Griswold Family Christmas

Okay, so we have a 10 foot ceiling in our family room so I was thinking big on Sunday when we went to get our downstairs tree.  We bought this tree when it was all wrapped up, so we couldn't really judge how massive it really is!  This tree was one pain in the butt after another.  First, my husband went ahead and brought it in the house and placed it in the stand while I was grocery shopping with our youngest.  After Sunday dinner, we started to put Christmas ornaments on (luckily we have an obscene amount of ornaments!)  The tree began to tip as I was hanging an ornament.  So I had to stand there holding the tree up while we tried to come up with a solution to keep it from crashing down.  Seriously, is there a squirrel living in this thing!!

So here we have our beautiful tree tied up with string.  We tied the other side as well.  I filled the tree stand to the brim with water and we called it a night.

A lightbulb went off in our heads....maybe we need a different tree stand!  So my husband went out to get one after work today.  I don't even know how to describe the difficulty we went through pulling the tree out of the old stand, lights and all to get it in the new one.  Plus, the dang thing is almost to the ceiling which doesn't leave much room to maneuver!!

So, we got to put our ornaments on together for a second time tonight.  You can see my husband had to cut some of the bottom branches off to fit the tree in the taller tree stand.  Oh well, imperfections are what makes life worth living!  We still have some more ornaments to put up this weekend!

What is your family's Christmas tree tradition?  Click on the Griswolds for a Christmas Tree Writing Prompt!  Happy Tree Hunting!!

Mel

Santa Baby!

I love having my students write a letter to Santa.  It is a fun activity and something kids want to do every year.  Click on the picture to get my cute little Santa Stationary for your letters.  If you would like a little more direction, along with graphic organizers and a lesson plan you can go to my TPT store.  Just click on the link. 

            http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dear-Santa-Letter-Writing-Activity

                                          
                                                               Happy Saturday!!

Identifying Numbers Freebie

Here's a fun little freebie for number identification.  It is based on Abby's Highlight- a- Letter Activity.  Go to this post if you want her incredible free!!
             http://theinspiredapple.blogspot.com/2012/09/rti-kindergarten-activity-freebie.html

If you want my number version just click on the picture! 

Christmas Math Facts Practice!

December is a very busy month in the classroom!  With so many fun and exciting things going on, sometimes it is easy to lose sight of the fact that you still need to tackle those basic skills!  Here's a fun way to make sure students are getting their math fact practice in during those busy December days!
Click on the picture to get your own copy of my Santa Target page.  You can write any number you want on Santa's beard and students can practice their multiplication facts.  Slip the page in a plastic pocket or laminate it so students can use it with dry erase markers in a center. 
This activity sheet is part of my Christmas Math Facts Activity pack which includes addition, subtraction and multiplication pages.  The pack also has cute little covers to transform your flash card packs into special Christmas flash cards! If you are interested in the entire activity pack with 70+ pages click on the link! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Math-Facts-Activity-Pack