Before lunch on Thursday last week we took a walk outside to look for signs of winter. We used all our senses to see, hear, smell, taste (we made sure the ice was clean!) and feel signs of winter and then compared them to the signs of fall we had seen. Because many signs of winter are unable to be glued to paper, we completed our poster with drawings. I consider myself lucky to be reminded by the children on a daily basis how much joy there is in little things. They were all so thrilled to look at snow and describe how it sparkled, to stomp in the ice and think about whether it was easy or hard, to look for prints in the snow that might belong to a bear and to stand still for a minute to listen to what winter sounds like. They were enthusiastic to be outside and breathing the cool air into their lungs and looking to see if it made clouds as we breathed it out. And spotting a few crows sitting on a telephone wire just as we were deciding whether all birds hibernated, flew south or did something else through the winter months caused the children to shout and jump in excitement and changed their minds about all birds heading for warmer climes at the first hint of snow. The next time you're outside, just for a second, appreciate some signs of winter and capture a bit of the pleasure we felt just being outdoors today.
 I have a confession to make. I am not one of those people who looks forward to and revels in January. In fact, January is my least favourite month. All that 'new year, new me', fresh start, new beginnings hoopla and anticipation does nothing for me (I feel that in September). Instead I anticipate long dark dreary windy cold days with snow and ice that are best spent cozied in bed with a hot drink and a good book but are more often spent with children who have the beginnings of cabin fever from days spent cooped up inside due to those long dark dreary windy cold days. But February? February is a different story. What's not to like about February? The month of love and 100s Day and Family Day and the beginnings of spring. So I say, "Buh-bye January and bring on February!".
 MON TUE WED THU FRI
JAN 23 JAN 24 JAN 25 JAN 26 JAN 27 2° /-7°C 1° /-8° -1° /-6° -1° /-5° 0° /-6° Partly sunny Sunny Sunny Clouds/ sun Cloudy I can live with this weather- how bout you?
If there was a gold medal given for perseverance and sheer grit, every member of Team Awesome would have received one last week. It made my heart sing to see the sheer determination from those new skaters on the ice. It also made me a little ashamed of my own lack of similar joyful determination when learning something new and difficult. Many of the children had never been on skates (as evidenced from the spaghetti legs and slapstick falls) and spent more time getting up than they did actually staying up. And some of those falls were hard- there might be bruises. But not one single child asked to have their skates taken off early. Not one of them complained or cried or whined. And every face had a beaming smile despite the difficulties some of them were having staying on their feet, much less actually moving. And a big thank you to those parents and family members who were able to come with us. It makes activities like this so much easier when there are extra adults to help out. I am so proud of Team Awesome!
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