Friday was by far one of the most difficult days I have ever experienced - as a parent, as a school employee, and as a human being. I spent some of the day in complete shock, some of it processing with co-workers (and my mom - thanks for taking time to chat on the phone, mom!), and a lot of it just in tears. It's still so incredibly difficult to comprehend and I know this (and all of those involved) won't be quick to leave my thoughts.
Though all I wanted to do was hide with my kids at home, we had a holiday celebration to get to....and I'm very glad we went. It was nice to be with my kids and around work friends...we all had a very nice time.
Linda hosted our party and she really did think of everything, including this gingerbread house for the kids to work on - they loved it!
And it's just the kind of potential for mess that I usually don't let them get into at home ;)
They also enjoyed playing on the Wii which was set up with "Just Dance" - Graham surprised me, and one of my co-workers with some pretty fancy moves. You can see video of that fun HERE.
There was also a white elephant gift exchange. Kenny drew number 1 so he opened this gem right off the bat....
Oh he was pretty pleased with his pick and sat very quietly while everyone else opened gifts and stole gifts from others. About halfway through the whole thing he leaned over and whispered to me, "I think they forgot about the dogs playing poker!" Maybe they did, or maybe this piece was just destined to come home with us. I think I've found a good place to hang it - it's kind of growing on me :)
After the gift exchange it was time to get the sugar-high crazies home and to bed. And just to make sure they didn't come off their sugar high for the whole holiday season, Linda sent us home with the house!
She made sure to tell them the "rule" of gingerbread houses though - that they can only have TWO pieces of candy from it each day. They have been taking this very seriously and haven't even asked for more! I told Linda there were a few other rules I'd like for her to implement for me since they listen so well to what she says ;)
My work can be crazy and downright difficult/overwhelming at times, but I'm so lucky to have co-workers that I enjoying seeing and working with every day!
