Gingerbread Fun & RACK freebie!

Greetings friends. I had a pretty good week. The weather was 80 degrees Monday-Wednesday, and then on Thursday night a winter storm blew in and it has been in the 20's with a wind chill in the teens ever since. That may not mean anything where you live, but here in Texas when we have snow and ice, people are nuts! They run to the grocery store like it is the end of the world. Everything shuts down and NO ONE knows how to drive. It's been madness. And cold. Not a good combo. 

Aside from that, it was a pretty good week. Our gingerbread house is making progress. We made some candy on Friday. We still need a door. More to come...

We also cooked gingerbread men on Friday. I was late to school because took me forever to get there..dang icy roads! Anyway, we whipped them up in twenty minutes. I buy the rolls of pre-made gingerbread cookie dough (I never said I was teacher of the year). I give each child three small balls of dough. They flatten one to make the head and snake (like play dough) the other two to make the arms and legs. It's super easy and the cookies turn out great! I also wore my gingerbread school bus shirt from my store. You can find it here. 

Obviously, our theme this week was Gingerbread Man. Haha! We read all kinds of gingerbread books. I struggled with the one from Hawaii. Hard words. Haha! I felt like I didn't know how to read. I started substituting. :) We also made these cute gingerbread boys and girls. I had poster board patterns. The kids traced and cut out their own gingerbread person and clothes. Their faces crack me up. 

I had two parent volunteers come on Wednesday and we made our reindeer shirts. We will wear them next Wednesday when we go carol at a local nursing home. We paint their foot (but not toes) brown and hands black with fabric paint. After they dry, I add a bow to the girls and eyes to everyone's shirts with fabric glue. I bought eyes with cute lashes for the girls. Love them.  

Currently, this is what I am doing every night. I have an unhealthy obsession with Hallmark Christmas movies. I am equally obsessed with hot chocolate and starring at my Christmas tree. Everything about Christmas melts my heart. 

Before I go, I want to share a freebie with you. I always do Elf on a Shelf in my classroom. It is so much fun. Most teachers at my school do it and it really makes all of the December madness bearable. My elf comes to school on Monday. After a little inspiration from Freebielicious' very own Marsha, I have decided that our elf will teach us how to RACK (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness). You can read Marsha's post from last year HERE. My elf likes to get in some mischief too. Last year our kinder elves toilet papered our hallway. The kids got a big kick out of it. This year, we are still going to have a little mischief BUT we are also going to spread cheer and kindness around our school too. The greatest gift we can give our students is to understand the joy of giving to others. All you need to do is print and cut the cards. Complete the task and leave a "You've been RACKed" card when you are done. You can grab this freebie HERE. 

I blogged at Freebielicious today..my Get To Know Me post. You can click HERE to read it. :) You probably know everything there is to know about me but just in case, head over and check out the great freebies that have been posted this week. Awesomeness!! 

Have a great week friends. Our elf is coming tomorrow. I will be back soon with pictures and stories of our RACK adventures. Love and virtual hugs!