thanks to the village...

Jakob wanted to bring the biggest gift for his teacher, so he wrapped his apron in a huge box and added 4 cans of soup and packing peanuts. 4th grade boys...

Perhaps it is because I'm up at the school so much this year with PTA. Perhaps it's because I have kids in K, 1st, 3rd and 4th grade. Whatever the reason, I really LOVE my kids' school. And, I love their teachers. And, I love so many of the people that work up at the school (even the sweet Spanish-speaking janitor who goos and smiles at my baby every time I'm up there). So, I had a really hard time narrowing down the list of people we would give gifts to. Unfortunately, my heart is ALWAYS bigger than my capacity to give, and I was unable to create homemade wonders for everyone on my list. The kids and I made 4 teacher aprons. I bought the aprons for $3 each at Sam's club. (They were out of white.) The kids picked out the fabrics and traced the names, I sewed. Then, the kids wrote thank you-Christmas cards to a few people they appreciate at school. And, I wrote thank you-Christmas cards to a few people that I appreciate at school. We bought nuts (in the shell) because they are one of our favorite things at Christmas time, and filled bags for all the people we love. The kids had fun delivering bags of nuts to the nurse (Ellie's favorite person), the secretaries, the librarian, the music teacher, the lunch ladies, etc.. Wish we could have done more.

I am SO grateful for the many, many people who touch our lives on a daily basis. And, I'm grateful for this time of year when we can remember to say thank you. Thank You! Thank You!

Thank You!