Christmas Break

Christmas break has gone by way too fast! The fact that student teaching starts on Monday is crazy. We have had a blast with my family. It seems like it has been forever since we have all been together. Jeff, Lindsey, and Simon came from Texas. Simon is definitely a favorite. He is too cute for his own good and I found myself waking up quite early each morning just to play with him. Jill came from California and was able to get work off! Joel flew in from Seattle and Andrew and I drove in from Rexburg.

We did our usual salsa assembly line. We delivered nearly 40 salsas to neighbors and friends. This has been a tradition in our family for years. I am always in charge of bagging the chips and stapling them. (Not a job people fight for.) We celebrated accomplishing this task with Cafe Rio. As always, I had a hard time deciding what to order because it's all so good.

The boys went skiing/boarding for a day which was fun for them. I was just thrilled that I didn't have to go. My siblings also watched the second "Hobbit" movie with Andrew and then went to see the third in theaters. I was so happy that I didn't have to do this. I went to theaters with Andrew when the first Hobbit movie came out and slept the entire three hours. (Can you believe I bought and gave Andrew the movie for Christmas!?)

(Dad is taking the pic.)

Christmas Eve included pizza like always which makes any night. We then acted out the nativity which is a tradition. We still use the clothes my Mom made for us when we were young kids, so it's always interesting to find ways to incorporate such small costumes. Simon was baby Jesus of course and this year Andrew and I got to be Mary and Joseph. As siblings, we give each other gifts on Christmas Eve. This year, we did things a little differently. We drew one name to buy a big present for, and then we bought a $5 present for everyone else. My siblings are so thoughtful and got both me and Andrew very meaningful things. (I have already read 2 of the books I got!) I loved watching them open what we bought them. 

(Using a ball to pretend to be a pregnant Mary)

(Dad is taking the pic.)

On Christmas day, we went and saw the movie, "Unbroken." It was a bit much for me. Watching what those American people had to go through was very difficult. It was quite a depressing movie and the happy ending lasted only about 2 minutes after over 120 depressing ones. It was very eye-opening though. One thing I almost forgot to mention is that we woke up to snow on the ground Christmas morning. It was really pretty and Christmas is the one time I won't complain about snow. (Speaking of snow, it snowed over a foot in Rexburg. Beyond happy I missed it.) 

Throughout the week, we played a lot of skum, Joel also introduced us to the "bag" game. This game requires a lot of flexibility and balance which I lack, but it was really funny. The point of the game is to pick up a bag up off of the ground with your mouth. The only part of your body that can touch the ground are your feet. Once you get the bag with your mouth, you tear off that piece of the bag making it even lower to the ground/harder for the next person to reach. Mafia has also become a family favorite. I am TERRIBLE at lying and need to practice before we play again. 

We usually go watch a Jazz game as a family, but it didn't workout this year, so instead we went to a BYU basketball game. BYU happened to be playing Gonzaga which is the team near Andrew's house. I was nervous he would be that one fan that cheered loudly each time Gonzaga scored. Luckily, he wasn't. The game was really close the first half, but BYU was out-played in the second half. Still really fun. Unfortunately, Jill flew out a couple hours before the game so she missed it. Also, Simon didn't come to the game. My Mom did come, but she took the picture below.

                    

I love the spirit of Christmas and that all of my family was together this year. Why does it have to end? 

Goodbye Kindergarten and Hello 2nd Grade!

I'm officially done with Senior Practicum. The semester went by soooo fast which is a good thing. :) Graduation can't come soon enough. I technically could have "walked" this week and part of me wishes I was, but I decided to wait until April because Andrew will be graduating then too. I'm already planning the picture we will take together in our caps and gowns.

I learned a lot working with the cute Kindergartners. They were adorable on my last day and did a great job making me feel loved. I was told numerous times throughout the day that I would be missed. I was also asked a lot if it was my last day. I gave the students smarties after teaching my last lesson as a little goodbye present. They were so excited to give me my present. Each student made me a card. I could really tell the students spent a lot of time working on the cards because they were really well done. Some kids even wrote a sentence or two on their card which impressed me.

My cooperating teacher gave me some really nice pens that all teachers should have. I can't wait to use them. On the package of markers, she wrote me a note: "We think you have a "FLAIR" for teaching! Good luck with all your new adventures." It was really sweet and I will definitely put the nice marker/pens to use.

Something I am quite excited about is retiring my former name-tag which just says Mrs. Ditto and Teacher Education. My new name-tag still says Mrs. Ditto, but instead of Teacher Education, it says Teacher Candidate. It's also nice and white. The other one was gold and had tons of scratches on it. I will officially get to wear my new name-tag and start student teaching on Monday, January 5th. I'm excited to work with a grade that is a little older, so I can teach more content. Soon I'll be a certified teacher which I have waited for my whole life.