Kelsey came to visit!!!

Right before leaving for Christmas break my friend Kelsey got to come out and visit.  Thank heavens the weather cooperated and she only had a slight delay in Bethel :)  Here are a couple of pics from our walk to the beach. 

Because it got warm over Thanksgiving some of the ice broke up and washed up on shore.  It is so cool to see!!

On the last day of school we have a Christmas program so I decided to be festive.  Thanks Kelsey for the help.

I'm so happy Kelsey could come out.  And she was a huge help in getting Nali home with me.  Nali actually got to ride on the plane under the seat with me from Chicago to Indy.  That was an interesting experience, but she did really well.  Then after we landed in Indy she jumped in my lap because she wanted to look out the window.  lol.

Gingerbread house

Thanks mom for the gingerbread kit. We had fun!








Then since it was collapsing we had to eat it immediately :)

Nali's new friend

Christmas

We made Christmas ornaments last night!

Please Help!!

I am trying to get supplies for a science fair project.  Two 5th grade girls would like to look at berries and see how the color is related to the taste.  They are really excited to find out, and so am I!!! However, we are in need of some supplies to test the color. If you would like to help you can visit the site below to donate (and if you donate from now until the 14th your donation will be doubled).  Thanks so much!!!  I look forward to updating you all on the progress of their experiment :)

http://www.donorschoose.org/we-teach/2092725.-1143008877
 
UPDATE: Thanks for all the help. The project was fully funded and we should be getting our supplies shortly! So excited to test them out:)

Food

Thanks mom for the cupcake kit.  Made these last night for the staff meeting.  They look yummy:)

We made an attempt at making bagel dogs this weekend.  They were tasty but maybe a little too much dough on some.  We will have to experiment again soon.

USPS we care

This is most definitely the worst condition any of my packages has arrived in.  I think it sat in a puddle for a while.  But at least the contents still arrived unharmed.  Thanks Aunt Kim, Uncle Bryce, Calen, Connor, and Corinne!! 

Halloween

YAY!!! for Halloween.  I decided to be a science nerd and dress up as Marie Curie.  Nali is going to be a penguin and she is less than thrilled.  Just look at her face.  She was so mad at me. lol

Marie Curie and her pet penguin

So embarrassed!!!

Dad's visit

Some more pictures from my dad's visit.  Nali was instantly at home.

XC meet

Here's some pictures from yesterday.  We walked and marked the course.  Good news that the musk ox had moved on.  Otherwise we would've had to go with plan B (except plan B didn't exist).

Saturday hike

Here are some pics from my hike with Jessica and Alan (two of the new teachers here in Toksook).  We wanted to make it to the thumb and mistakenly thought if we made it there we would be able to see over the hill and see Tununak.  It was only like two more false peaks til we made it.  But it was well worth it!!  I found some Salmon berries near the top.  Fun Saturday evening!!!

Goal: make it to the thumb (the rock formation that looks like a thumb from far away)

We made it!!!

View of Toksook.

View of Tununak

Salmon berries :) YUMMY!!!

"Welcome Home"

Everyone was right!! It is totally different coming for the second year.  Everyone greets you and tells you "welcome home."  It is fun!!!  I feel more like a part of the community than I did last year.  I am excited to start the year:)  (Hopefully I won't be too busy and I can update my blog more.  But don't get your hopes up.)

My Classroom

Things are going well, but I am a little sick of organizing and cleaning. Here is a look at my classroom. It is much better, but as you can tell there is still work to do. I don't want any boxes stacked on top of cabinets.

Back of Classroom

Front of Classroom

Boxes stacked on cabinets to the left.  But my desk is finally up front!! YAY!!!

I had so much fun using my new label makers.  Probably the best investment ever.  My students always wanted to use the lockers but since they were behind my desk I gave them cabinets to use instead.  Now that my desk is up front I figured why not use them?




Yesterday I had 4 xc runners who got in all their paperwork, so we had our first practice (not mandatory, obviously). Mandatory practice will start next week when school starts. Things are looking good, much better than last year.

Toksook Bay through my Dad's eyes

NYC general store in Toksook Bay(limited parking)

Nali with her grandpa Roger in Anchorage(self portrait)

Sara's house with some of her local groupies

Round 2

Back in Toksook Bay as of yesterday afternoon.  Flights were good except that one tote that didn't make it.  Somehow it was lost in Chicago.  Hopefully it makes it tonight. 

My dad and I have been cleaning away.  The house is almost completely clean and my classroom is coming along.  Look for pictures in the next week when I get finished.

Nali

Well Nali is making things way more complex out here.  To get her home for the summer she needs a health certificate from a vet.  Well guess what....there are no vets in the village and in Bethel the vet only comes out for 1 week out of the month.  Looks like we will be taking an extra flight to Bethel on May 10th as long as the weather is good.  What a fun way to use a personal day. jk. If we can't get in, I guess I will have to go to Anchorage :(  (We'll hope that doesn't happen)  No matter what Nali will be coming home with me.  The vet back in Indiana just did not understand how hard it would be to go to the vet.  Maybe I can explain when I get home so next year this doesn't happen again.

Dance

This is what I made for a class I am taking, but I thought everyone might enjoy it.  This was the Dance festival at Toksook Bay.  It was probably about a month ago.  I really enjoy watching the dancing or as they call it yuraq (hopefully I spelled that right).  The drum beat is very relaxing and there is always a lot of laughing. 

Science Fair

Sorry it has been so long :(  I have been so busy.  Science fair was at the beginning of March, then there was a dance festival in Toksook, and finally a couple of weeks ago I took a trip to Anchorage.  It has been a whirlwind, but in a good way.  Here is a video that I made to show our school what our students did at the science fair.

$37

This is what $37 will buy you at the store.

My wonderful students!!!

Conversation with my students at the end of the day.


Student: I'm gonna go to college, travel the world, and then make babies
Me: Sounds like a good plan to me
Another student: She's gonna have babies from all over the world. Korean babies, Chinese babies, and Yupik babies
Student:  Not Yupik babies our eyes are ugly.  I don't like our eyes.

*Some was probably lost in translation, but you get the gist.

Blizzard

After 2 days off for students, school is finally back in session.  Monday was cancelled due to extreme winds and temperature. 


Yesterday was cancelled due to the snow and winds. Poor Nali did not want to go out.  Her first attempt to climb up failed.  She just fell back.  I had push her back out the door.  She had success the 2nd time around. 






Our principal decided to make yesterday a teacher in service so that we would have one less day to make up later.  I had to scale quite a few snow banks, some as tall as me, just to get to the school.  By the time I got home, I literally had to climb the mountain outside our entryway, and slide down to get to the door.  It was an intense challenge. The first time I just slid down, so I used the railing to step up on.  It worked perfectly. 

 Later that night I shoveled us out.  I had to wait for the winds to stop because my previous attempts to shovel were a waste of time.  My work would be covered up within the hour