not quite 3 weddings and a funeral...

...but close!

This past week we had 3 field trips and a class party. Whew, I'm still tired thinking about it. Normally these field trips are scattered throughout the month but this year it just worked out that they were all in the same week.

First up, Shopping & Santa!
Grace and her classmates rode the big yellow bus to the dollar store to shop for presents for the parents.
So that it would be a surprise for the parents that were there to chaperone, we were assigned two little shopping buddies that didn't include our own littles. My two buddies were Kate & Caroline and they were soooooo funny! I loved listening to their cute little comments while they decided what to buy.Next up, a visit to Santa at the mall. This time the little pumpkin wasted no time telling Santa about that beloved American Girl doll she is hoping he'll bring her. She even wrote about the doll and drew a picture in her December journal at school...I sure hope Santa comes through! *wink*Twelve little wiggly bodies...we missed you, Julien!Tuesday it was time for a cute Christmas play at a local school and a visit to see Dr. Carter's train display.The play was super cute! I just love elementary school plays! And Grace...well, she was just enamored. The girl loves art and drama and anything theatrical. I think we may just have to try the little one week summer camp a local actor's guild puts on every year.Dr. Carter and his wife were so sweet to let Grace's class come check out his collection of trains.I didn't take too many pictures this year, but oh my, he has a lot of trains!!! An entire room full of collectible model trains, full villages with every operational piece you can imagine, steam-blowing engines, log-loading & water tower climbing characters, Disney character trains, the Polar Express and on and on and on...a little boy's dream room, for sure! But it was this little Christmas train that had the girls mesmerized...Thank you, Dr. & Mrs. Carter for sharing your trains with us once again this year!Wednesday, Mrs. Gloria opened up her festive home to let the littles in Grace's class see her gazillion Christmas decorations in all their glory.Mrs. Gloria and her husband start decorating October 1st. They take down almost everything in their home and replace it with Christmas decorations. There were over 10 trees and every room had a theme. This was one of her new additions to the music room...Her kitchen had over 50 Christmas cookie jars...this one was my favorite.Mrs. Gloria has a silly side to her too! Before she retired she was an elementary school teacher for many, many years and she sure knows how to make littles smile!! She surprised Mrs. Bryan by putting this silly hat on her and turning it on...Grace and her school buddies thought that was HILARIOUS!After that silly prank, Mrs. Gloria let each child select one of the dancing/singing/talking toys to turn on. This was a BIG deal for them...he he, so cute! Kate picked out my favorite...a globe that said Merry Christmas & Happy New Year in languages all over the world...I love this sweet picture of Mary Stephens about to have her turn...After waiting patiently for most of her classmates to go, it was finally Grace's turn...she pondered all the choices for a while before selecting...RUDOLPH, of course! Rudolph was her favorite thing last Christmas and I think she still has a soft spot for him. Right after she turned the music on, she - in pure Grace fashion - said, "Ready?" and then broke out singing {loudly} & clapping her hands in attention to lead her class into their own little rendition of Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer...oh dear!Grace's class...love all these sweet kiddos!I'm not sure if this is a preschool thing everywhere or not, since Grace is our first child to go to preschool, but right before they have their daily snack at school, they sing this little song...

Where is (child's name)?
Where is (child's name)?
There he/she is.
There he/she is.
Thank you for our snack.
Thank you for our snack.
It's so good.
It's so good.

They sang this for Mrs. Gloria when she showed them the cookie bar she had set up for them and she just loved it. So sweet!

Funny story...last year a couple of weeks into the school year, Grace came home upset and said to me, "How come you never send the morning snack?" I had no clue what she was talking about until she told me they had never sang the snack song to her! HA! Of course you can bet who carried in a tray of homemade goodies to school the very next morning...Right as we were leaving, Mrs. Gloria handed each child a little Christmas tree and told them these were for them to keep in their room year round...a little reminder to keep Christmas in your heart all year long. Grace held on to this little tree the whole ride back to school and it now has a spot front & center on her dresser...so sweet!Preschool party coming up next!