.december block of the month.

I think this is my favorite one so far! I love the simplicity of it and the zig zag boder. Me and zig zags – can’t get enough!

.winterfest!.

This past week was Winterfest at CHS. It has been a few years since we had a Winterfest week, so it was fun to have a little distraction to get us through the last few miserable days before Christmas break. The ASB planned dress up days and an assembly on Friday. Everyone had a great time getting into the dress up days and spreading a little holiday cheer!

Monday was Cozy Day = the teacher’s favorite day! An excuse to wear pajamas/comfortable clothes to school!

Tuesday was Candy Cane Day, otherwise known as wear red and white to school

These two crazies come in my office a few times a day and have started to spend STAT in there. They love taking pictures of themselves on my iPad, so I finally caught a picture of them taking a picture of themselves. Seriously crazy girls!

 

 

Wednesday was Ugly Christmas Sweater Day! Grayson went all out – the Christmas tree even lit up! The lady that monitors the lunch accounts had this as her status on Facebook the next day: “Yesterday as the girls were coming through the lunch line I was telling them how much I liked their Christmas sweaters. In my opinion they were pretty. Just think how I felt when I found our it was ugly sweater day.” Hilarious!

 

 

Thursday was Dress Like a Teacher/Dress Like a Student Day. Another excuse to wear comfy clothes! The girls wear this outfit a few times a week – although it was easy to get ready in the morning, I do not know how they make it look cute! I felt like a hot mess all day!

 

A few girls asked, “who are you supposed to be?” and I’d look them up and down (because they were wearing the exact same thing) and say, “YOU!”

 

Friday was Extreme Purple and Gold Day, which is always a fun day to see the school spirit!

Great job ASB – fun week!

.oh what a wonderful year.

.sandy hook.

Last Friday, our sense of security at school was threatened again and our souls shaken when a school shooting occured at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT. There were 26 victims...first graders...their teachers...their principal.

In the days since the shooting, our country has been reeling from the tragedy. How could this happen again? How can it be stopped? Why target such innocent children? So many questions and so few answers.

Preisdent Obama spoke at a vigil in Newtown today. The words he shared were the words on everyone's hearts.

Thank you, Governor. To all the families, first responders, to the community of Newtown, clergy, guests, scripture tells us, “Do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly, we are being renewed day by day.

“For light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands.”

We gather here in memory of 20 beautiful children and six remarkable adults. They lost their lives in a school that could have been any school in a quiet town full of good and decent people that could be any town in America.

Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation. I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts.

I can only hope it helps for you to know that you’re not alone in your grief, that our world, too, has been torn apart, that all across this land of ours, we have wept with you. We’ve pulled our children tight.

And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. Whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it. Newtown, you are not alone.

As these difficult days have unfolded, you’ve also inspired us with stories of strength and resolve and sacrifice. We know that when danger arrived in the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary, the school’s staff did not flinch. They did not hesitate.

Dawn Hocksprung and Mary Sherlach, Vicki Soto, Lauren Russeau, Rachel Davino and Anne Marie Murphy, they responded as we all hope we might respond in such terrifying circumstances, with courage and with love, giving their lives to protect the children in their care.

We know that there were other teachers who barricaded themselves inside classrooms and kept steady through it all and reassured their students by saying, “Wait for the good guys, they are coming. Show me your smile.”

And we know that good guys came, the first responders who raced to the scene helping to guide those in harm’s way to safety and comfort those in need, holding at bay their own shock and their own trauma, because they had a job to do and others needed them more.

And then there were the scenes of the schoolchildren helping one another, holding each other, dutifully following instructions in the way that young children sometimes do, one child even trying to encourage a grownup by saying, “I know karate, so it’s OK; I’ll lead the way out.”

As a community, you’ve inspired us, Newtown. In the face of indescribable violence, in the face of unconscionable evil, you’ve looked out for each other. You’ve cared for one another. And you’ve loved one another. This is how Newtown will be remembered, and with time and God’s grace, that love will see you through.

But we as a nation, we are left with some hard questions. You know, someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside of your body all the time, walking around.

With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves, our child, is suddenly exposed to the world, to possible mishap or malice, and every parent knows there’s nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm. And yet we also know that with that child’s very first step and each step after that, they are separating from us, that we won’t — that we can’t always be there for them.

They will suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments, and we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self-reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear. And we know we can’t do this by ourselves.It comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize no matter how much you love these kids, you can’t do it by yourself, that this job of keeping our children safe and teaching them well is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community and the help of a nation.And in that way we come to realize that we bear responsibility for every child, because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours, that we’re all parents, that they are all our children.

This is our first task, caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.

And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we’re meeting our obligations?

Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?

Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know they are loved and teaching them to love in return?

Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?

I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer’s no. We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change. Since I’ve been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings, fourth time we’ve hugged survivors, the fourth time we’ve consoled the families of victims.

And in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and in big cities all across America, victims whose — much of the time their only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.

We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely we can do better than this.

If there’s even one step we can take to save another child or another parent or another town from the grief that’s visited Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek and Newtown and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that, then surely we have an obligation to try.

In the coming weeks, I’ll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine.

Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?

Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

You know, all the world’s religions, so many of them represented here today, start with a simple question.

Why are we here? What gives our life meaning? What gives our acts purpose?

We know our time on this Earth is fleeting. We know that we will each have our share of pleasure and pain, that even after we chase after some earthly goal, whether it’s wealth or power or fame or just simple comfort, we will, in some fashion, fall short of what we had hoped. We know that, no matter how good our intentions, we’ll all stumble sometimes in some way.

We’ll make mistakes, we’ll experience hardships and even when we’re trying to do the right thing, we know that much of our time will be spent groping through the darkness, so often unable to discern God’s heavenly plans.

There’s only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have for our children, for our families, for each other. The warmth of a small child’s embrace, that is true.

The memories we have of them, the joy that they bring, the wonder we see through their eyes, that fierce and boundless love we feel for them, a love that takes us out of ourselves and binds us to something larger, we know that’s what matters.

We know we’re always doing right when we’re taking care of them, when we’re teaching them well, when we’re showing acts of kindness. We don’t go wrong when we do that.

That’s what we can be sure of, and that’s what you, the people of Newtown, have reminded us. That’s how you’ve inspired us. You remind us what matters. And that’s what should drive us forward in everything we do for as long as God sees fit to keep us on this Earth.

“Let the little children come to me,” Jesus said, “and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Dylan, Madeline, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Benjamin, Avielle, Allison, God has called them all home.

For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory. May God bless and keep those we’ve lost in His heavenly place. May He grace those we still have with His holy comfort, and may He bless and watch over this community and the United States of America.

.beta christmas.

We had our very fun, always entertaining, not to be missed Beta Christmas Party tonight at Amy’s. We did the traditional games – guess the weight and mega tape wrapped relay. The best one is the gift exchange.

I took a pillow and table runner this year. Kelly opened it as the very first gift to be opened.

It got traded around to practically every person throughout the night!

 

Kate opened this candy cane decoration…or is it a “J?” She didn’t end up with it though…but she did get a wreath that was made of the same material.

 

Amy opened a gift that had this sign, some chocolate, wine, and coffee. I stole it from a her a few times because I thought that sign would be perfect in my office! She stole it back and ended up getting to keep it!

Karen is trying to steal the table runner from Eileen – but Eileen is sitting on it!

I think everyone ended up with something they were satisfied with!

We celebrated Amy’s 40th birthday on 12/12/12 with a Donna Seely cake! YUM!

 

Our group – missing Martha and Sharon – we all wore black and bling in honor of Amy’s big bad 4-0!

Of course, we had to have a photo shoot!

   

Check out that bling!!

 

Kara and Karen – the masters of the gift exchange game! Because of these two, I can see why sometimes the game is called “Dirty Santa!”

 

Karlye & Jess – they had an alliance to get the table runner & pillow for Jessica. Success!

 

.12/12/12.

Saw this on Facebook … had to mark this day! I

.chalkboard art.

I brought a project for Jennifer & I to do today during lunch! Another Pinterest find (http://indiecraftparade.com/blog/archives/2370), of course!

Jan had given us these chalkboards at the beginning of the year and I printed off the cute lettering/message. The tutorial is super easy – we just learned that you can’t rest your hand on the chalkboard! I love how it turned out and I can’t wait to change the message on my chalkboard regularly!

.happy birthday Amy!.

I got to celebrate Amy Kleinbach’s 40th birthday with her tonight at Anthony’s! I missed out on the afternoon wine tasting tour, but joined the group for dinner. Always a delicious dinner there and fun to celebrate Amy with friends – Pam, Jessica, Kinuyo, Bonnie, Keri, Stacey, Kara, & Martha. We even got to enjoy the Lighted Boat Parade as it went past!

Amy gets to turn 40 on 12/12/12 – what could be so bad about that?! Even though we didn’t get to celebrate in Vegas like she’s originally talked about – we had a great time anyway. Love you Amy!

.christmas bazaar.

Mom and I had tables at the Mesa CPT Christmas Bazaar today! We both worked hard all fall to have enough merchandise available to sell. I tried to think of ways to make my table more visually interesting since quilts are just flat…I set up a chair on the table and had a quilt draped over it with another quilt folded on the seat. I made a few pillows that were around the table too. Next year I’ll have to bring one of my cake plates to get the chocolate and my business cards up off the table.

 

This is my Mom’s table…check out all that jewelry!

   

I had a pretty successful day. I sold about half of what I brought and then posted the rest on Facebook. Hope to make some more sales!

.kamryn time.

Nick, Kate, & Kamryn got back from Hawaii this week so we had them over for dinner to catch up and hear about their trip! Dad & I made Sweet & Sour Chicken and Fried Rice from a Pinterest recipe
(http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html)  – definitely a keeper!

After dinner we went downstairs and Kamryn found an old purse to play with. We had fun finding all kinds of little things in the craft room for her to put in her purse!

 

And then packing and repacking it!

 

This little stinker knows when you want to take a picture of her and she will not look or smile.

 

Then today, she got to come back and play during the Volleyball banquet. We watched a Christmas movie and played with the My Little Pony’s. It makes me smile when she plays with the ponies – thinking of the hours and hours and hours Melissa and Kamryn’s Aunt Angie played with those same ponies. Still fun, a generation later!