing! We bundled up and walked through the snow, down a torch and luminary lit path. The tour included, a surprisingly good youth choir, free hot chocolate, camels, sheep, shepherds to guide the crowd, and of course the Nativity scene. This was complete with real people as shepherds, wisemen, animals, Mary, Joseph, and yes, a real live baby, swaddled of course.
I told my class about it today. I later heard from another teacher that one of my girls had told her about it and said "Yea, and some one actually had their baby there."

My student had interpretted, "They had a real baby there" as "Someone gave birth while I was there." Hilarious. So to clarify, no one had their baby, they just held their baby in the stable.

The event was beautiful and I hope to make it a tradition in the future.

Marshmallow Puff and the BL Rundown

Today I survived the snow, the cold, and indoor recess. I came home and fell asleep on the couch in my puffy coat! When I woke up an hour later feeling like a toasted marshmallow, the Biggest Loser finale was on TV. I can't believe Biggest Loser is already over! I'm sad. These people are so amazing. I think what I love about this show is that no matter who wins the money, every person on this show comes away winning because they have all created a healthier life for themselves. They all feel more confident and beautiful. They don't even really care about the money! So here is what I thought of some of the contestants (in no particular order):

Sean- I love that he named his baby Jillian! So sweet.
Tracy- is still freaky looking. She looks like a body builder....not necessarily good. Also I still think she is scary and crazy.
Julio- I didn't like him before but he looks amazing.
Daniel- Continues to disappoint-he so could have lost more.
Shay- Looked really happy and I can't wait to see her next year on season 9's finale! I'm so glad she got another chance.
Rebecca- Who let her wear that dress on TV? And who told her that haircut and color was OK? SICK. Also- her body- SMOKIN! (compared to before) Her skin bounced back for the most part, she looks amazing-except for the whole hair and trashy clothes and weird behavior. I'm glad someone beat Tracy but did it have to be her?
Abby- Love her, and she looked gorgeous.
Antione & Alexandra- I love that they found love on the BL! I love that he proposed on live TV! LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.
Rudy- Lookin Goo-ood. I was rooting for him.
Danny- Wow! He looks lost 20 years younger than before (hair dye helped too). He worked hard and deserved it.

Its a sad day for me. Now how will I be inspired to workout? I need my Tuesday night motivation. I can't wait for the new season to start!

Don't Mess with My Chirstmas Season!

I went to church this morning, and was very excited to wear Christmas red without being mistaken for a Ute. I was also excited to sing Christmas hymns. Much to my dismay the program in Sacrament meeting did not include Christmas songs! I was in a ward one other time where the music person thought we didn't need to sing Christmas songs in December, it ruined church for me in that Christmas season. Its no wonder some people think Mormons aren't Christians- there always seems to be one scrooge in the ward who ruins it for everyone else. So I immediately found a member of the bishopric and pointed out this travesty. They acted like they had no control over it- so I kindly let them know that I thought it was wrong to deny the ward the ability to sing these songs together that we only get to sing once a year. It so happened the scrooge chorister who had originally planned the music- overheard my conversation. She very reluctantly changed the songs after several more people were heard commenting on the situations. Maybe I should feel bad that she overheard what I said, not knowing that she was the one responsible, but I didn't. I felt victory- and the ward was better off because of it :) This picture is old, but I love it- We Christmas Carol every year as a family :)

A New Low

Today I find myself sitting at home on Saturday afternoon, in my sweats, having not showered, watching Lifetime. I don't think I could count how many times I've told my mom she isn't allowed to watch Lifetime-Television for Women due to its pathetic nature. I got up today and ran a few errands....in my sweats. Then came home because it was cold, made hot chocolate and sat down in front of the television. I started flipping through the guide looking for a Christmas show, and I found one on Fa-la-la-la-Lifetime. I think I need to get out of the house just so I don't feel so totally pathetic as I sit here and watch love-stories gone wrong, but all remedied with Christmas season....but then there is a conflict of work, or a new man that come between them. Oh who will they choose- the new nice guy or the old one trying to prove himself through Christmas service or presents? Will their love life cause the lead role to loose her job? Will Santa send the 'right boyfriend' and save the season for this lonely soul? Will the random guy at the door, wearing a bow, turn out to be a serial killer? Or will it all work out in the end, because that is what happens on Lifetime?

I'm not sticking around to find out (although I'm tempted to DVR). No I'm forcing myself to leave this cozy indentation on the couch, and this 5 hour long, made-for-tv movie. I will venture into the snow and try to redeem myself from the new low I've succumbed to by actually watching this channel. Maybe when I come back, it will be with a more cheerful holiday movie and I'll feel a little less pathetic. (If it were Lifetime, I'd come back and find a man sitting in my apartment, holding long stemmed roses with baby's breath and an 80's style limo outside to take me somewhere like ice skating in the park. What a laugh that would be.)