School Christmas Activities

Today was Polar Express Day at Indian Land Elementary. All students and teachers wore pajamas to school and participated in various activities related to the storybook. My class took time to discuss the story before we watched the movie together. After completing the movie, each child wrote a story about their trip on the Polar Express and what they would choose if they were given the 1st gift of Christmas. Their stories turned out super cute and very creative.

Erica and I showing off our pj's :-)

My kiddos glued to the movie

Later in the day, the kids performed a rehearsal of their Christmas concert, before heading home for a few hours before the real performance. I had about 14 of my 20 kids that came back for the concert in the evening to perform their "O Hanukkah" song for their parents and families.

ILE Teacher of the Month

I am super excited today!!!! This morning, I was named the ILE Teacher of the Month for all of my hard work and dedication to our school and my classroom. It was announced on the morning announcements, sent out in an e-mail and sent home in the parent weekly newsletter. I was very surprised and honored by this. Our school technology guru made a poster with my picture on it and posted it on the entrance door to the main hallway of the school. This was just the little boost I needed to encourage me to keep working as hard as I do!!

Erica's Birthday

Erica turned 29 this year and we took her out for a night on the town. We started with dinner at Charanda's and then headed to uptown Charlotte. Starting at Howl at the Moon in the EpiCenter and then heading to Dixie's Tavern, we enjoyed a night full of drinks and music.

Erica after they sang to her at dinner

Valerie and I

Aimee and I

All the girls (+1 random in the back)

ILE Staff Christmas Party

As part of my duties as Sunshine Chair for our school, I was put in charge of planning our school Christmas party. It wasn't too much trouble, since the country club house did most of the work. I picked the menu, bought/designed the table decorations, planned the gift exchange, got the dj/music, and did the set up/clean up. It turned out really nicely and everyone had a lot of fun!! (I know I had more fun than I needed to have on a school night!) Somedays, I want to quit teaching and take up party planning full time.

Erica, Brittany, and I

the dinning room

ribbons, floating candle holders, and snowflakes on tables

entry way into the club house

Tar Heel Game

Erica invited me to a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill basketball game to wrap up our Thanksgiving holiday. We sat in traffic for 5 hours on our way to the game and didn't end up arriving until half time. We were able to get back in half the time that it took us to get to the game. I enjoyed checking out the stadium, first visit so I had to take it all in. Here are a few pics.

The Marsters' Wedding

Aaryn Campbell, the second year teacher on my team at school, got married on Friday, November 21. She had a very nice, small service held at the Springs Dairy Barn in Fort Mill, SC. The reception was held immediately after the service in the downstairs of the Dairy Barn. All of the ladies that I teach with were in attendance. We all enjoyed the time hanging out together outside of the halls of the school building. Aaryn looked beautiful!!!!

Jessie, Sherri, and I
Tricia, Judy, and Sarah

Our new girls~Tricia, Jessie, and Sarah

Our team with the happy couple!!!

Mr. and Mrs. John Marsters

Flo-Town in October

Columbus Day weekend getaway found Erica and I in Florence spending time with Aimee. Friday found us cooking at home and enjoying a few drinks. Staying up late, with a combination of vodka, jaeger bombs, music and a camera lead to some random pictures.

Saturday, after sleeping in to recover from the long, late night, we headed to the mall for some shopping and fun. While looking for shoes for school, I found the perfect pair. Aimee and Erica also found some pretty cool shoes that we could not resist!!! (JK :-)

While at the mall, Aimee found some tounge tattoos that she just had to have. They came in different flavors and actually burned a little while putting them on. After attempting to put on multiple tattoos, my 5th one finally came out to where you could tell what it was. Below are the pics of each of our tattoos.

Me

Aimee

Erica

You never know what will happen when we all spend a weekend together!!!