Mom, you'd be proud :)

The other day I was on the search for some interesting breakfast foods to make. As I glanced through the cookbook, I came across such a nostalgic recipe......monkey bread. Oh how my mind quickly reverted back to the mornings all huddled around the dining room table, still in our pajamas, picking from the bunt cake pan of monkey bread....licking our fingers...and then going back for more :) Oh the germs of love....

You'd be proud mom. I made the whole thing from scratch. No help from Pillsbury biscuits! And I was even on such a baking roll that I whipped up some baked oatmeal to go with it. I thought I would document my efforts. The bummer was that I was over spontaneous and made the entire creation at night. When I woke up in the morning, my delicious mouth watering expectation was quickly shot down by hardened stale bread.....sad day. At least I now know how to make it for next time!

From the eyes of a 1st grader...

I am intrigued by the way kids think...especially six year old ones. Their brains work in a way that is so literal, innocent, and heartfelt....yet often without tact. I find myself so many times in the day just holding my hand against my heart making an "oh my goodness you are so adorable" face (Now I feel like they do things just for my reaction). I feel so blessed to have students who connect their learning, think outside of the box, and take risks in challenging themselves...and yes, they are only in 1st grade!

Here are some precious moments that I was able to capture with the camera.

After a mini-lesson on making Text to Self connections, this student wrote a post-it connection with him and the T-rex in his story..."I do not like to share my food."

When we thought that one of our students had pneumonia, one student drew T-cells and people attacking "namonya" for his get well card. Pretty intense.

Writing Christmas cards for nursing home residents, one of my students writes "...I hope you don't die before Christmas..." There is that tact (or lack there of) that I was talking about.

During Thanksgiving time, a wonderful brainstorming web was created of why this student was thankful for his Heavenly Father:

1. 1. He is always with us
2. He sent me to earth
3. He created me

When I asked this student "why do you have so many post-its in your book?" He proudly responds "Mrs. Evans, can't you see? Those are all of my mental images! When I was reading the words, I had different pictures than what the illustrator made." Woah....how incredibly awesome to witness his brain working :)


Good thing this was in the beginning of the year, but I just had to put it. The last word was supposed to say "researcher's notebook". It looks like he started, then started, then started again...haha.

Looking forward to more capturable moments as the year progresses!

"Oh no! No small change!"

I am still laughing out loud as I write this post since this just happened about 5 minutes ago. You gotta love when embarrassing moments happen in China. The language barrier helps to act like a sugar coating to fill the awkward air with laughing instead of recognizable sarcasm.

After a concert night from 4-8 with no dinner in between, we were pretty hungry. Our food that we ordered from McDonald's had come (yes, they deliver in China), but there was one problem...we had no small change. Usually we have some 10 or 5 kuai bills laying around, but tonight all we had were the 1 kuai coins. As Dave painstakingly counted our 47 kuai bill with coins, I just had to document this hysterical situation.

Christmas shopping!

Out for another weekend adventure in search of classroom decorations, family gifts, and a good time! It is always such an experience to step out of our gated community and into the realms of the good ol' market. Jaywalking through oncoming traffic, dodging spitballs from the mouths of store owners (who are talking to you), and the frequent "Hello....Look.....You buy?!?" This market feels like the aisles of any busy story on black friday. The only thing is that it is just another normal Saturday afternoon.

Would you like a bouquet of stuffed animals?

This is how you shop for nail polish in China....just sort through the piles.

Life-sized stuffed animals. You can find these EVERYWHERE!

This Santa not only is as tall as me, but he dances and sings! He is worth the picture for the "creepy" factor.

The catch all store for wrapping and decorating gifts. In China, you just buy sheets of wrapping paper instead of the rolls...different, but usually more sturdy!

Lunch time! Good ol' street food :) Yum...

Time to rest up a bit and then get ready for the school's Christmas concert this evening! What a fun-filled day.

"It's the MOST wonderful time of the year"

It was Sunday night around 8:30. Wrapping up the last bit of lesson plans for the week, I made a quick remark "I need a break.....want to start taking out the Christmas decorations?" (Mind you, we normally go to bed around 9:00...what was I thinking?). All I needed was the go ahead from Dave and we were off! What seemed like a quick project of "laying out" the preparations for a later day, my heart quickly welled up with joyous memories from our first Christmas together. "Look honey! The dried dates and popcorn string is still perfectly together!" We had such momentum going, we kept the ball rolling until we looked up at the clock (tree, garland, wreath, nativity, and snowmen later....) and it reads 10:30! While we felt a bit saddened by how rough our Monday morning was going to be, we both went to bed with smiles on our faces. When good memories are imprinted in your brain, they stay there forever. Praise Him that our first Christmas was so magical. And hey....now we get to come home to our warm, Christmas tree lit humble abode...how cozy.

We are so blessed to have awesome storage in our apartment....we can hide stuff everywhere! (That can be both a good and bad thing)

The popcorn and date string that we made LAST YEAR was still good as new! (Aside from a slight date-ish fragrance)

Only two and a half more weeks of school until our Christmas break...where has the time gone?!? Looking forward to taking some holiday adventures together :)

Biking through a Shenyang Winter Wonderland

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! That's at least what I was singing until I started biking in it. It is one thing to look out the window at the falling snow and notice it's pure, simplistic beauty, and entirely another to actually be outside in it. For the first 5 minutes, I was tempted to just stand there and stick my tongue out like a child. Yet on the busy city streets where the snow on the ground has already frozen, the snow coming down is sticking to my eyelashes, and people are randomly walking in front of us as we try to gain some sort of momentum is an entirely different thing.

The reason why we were even on this little biking outing was actually a pretty sad one. My USB (which by the way, holds my life on - foolish I know), broke the other night. Devastated, I was immediately in search for another one, hoping to transfer my files before they were completely gone. Our trip was a successful one - we were able to spend some quality time together, transfer my files (yay!), and then plant ourselves at our favorite coffee shop for a few hours. NOW I get to actually enjoy the falling snow as it masquerades the city streets below (at least for today).

Attempting to take a picture while riding my bike...risky, I know....

Their infamous Caramel Macchiato...isn't it pretty?

Hopefully more fresh snow falls tonight so the kids can have fun playing tomorrow!

Silicon bread pans are not my friend.

As I glanced at our fruit basket and saw the brown and mushy bananas, I couldn't help but think "OOOhhhh! Let's make banana bread!" I thought it would be such an effective way to make them worth more than in the trashcan, yet didn't even realize that I didn't have all the ingredients. Let's hope that honey can substitute for sugar.....

The real crash and burn was when I went to put the banana bread into the oven and the silicon bread pan gave out on me!