Playing Catch-Up!

I've been sick as a dog for 2 weeks now and am still not quite 100%.  So needless to say, I haven't been doing many neat "photo worthy" adventures.  I have not felt that there has been much to blog about - AND on top of that, all it ever does these days is SNOW!  I've decided to fill you in on some of the things that are happening in 6th Grade instead of me, cause my kids are hilarious!  :)

Optical Illusion art

I like to put some of our artwork on the ceiling to add a little color - other really special ones go up in the hallway for others to see.

Two of our four windows are covered with snow...

And yes, those are icicles on the inside of the snow and our window...

I decided we needed a little sunshine (since we aren't seeing any in real life), so my kids are starting a sunflower art project.  Outline is made of Elmer's Glue, then we'll chalk them next week.  My example is below.

We also did a unit on Poetry from the Holocaust Museum of Houston.  It is based around a book of poetry and artwork made by children who were prisoners of the Terezin Concentration Camp.  Each of my students were assigned a poem and had to create a butterfly to represent their author based on the content of the poem.  Here are some examples of the butterflies created:

We are working on the Water Cycle now and will be transitioning into Weather soon.  Here's our bulletin board we made together:

Our P.E. and Health Dept. had Mr. Caz, "the world's strongest man" come visit to speak to our kids.  He was wonderful!!  He rolled a frying pan up (see below)...his message was "believe, achieve, succeed" and "I can and I will".  It was nice to have him speak.

 Next week, we have the state tests...Julie decorated her door with positive thoughts and mantras for the kids to have during the test.  My kids took their favorite one and decorated an index card to put at the top of their desks to help alleviate any stress during the test.  Here's one example, more to come :)

Spring Break :: It's for the Dogs!

I started Spring Break off with my first ever 5K!!  I've been training (my roommate, Erin, is my fabulous coach!) to do the Polar Bear Run for about 6 weeks.  It was originally scheduled for last weekend, but they postponed it because of "too many avalanches along the course".  So we did it the first weekend of Spring Break.  :)  I had to walk part of it, so I'm a little disappointed but I finished and that was the whole goal!

Ali and I at the finish line :)  YAY us!!

 I also got sucked in/asked to dog-sit for one of the teachers that is travelling for the break.  She has 2 beagles and in addition, I have lil' Miss Peanut, too.  Meet the dogs...

Peanut

Jubal

Dutch - ye,s he's allowed on the bed!  gross!!

 Here's the view of my "home away from home"...beautiful!!  You are looking out over Unalaska on a pretty stormy evening!

  My temporary Cabana.  Unfortunately, it faces into the wind, so I've had to shovel out of a drift every morning.  But at least, I get my exercise that way!  :)

This week has offered ALOT of sleeping in, couch time, and eating!  :)  Not necessarily the best for the physique, but delightful for the heart!

  One thing, I'm grateful for about these dogs is that they force me outside for short little walks.  This morning, Peanut scared a small gaggle/flock/group/cluster of ptarmigan out.  Below is a picture...can you see them?

There's actually 2 - look closely

There's 3 in this picture - I think :)

 To help keep me busy, I took (with Julie) a woodworking class.  It was 5 weeks long and I made this super cool bar stool - and you can even sit on it!!  :)  It was a very fun class and I'm glad I took it.  Our new apartment has a "bar"/overhang area and we needed places to sit.   I also bought a bar stool from my friend, Jeff.  He makes them out of drift wood.  Enjoy the pictures!

  

Happy Friday!!  Love you all and hope all is fabulous with you!  Less than 3 months before SUMMER VACATION!!  woot woot!!!