Catch Up

I know it's been over a month since I have posted, but now I have tons of pictures so I'm going to TRY to let them do most of the talking because well, we all know pictures are just more fun. I am an explainer though so we'll see. As a general disclaimer: I can't stand how blogger puts pictures in backwards order and how much of a pain it is to move them around, so my timeline of pictures is a little messed up. You'll be able to follow along I'm sure!

I spent from Dec. 20th to the 31st in San Diego with my family this Christmas and it was FANTASTIC! My family showed us a great time and made sure we hit all my favorite spots. This meant that we saw the ocean a lot and ate Mexican food to my heart's content. Chris spent most of his mornings and afternoons golfing. I'm not kidding, he played 5 rounds of golf and went to the driving range on top of that. He was pretty much in heaven.

For the first time in a few years all of us were together so my parents could get a much coveted complete family picture.

My sister Audra, Me, my brother David

Three of us with my parents

Whole group

(Me, Chris, Mom, Dad, Dave, Luke, Will, Audra, Chloe, Ethan)

I got to meet Audra's baby, Chloe, for the first time! She was to die for! I'm in love for sure.

Oh, I love this guy too! :)

We had a fun day at the San Diego Zoo. Audra's boys, Ethan and Luke were the resident experts and corrected me many times. Ethan told me the birds were not just condors, but CALIFORNIA Condors! Duh!

Luke had me cracking up with his love of this gross stuffed cheetah on a little train we rode and his comment about the hippos we saw playing in the water. Turning to me with a big smile on his face, "Oh, that's quite a creature!"

The boys weren't cooperating...

until I asked to take a picture of Ethan's nose!

Cute Chloe, being as happy and content as always at the zoo.

I had to make it to the La Jolla tide pools. It being December did not deter me at all.

There were HUGE starfish everywhere we looked!

I finally found a pet I want. I seem to be the only one who wants these sea slugs as pets. Not to mention I'm the only one who thinks it is awesome to hold them. I tried to get some kids to pet them and they looked at me like I was crazy. I always did like sea creatures better than any others. Aren't these guys fat! The fattest I've ever seen!

We also saw an octopus, but he got away before we could get a picture.

Gorgeous, gorgeous day! Look at all these views we had that day. Why did I leave San Diego???

We also biked around that day on the coast up on the cliffs. The waves were huge! We saw Seal Beach (which really is roped off for the seals), and a wedding going on that was beautiful.

This one is on Coronado Island right off Downtown San Diego. It is famous for the Hotel Del Coronado which Chris and I got to stay at for part of our honeymoon. I love their huge tree they decorate different every year. I buy at least one ornament from there every year.

Christmas morning. I think Chris was most excited with his pound of Sees Chocolate plus two more pounds of it in gift certificates. Well, that and the money both sets of parents contributed towards a new TV. Oh boy, this could be dangerous!

I got the boys Zhu Zhu Hamsters. Winky and Scoodles. Although for the first day they were "Tinky and Skittles."

Luke was pretty excited about his. When he first opened it he said in the sweetest voice possible, "Awww! What's this cute little guy?!" Gotta love that kid.

I also got them some books. Luke is "reading one" very intently.

I loved seeing all my family, including grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins too. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas!

These are just some fun pictures of school stuff before the break. We did lots of fun Christmas crafts and centers the week before Christmas.

Gift Bags,

Holiday themed worksheets and another gift bag,

Christmas Memory,

Reading corner with all my Christmas books (and yes that is a cup of hot cocoa I let them drink while reading. Only 2 spilled and thankfully not on the books! I'm crazy, I know),

We made cute Christmas trees out of upside down ice cream cones, white frosting for snow, green for the tree, and lots of candy for decorations.

I've noticed some kids really don't care if their stuff looks nice, EVER, so I tried to document both sides.

Kid who doesn't care...

Kid who does.

Kid who doesn't care...

Kid who does.

(If you want to learn how to make cool snowflakes, just ask - One of the perks of being a teacher :)

Kid who doesn't care...

Kid who does.

I didn't take a picture of one of the ones that didn't care about their reindeer, but let me tell you... there were a couple doosies!

Want to know what the common theme was? All the "Kid who doesn't care" were boys. There are exceptions to every rule of course but...I'm just sayin'.

Just so you know we did "real" work too, here is an example of a cool clock each kid made to help them remember how to tell time. I should have taken a picture of a kid who doesn't care. Wow, you should have seen that.

This I posted so you can see how creative kids are now days. I had them add to Verb Man showing different actions he can do. Please note "farting" and "bleeding." I stopped them there though there were many more hands that soared into the air after having been inspired by the two children before them. I had to laugh.