PAPER SNOWFLAKE KID's CRAFT

After a whirlwind of holidays and vacations, I wasn't in the mood for a complicated January-themed classroom door. A few pages of dollar store window clings...and some snow decoration thingies that were left out for grabs in the work room...and I called it good. 

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If I was just a tad less burned-out, I would have created something similar to this. (Does anyone else ever feel like they need a vacation to recover from their vacation?) Maybe next year. 

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For a January craft, I was excited to finally try this out. I saw it a few year ago and liked the variation from the traditional snowflakes kids seem to make every year at school.

Some of my third graders opted to copy the original exactly. 

And some got creative with colors and curls. 

I recently got a GINORMOUS new TV in my classroom--which is exciting enough--but this TV also hooks up to my computer!! Those of us without Smart Boards or projectors get excited about simple things like this. 

I just pulled up the blog where I originally found the craft, and scrolled through Simply Modern Mom's detailed picture tutorial.  Explaining to the kiddos what they were about to do was a breeze, because it was very visual and clear. It was like magic.

And kids apparently pay closer attention to a screen then to their teacher. Having left it up while they worked, I had to answer far fewer questions than usual. 

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I let my early finishers get started on other variations of her snowflakes. 

Next, I hung the finished products inside the front office's display case--either directly onto the butcher paper, or hung with string from the top. 

And then, because I felt the display should be somewhat educational, I googled a bunch of interesting facts about snowflakes, typed them up in a cutesy font, and pinned them up too. 

(Did you know that the largest snowflake ever recorded fell in Montana at 15 inches in diameter?! That little fact blows my frickin' mind.) 

And finally, my overachieving self went out and bought some of that white paper filler used in gift bags, and spread it along the bottom of the case to hopefully, further the look of snow. 

Now, we Southeast Idahoans just need some real snow outside to go along with this cold. This winter has been strangely devoid of any significant snowfall. Who's ever heard of a brown Christmas in Rexburg?

HOUSE UPDATE {sheet rock and trim}

It's been awhile, and an update is way overdue. Between our two-week holiday vacation, and Andrew putting his back out a week after that, things went slower than planned. But events are beginning to pick up again, almost faster than I can document!

About a month ago, the siding was up on the sides and the back of the house.




Now, it's being stuccoed in a "tent" of plastic and tarp to regulate the temperature with a heater. It's been as low as -1 degrees outside this week!




From the dining room window, you get a feel for what's going on inside that tent. 



The kitchen a month ago: drywalled, taped, and mudded. 




The kitchen weeks ago, with texturing on the walls. 




Great room: drywalled, taped, and mudded




Great room: textured




Another view of great room/kitchen




Dining Area: dry-wall, taped, and mudded




Dining Area: walls textured and trim just begun
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Master Bedroom: dry wall with texturing




Master Bedroom: trim and wainscot begun

(loving the tray ceiling)




A Bedroom: walls textured




Guest Room: with trim




Front Sitting Room: drywalled, taped, and mudded




Front Sitting Room: with trim and wainscot begun (and wood flooring stacked ready to install!)

When the house is all trimmed out, we can paint the trim and the walls with the colors I chose. The outside stucco should be finished in a week, and I am SO EXCITED to share our plans for the dining room ceiling. Stay tuned!

OUT MY KITCHEN WINDOW

Zoom lenses are fun...So's playing with textures. 

For some reason, this photo makes me feel all winter-y. Hope you're staying warmer than we are here in this corner of Idaho. I am officially done with the wind whipping through our valley lately. Brrrr...

And it's only November.

BLOW MY MIND

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*Andrew and I played a game of pool this week. And just so you are aware, I won. Fair and square. I thought this was news worth shouting from the rooftops. 

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*You'll never guess the fabulous way in which I am spending my harvest break...

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Attending a state-mandated math class for teachers...EIGHT hours a day...Monday through Friday!!! 

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You're jealous, right?  

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I was determined to be reeally grumpy over being robbed of my vacation time, until this math class had the nerve to be...fun. 

I can't believe I just said that.

Basically, I've learned the following:

1.) Despite being an expert teacher of algorithms, I know nothing.

2.) I was taught to follow procedures rather than to think for myself. 

3.) I have been teaching my students to follow procedures rather than to think for themselves. 

4.) When I actually use my brain, I'm not so bad at math after all. 

My mind is officially blown.

But all this math is taking it's toll on me. Let me illustrate:

If xy = z, and x = number of hours in class and y = number of days in class, then z = 40 hours of thinking mathematically. 

z also equals: 

My brain literally aching like an overworked muscle at the end of each day...And my mind continuing to work the problems from class in my dreams all night long...And a very tired Rachel upon waking each morning...And a 3rd grade teacher who is SO EXCITED to teach her next math lesson!

*It is October 6th, today. 

October SIXTH, people!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yet, here I was, taking pictures from our bedroom window this evening.

IDAHO IN A NUTSHELL

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haha!

Sad, but true. 
Though it does make summer-time all the sweeter.

FROSTY

Southeast Idaho. Back in December. -14 degrees Fahrenheit.

We were driving home from Sun Valley.

The desert was glittering with sparkly-ness.

After making Andrew stop the truck, I bundled up to my eyeballs to take some pictures.

These crystals did not form from falling snow. Just freezing temperatures. 

This was last week. In town. 31 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Beautiful, little sparklies.

Really quite miraculous the shapes they form.

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Can you imagine me on my belly trying to get these shots?

Makes me miss the Snoshack and my daily dose of shaved ice. 

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I'm guessing it probably has to be above freezing before that place opens for the season. 

Drat the luck. 

SPRING BREAK IN THE TETONS

Driving through miles of potato fields, and were it not for fences, there would be no way to tell where earth ended and sky began. Everything around us was white, white, white.

The falling, blowing snow made driving slightly difficult on this lonely highway.

We soon came across a little car that had slid off the road and gotten stuck in a snowbank. Its occupants were attempting to dig themselves out with snowboards. 

We pulled them out only to realize their car was too damaged from the accident to drive. We left them in the hands of a tow truck. 

See the sign peeking out of the top of the pile? I thought this might give you an idea how much snow there was once we reached the mountains. 

After an hour drive, we reached the Grand Targhee Ski Resort in...er...Wydaho, U.S.A.

Being the first day of my spring break, Andrew got work off for some half-price snowboarding. 

I ask, what could be better than combining snowboarding with half-price? I know not. 

We enjoyed thirty inches worth of new powder...on deserted slopes. People must have assumed the snow would be lousy this late in the season. 
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Boy, were they wrong. 

Most snowboarders lead with their left foot. We discovered I should be leading with my right, and changed my bindings accordingly. A a result, my progress was exponential! I keep dreaming about going back as soon as humanly possible. 

We came across some folks who preferred an alternative way of enjoying the snowfall. 

This gal, moments after taking the picture, rolled around in a fresh snow-pile before jumping back in the pool. 

Driving home at the end of the day, we came across others who weren't deterred by the spring storm. 

Spud farmers, up to their ankles in mud, prepare for the fast-approaching planting season. 

As we descended back into Rexburg, I couldn't help think of those celebrating a wild spring break on beaches in Florida. And here I was, perfectly content to enjoy the effects of a snowstorm on spud fields with my love, from the middle seat of a Dodge pick-up...ha!