Trying To Move Forward

I am struggling with many emotions. I am finding it so hard to write a post about the fun things we are doing and the happiness my days are filled with. With what has happened in Connecticut, everything that I am doing with my little ones sends a pang of sorrow through my heart. All I can do is think of the sadness and grief that these families are experiencing. There is also a fear creeping up in me that I never felt before. This horrific tragedy has me thinking about things in a completely new light. I have rethought my 'code red' plan and have devised it in such detail, dissecting every move that I would make. How could we live in a world where as a kindergarten teacher, I must think about what I would do if a person armed with multiple guns burst into my room?? I know that it is not about me or how I am feeling, but as a teacher - no - as a human, this shocking disturbance has rocked me to the core. All I can do is send my thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of the beautiful angels whose lives were so senselessly lost. I hugged each of my little ones just a bit tighter today, thankful for each of their quirky, innocent smiles that were beaming up at me.

I am going to try to move forward, though I know that this sadness will stay with me for some time, hiding in the back of my mind. I hope that you too will keep your thoughts and prayers with the members of the Sandy Hook community. As I attempt to maintain the consistency of my everyday life, please know that it is not without sorrow and mourning for the lives affected by this catastrophe.
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This week we were gingerbread crazy in our room! Gingerbread week is one of my favorite each year :) I'll have to post about the gingerbread fun tomorrow, I have to bake 6 dozen cookies for our school cookie exchange tonight - sheesh!!

So for now I will rewind back to snow week briefly and share a messy, but awesome activity we did! If you intend to try it, please heed my warning: put something down under the bowl. ALSO, use a bowl that is big enough to contain everything. Unfortunately, I made both of these mistakes and ended up with a snow day in our room - ahem, my poor custodian! So here's what we made: FROSTY FLUFF!! Below is the recipe to make it. To grab your Frosty Fluff FREEBIE, just click the picture below!

Here's how it came out:

Oh what a beautiful mess we made! Had to switch bowls midway through because it was too small, sigh.

They were so excited when I let them squish their hands in it too! Luckily one of my kindies seems to have a future in photography. How awesome is this picture for a 5 year old?!

Here's how it looks when it is all done! It is just soooo soft and fluffy. It's also moldable. The kids LOVED making snowballs and snowmen with it!

After making our snow, I filled a baggy full for each child and stapled the recipe to it. I sent it home so they could play in the snow with their families!

 I posted about our December family project last week - Snow People! To read all about it and get your free Snow People letter click HERE! Here are some of the adorable ones that the kids sent in:

 Didn't they do such a great job?! I was really impressed. So that concludes our snowy Florida days. I promise I'll be back tomorrow to share all of our gingery craziness! Well my friends, I better get to the baking. Only 6 dozen to go!  See you tomorrow :)