Thanksgiving Family Pic

We hosted Thanksgiving for my family this year. Not everyone could make it. It has been a few years since our last Thanksgiving family pic. I made sure to get one this year. I am thankful for my family.

My parents made a big effort to join us. Dad does not like to leave his house. He was able to stay for almost 1.5 hours before he felt like he needed to leave. 

Dress Up Days At School

One of the fun things about working in an elementary school, is the enthusiasm and school spirit of the students. I love to play along. Here is a look at some of the dress up days so far this year:

Book Character Day - I crocheted the Chicken hat and bought the rest of the outfit on Amazon. The look was based on the book The Little Yellow Chicken by Joy Cowley. Several students let me know that I could not possibly dress up as a LITTLE yellow chicken but I could be a BIG yellow chicken.

My partner teacher dressed as a Caracara. We have two Caracara birds that menace our school parking lot. They have done thousands of dollars of damage to teacher's cars in the past three years by making big scratch marks on the cars, chewing up/ripping the rubber off of car windshields and window frames, and by chewing/ripping up car shark fin antenna. One teacher alone, had $900 worth of damage. The Caracara is a protected bird, so we are unable to do anything to remove it. One teacher puts a bicycle helmet over her shark fin antenna each day to keep it safe. They are a menace!

We celebrated improved school wide attendance with a crazy hair day. Rapunzel had my braid hanging down from her tower. Flynn, from Tangled, was trying to climb up the braid.

Dress Like An Elf Day

Red & Green Day

We had a door decorating day. Since I am in a portable, I decorated the door between the two halves of my portable. I decided to dress like my door's snowman.

Holiday crazy hair day. I found the wig on Amazon for under $10 (Black Friday Sale). I added jingle bell beard clips and bows to make it more festive.

I had to join in on Ugly Sweater Day.

On Pajama Day, I wore snowman pjs. I added a tutu because the pants were a little thin.

Only five more school days to go until our Christmas Break! Of course I will wear festive outfits all of next week, too.

Cutesy the Elf 2025: Days 1 - 12

Cutesy the Elf is back with our family for the holidays. He has been with us every December since 2011. As he gets older, he has calmed down and does not cause as much mischief and nonsense as he used to. He calmly (most of the time) goes about taking care of our holiday traditions. Here is what he has been up to:

Cutesy the Elf came back on December 1st and brought an advent calendar filled with mystery DND dice sets.

Every year, Cutesy brings back the little Christmas tree with a new ornament for Boogs'. This year the ornament was wooden and looked like a stack of books.

Every year, Cutesy brings a new pair of Christmas pajamas.

Cutesy left a candy cane puzzle. Boogs did not bother to put the "puzzle" together.

Every year, Cutesy the Elf brings a gingerbread house. This year, the house was made of Swiss Miss chocolate. 

The house was so tasty, it only lasted for two days before it was fully eaten.

Cutesy was riding on an egg carton sleigh pulled by nine reindeer. The reindeer brought a Christmas song to life - Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. You can see the poor Grandma lying partially under the sleigh.

Every year, Cutesy decorates Boogs' bathroom with Santa cheer.

Cutesy showed up with a screaming goat figure. Boy does it bleat loudly.

Cutesy brought a small box of magnetic bookmarks.

Cutesy was hiding on the dining room light fixture. Boogs had a hard time finding him here. Cutesy had a deflated punch balloon in his pocket.

Cutesy showed up with this interesting box. Boogs had to unscrew 20 screws to open it.

The box was inside of a cardboard box. That box was inside of another box.

Cutesy had the package wrapped up tight with duct tape.

After Boogs worked to open the box in a box in a box, he found this:

Today, Cutesy was up to his old mischief and nonsense. He left Boogs a special treat.

Boogs took a bit and declared it, "Disgusting!" He said he knew it was going to be a trick but he took a bit anyway.

What mischief and nonsense have your elves been up to this holiday season?

You can see all of Cutesy's adventures on his Cutesy the Elf Pinterest board.

Crochet Fish Tank

I work at a school with a string ray for a mascot. A couple of students sent the principal a letter about getting an aquarium to house a real sting ray for our school.

I decided to crochet an aquarium of fish and sting rays for my school. I bought a group of fish patterns from Brave Stitch Co on Etsy. My sister gave me a lot of colorful cotton yarn at the beginning of the summer so I was looking for a way to use it. Making these fish was a great project to use up small single skeins of colorful yarn.

I bought an aquarium, added rocks at the bottom, and a few fake plants. Then I had to use fishing wire to attach the animals at varying heights.

I think it turned out really well. The students who proposed having a aquarium, were thrilled with it. It sits in the main hallway of my school. Since this picture was taken, I added a plant light at the top to showcase the fish and rays a bit better.

I have not been doing much crochet since this school year began, but I did have time to make a requested reindeer.

I have been working on make 30 small stingray pencil toppers for my 4th grade class. These are taking way longer than I expected. Hopefully, I will finish them this weekend. Our holiday break begins with a half day on Friday.

Have you been working on any interesting patterns?

Loss

It is with deep love and sadness that we announce the passing of Jean-Pierre, age 85, of Ottawa, who passed away peacefully at the Montfort Long-Term Care Home on October 20, 2025.

Jean-Pierre was the beloved husband of Jacqueline, loving father of Paul and the late Joanne, cherished father-in-law of Keitha, and proud grandpapa to Samuel.

A dedicated educator, Jean-Pierre spent many years teaching in the Automotive Technician Program at Algonquin College, where he inspired countless students with his knowledge, patience, and humor. Outside the classroom, he found joy in camping, southern beaches, and his lifelong involvement with the Knights of Columbus.

Jean-Pierre will be remembered for his quick wit, gentle heart, and ever-present sense of humor. He always had a joke ready to make someone smile. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather whose warmth and laughter filled every room he entered.

Time really does go by quickly. We lost my father-in-law on October 20th. Luckily, my husband had been up the week before to spend time with his parents. So, he had a good last visit. 

The memorial service was lovely. It was good to see and talk to so many people there to remember Jean-Pierre.

We stayed in Canada for a few days after the funeral to be with my mother-in-law. She wanted to play Skipbo together after the memorial service. It was nice to laugh together.

We went downtown for a short errand and had to get a BeaverTail.

We stopped by the Rideau Falls for a quick look. 

We went on a hike that we took with Jean-Pierre every Christmas to feed the birds. It looked very different without the snow. 

My father-in-law always called to the chickadees. It was odd not hearing him call out. "Chick-a-dee-dee-dee" on our walk. 

For the first time ever, we saw two beaver swimming in the water. They were dragging sticks around to add to their lodges.

After hiking to feed the birds, we always went to Tim Hortons for hot chocolate and a treat. 

Our visit ended too soon and we had to head back to the airport to return home.

Hug your family and friends, visit often, keep in touch. You don't know when the last time you see them will be the last time.