what a wondrous time of year

Christmas Break is officially here. (Man, I love my job!) We had a class party at school last Friday. The day of a class party is a true test of your classroom management skills. How long can you keep 24 fourth graders distracted and doing something on task until the final hour of school? Luckily, I have some good students. Then I discovered how to get them quiet and perfectly still during the party. Tell them you are going to take a picture!


Looks like I survived and they had an incredible time. And while I was having all of this wonderful fun, my husband was finishing up his finals for pharmacy school. He survived as well!

I always have so much fun during Christmas. Over the years I have collected quite the collection of Christmas socks. This year I got this pair from my secret pal at school. I think these might top all of the Christmas socks that ever were!

The day I got them I was wearing a skirt, so I thought it would be fun to put them on over my tights. That in turn got so many comments for the rest of the day from my co-workers.

As long as I'm posting about Christmas, now would be an appropriate time to share a picture of our tree...




And the mantle...

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays! May the calendar keep bringing, Happy Holiday to you!

all in perfect taste

Our small group at church has been quite the happening group lately. These guys are just the best. We're all so busy, but we sure enjoy each others company. (well, at least I do :)

Here we took a girl's night out to see the movie New Moon. We got to be all fancy in the balcony of the Warren theater. Plus we got to use the seat warmers on this rainy evening.





Last night we met for dinner at Zio's. Here are shots of each side of the table.




Then the few and adventurous ones headed to the devon ice rink downtown.
Cynda and Clint turned out to be the ice skating champions!

mind your manners

It was much to my delight when an article in Time for Kids gave tips to children on how to show their manners.

I read this in class with my students, but I thought these tips were also good for us adults to be reminded of as well.

This comes from Capricia Penavic Marshall who is an expert on manners:

• Know your manners. You give yourself an advantage when you know the appropriate way to act.
• Do not say thank you with an e-mail. People appreciate a hand written thank you note.
• Give others your full attention at the dinner table. Put the cell phone away, and engage in conversation.

I think the first one is an obvious one for adults and we usually do consider this when dealing with other people.

The second one is something I agree with, but I keeping coming across people who feel that writing thank you notes is very outdated. I don't write thank you notes for everything little thing, but I do write them from time to time to show my appreciation to someone. I do feel that writing thank you notes is very necessary for wedding, shower, and graduation gifts.

And I totally agree with the third one. I keep coming across people who are totally engrossed in text messaging and I tend to wonder why I am even hanging out with them in the first place since they obviously have something else occupying them. Bob and I were out at dinner one weekend and we saw a family sitting together and the three "children" all looked to be about in their twenties. All of them were texting on their cell phones and nobody at the table was talking to each other or to the parents.

Reading the article in the kids magazine was a nice fresh reminder that even the little things we do can speak volumes of how we value other people. Showing kindness and consideration does not take much effort and it makes everyone feel good.

you're so old

So old and so out of touch... at least that's what I have felt like recently with some of my students at school.

Last week I heard a girl mutter "you're a jerk". I immediately asked her what she was saying. She said she was singing a song. Instantly some of the other students sang along which was when I realized it was indeed a real song. I guess I have been living under a rock because a quick google search brought me to the song and the group who sings it, the new boyz. I told them I had never heard that song before. This of course was shocking to my students, how have I never heard this song before?



I told them I knew the song "cupid shuffle". Which was followed by scoffs. A girl told me, "Mrs. Kennedy (like come on...) everybody knows that!"

Then earlier this week they asked me if I liked Twilight. Which I told them yes, I 've read all the books. Then the girl follows up with "Robert Pattinson is mine!"

I reply with "who?". And she says, "Edward". Then I ask, "Why are you calling him Robert?"

Then she says, "because that's his name".



So, it took me a little too long to figure out she was referring to the actor who plays Edward in the movie. To me the Twilight series is just books, but to elementary students it is all about the movie and the actors. How silly of me.

I find both of these encounters rather humorous now. I just happened to feel incredibly old while they were happening. If I am so old and out of touch with these kids, I wonder what it is like for the other people in my building who are 12-30 years older than me?

everybody's got a laughing place

Laughing is a very natural and healthy part of life. I feel that if you are not able to laugh at some things, then you might be taking life a little too seriously. Laughing helps me to be able to enjoy life. Why am I feeling the need to say this? Maybe because I laugh a lot. Maybe because my students tell me, "Mrs. Kennedy, you laugh a lot."

However, this week I've been a little pre-occupied with video taping for my national board project, and I just need a good laugh to help relieve some of the stress. If you would need a good laugh too check out the videos below. These make me laugh every time. Enjoy!

Single Lady Clown



Injured Bad

the leaves are rustling gustily

Last week I got to enjoy one of my teacher holidays that seems "unfair" to the rest of the working world. FALL BREAK!!! And might I say that I for one have been enjoying our premature fall weather here in OK. I thought for the one week anniversary of fall break being past us, that it was time for a recap.

First, I came home Wednesday night and did all of my grading so I could enjoy the long weekend.

Then, Thursday morning I got to be a fun aunt and I had Audrey come over to the house and watch Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with me. I must admit that was probably mostly for me, but she enjoyed it too. I bought the new DVD this month and I just haven't had time to watch it. What better excuse is there than to watch it with my niece. Our movie was followed up with lunch at Chuck E Cheese.

Thursday evening Bob and I helped serve a meal at the Lighthouse and then we headed home to chill out and watch "The Office".

Friday, was just one big date day/night. My dear husband accompanied me to the mall and I actually got to go to several stores, bought a new black jacket, and some make-up.

We then had a late lunch at the Elephant Bar

Yea for late lunches and having the restaurant to our selves!


Later that evening we had a big night out in Bricktown. Since this was the evening before the OU/Texas game it was not overly crowded for a Friday night, but not deserted either.

Me in my new jacket.

The husband cruising Bricktown
We ate dinner at the Bricktown Brewery and enjoyed the nice crisp fall evening as we walked outside. Finally, we got to check out the new Michael Murphy's Dueling Piano bar. Since it was not a very busy night we got to walk right in without having to wait, like we've been hearing about from several people. The piano players were a hoot, but I would not recommend this type of entertainment in the midst of company such as your grandma.

Overall I would declare Fall Break a success! Luckily this week of school so far has gone well, except that I have been getting hungry before lunch time. Sounds like I have gotten myself accustomed to eating more often during my time off. Oh well, time to get back into my routines.

there maybe something there that wasn't there before

Having a pet in our house is shocking for many of our close friends and family members. I never grew up with pets, so this has been a completely new experience for me. We are getting used to our cat still and his interesting schedule. He's not a complete indoor cat as of right now. Mr. Swarley comes and goes as he pleases. He eats, sleeps all day, and prefers to be outside all night. Whenever I try to treat him like an indoor kitty, he goes to the door and asks to leave (stands at the door and meows). I gave him cat nip to play with, a fake mouse. Shortly after that he asks to leave and 10 minutes later he comes back with a half dead field mouse. I guess he wanted the real thing. I've heard that you never really "own" a cat, it is the cat who chooses. I think that is definitely the case here. We'll see what happens as the weather keeps getting colder, but for now Swarley is still an indoor/outdoor kitty.