Day 11-15 Fail!

In case you didn't notice, it is well past days 11-15 of the December School Day Photo Challenge.  And, I was doing so well the first two weeks!  Sort of disappointed that I couldn't/didn't follow through with the last week.  I'll give you a day by day rundown of how things went afoul!

My last post was on Friday, December 13th.  It was Day 10 of the challenge.  I usually write my Monday post on the Sunday before, so I will start there.

Sunday, December 15th - Spent the day prepping for the coming week as that night I went out to dinner and then to see The Nutcracker ballet.  Every year around Christmas I try to get to at least one holiday show.  I wish I could say it was a fun night, but the dinner (at a pretty expensive restaurant) was awful and the show wasn't much better.  I would have been better off staying home and writing my post! I was really disappointed because I have always wanted to see The Nutcracker ballet.  I'm not going to let this sour me, though.  Next year, I'm going to get tickets to see it at Lincoln Center.  They have it there every year, and it can't help but be better than what we endured.

Monday, December 16th (Day 11 of the Challenge)- Start of the last week of school before winter recess!  To say the kids were a little nuts this week would be an understatement! Had planned to catch up on my missed post when I got a phone call asking if I would please come over and watch The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2 with my little cousins.  How can I say no to that?! Especially when the kid asking doesn't say please but pleathes! Missing teeth make pronunciation hard! :-)  My cousin's kids were totally into ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas programming this year.  So, no post written on Monday.

Tuesday, December 17th (Day 12 of the Challenge) - Nothing fun.  First of two dentist appointments after work and grocery shopping for cookie baking supplies.  After that?  Just totally forgot about blogging!  I had dinner and went to bed.  Womp! Womp!

 

Wednesday, December 18th (Day 13 of the Challenge) - This year, we had two Christmas shows planned.  As The Nutcracker was a bust, I had high hopes for this night.  We went to Madison Square Garden Theater to see A Christmas Story the Musical.  It was AMAZING!!!

If you are ever in New York and get a chance to see anything at the MSG Theater, go!  The theater is fairly small so there is not a bad seat in the house.  As for the musical, it was great.  It followed the movie pretty closely.  The leg lamp song and dance was really good, and there were lots of laugh out loud moments.  We didn't get home until around 1 AM, and I had school in a few hours so no blog writing that night!  Now, can we just have a moment of silence to admire how well little Ralphie grew up in real life?!! ;-)

Thursday, December 19th (Day 14 of the Challenge)- A very tired school day.  I was much more tired than I thought I would be.  I was so tired I actually had a headache all day. But, somehow I managed to make it to our school's staff holiday party that night.  Yeah, I'm a trooper like that!  Does your school do a holiday party?  We have ours in a local restaurant and have an gift swap that is always a lot of fun.  However, I was exhausted and crawled right into bed when I got home.  No blog post.

Friday, December 20th (Day 15 of the Challenge)- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL BEFORE VACATION!!!  You know what craziness this day brings.  Lots of class parties, gift giving, happy teachers, and giddy children. We had a half day, which was a wonderful thing because I was still crazy tired.  It was like I just couldn't catch up from a few late nights.  After school, I did a little Christmas shopping and then just went home.  Way to tired to even think about blogging.  At this point, I knew it just wasn't going to happen.

Saturday, December 21st - Holiday Shopping and Lunch with Friends!  Fun Day! But, still so tired and a headache that wouldn't go away. No blogging.

Sunday, December 22nd - Cookie Baking!  I had planned to do some more involved cookies on this day and bake all the drop cookies on Monday.  It was so nice to have a weekend off before Christmas. It gave me so much time to get things done.  This was the first year I had ever made some fancy cut-out cookies, so I needed that extra time!

 

Monday, December 23rd - Woke up knowing I was getting sick. I didn't feel awful but knew something was up.  I had a dentist appointment in the morning and went right to the doctor from there.  Turns out what I thought was just a sinus infection was a sinus infection and strep. By three that afternoon, I was down and out!  I didn't get off the couch until the next day.

Tuesday, December 24th and Wednesday, December 25th - It really stinks to be sick at Christmas.  Especially when you wake up on Christmas morning and find that you have been given the additional gift of pink eye in both eyes!  Like I needed one more illness! 

 

That would be a chalkboard mug I got from one of my students.  I can tell you I have been drinking a lot of tea from that mug the past few days!  I basically spent a couple of hours with family on the 24th and 25th to open gifts, but was asleep the rest of the time.  They just had to make merry without me this year!  And all those cookies I baked?  Yeah, all thrown out.  I didn't want to take the chance of getting my entire family sick. So instead of those pretty cut out cookies on the left, it was the bakery cookies on the right for all!

 

Thursday, December 26th - Back to the doctor for the pink eye and much more sleeping!

 

Friday, December 27th - Today.  This evening is the first time I have felt somewhat human, so here I am blogging!  Blogging and trying to figure out what to do with all these baking supplies I never used!

 

Hopefully, you can now see why the third week of my December School Day Photo Challenge turned out to be a fail.  BUT, I don't count it as a total fail.  The point of it all was to get me back to blogging, and it did. At least for the first two weeks!  I blogged for ten of the fifteen challenge days.  Not too bad! 

 

Having said that, I am signing off until after the New Year.  I feel like I've lost so  much of my vacation being sick, I want to take some time to enjoy these remaining days.  I hope your vacation has been a good one.  I will see you in 2014! 

 

Happy New Year!

 

Day 10 - Tis the Season!

It's Day 10 of the December School Day Photo Challenge!

(I just realized that I keep changing up the name of my own photo challenge in all these posts!)

Day 10 - Tis the Season!

Today's post is going to be short for a couple of reasons I will explain at the end.

Tis the season for. . .

Decorating and Germs!

 

My room has a minor snowman theme this year.  The snow sculpture above I found in Goodwill for a dollar.  You can't tell in the picture, but it is huge!  And, I'm all about snow days which this always reminds me of.  The snowman in my door window is one of those jelly-sticky window clings.  I can't even touch it because the texture of it grosses me out so.  I had to have one of the kids put it up in the window!

 

Then there are germs.  It is cold and flu season, but our school has seen a lot of stomach bugs this year.  That is the very large bottle of hand sanitizer that is next to my bathroom sign-out sheet.  It has been there since September.  Notice the level of the sanitizer?  It's like new!!!  Those germy critters just won't use it! Ugh! I know they know it is there because they are fascinated by the Lego blocks in it.  Granted, I travel to a lot of different classrooms so it wouldn't get as much use as if I had a homeroom in there.  But, still!!  I have to be more diligent in telling them to use it.  My luck, I will catch some crazy bug the Friday before winter recess! :-)

 

So, why a short post tonight?  Two reasons:

 

1.  I have plans and need to get moving!  No time to write a long post tonight, especially since the time I did have was cut short by a comment in another post.  Which leads me to number two.

 

2.  A teacher-reader posted a comment tonight on a previous post I did about teacher observations.  The teacher was observed under a new evaluation model, and it didn't go as well as it could have.  The teacher explains the situation a bit and asks for some advice.  I spent some time offering my thoughts, but thought I would open it up to you.  Please stop by and read the comment.  It is down toward the end (around comment #44) and you will see my advice below it.  Perhaps you can help a fellow teacher and offer some ideas.  CLICK HERE or on the link above to go to the post.  Thanks!

 

Gotta go fa la la la la now! Bye!

Day 9 - Sweet Treats

It's Day 9 of the December School Day Photo Challenge!

Day 9 - Sweet Treats

Sweet treats are a given this time of year.  Lots of class parties before the winter recess!  I know there are many restrictions in many schools these days regarding food due to allergies.  In my own school, most of what I'm posting below wouldn't be allowed.  All food brought into our school has to be packaged, labeled food so that it can be checked for allergens.  That means no home baked goods.  While I totally understand the reasons for this, it still makes me a little sad.  I enjoy baking and making treats for my students.

So, in keeping with the theme of Sweet Treats, I went on a Pinterest hunt to compile some treat ideas.  Below show some sweet treats that fall in four categories: healthy, sweet, fun packaging and some misc., and what I have done in previous years.  So, not one picture for the school day photo challenge, but a few!  While I browsed Pinterest for these ideas, I did my best to link to the original posts the pictures and info on each come from.  A quick click will take you to some great blogs and sites!

Healthy Snacks

1. Baby Bell Santa Belt Cheese

2. Christmas Tree Snack Tree

3. Strawberry and Banana "Candy" Canes

4.  Cheese Stick Snowmen - This wasn't linked to anything, but it seems easy to do.  You could just use colored Sharpies to draw the hat, face, and scarf to make it even easier.

5.  Green Bagels - The link is just a picture source, but when I saw the picture I thought it would be great for the holidays.  I always get green bagels for my friends on St. Patrick's Day. How awesome would these be as Grinch bagels?  With some strawberry cream cheese you have a holiday color match.  I'm sure a bagel shop would be make them if asked.

6. Red and Green Peppers with Hummus!

7. Snowman Banana Pops

8. Grinch Poppers - Another one that only linked to a picture, but it looks simple enough.  Green grape, banana slice, strawberry, and I think a mini-marshmallow stacked on a toothpick.

9. Veggie Tray - No link, but a great idea.  There are so many holiday shaped trays you could fill with fruit and veggies and automatically have a festive and healthy snack tray.

Sweet Treats

1. Snowman Candy Bar Wrappers - I liked this one a lot because no special printing is needed.  All you need is some plain white paper and markers.  You can even draw on the scarf and jot a special message to each friend.

2. Snowman Doughnuts - So simple!

3. Marshmallow Snowmen on a Stick

4. Green Rice Krispy Treats - No link, but just add some green food coloring to your treats, stack the squares, and sprinkle on some M&M "ornaments!"

5.  Brownie Bites with marshmallow? frosting? and a strawberry Santa hat.

6.  Jolly Rancher Candy Message - Okay, I've linked to the blog the pic is from but I seriously couldn't find the post.  And, I looked!  This is a super simple gift for your friends!

7.  Rice Krispy Christmas Coal! - This totally made me laugh.  I think we all know some who may have earned a little coal!

8.  Reindeer Candy Canes - Yarn, googly eyes, red pom poms, and a couple of candy canes. 

Easy peasy!

Fun Packaging And. . .

1.  "Melted Snowman" Water Bottle Labels - No link given, but fun and easy to do.

2.  Snowman Cups - Again, no link but these are so cute.  You could put drinks ready to go in them or treats to take home.  Looks like the black and pink are magic marker and the nose is a glued on orange, felt triangle.

3.  Reindeer Bags - Another fun way to package treats or a take home surprise.

4.  Classroom Crock Pot Hot Chocolate - This is the "and" in this category!

5. Reindeer Food Popcorn Bags - This link will tell you how to make Christmas colored popcorn and provides a free download for the Reindeer Food label.

Previous Years

If you click  this link, it will take you to a post where I 

detail some treats I made for my students and teachers in the past: 

snowman and snowlady cupcakes, Snowman Soup packets, 

and cinnamon white chocolate pretzels.  

   

Hopefully, you found a sweet treat you like!

Day 7 - Stockings

It's Day 7 of the December Photo A Day Challenge!

Day 7 - Stockings

Well, today's post has been totally thwarted.  I am unable to take the picture I had planned because today turned out to be, much to my utter joy, an unexpected snow day!  

The snow here in my area of NJ is just insane right now.  

But if you know me, you know that I love, love, love every snow day we get!!

Since my planned post isn't happening, I'm improvising!  Today's challenge is stockings so I thought it would be fun to come up with a list of some teacher-themed stocking stuffers.  Stocking stuffers are as much fun as actual gifts in my family.  I think they can be harder to buy than actual gifts, but it is always fun to see what's in there.  Some of these might really qualify as gifts rather than stocking stuffers.  So, here is a list of some fun, assorted stocking stuffers/gifts for the teacher in your life or if you are the teacher, ideas for your wish list!  Or, if you are a parent, here are some suggestions!  All pictures are from the linked to sites.

• Let's begin with that picture above.  It's actually a t-shirt from Zazzle.com. They have a lot of fun teacher-themed shirts, but I kind of love this one!

An Apple for the Teacher!  I've written about my apple cozy before.  It' silly, unnecessary, and totally cute.  I saw these on Etsy and think they are great.  They're from the shop KnoodleKnits and just $6 each.  Apple not included. :-)

• I would definitely be a lesser teacher if I didn't have my coffee each morning!  However, being a teacher usually means I have a cup of cold coffee on my desk because we all know it is impossible to just sit for even a minute.  I would always joke that every day was an experiment to see how  many times I could reheat my coffee until I actually poisoned myself. :-)  Then, I finally found the perfect thermos!  This is the Thermos Stainless King 16 ounce leak-proof travel tumbler.  It keeps my coffee hot for hours.  Honestly, not just warm but hot well into the afternoon.  It also is totally no drip or spill.  Once it is closed, you could twirl it in the air and not a drop comes out.  That has saved me a few times because I tend to throw it in my school bag where it tumbles about.  I got it on Amazon for $19.99.  Well worth every penny!  I have no idea why it is listed now for $39.99.  Not sure I would have bought it at that price, but I do love mine. It comes in black too, but I got the raspberry color.

                                                  

• Lanyards!  These days we all have to wear an ID, so lanyards are a given.  I like these Vera Bradley chain lanyards a lot.  They are breakaways, so if a friend happens to catch it, it will pull apart.  The best part is that they are now on sale for 50% off on the VB site.

• Every teacher needs a good bag to tote around the million plus papers we need to grade.  I couldn't not post about my Thirty-One Organizing Tote.  I won't go in to detail as I just posted about it in Day 5 of the December School Day Photo Challenge.  

• Okay, I had to add this one.  I so wish it were a sign, but it's actually a cross-stitch pattern.  The perfect gift for any teacher!  If it were a sign, I would hang this in my classroom in a heartbeat.  I can't begin to tell you  how many times I've had the, "A lot is not one word!" conversation.  If you cross stitch, please buy this pattern from nerdylittlestitcher on Etsy and make it for me!

• Flash Drives!  If you search for them on Amazon, you will find a million options.  I really like the bracelets.  There are all kinds of fancy ones available.  Amazon has some that look like real jewelry in gold and silver, with rhinestones and engravings.  They have fancy necklaces that are flash drives, too. 

 I opt for the cheap rubber bracelets like those below.  It is easy to throw it on your wrist and go.  I having to dig through my pocketbook to find it.  Also, if I'm on my way to the copy machine, it is one less thing to carry. Plus, they just are un-stylish enough that I remember to take it off before going home!

• Let's not forget the obvious teacher gifts, gift cards!  My favorites are Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Dunkin Donuts, and Starbucks.  Truthfully, I like any gift card I get! I don't know about you, but I always save mine for the summer. In my district we are only paid ten months of the year, September to June, so no paychecks over the summer.  It makes it nice to have some gift cards to treat yourself with over the summer.

• Finally, if you're the teacher, here's a little something for your husband! A "Real Men Marry Teachers" t-shirt.  This link will take you to Zazzle.com again where they have a number of different variations on this shirt.

So, that's my improvised "stockings" post.  

Hope your stocking stuffers are all you want them to be this year!

Merry Christmas!