What happens in Vegas...

...gets put on the blog! 

It was a whirlwind trip, but I am so glad I got to go see the H6! Naturally, last Wed there was a massive rain and wind storm in Boston and there was talk of major flight delays. I was so lucky to get out of town and across the country with zero issues, phew. 

The kids had zero clue I was coming! They were so surprised when they ran into the guest room Thursday morning. I was just as excited to see them. I came bearing Chanukah/Boston gifts. I may have converted the two newest Red Sox fans, too. 

Sofia and Aviva were excellent pie crust helpers. It was super fun to see how much the kids had grown and changed since I saw them last!

The kids are hilarious too. At one point they stole my phone and ipad and were texting people! Judah's face says it all...they were having a ball! 

Friday, I took new pics of the kids. Half came out awesome and half are hilarious outtakes! Gabriel checking his watch says it all, wouldn't you know that was 3 minutes into the photo-shoot! 

Saturday night, as we said Havdallah I got super bummed since that meant my trip was coming to an end. It was so good to be there with the gang, it was a too short but sweet trip!

Until next time, Vegas and H6!

Thanksgivukkah!

We cooked. We baked. We carved. We ate. We lit. We cleaned. 

 

Happy Thanksgivukkah to all and to all a good night!

P52: Week 48 around the sun

Happy December, happy Chanukah, and happy belated Thanksgiving! 

I had a wonderful time out in Las Vegas with my family friends, the Hafters. I hadn't seen them in 3 years and it was great to get some serious time with them! I for the first time in ages traveled without my laptop and it was so nice to just disconnect from life and be with the H6! We had a wonderful holiday and now it's time for the end of Chanukah and the end of the year! 

So, today, just the random snapshots of the trip - much more to come in the next few days!

Highlight of the week: Getting to Las Vegas and surprising the Hafter kids! They had NO clue I was coming. The look on their faces = priceless.

Favorite teaching moment: watching my class make menorahs using blocks and connecting cubes the day before vacation, the team work, and enthusiasm was amazing!

Random-osity: Every time I am at an airport, I want to walk the wrong way on a moving walkway. So wrong, but it looks so fun!

The Details

* Post 1 photo or as many as you like each week on Mondays.

* The button or text link should be present in your post- but not absolutely necessary.

* Please visit some other blogs & leave some love & encouragement.
* Submit the URL of your blog post - not your home page.

Can’t wait to see all your photos each week as we venture through 2013!

Project 52

Happy Thanksgivukkah!

So much to celebrate. So much to be thankful for.

Never in ~79,000 years did I think I would be up close and personal for the holiday that is Thanksgivukkah.

Never did I think I would say I was grateful for the convergence of 2 of my favorite holidays.

Never did I...but I am so grateful this all happened.

I have a new appreciation for religious freedom...for the excitement that fills a child's eyes around the holidays...and an even deeper love for the amazing school in which I work.

To my family and friends, a happy Thanksgiving/Chanukah/holiday season.

May you see the blessings all around you, be filled with happiness, and remember to savor the little thinks that make life amazing!

November Randoms v.2

student art...PBS showed up...field trip

exploring plymouth...thanksgivunukiah presentation...festive coffee

post-it notes...new sneakers...starbucks and foliage

new kicks...reflection...clearing skies
JR visiting...seaweed...torah reading
angry verbs...pattern block math...bat mitzvah flashback

texting humor...starbucks run...brrrrrrr
coffee and sun...target...sun catcher dreidel
frosty am...sorry game...holiday doodle

Ready...

...for any weather apparently.

I got a good chuckle out of my boot tray: chucks, (f)uggs, and flip-flops.

It's Boston, you never know what you might need when you go outside! But considering it was 8 degrees with the windchill over the weekend, I may have to stick with the boots for a while!

P52: Week 47 around the sun

Oh what a week!! 

I started it with a nice and relaxing Sunday. I went to the Museum of Science which I hadn't been to in ages and was able to make it to the farmer's market. A nice relaxing weekend, which was good considering the middle part of the week was largely a blur! 

In a span of 5 days I crammed: meeting meteorologist Jeremy Reiner, lots of teaching, lots of meetings, and so much more! On top of that I was practicing 4 sections of torah reading for this past Shabbat. The Jewish calendar is so off this year, that my 13th anniversary of my bat mitzvah was a full month before it's actual Gregorian calendar anniversary! 

Oh, yeah, and the PBS video went live this weekend!! That and an article in the Boston Globe where I am quoted was published this week. It's insane. I never thought this would happen to me, or my school, ever! It's been amazing to be part of such a once in a life-time event and find the importance in the holidays converging and be able to teach my class that, amazing! I embedded the video below - enjoy!!

Highlight of the week: Oh man - way too many choices this week! It may just have to be a tie between meeting Jeremy Reiner and being on PBS! 

Favorite teaching moment: My class are pretending to be Pilgrims writing letters back to England saying what it's like in Plymouth. One child wrote "The voyage was not easy because I had to drink beer. I didn't like it I wanted the bad water!" - love that was his Mayflower voyage takeaway!

Random-osity: Whenever I take tissues from a tissue box, I always have to take two tissues...random, right?

(seriously, are my kiddos adorable!? and Rabbi David, one of our co-heads, is just amazing to hear!)

The Details

* Post 1 photo or as many as you like each week on Mondays.

* The button or text link should be present in your post- but not absolutely necessary.

* Please visit some other blogs & leave some love & encouragement.
* Submit the URL of your blog post - not your home page.

Can’t wait to see all your photos each week as we venture through 2013!

Project 52

Song-ography: Modeh Ani

I get kissed by the sun each morning

Put my feet on {the ground}...just soaking up the day

I think to myself...I am blessed.

The first prayer we say each morning is called the Modeh Ani. It thanks God for giving us a new day to be alive. As I listened to this song, I thought of the prayer. Even when I am tired, or know I have a long day ahead of me, I wake up, look around me and see all the amazing blessings in my life.

We ended our week on Friday, saying what we are thankful for. Several kids said their gadgets or a small this or that, but many, many 8 and 9 year olds were thankful for their family, friends, and lives in general.

Me? I am thankful for a chance to live in an amazing city, teach amazing children, and experience life through their eyes as well as mine.

This world is a beautiful place!

Wild about weather

We all know I am a weather nerd. In the last year I became twitter buddies with one local meteorologist. Jeremy Reiner is the AM weather guy for the local NBC station, so I literally start my days with him and the news team at 5am. 

Then, last spring I had the lightbulb moment of "wait, I wonder if he does school visits..." Yup! He does! And Monday was finally the day for the big visit. Honestly, not sure who was more excited...me or the kids.

I happened to be at the front desk when he arrived and he instantly placed my face from my twitter picture and we joked about finally meeting in person!

He had a great presentation - the kids were able to show how much they already knew and we all learned a ton, too. You know it's good when a group of 9 year olds beg to not go to lunch and stay and ask more questions!

Overall a very exciting Monday! The kids had fun, I finally met a "twitter friend," and it was a very fun-ducational morning!

Field Trip!

I've talked about Thanksgivukkah a bit and the big day is almost here! Well, KSA is going prime time because of it too. Actual prime time. On Thursday, PBS came up from DC to do a feature on KSA and how we're celebrating. Since I am teaching all about the Pilgrims and Maccabees my class was the educational focus on the filming! 

I was mike-ed up and everything. My class were rockstars too!! They acted like the cameras weren't there at.all. and they were so amazing! The lesson was great and it will be so weird to see us on TV later this week! 

The fun and publicity didn't stop there! The whole school got on buses and we drove over to Plymouth Plantation. We had time to tour the village - perfect for our social studies, unit. 

My kiddos had research questions to ask the Pilgrims and were so adorable asking them the questions. The place was hopping too...'tis the season!

The Pilgrims really act like it's the 17th century so when one kid asked what Pilgrim children did for fun the man responded, "what is this fun?" He was a rockstar and responded, "what do the kids play with?" 

PBS came with us to Plymouth too - they followed my kids around some and other KSA groups. I just had to laugh at the image of a Pilgrim with a boom mice over his head!

Of course, I was there as a teacher, but snuck in a little artsy photography! It's such a fun place to do it!

After our time in the village, the whole school came together for the real reason we had all trekked to the Plantation. We sung the Thanksgivukkah song, presented the Plantation with a "Thansgivunukiah," and we were then presented with an official proclamation from the Governor proclaiming November 28th as Thanksgivukkah! 

After that, we traveled down the road to sing the song at the Mayflower - I snuck in a 30 second lesson "look gang, the Mayflower - imagine 102 people spending 3 months on that...great back on the bus!" Then it was back to school.

We had an amazing day. I cannot wait to see our school on tv and I promise to share the link/info with you all! Happy Thanksgivukkah!!