the 80's!!!!!!!

You just never know what is going to go on at the Smith house!
This night was extra special however, it was a night for an 8o's party!!!!
Sam has been wanting to do this for years and we had a LOT of fun!

Above, our first guest, who arrived early, he was so excited he just couldn't stand it! Thomas said this wasn't what he liked like in the 80's, because his parents wouldn't let him, but it was what he wanted to look like! :)

Below, his sweet wife Cristy, a happy groupie!
Their son, Isiah, came and watched movies with my kids. The kids had a fun night too!
The play list for the night. All great 80's songs!
Sam's first costume; a Sony walk-man. HIGHLY creative (but stinky).
His second costume; The Berlin Wall. What makes this even funnier is Thomas is a missionary in Russia who is home on a break right now.
Teri and Caleb showed up next!
Then the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arrived! Awesome costumes Elliott, Carrie, Gary and Lindsay!
Elliott listening to Sam. :)

Then Sara Dent and Joseph showed up ready to ROCK! I loved the arm tattoo sleeves!
Locke and Kelly were the snob and the popular girl.

Caleb using Sammy as a drink rest. :)
His THIRD costume, Ed Grimmley, a Martin Short character from Saturday Night Live. Only one person even knew who that was, but he made us laugh anyway.
Amanda and John Murray and the cheerleader and the football player. That was her outfit from high school!!!
His fourth and final costume, Maverick from Top Gun. he stayed in this one the rest of the night.
Everyone had to bring photos of themselves from the 80's. Some of this group was BORN in that decade.
Lindsay and Carrie, out of their shells.
GAME TIME!! Girls clobbered the boys in Mad Gab.
But the boys won the firsty round of BUZZWORDS.

Elliott was the leader!

Our pictures from the 80's. We were still a decade away from meeting each other in these.




All in all, a GREAT evening! A lot of fun with some wonderful friends. What next? Maybe one of those murder mystery games?!?!

Ballet

Ballet started up again last month. Kaebrie loves it and seems to be a natural at it. She can be very graceful and she learns very quickly. Below is my favorite picture of her from Thursday's class. Blows me away she is 6 years old already!
Only twice during the year are the parents allowed inside to see the practice. Besides that, the recital is the only time you can see them! We missed this past recital because that was the hour the tornado came through,. Kaebrie has already asked if there will be another tornado this year. We told her we don't think so.
There are twelve 5 and 6 year old girls in her class.
Mrs. Krista, her very talented teacher is VERY loved. She owns and performs in a ballet company in Jackson, and comes here to Yazoo twice a week to give lessons.
She can point that toe!
And she is the only one in the class who can balance in this position.

Doing the Boogy Woogie Dance!


Putting the invisible crowns upon their heads. I love her perfect posture!
Not so sure about the mean look the other girl is giving in this direction, but Kaebrie is all smiles.
I get one more observation day in February, then the recital in May. Sure wish i could watch this princess dance more often than that.

Rock-A-Doodle Ranch

Last Friday, all the students from Covenant (all 85 of them from Kindergarten - 6th grade) went to Canton, MS to visit the Rock-A-Doodle Ranch! They had hayrides, went through a corn maze, made bracelets, shot corn bean bags from a cannon, and learned a lot about corn! It was a fun day, the weather was gorgeous and we actually got an all group picture!

Family Visits

Sam's mom is the youngest of seven. One of her brothers and one of her sisters wanted to drive down from Missouri to hear Sam preach. SO they picked a date and down they came! Sam parents decided to drive over here from Alabama and spend the weekend too! Above, the family on the church steps!

Below, my favorite picture from the weekend, Kaebrie with her great aunt Ruth.
Poppa and JuJu with the four kids! Kaitlynn is holding a plastic cup with a lizard in it that she wanted to feed to our pet snake.
With Aunt Ruth....
All in this picture have Van Matre DNA in their blood!
Sam with his Uncle Clint.
It was a fast visit, but a very good visit. The last time the kids or I had seen them was when Kaitlynn was about 6 months old.
I hope they come back again!!!

School Stuff

Above: Kindergarten had PAJAMA DAY! They thought that was so much fun! They also had to bring their favorite stuffed buddies. So, here is Kaebrie with Dakota, and all her classmates and their friends!


We did a really neat "egg-"speriment. We took the shells off of RAW eggs and played with various liquids for the next few weeks. Seeing what the membrane would allow through into the inside of the egg. It was fun! We ended with different colors of food coloring, and sure enough, it let it in and the raw yolks turned the color!
Lane chose red for his color!
All but 2 of my 6th graders! Marshall, Rofel, Mark, Lane, Warner, Amber, Nettie Taylor, Erin, Sierra and Kaitlynn. We were missing Andrew and Cole that afternoon.
This one got in there by mistake, Lil"Bit lives at home, not in the classroom. :)
We named this lizard, "I don't stand a chance." And he didn't.
The skink that was caught in my bathroom!
A praying mantis. Who knew they would be such interesting pets? This female ended up laying 3 egg sacs, which means we could have up to 1500 baby mantii come February. She ate crickets like corn on the cob. She ate the male mantis. We had her for 6 weeks and she recently died. She will be missed!
Warner and Erin with our peanut butter, pipe cleaner, play dough, and jelly bean parts of a cell project.
Below is all of them they way they were, for about 24 hours. The skink was eaten later that afternoon. Three days later, the lizard met the same fate, even though he spent most of his time clinging up high to the glass looking below for the snake. At some point he must have rested.....

We are having a lot of fun with these animals in the classroom. They are providing lots of educational opportunities as well as lots of educational interruptions! :)