S'more snow & a moose fetus

We got more snow this week!  These are the highest drifts we have seen so far.

I'm standing on the boardwalk and the snow is up to my knees.  Good luck getting up if you fall off the boardwalk.

Beautiful view walking to the post office.

Time to shovel the steps... with a dust pan.

 The perfectly shoveled boardwalk around school.

This week we took our first snow machine trip to Emmo (Emmonak).  We followed the slough and turned onto the Yukon River for 8 miles.  We went to their AC (Alaska Commercial) Store.  The gallons of ice cream were only $14, so of course we bought some.  We also bought bananas, a rarity.

Getting ready for our trip on a warm 20 degree day.

Hanging out outside of the store all bundled up.
No editing on the picture.  My phone was fogging up when I took it out of my pocket.

Nathaniel securing our goods to the back of the machine with bungee cords. 

This sled was hooked up to the back of a snow machine at the store.

Back at school this week, we learned all about sequencing/chronological order.  As a fun activity at the end of class Friday, we "sequenced" paragraphs on how to make s'mores.   

Little did they know... they would actually get to make them step by step!

Thanks for the ingredients Hal & Anne!

Things got a little sticky...

In the kitchen, I made my favorite biscuit recipe: Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits. 

I follow the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box for Cheese-Garlic Biscuits.

Nathaniel reading Sheep in a Jeep with B.

This weekend we hosted a boys basketball tournament.

Good job Braves!

Last but not least, the excitement at school this week was a moose fetus in the science lab.
A student's mom caught a moose.  While they were cleaning the moose (taking the guts out),
they discovered that it was pregnant with twins.  So, the mother took one fetus to school so the science classes could dissect it.

Here are a couple pictures.  If you are queasy, don't scroll down.... 






































The science teacher estimated that the fetus was about four months old.

Photos taken by Culea, thanks!

It was about the size of a squirrel.

This is what newborn moose look like:

Photo credit: Alaska Star Journal

Half Way Point

This week was the start of the 3rd Quarter in the school year. 
Since we only have four quarters, that means we are past the half way point.  Time has really flown by!

Not a whole lot has happened this week, so it's mostly updates from the kitchen and the classroom.

Week day dinner: English Muffin Pizzas (the grown-up version of pizza lunchables). 

 I love these because they only have 4 ingredients, you can avoid leftovers, and they are delicious!

Ingredients: English muffins, pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, any toppings.

1. Assemble the pizzas onto a cookie sheet.  (We ate four pizzas per person).

2. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until cheese has melted.

In the classroom, we started working with a new concept called QAR which stands for Question-Answer Relationship.  It is supposed to help students find answers more efficiently and save time being frustrated (i.e. on standardized tests). 
There are four main ways to find an answer to a question:

1. Right There = the answer is right there in the text, you could literally highlight the answer.  

2. Think & Search = the answer could be in multiple places, but you have to think about the whole reading to come up with an answer(s).

3. Author & Me = Use your own thoughts to come up with an answer based off of information the author gives.

4. On My Own = Use your own thoughts to come up with an answer.

Posters printable here at ReadWriteThink.org

This week we read stories and myths from the Yup'ik culture.

At the end of the week we read about the origins of Yup'ik masks and made our own.

I started a tardy can to keep track of tardy slips.

Tracing some masks using the projector.

Some finished products:

A student and I holding up our masks.

The snow is packing in nice little paths on the boardwalks now.

This week I was super excited at yoga because a friend gave me her extra yoga mat.

Elsie, our iTunes yoga instructor.

 

Friday night, it's the simple things in life.

Working the gate at a Basketball Tourney Fundraiser to help the girls team get new uniforms.

Freezing with our hoods up because the cold draft blew in each time someone opened the door.

Culea came over and we made this Hamburger Stew together.  We halved the recipe and still had plenty of leftovers. 
Even Nathaniel thought it turned out pretty great!

Heat Wave

Our new projector arrived this week and we are more than impressed with it (our old one skipped a lot, had a loud fan, and wouldn't read some discs).

Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector

I don't think we will ever buy a TV, especially since this can project larger than a big screen, can easily hook up to laptops, and is cheaper.  It has a very quiet fan, but requires you to order speakers.

I like doing crafts, but am very limited on supplies up here.  So I painted our dollar store picture frames this week.  I also tried to simplify things around the house.

 Nathaniel and B eating chips on a lazy afternoon.

Recipe time: Chicken Noodle Casserole (based from a recipe my mom's friend Sharon makes)

So with limited supplies here's my take at it.

Ingredients: 1 pkg egg noodles, 2 jars Heinz chicken gravy, 3 boneless chicken breasts, shredded cheddar cheese.

1. Boil the egg noodles as directed on the package.

2. Cut chicken into small thin pieces and cook with olive oil in skillet until brown.  Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

 

 3. Drain noodles and put into a large mixing bowl.

4. Add cooked chicken.

5. Add two jars Heinz chicken gravy.

 6. Stir in 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese.  Mix well.

7.  Put mixture into 13x9 baking dish.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.

8. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!  Yields 10 servings.

This week we experienced a heat wave.  Which was great for making snow balls, but bad for riding snow machines.

Ready and waiting for a snowball ambush.

Eating snow.

Snow man makeover.  I saw this snow man a little girl made, but he looked a little sad with one arm. 

So I gave him a face and another arm.  That's better.

The girls building an igloo.  We gave up to take a nap break.

Here's one down side to warmer weather... ice patches.

Slushy snow.