Thursday Dec. 20

Today was great.  The kids got up this morning, a little excited that there is only one more day of school til they're out for the holidays.  They'll go through tomorrow and then they're out til January 7th, so it'll be a nice long break.  (I am sooo looking forward to sleeping later than 6:20 every morning!!!)  It's always fun to watch that excitement grow as the time gets closer for a big day---whether that day is Christmas or a hundred other exciting days throughout the year.  (birthdays, last day of school, first day of school, Christmas, etc, etc....)  They chatter a little more, act a little more goofy, play together a little more nicely.  It's like they know something cool is about to happen & they are all in on the excitement together.  That's a nice change since they argue so much the rest of the time.

At school today, my class had the first of my 2 Christmas parties.  I have 2 groups of kids.  One group comes on Mon/Wed/Fri & the other group comes on Tues/Thurs.  Today was the Tues/Thurs group's party.  They enjoyed all their yummy breakfast foods (we had a breakfast party at lunchtime!) & then exchanged books for a gift exchange.  They're all so good to me, too!  I left with a giant gift bag full of sweet little presents from the kids!  I love those!!  Being a teacher has got to be one of the most spoiling jobs around.  We're smothered in hugs & kisses all the time and then every time a special day rolls around, we get PRESENTS.  Gotta love that!  :)

This afternoon when we got home, Larry was here.  It's unusual for him to come home that early, so I figured he may've gotten sick.  Turns out he just came home a tad early so that he could go hunting this afternoon before it got dark.  (Did I post that he got a deer a couple weeks ago?  He's trying for #2 now!)  Anyway, he had another front seat full of presents from people at work.  One of them was a gift certificate to Olive Garden.  He told me to take the kids & go eat supper there tonight w/ the gift certificate.  Let me tell ya......he didn't have to say it twice.  :)  With Olive Garden being my favorite restaurant, I was holding my keys before he finished the sentence.  (ha ha...well maybe I wasn't QUITE that fast, but almost)

I always get a kick out of taking my kids to a "fancy" restaurant.  Sarah loves the "crumpets" in Olive Garden's salads.  (that would be a crouton for those of you who don't speak Sarah-ese)  Savannah likes the tomatoes, so she picks through the big bowl for those.  Samuel didn't want any salad, but grabbed a breadstick to munch on while we ate our salads.  Savannah tried to convince him to take a big bite out of one of the peppers, but couldn't ever talk him into it.  When we were done eating, I looked at Samuel (seated beside me) and asked him if I had any food stuck in my teeth.  I figured I might since I'd had the Garlic-Herb Chicken con Broccoli.  Lots of tiny green things to get stuck there....  He said I did & proceeded to shove his little finger into my mouth to show me.  I'm ever-so-discreetly trying to back up from him as he says loudly "mommy, it's stuck right there in between these teeth".  I had to remind him to talk quietly & not put his finger in MY mouth while the people at the table behind me giggled.  I had a toothpick in my purse & pulled it out to use.  After a little time wielding my toothpick, I looked across the table at Savannah, thinking she is older & a little more gracious maybe, and asked her if I had gotten it.  I did the big grin to show her my teeth and she proceeded to do exactly what Samuel had done---only ACROSS the table...as in leaning across the table to do it.  Between trying not to laugh & trying to get her to HUSH & sit down on her side of the booth, I knew it was time to LEAVE.  I did finally get the piece of broccoli out of my teeth, but not before everyone at the surrounding tables knew about it.  LOL!

Boy...ya gotta love kids.  :)