upside-down books, and other important matters

My current view: cute pigtails and an upside-down book

First things first: I finally turned on the heater. We've been trying to do lame responsible things like go green and also save on our bills, etc etc., so we'd been avoiding the heater. But it was COLD last night! I kept waking up to pull on another pair of thick socks. In the morning, I spent a few minutes warming my hands and feet with the blow dryer, and that's when I decided. Carbon footprint be hanged! I'm turning on the heater!

So I did. I came home this afternoon to a nice warm apartment and that unmistakable heater smell. It's a heavenly smell, in a weird, is-something-burning way :)

Side note about the cold: today during morning recess duty, I watched a group of first graders stand in a circle and stare at their breath as it came from their mouths in little puffs. They thought it was THE GREATEST THING since Dora the Explorer light-up shoes. It was hilarious. Another kid came up and said "the grass is crunchy!" and then proceeded to stomp around on the frosted field and crack himself up at the crunchy grass.

Whenever I come back from a break, I'm always sluggish. I think everyone wishes for an extra day off or two during fall break. This week, after fall break, I was feeling those post-break blues. I have to start getting up early again, it's a long commute, blah blah. But then the second my kiddos started walking through the door, it all came back. These kids are awesome! I honestly love being with them all day, helping them learn, watching them figure out how to behave and what to say and what's most important in their little ten-year-old lives. Some day, I want to have kiddos of my own, but for now, I'm so so grateful for these 29 hilarious, honest, hardworking, and talented kids I get to call my own.

Okay, the end. Things can get sappy real fast around here when you get me started on children and education. Or Hallmark commercials. Or baby horses. Or freshly-cut onions.

The real reason for this post is for me to tell you about fall break. But now I've already spent my time on my computer, and plus I'm babysitting a cute baby tonight (moms, how do you get ANYTHING done with a baby who wants to be held all the time???). So I'm off to read more upside-down books and play peek-a-boo with a pillow for hours at a time. It's a good life, people.

Here are some snapshots of things I did during fall break:

 we kicked break off the right way with a late-night adventure up the canyon

family pumpkin carving time

 all the sisters reunited! hanging out with them during fall break was so much fun

 a rare lunch date with my husband (in the middle of the work week! go fall break!)

all I have to say is that I have talented sisters. and it was just as delicious as it looks.

Follow along with me @brookejanette