19th: day of freedom

today was the last day of school before christmas break. it seems like it flew by and we had so much to do....luckily we got most of it done yesterday. we had a great day, it was fun and everyone was happy for once.
first we had christmas breakfast which was a blast. next, we had AR store, then we were off to the christmas play. after that activity, then lunch, the computer lab for math....finally it was time for stockings and stocking stuffers. we had planned to do it in the morning and get it all over with but the morning was jam-packed and we had no time. after being asked 44,000 times by 19 kids when we were going to do it, we finally got it over with. jennifer and i stayed in the back of the room handing kids their stuffers to hand out. the funny part is that we both had our empty gift bags full of stuffers by the end of the sharing session. two grown women, who have eaten for the last two weeks like it's the last supper, (well, i have, sorry if that offends you jenn), and here we are collecting candy canes, double bubble, mad libs books, heart shaped sunglasses and huge bling-bling rings. from the dollar store...it was definitely a kodak moment. too bad we didn't get a picture. my glasses ended up making me a little sick. you know when the plastic isn't really plastic and it makes everything look kind of wavy? it makes me very carsick but i couldn't take them off because they were all watching, making sure i was as fashionable as third graders thought i should be.
i got so many nice, thoughtful gifts. it always amazes me how the boys are so in tune with what i like...sometimes you think they aren't listening, but they really are. some of my favorites today were my new nike backpack and headbands (thank you emory, jennifer and i made use of them on our run after school), the dog photo frame, ornament and magnet from jacob, BEERCHEESE from alex and abby, huge, fluffy slipper socks from destiny, good smelly lotions, all the chocolate, my waco loopers ornament, a bybee pottery platter and several more gifts. my kids and their families have been so generous and thoughtful this year. it made me so happy to see them want to give to their classmates, their teachers and our little boy we sponsored from ripples of hope.
now, i think i need to go lay down and let all this food digest before we hit it to ohio for tim's family christmas tomorrow. i'm going to be ten pounds heavier before the weekend's over!