Pretzel and Marshmellow Time!

HELLO and Merry 1st day after Christmas!  What a blessing it was to just SIT and dare I type...RELAX...Ok, I typed it!  And, yes, I did both while enjoying my Mom's feast of proteins, veggies, sides, and desserts to make Food Network want to visit!  I hope your heart is still smiling today as you reflect upon all that brings you comfort, peace, and Kodak moments!  Before break we had the pleasure and the culinary treat to work and learn with marshmallows and pretzels (the marshmallows were supposed to be part of our Hot Chocolate experiment and the pretzels are to remind of us of one giving them self hug with crossed arms on one's shoulders).

I posed several challenges to my Multi-agers before they were able to tell me their opinion on the taste of these childhood favorites.  First they needed to use the pretzels to design a structure that was connected to their faith and because there was only 4 days till they celebrated Jesus' birth it had to be 4 inches in length or width! CHALLENGE ON!  The first three pictures show this challenge in the works.  I'm so proud of their progress in using a ruler and of course their imagination (I did encourage them to work with a Learning Buddy if they wanted too).

 Challenge #2 Measure a mini and regular marshmallow.  How big are they?  How many mini marshmallows would equal the regular sized one?  How much bigger is the large one compared to the mini version?

Challenge #3  Use the marshmallows to construct a faith related object!  They had a variety of ideas and their imagination was not limited by sugar, but this one said a lot with white, mini marshmallows!

Challenge #4  Stack the marshmallows as high as you can in 1 minute-60 seconds to get height.  It is not pictured here, but they tried a variety of ways to get the marshmallows to stack versus fall just as they thought they had the highest structure.

These are just four of the challenges.  Now, my challenge is to post the remainder along with an upcoming hot chocolate and marshmallow experiment!

Sweet marshmallow smiles,
 

Merry Christmas!!

The true meaning of Christmas...thanks Charlie Brown and friends!

 

                                            

Charlie Brown and friends know the true meaning of the season-our Savior's birth!  It's not about us, our gifts that are adorned with the brightest eye catching bows or the must have outfit from the top notch stores, or the dish that must be served to demonstrate our fine cooking skills, but Jesus!  May we all have comfort, joy, and peace knowing that our Savior loves us and we have been called by him!

 THANK YOU to all of you!  I am blessed to have you as my followers!  I hope 2013 brings the joy of having 100 followers!!!  

Again, Merry Christmas!

 

Our gift from our Trucker Buddy!

Well after spending yesterday watching over 6 inches of snow fall and dance around in the sky and then anticipating how my Multi-age students would do with a 2 hour delay this morning, WE HAD A MERRY AND CHEERY DAY!!!  Is somebody exited?  YES I AM!!!!!  They were controlled excited-did I just make that up-yes, I did! 

WELL THE SECOND CAME...THE BIG WHITE, SEALED BOX FROM OUR TRUCKER BUDDY CAME OFF THE SHELF AND WE GOT THE SCISSORS...WE WERE READY TO OPEN THE MYSTERY!
So, we anxiously opened our box from Iowa.  To our surprise:

Our Trucker Buddy has a sock monkey; now we have one!

A teacher's dream-Post It Notes, gel pens, and Expos markers.  PERFECT!!!  The sock monkey- star on top of the tree!

SMILES,

My gift to my students' families!

NEWS ALERT...someone typing this is very excited- 9 to 12 inches of SNOW tomorrow and guess who is sleeping in- ME!  We have already found out that there is no school tomorrow!  One of the bonus gifts for leaving in the hand shaped state of Wisconsin!  Who is more excited, me or the student??? 

Have you completed your gift for you student families?  I DID...hooray- thankfully I had it done on Monday.  I must have felt the snow storm and school cancellation coming because I was ahead of the clock with my gifts.  Patting myself on the back for that one.

Prior to making these, I had my families complete a recipe form to document their favorite holiday cookie recipe.  Each family returned a "Top" but not so secret anymore recipe!  I  compiled all of them and arranged them together with a Merry Christmas picture of each student on his/her family's recipe.
Last I ringed them and secretively put them in each student's mailbox.

Now, if only I was a cousin to Mr. Pillsbury Dough Boy or could get tutored by Food Network bakers.

Snowy Smiles!

The scoop on where we live!

HELLO! I must start of by saying today was another day I tried to capture the beauty of each student's comical laugh, warming smile, and inquisitive looks!  I am so blessed...little angels!  Continued PRAYERS to everyone in education and especially our extended "family" in Connecticut!
Last week my Multi-agers made a craft to illustrate how they are part of our a bigger world then just our classrooms.  We started off with 5 scoops and a cone; I tried like a child trying to put on his winter boots to get outside in fresh snow, to make sure everyone had different colors. Each child printed Me on the cone.  Then we identified the community we lived in following the scoop of our state- the FORWARD state-Wisconsin. Next,we moved onto our country-the beloved United States.  From their it was our continent- North America- great to be North but sometimes wish to be south-warmer temps.  Finally, it was the planet we rotate on everyday- Earth- spin, spin.  The assembly process follows:

ME, Community, State, Country, Continent, and Planet-that is what I am part of!

Super smiles,

Shaving cream does the job and is a therapist!

Monday and it is still a somber day!  THANKS BE TO GOD FOR LIGHTING OUR WAY!

Students at our school are asked to do service work.  Each year my students are delighted and eager to "serve' our Art Teacher by cleaning her art tables.  They get their smocks on, roll up the sleeves, and anxiously await for the mound of white foamy stuff-shaving cream!  Guaranteed to almost remove any residue and stains from previous art projects. 
First they wait.  Next they rub...and freely print letters, draw random shapes, and make little caricatures in the shaving cream as they try to work the shaving cream in the table.  Then they scrap, scrap, and scrap and suddenly erupt, "HERE'S A HARD SPOT" and await for the art teacher to use the ultimate scraper to remove the nasty residue!  Finally, the line up for a rag and water and rinse and wipe the tables to a stunning table lift.  What remains?  Stunning tables and the one of a kind shaving cream fragrance.

 

Smiles,

In Silence...

Rosie