Decking the Halls…
A beautiful, fresh wreath my brother and his family sent us for Christmas.
Anna’s 4th-grade music concert…
Our family Christmas gift was attending the show, STOMP. Kenny and I both saw the show years ago, but thought it would be something the kids would enjoy. This year was the 25th Anniversary of the show and we were excited the tour came through town.
Anna’s class Christmas party…
Christmas cookies!
Kenny’s Birthday!
Anna & Kenny’s annual ice skating…
In December, we visited our friend, Corene, at her house. Her husband, Howard, passed away last summer, and it was very odd being at their house without him. They typically have people over to run trains with them fairly regularly. Corene hadn’t had anyone over since Howard passed, and she asked us to come run them and enjoy the trains again. Kenny picked up the tasks that Howard used to do – setting up the index card packets for each train and being the switch operator. It was an emotional day for Corene but a good, healing one and we were grateful to be there with her.
Last November, the fourth graders at Anna’s school experienced Medieval Day. I’ve talked about these curriculum days before that our school does – such wonderful ways to experience history and actually remember it.
Each of the four fourth-grade classrooms were transformed and the kids rotated through each. One room was a castle where the teacher read a story.
The next room was the monastery where the kids took a vow of silence in the hall before entering, then copied rules of the monastery with a quill and ink.
Another room was the marketplace where the kids negotiated prices for various goods. Each class made the goods ahead of time – plastic goblets, banners, shields and crowns.
The fourth room was Sherwood Forest where Robin Hood made an appearance and talked to the kids about his life, weapons and helping the poor. I chatted with Robin Hood that day and was amazed to hear he’s been coming to our school for over a decade for Medieval day to talk to kids. He uses this platform to talk about helping those in need, bullying and being a responsible citizen.
And lastly, the kids ate an amazing feast!
I so enjoy helping with these days at school. Each of these curriculum days requires many parents to help the teachers. The day before Medieval day we had about 4-5 parents per classroom helping to set up after school. Then the day of there are that many parent helpers per classroom again, plus other parents who drop in here and there for the morning. Now that we live so close to the school, Kenny was able to stop by briefly during his workday which Anna enjoyed.
Anna and her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Rogers.