#37

Empty plate, yo!

Love sharing life with these babes.

Best cake on earth

So glad Papa came to celebrate with us!

At 12, Jackson keeps us laughing.  His expressions and one-liners are a SCREAM!

This little one is still my shadow.  I adore her and enjoy her so much!

My parents (too late for pictures) and Andy's Dad (Mimi was sick:) )  joined us for dinner at our new favorite burger joint- Flip Burger.  It was a sweet birthday.  The kids were all excited.  After the fun dinner, Nutella milkshakes were served.  Wow.  And then later Andy made a homemade strawberry cake for me, our annual tradition.  I promise you there is not a better cake on earth!
This year has been filled with the highest highs and the lowest lows.  We are in a busy, but wonderful season right now.  So many things have changed.  I hope to have time to reflect on it all before the new year.  What a difference time makes!

Gazing and Gratitude

"Gazing on beautiful things acts on my soul, which thirsts for heavenly light."

~Michelangelo

We had a beautiful day at Mimi and Papa's house on Thanksgiving.  I enjoyed so much the relaxation.  The kids played outside all afternoon and the adults talked, read, and napped.  We are so thankful for this time with family!  What a beautiful gift!

School thanksgiving parties

Cute little pilgrim

Ever the competitor!

Her little friend's expression is priceless!

This is called going all out!

Another cutie!

Things are serious now.  The collar and bonnet have been removed!

Joshua's class had a simple snack in his classroom.  He is at the top left.

My class had a feast and games outside.  Isn't this fruit turkey adorable?

Our class dressed as pilgrims, and the other third grade class dressed as Indians.

Sweet prayer to begin our feast.  So much to thank God for, always!

Two of my cute students.

One of my sweet students and his little sister.  He has three sisters and does a great job as brother to them all!

Spirit day

Friday at school we had team spirit day.  That meant that we were allowed to wear our team colors to school.  Also, the last two hours of school, the kids had relays- one class against the other for each grade.  The grand finale was the teacher vs. fifth grade volleyball game.  The day was capped off with the awards ceremony.  All the kids got candy for participating.  The winner of the volleyball game got a trophy and bragging rights for the year (which went to the teachers, no thanks to my pitiful effort).  And one class got a trophy for being "Most Spirited".  The third graders won that title and the trophy is in our room!  I taught the kids two cheers, which we chanted all day in the most obnoxious way:

Third grade is dynamite, don't mess with dynamite, get burned!
and
We've got spirit yes we do, we've got spirit how bout you??

It was wild and crazy and my throat hurt all night, but really good times.  It never ceases to amaze me how competitive I am.  Seriously, an egg and spoon relay race, volleyball game, and spirit trophy made me scream and run like a weirdo.  Some things never change.

Let the festivities begin!

Cutest little Auburn fan ever!

Going to claim her prize!

My son painted his hair orange!  War Eagle!

Two cuties from class!

Mohawk...anything goes on Spirit Day!

Some of the teachers enjoying the music.  Ha!

My class with our trophy!  Woohoo!!

All I want for Christmas....

Look at this precious girl all toothless!  Our last little one to loose her front teeth and have this precious look.  Oh, I love it!  There was so much drama that came with pulling these two big, stubborn teeth.  Happy it's behind us...but I am not so sure about those big-girl permanent teeth that are to follow.  She is just so cute lisping and smiling.  So cute! 

Lucy, the stinker

A month or so ago a chocolate lab puppy showed up in our yard.  This is all too common because in Alabama when people can't sell or give away puppies, they often "drop them off" in rural areas.  Do they realize there are coyotes and all manner of predators around here?  It's like they think they'll live a happy, country life.  Then again, maybe they just don't care.  Andy has had to kill strays before because other wise they starve and are just pathetic.  He says it feels really horrible to shoot a dog.  I can only imagine. 

Any way, this puppy was just the cutest thing.  Not only did the kids love her immediately, but our chocolate lab, Toby, became her BFF instantly.  So we kept her and now have one lab who has JUST gotten past the puppy-I-will-chew-and-tear-up-everything stage, only to start over again with this puppy.  We must be mental.

She is so cute, though.  And now we have two happy dogs (and a yard of randomly chewed trash).  :)

Classroom Thanksgiving Decor

With my third grade class this week we made some fun Thanksgiving stuff.  First, I found a few branches, cut some paper leaves, and we made a thankful tree.  I love that not only is my name written on many, many leaves, but so are each member of my family...Mr. Whorton, Jack, Josh, Lydie.  My students love my whole family!  It's really sweet.  I guess I talk about Andy and the kids a lot with my class and they often feel like part of a big family.

Although it is not in our scope and sequence for third grade, I love to teach drawing to the class.  This week we talked about line and scale.  The assignment was to outline a turkey, and then fill in other lines to create more dimensional and detail.  They were asked to draw a turkey the size of the paper to practice a larger scale.  The drawings were very good, and it made a nice, simple display for the hall.

I think I probably squish in more arts, crafts, and drawing than most classes just because it's so fun and I believe key to a thorough education.  I love to use the last thirty minutes of the day to listen to good music or a good book on cd and create together!  What a way to worship the Creator of all good things!  This class loves our little projects, even the boys!  It's so much fun!

Greek floats

Getting lined up for the parade!

30 happy children

The sweet third graders chose a theme or character from ancient Greek history and made a "float" for a parade that they got to share with the other grammar students.  Essentially, they decked out shoe boxes into every thing from a Trojan horse to the ancient Olympics.  We were quite impressed!  And they were all so proud and so creative!  These are wonderful students!

Fall classroom decorations

"The earth is filled with his glory" bulletin board.  Oil resist and water color leaf art project.

You can tell I am not the greatest poet.  But the third graders thought it was brilliant! :) Pumpkin lanterns, felt owl, scarecrow, mini hay bales, fall tree

Fun wreath for the door

Perfect weekend

We got some much needed time away this past weekend!  We were just too pooped on Friday to travel.  So we literally left our backpacks at the door, rested, and fell asleep early.  (Andy had to run to town for a pizza for dinner because I just couldn't make myself put together a meal!)  Saturday morning we threw a few things in a suitcase and left for a day at Auburn.  It was such a beautiful, perfect day.  Our team won (a rare treat this season!) and we enjoyed the day with all the perks of a scholarship club, season ticket holder's benefits!  My brother let us use his tickets, parking pass, and food bracelets for the day.  So we had great seats, perfect weather, plenty of free food, and a good parking spot.

After the game we walked to Toomer's Corner with the other fans and helped roll the trees.  Then we had freshly-squeezed Toomer's lemonade, and the kids had it for the first time.  This adorable older couple had a slingshot set up with tissue for kids to shoot into the trees.  That was big fun.

On the way to the car we saw one of the Auburn cheerleaders.  She stopped to pose with Lydia Joy, even offering her pom-poms to let Lydie  hold for the picture.  Lydie had stars in her eyes!  Aren't they darling?

We decided to spend the night at the lake house.  That was a great decision.  It was quiet and a nice change of pace.  The leaves were spectacular.  We had dinner at Niffers, watched a movie, and went to bed early.  Then on Sunday we got out the boat and cruised around the lake, which was very deserted with only a few boats and sailboats, and enjoyed the fall trees.  We fished along the banks and just had an easy, slow afternoon.

Later, Andy played football in the yard by the lake while I cleaned.  We all said a sad goodbye and came home refreshed.  What a perfect way to savor my favorite season!  I feel like I have barely looked around this fall, so I am so thankful for a whole two days outside!  What a blessing!