It's beginning to look....

The countdown has definitely started for me.  Only 4 more days of work left before Christmas holidays.  I figured out this weekend that I am worn out, and looking forward to the break.  Mom and Dad come in Wednesday afternoon.  That will be a busy day as  we have to blast into town after work, pick them up and then head back out to school, grabbing dinner on the way.  It also happens to be Christmas concert night.  The night that parents delight in and teachers try to get through in one piece.  While parents are enjoying the show that has taken months to pull together, teachers are in their classrooms with the students putting in another few hours of child minding.  Hmmm and we don't earn our pay?  Our whole school is involved with a musical production which is interesting.  We'll see how it all turns out as tomorrow is the full dress rehearsal.  The Christmas crazies have started and I swear the kids have been calling each other to make plans of how they can "get me" at school.  There were a few times today when I wanted to put my head down hard on my desk (but I didn't), but smiled instead and repeated myself for the fourth time. 
Another thing that has been happening lately is farting.  I have a few farty kids and they make my eyes water at times.  I know who one of them was last week, although he swore up and down it wasn't, but there was one visiting from another class as well, making it even worse!  In the spirit of farts, I read an awesome book called " Fartsy Claus".  The book was not only hilarious, the art work was grand, and the problem solving the kids showed in the book was awesome.  I also found out that there are people that get offended by the word "fart" (which of course made me want to use it even more).  I had a talk with my kids after a particularly awful smell came from my little tadpoles on the carpet.  It's natural, it happens  blah blah, just please try to excuse yourself and if you have to use the bathroom, please do!  I don't know what their parents are feeding them, but I wish they'd stop.
I had a funny moment with one of my super stars today and it warmed my heart a little too.  Laurie looked at me and said " You know Mrs Nowell, I really like you"  I smiled and said that was good because I really liked him too.  Then he said "That's why I give you hugs all the time, I really like you!"  Then he cocked his head to one side and said "Even if we get mad sometimes"  and with that he threw his arms around my waist and squeezed.  That's a perk of being a teacher and sometimes it truly gets me through a day, especially around Christmas.