Traveling to Anchorage for Break

Friday afternoon sunset...at 3:52pm.  The sun finally came over the mountains at noon.

On Friday evening, Katie and I had a sleepover at my house since Nathan was in Anchorage already.  We made pizza and apple-pear sauce.  We watched "The Painted Veil" and then stayed up talking until after midnight.  The next morning we both woke up before our alarms (at 6:30am) and then got ready for our trip.  She went back to her house to finish packing and I finished packing and got the cats ready for the week.  At about 8:15am I went to Katie's house and we had grapefruit and omelets for breakfast.  At 10:40, Carolyn came and picked us up in the Suburban and drove us out to the airstrip where our plane was waiting.  Then we took off and headed to Unalakleet.

The view from the plane on the way to Unalakleet as the sun comes up (11am).

 We spent about three hours in Unalakleet.  It was very windy but we braved the wind and walked around before our Pen Air flight left.

Unalakleet layover walk.  

The five-plex where Ellen and I stayed on the way to St. Michael in August.  The windows under the snow drift are where we slept.

Ice that had been pushed up on the beach during the "Snowicane".

 We left Unalakleet at 2pm and landed in Anchorage at 3:35pm on Saturday where Nathan was waiting.  Anchorage was under a winter storm warning with wind gusts to reach 100 mph We stopped by REI to buy snow pants for snow machining.  We also went to Tidal Wave Books (a used book store) that was next door.  After shopping we went to North Country Castle Bed and Breakfast where we are staying and brought in my luggage.  I changed out of my traveling clothes and we went over to the Hollands for dinner.  During dinner the power flickered off and on many times until it went out for good.  We lit candles and lanterns and continued dessert and conversation until 11:30pm.  There was no power at the bed and breakfast either.
The storm continued through the night and morning bring the temperature up into the forties.  This meant that is was now too warm for snow machining.

Christmas Program

At Anthony A. Andrews School (the big school) in St. Michael, the students and teachers put on a Christmas program for the community.  Each class comes up with something to do--either a song, skit, dance, etc.  My class made an acrostic poem using "MERRY CHRISTMAS" and as a class came up with a word for each letter.  When we stood up in front of the community to present our poem, we began with "S" and moved down the line to "M".  Then Flora and I said our line "Now if you read our letters from left to right, you'll find a Christmas greeting for everyone tonight."  Then we all sang "Jingle Bells".
My class of four (and and now some five) year olds has 20 students (we got a new student at the beginning of the month.  If you count the letters in Merry Christmas you will notice there are only 14 letters.  This didn't bother me, because I know there is a very good chance that certain students will not be at the program.  I was right.  We had 13 out of 20 students show up for the program.  Cecelia, our teacher aide, got to be one of the letters with the kids.
After we were done preforming, the students went to sit with their parents and I got to sit back and enjoy the rest of the show.

Waiting "backstage".  From the left: Regina, Dorris, Cecelia, Chris, Kyra, Leandra

From the left: Lennie, Zach, Staci, Paul, Kobe, Daiza, Tennille, Carter, Regina

Me and 13 of my 20 students waiting "backstage" while the 3 year olds performed.  They did a mini-musical based on the book the Littlest Christmas Tree.  I wish we had been able to see it.  

Performing.  On the far right, Lennie begins the presentation with "S is for Snowball".

Daiza saying, "I is for Icicle"

Flora leading us in "Jingle Bells" to finish up our program.

Leandra, Staci, and Regina made Christmas cards with me on Thursday.  

Our finished cards: mine, Leandra's, Regina's, and Staci's

I am so proud of my students.  They did a great job.  They came up to me after the program saying, "Teacher, I wasn't scared!"  They had a lot of fun.  Here is the poem we wrote:
S is for Snowballs
A is for Apple Pie
M is for Music
T is for Tree
S is for Ski Pants
I is for Icicles
R is for Ribbons
H is for Hats
C is for Candles
Y is for Yams
R is for Racecars
R is for Reindeer
E is for Eskimo
M is for Muffins

We performed it from right to left so the audience saw the letters in order.

December Begins

December began with a visit from the traveling dentist.  He came to talk with them about brushing skills and to make them excited to come get their teeth cleaned.  Many of these kids are missing teeth already, and many have silver fillings.  At Head Start, we have the kids brush their teeth three times during school, after each meal.  We also apply fluoride at the beginning of the year.

The three's class came into to our room to listen to the dentist.

The four's class.

Christine helping Chris, the traveling dentist, show how to brush the fish's teeth.

Kawerak Head Start Teachers
Left: Flora, Nora, Mary T., Alma

On Friday, I had a chance to explore pomegranates with the kids.  We looked at the outside, felt it, smelled it, listened to it.  Then we made guesses to what would be inside.

Kobe showing off the pomegranate from my grandma.

 Then we cut into it.  Immediately it begin dripping bright red juice from the cut.  The kids were tasting it.  Then we looking inside at all the seeds.  We talked about how with pomegranates we eat the seeds. We pulled the fruit apart and were amazed by how many seeds were in the fruit.

Zach showing off the seeds inside when we cut it open.

 At snack time, we pulled the seeds out the the pomegranate and ate them with our muffins (the kids were putting the seeds in the muffin before taking bites) and carrots.

Christine with the pomegranate seeds at snack time.

 On November 29, my mentor, Morgan, came for a visit.  His visits are special because he makes dinner for us.  Katie and Sara have hosted the dinner the last two months so this month we hosted the dinner.  He made us enchilladas.  We provide the meat (moose meat that we cooked in the Crockpot and then pulled apart) and he brought he main ingredients.  They were really good!

My mentor, Morgan, making moose-meat enchilladas for our meeting dinner.  

Over the weekend, (December 2-4) we had a storm.  Friday and Saturday had blizzard warnings.  Saturday and Sunday the wind was blowing so hard the house was shaking.  Nathan and I think the wind was stronger than it was for the "snowicane".  The storm brought in warmer temperatures.  The temperature rose from 8 below earlier that week to 34 on Saturday.  We had freezing rain that covered our windows (it looked cool), but we now have a layer of ice on top of everything.  The higher temperatures also mean that we will be getting some more snow.

I was sick with something Friday through Sunday and today I lost my voice.  Hopefully, I will have most of it back tomorrow for school.  Only 6 more teaching days until Christmas Break!  We also got a new student yesterday for a total of 20 kids.

The Day After Thanksgiving

On Friday, Nathan and I went on a walk to North Beach with Jill.  We needed to get out into fresh air, even though it was six below zero.  Fortunately the wind was not blowing.  The sun was out and it was beautiful.

Looking down the beach (we are standing on the ocean).

Nathan walking across the ocean back to the beach with Whale island in the background.

The ocean. 

Looking down into a crevice.  The crystals are about 1/2 inch long maybe a little more.

Nathan standing on a chunk of ice that was pushed up on the beach during the snowicane.

Our shadows: me, Jill and Nathan.

Footprints:  The footprints were left behind when someone walked on the snow and compressed it.  Later, the uncompressed snow blew away leaving white "shadows" on the dark ground.

When we returned from the beach, we noticed that our hair was covered in frost from our breath.  

My favorite part of winter so far is the sunlight.  Since the sun remains in the south over the horizon while it is up, it feels like sunrise/sunset the whole day.  The colors are really warm.

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving 2011 was spent with the teachers of St. Michael.  We gathered at Jodi and Bonnie's house and shared a potluck-style Thanksgiving dinner.

Jill and Lily.  Lily's parents, Megan and Elias are in the background.

Julie, Carrie, Jessie, Amy (from Stebbins)

Nathan and me at dinner

St. Michael teachers

Pam, Julie and Lily

And it gets colder....

This week has been cold.  The temperature remained between 0- 10 degrees all week except for Tuesday.  On Tuesday the temperature reached 20 so we were able to take the kids outside to play.  Friday's high temperature was 4 degrees.  This cold seeps through the walls and make me glad that we have been keeping our house thermostat set at 70-75 degrees (and thankful that the school pays for our utilities).
This was a hard week.  Flora was home taking care of her sick granddaughters on Monday and by Friday was home taking care of her granddaughters, her daughter, her sons and her husband.  She is still well but is extremely tired.  Cecelia was gone on Thursday taking care of her daughter, Mary T. was gone with her daughter on Wednesday, and Mary L. was gone all week doing site visits in Elim and Nome.  Even being this short staffed I made it through the week.  Even though it was hard and stressful at times, I feel like my classroom management skill have increased a lot because I wasn't depending on Flora when the kids got loud.
Next week is Thanksgiving...wow the year is going so fast!  We have 18 school days until Christmas break!

This is Mary, our site supervisor with Kawerak Head Start, wearing her guspuk.  Her great-uncle (grandpa's brother) is the face on Alaska Airlines planes.

 I can't say enough about how beautiful it is here.  The snow is so clean and and air is so clear.  Everything is brilliant when the sun is shining.  The sunset was beautiful on Friday night.  It set at 4:40pm in the southeast over the mountains not far from where it rose.  We have only had snow on the ground since mid-October and I already have so many pictures of it.  It's just so beautiful.
When it is this cold, the snow doesn't give way under your foot steps.  It seems to freeze, too.  Now it is 2 degrees and falling to a forecasted low of -14.

The wind blows the snow in ways that make it look just like sand at the beach.  

After the snowicane came a snow storm that brought us 5-8 inches of snow.  These are our back steps.  

Sunrise on Friday.  The sun is now rising over the mountains in the south.  It is 10:30am.

St. Michael Bay is completely frozen now.  The snow that fell began to cover the ice and now it is all white.  I haven't seen any waves since the snowicane.  

11:00 am on Friday as the sun comes over the mountains.  It was beautiful!

Birthday and a Snowicane

November 8, 2011:  Nathan's 27th birthday and Megan's 25th birthday.
We closed Head Start at 12 pm on Tuesday, Nov. 8, and sent them home due to an intense storm making its way through the Bering Strait.  This storm was rated by the National Weather Service as the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane.  With the extra four hours at home, I began preparations for the storm-- filling up containers of water, turning up the thermostat s around the house, etc--and for our birthday celebration.  We  invited over many of the teacher for pizza and games.  As the day wore on and the wind grew stronger, several of the teacher let me know they would not be able to come due to the storm.  We had four of our friends come over for pizza that evening.

Just like Lisa, I prepared my toppings ahead of time and arranged them neatly on the counter.  I made the dough ahead of time also and let it rise for two hours in our back room (which stays at 85 degrees from the boiler).

The first pizza was Pepperoni (with chilies, with olives, and with chilies and olives).

The second pizza was the Barbecue Chicken Pizza.

As the night wore on the wind continued to intensify.  The wind was blowing so hard that the house vibrated.  Nathan stayed up long into the night and said that the storm seemed to peak around 1am.  The house was shaking and creaking.  The next day school was cancelled.  The storm seemed to have calmed so Nathan and I went for a walk that afternoon to look at the flooding on the St. Michael Bay beach (this is the beach closest to our house).

St. Michael Bay Beach.  The water looks really rough in this picture, but it was more like a Slushie.  The water would freeze then break up in the wind, then freeze, etc.  The ice was pushed into the bank.

This picture gives you an idea of how big the beach was before the water rose.    The hills that line the beach are about 15 feet high.

Looking west down St. Michael Bay beach.  In the foreground is the roof of a fish-drying rack/shack.
Past that are some post-top sticking up in the ice...this was the large dock that goes into the bay.  You can see the barge on the far right side of the picture.  Behind that are three buildings surrounded by ice.  I think these are fishing shacks not houses that flooded.

This picture shows how close the water came to the houses at this part of St. Michael.  They just had a few feet to spare.  This is a good picture of the ice on the bay. 

This was taken tonight,  Nov. 12, around 5pm at the snow that accumulated that day.  It snowed all day.  There are two snow machines in front of the house that are covered in snow now.

Looking toward the mountain range that the snow is blocking.  If you look closely above the shrubs, you can see a small  part of the water that is still moving) it looks dark.  The rest of the water is frozen and under a few inches of snow.  We had about 3 inches accumulate on our porch.  It is very windy in St. Michael, so when it snows the wind will blow it into drifts.  There is a drift behind our house that is three feet deep.  

Thanks for your prayers for the people of the Bering Strait and Western Alaska.