It's time for the holiday break but before we settle down let's review what we learned during what felt like an incredibly long week.

Vomit is not on my Christmas list. Breakfast started like usual when at 8:25 a third grader announced in line that he felt like he was going to vomit. Run! I promptly instructed. Good news = no vomit in the milk cooler. Bad news = vomit in the cafeteria, in the trash and down the hall.

Santa has a skinny beard. I was wearing a shirt similar to this

and all the kiddos kept asking me why my beard was so skinny. After a few grades, I just stopped trying to explain that was my coat not my beard.

Christmas brings out the cheese sandwich in some. This one is a shout out to all the parents that think the holiday break means they don't have to provide any lunch money the month of December. Um...you suck!

The good gifts are free. Looking for a last minute gift idea? How about a hand-written note (spelling errors and all) telling them how much they are appreciated. A 2nd grader put one in my lunchroom stocking this week wishing me and the rest of the "caftera" staff a Merry Christmas.

Sometimes a little "lie" isn't so bad. A little kindergartner on her way out of the lunch line couldn't wait to tell me that she saw me at her dance recitial. Her teacher overheard the entire conversation.

"I saw you at my dance," she said, with much excitement "Did you see me there?"

"Oh yes!" I said, without hesitation. "You looked beautiful and did a wonderful job."

She walked away smiling from ear to ear.

Her teacher asked if my girls were in dance and if that is why I was there.

I just shrugged and said, "I have no idea what she is talking about I haven't been to a dance recitial in years."

What did you learn this week?

Mama Kat challenged us to post some past Christmas pics.

I have to admit that I had a lot of fun looking back through some of my old scrapbooks.

This one is Big G and Middle G in 2001. It is Middle G's first Christmas.

Um...i think Santa needs to SUPPORT Little G's neck. I'm sure if he was my first child I would have bull rushed Santa. Since Little G was a third I actually paid for this photo.

What a difference a year makes. 2004 Little G went from helpless blob to smiling toddler.

2005. It looks like we may actually be at the North Pole in this picture.

Girls are happy and Little G looks like he's being kidnapped! Is it just me or does Santa look like an ass?

Awe....this is one of my favorites. 2007. Little G is 4, middle G is 6 and oldest is 8.

Everyone looks cute and I am pretty sure THAT is the real Santa.

Seems like I blinked and we went from the above to this.

I guess we're all still cute. Santa looks a little tired though.

Dear Middle G,

As parents, we take certain things for granted. We expect our kids to wake up every morning even though we know not everyone's kid is waking up.

We expect them to arrive safely at school even though we know that not everyone's child will arrive safely at school.

While we realize that not all days will be great days, we expect to hear about them in great length the next time we see each other.

We always expect to see each other.

While I realize that everyday bad thing happen to unexpecting people, I continue to hope and pray they will not happen to me.

Yesterday you woke up. You made it safely to school and then you choked at lunch on a dorito. No one but your friend L noticed. Thankfully she was able to help you dislodge the chip that was making breathing difficult.

You excitedly told me about the incident and how sore your throat was when you made it safely home.

You made it home safely.

Unlike this little boy who just weeks before choked in the school cafeteria on a meatball.

Our stories aren't that different. Except the ending.

We all expect to out live our children even though we know that not all of us do.

Counting my blessings,

~kisa~

In keeping with my Christmas theme, I decided to write a tribute post to Santa. The red-suited-white-beared-bringer-of-the-best-presents-guy we all love.

Dear Santa,

I want to take this opportunity to applaud you as our Christmas hero. It seems that you always bring the best gifts. Never the necessities like clothing and toothpaste. Seems you specialize in those hard to find gifts, usually made in China.

Really, Santa? I thought you would be above outsourcing.

But, I digress. Thanks for eating all the cookies. i mean, what is up with that? Don't you get sick of cookies by your seventh stop?

I bet you wouldn't even notice if I didn't leave you

In all seriousness, we are grateful for your generosity. We are thankful for your thoughtfulness and we are amazed by your timeliness, we still have no idea how you travel around the world in a day.

Santa, thank you for reminding us just how much we should be thankful for and for reminding us what the true meaning of Christmas is.

It's not really about you, afterall.

Safe travels, my friend.

-kisa-

If you stopped over looking for a OUAT review, then you're likely disappointed.  OUAT is on hiatus until January 8th.  My witty reviews of that show will return once the reruns stop. 

In the meantime, since you're hear, let's talk about Christmas.

Do you have a nativity and if you do is baby Jesus on display?  Um...I never really thought about concealing baby Jesus until Christmas Day, but apparently this is a tradition that many people hold dear.  So I'm dying to know, is there a Jesus in your stable right now?

How many gifts does Santa bring to your house?  Santa brings three gifts to each of our children.  Baby Jesus got three gifts from the wise men and that is what Santa brings here.  The rest of the stuff, odds and ends, is from mom and dad.

Does your elf on the shelf move every day?  As I blogged about before my kids think our elf is dead and I am wondering if your elf forgets to move.  If you have one of those over-achieving elves that bakes cookies and reads books, please refrain from commenting.

Do you send out holiday cards?  Seems that each year I get less and less Christmas cards and for some reason it sort of feels like a Facebook unfriend.  Are you still sending or have you stopped long ago?

Do you include a "brag letter" in your cards?  I have been mocked by my family for many years for including what they call a "Jan Letter".  Let me explain.  When we were all much younger my mom's cousin Jan used to include an update of sorts in her card.  Her letter would read "My 14 year old just received her doctorate and has been asked to perform ballet in Australia."  Whether or not that was true, I couldn't say.  My update on the other hand says things like, "Oldest G is almost 13 and plays the clarinet when we force her to."  Totally different.

What is your least favorite Christmas song?  What is your favorite?  Okay I have a lot of Christmas songs that I DO NOT LIKE.  Gasp!  The one I hate the most is The Christmas Shoes.  Seriously?  You need to buy shoes for your dying mother.  As if the song wasn't bad enough they made it into a Lifetime movie.  I also dislike anything sung by Michael Bolton....oh and Ave Maria.

One of my favorite song.  Is The Ballad of the Christmas Donkey by Ed Ames as it reminds me of happy times in my childhood when my mom and dad were still together.  Also, I love any song sung by the muppets as long as they aren't singing with Michael Bolton.

This week was full of stuffing balls, turkey hats and lots of laughter.

Sometimes I have so much fun at work that it ought to be illegal and other days I think what they pay me to show up there oughta be illegal.

Here's what I learned...

Kids dont't eat stuffing balls and corn. Actually, I didn't learn this. I already knew it. It is painful watching all the food we disgard going down the garbage disposal.

It hard to look this good. I know. I look like a royal dork, but I had a lot of fun asking co-workers if they wanted to touch my bird and poking people with my drumsticks. Next year I think I may have to add red ribbons. This turkey needs some dressing.

What's up with those lights? My co-worker and I are convinced that they're a little "cheeky". Does it look like someone's mooning you?

Slow Christmas songs make me sleepy. My boss has been playing holiday music since the week before Thanksgiving. I am covinced that the DJs are sick of the holiday song loop and are playing things in a row just to be annoying. Like Ave Maria, Blue Christmas, oh Holy Night and anything by Michael Bolton.

Cheesy broccoli and alfredo noodles. This combination all over the trays makes one long for...dare I say it...stuffing balls. Turns out there are lots of meals that are worse cleanup than the holiday meals.

Five more days until Christmas break. One of them is PJ day, which might be my all time favorite day of the year.

What did you learn this week?

I used to make my Christmas Cards every year. Then I started to rotate with a picture card one year and a homemade card the following year.

Surprisingly, people actually noticed when I didn't make a card. My sister often mocks them and I have threaten to send her one of those free Holiday cards you get in the mail from Easter Seals.

The handmade card is back this year by popular demand. I have all 80 of them cut but I need to assemble them and the task seems a little overwhelming but I am determined to mail them come Monday....ok...maybe Tuesday.