A Girl and Her Dog

Milcreek Canyon, New Year's Eve

Christmas Day

 I'm not gonna lie, Christmas Day with a two-year-old is just about as fun as life can get. Here's the run-down of Aven's Christmas:

Santa brought Aven a princess doll, which was her #1 request. 

Each present brought a new wave of excitement.

Ian's mom didn't think she'd be as excited about clothes as she was about toys. Silly grandma.

After all that present opening Aven was a bit hungry.

We spent the rest of the day playing with toys and watching movies. We ended the day with Beauty and the Beast. It was the first time Aven has ever sat through an entire movie- quite a momentous occasion. 

 We had a great Christmas, now if it would only snow.

Happy Christmas

From Cara, Aven, Ian, and Grace Dog.

December 2011

This has been the worst December, weather-wise, that I can remember. There has been no real snow to speak of and there has been a non-stop inversion that has kept us inside. So far December has been pretty blah. I'm looking forward to Christmas and getting to see Aven enjoy all her new toys, that will be a nice diversion.

Here are a couple pictures from our very uneventful December:

Aven willingly, although apprehensively, sat on Santa's lap this year.

Aven on stage at her daycare Christmas pageant performing "Where is Santa" to the tune of Frarajaka.

A Blast From the Past

This document was recently unearthed in an old cabinet by a workman fixing a heater at my school. There may not be air conditioning, stable heat, or enough electrical outlets but there are definitely benefits to working in an old school. I wouldn't move to one of those shiny new schools if they begged me.

Click pic to embiggen.

I have to say that I'm surprised at how much of this is still an important part of what we do even if the language has changed. I just can't get over #10 though- can you imagine the riots that would ensue if this went on a public school document in this day and age?

Pretty Damn Cool

This awesome video from "All.I.Can" (Sherpas Cinema) is definitely worth checking out. I heart J.P. Auclair.

JP Auclair Street Segment (from All.I.Can.) from Sherpas Cinema on Vimeo.

In Need of Something Positive

The last couple weeks have been rough. I was really in need of something positive. The Tuesday after Thanksgiving I found a bundle of thank you notes in my box. Some saintly teachers in my school had their students spend the day before Thanksgiving writing to their teachers. I am very grateful, so I thought I'd share my favorites:

This student is amazing. She went to Pakistan for 7 weeks for her brother's wedding. I missed her everyday she was gone.

From the kid who has never caused even a moment of trouble.

Sometimes even I don't know what's in store from one day to the next.

I love it!

I'm always grateful to find out that quiet students really enjoy my class. Sometimes you can't tell.

Thanks to all of the wonderful teachers I work with who took time to help students write these amazing notes.