Thanksgiving snow

The snow on the ground has made today feel more like Christmas than Thanksgiving.  But, when you don't have to get up and go to work, the cold and snow outside are not so bad.  I am thankful for lazy, holiday mornings when we can stay in pajamas until noon!  We watched the Macy's parade (talking about how much fun it was to be there last year!) and then had dinner with Kyle's family. Grace was thankful for the playtime with Elijah and Vaughan!

Thankfully, the kids let me snap a photo so I could go back inside - FAST! They stayed outside playing, sledding, making snow angels, and following deer tracks and eventually came back inside with chilly, rosy cheeks.

Matching sets

Thanks, Nana, for the matching hats and scarves!

Word Work

In order to find time for small group, guided reading instruction, many elementary teachers use a structure called The Daily 5 to help students become independent with some aspects of literacy practice to free the teacher up to work with groups of 5-6 students on reading.  Grace's teacher, Mrs. Harris uses this structure. Each day the children listen to reading using books on CD, read to themselves, read to a partner, or do "word work". On Friday, Grace came home with this list from the writing center. She said she needed to make a list and she thought about it and decided to start her Christmas list.

In case you need a translation here are the items on her list...an American Girl doll - Saige, an art easel, I want an iPod (touch), a baby cat, a radio (which we determined was one with a microphone to sing with), a TV in my room, and a pool in the backyard.  She read the list over and over this weekend since we thought it was hysterical.

So, after a lot of discussion about how she doesn't need a TV, why we can't put a pool on the hill in our backyard, and the kitten, Grace decided to look through some toy catalogs for some other ideas.  She really wants a little pet that she can love, hold, and sleep with.  Kyle and I are not looking to add another animal to our family right now, but Grace and I decided to meet Kellie and Dawson at the pet store this afternoon to "visit" some cute, small pets.

Since we are not really "cat people" I encourage Grace to hold a few of the little dogs.

She liked them all, but as soon as she held this kitten Grace was sure she wants a cat. So then I convinced her that it is almost winter and it is not a great time to get a new pet.  We are going to talk about it again in the spring.

Maybe....

On to the next holiday

Halloween is over and (I guess) we need to be gearing up for Thanksgiving.  At least according to Grace's teacher.  Tom Turkey came home last week.  Our job was to disguise him so he won't be eaten!  Grace wanted him to be an elf so this is what we came up with.  Tom is skipping Thanksgiving and heading straight for the North Pole!

Here are a couple of other photos I coaxed from Grace while we were outside.  I love this outfit but hate how grown up she seems!