Back Home

Reasons Why New York City is Fantabulous:
(I'm reminiscing now that I'm home and just finished organizing all our photos.)

1. Central Park. You have to see it for yourself. We walked, rode the carousel, people watched...



2. Broadway Shows. We watched three shows (yup, broke the bank on this one): Mary Poppins, Shrek, and the Lion King. The sets are amazing!
3. The MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Totally fantastic museum that left the creative part of me uber inspired.

4. Food. Everywhere you wander, there are deli's, restaurants, cafes, etc. I especially loved the cupcakes (the ones made famous by Sex and the City & The Apprentice).

5. Energy...there's a vibrant energy about the city.


6. MOMA (Musuem of Modern Art). Loved the art here! Have seen Monet's before but the large, three-panelled canvas here of his water-lily garden in Giverny was downright amazing.

7. Brooklyn Tabernacle. We woke up early and took the subway to attend church here this past Sunday. Yes, the choir was fantastic but more than that, you could really feel God's hand on this church.

8. Dinosaur bones at the American Musuem of Natural History. It's incredible to imagine these monstrosities roaming the earth.

9. The Strand Bookstore, which sells new and vintage books. I found a vintage, 1977 Fodor's Italy Travel Guide for $1 which I'm enjoying skimming through.

10. FAO Schwartz. I'm sad they closed the one in Seattle. I was especially intrigued by the muppet workshop. For $130, you too can design a muppet a la Jim Henson.

The Met

What's not to love about Matisse, Monet, Manet, Degas, Cezanne, O'Keefe, Seurat and the rest of the modern artists? I was in heaven in the modern art section! Can't wait to go to the MOMA. Got lots of new ideas yesterday for art lessons this coming term. Cannot wait to show the kids the photos and tell them all about it. The teacher in me went to the MET Kids store and bought a bunch of children's art books. Couldn't help it.

Empire State Building

Yesterday we went up the Empire State Building. The views were incredible. The wind was freezing though! We purchased a City Pass which allows you to go to 6 of the top attractions and bypass the lines. Awesome. Saved 30 minutes. We also got the audio tour(part of the pass) which is so worthwhile. Always get the audio tour at these types of attractions. Everything makes so much more sense.

Also, we found the best pizza at Grand Central Station. Buffalo Wings pizza. Pieces of chicken on the pizza. Sounds crazy but delicious!

Central Park

New York New York

We've been in New York for 3 days now. We've seen Times Square, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, explored Central Park, headed up the Empire State Building, window-shopped 5th Avenue, toured the Met, bought tickets to a Broadway show, and eaten NY bagels and cheesecake.

We were only supposed to spend 6 days here and then head to Boston but we love it here so we've decided to spend all 10 days here.

2 More Days 'til Spring Break!

I cannot wait. Just can't wait for the bell to ring on Friday afternoon and to stand at my classroom door and say, "Bye Lil SoandSo, have a good Spring Break" (all while thinking in my head, if you could all just move a little faster I can start doing my teacher-jump-for-joy-school-is-out dance).

Let me tell ya, school breaks are scheduled every 3-4 months for a reason. This entire week, my body and brain just feel worn out. It's physically difficult to teach. And...[gasp] I don't even feel like doing anything crafty when I get home.

Starting Saturday, I cannot wait to...

1. Sleep late and sleep in

2. Catch up on creative time

3. Pack for New York

4. Take Leila on walks in the middle of the day

5. Veg out

6. Read (I have some books just waiting to be opened)

7. Begin my PRETTY BOOK (a sketchbook that I want to fill with magazine clippings, postcards, paper, pictures, fabric, photos, ads, colors...really anything that is inspiring and pretty). Will post photos if I get this started.

8. Do my taxes and get money back (I'm only looking forward to the tax refund part)

9. Go thrift store hunting

What are you looking forward to in the coming weeks?

Weekend Adventures

Overnight in Seattle this past weekend. After all these weekend trips to Seattle, we finally made it to the Experience the Music Project. They had the coolest guitar sculpture made of 700 instruments.

The countdown to Spring Break is on: 4 more days!

Today...

A sweet little girl drew this picture of me:

At first, I laughed when I saw it because she depicted me all in black. Then I thought about it...and it's true...every morning when I wake up, I typically rummage through my little, white, wooden, Ikea wardrobe for at least one piece of black clothing. I heart the color black. It's slimming, never shows dirt, is great for travel and matches with EVERYTHING. But then I got to thinking and the only other teacher I know who is always clothed in black is HER.

Another stand-out-in-my-mind moment today was this poem/letter to God written by a lil boy in my class.


I love it.

Live Specimens

There's something about having live specimens in the classroom that intrigues the kids unlike any teaching technique. Here they are being today's Salmon Scientists. Everyday during silent reading two kids park themselves on chairs in front of the salmon tank for a good 20 minutes just watching and recording what they see. Our little salmon eggs have been hatching into baby salmon, called alevin, the last couple days and their excitement is contagious.

10 Reasons I'm Waiting for Spring

1. Longer days and more daylight make this girl happy

2. Spring Break = Trip to New York!

3. Being able to take Leila on more walks

4. Spring Flowers = opportunities for photo taking

5. Possibility of drier weather and beach walks

6. The arrival of spring means summer is on its way (There is nothing better than the summer for teachers)

7. Long weekends to look forward to (Us Canadians have no long weekends/stat holidays from December to April)

8. Birth of my BFF's baby

9. Not having to wear boots, heavy sweaters, and boring winter clothes

10. I love the final term of the school year because by that time the kids know my routines so well and they're so much more capable of working independently