Back to Normal-ish

So the apartment is finally finished. Now I just have to put everything back where it belongs and clean because they didn't clean up after themselves after all the sanding etc that they did. So... YAH!! I have my cat back in my apartment and my privacy back... woo woo!!

Georgetown

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we (KJ, Isabel, Manuel and I) went shopping on Black Friday and then recovered on the Saturday by going into the DC area and wandering the crazy streets of Georgetown. Loved the neighbourhood and the million dollar homes we walked past (although I was cranky on the way back... my socks kept slipping down around my toes in my boots and it hurt!!! Funny to think about now though). Below are a few pictures of the Saturday...



Don't you want to live here? These are private residences right on the water and with a gorgeous courtyard...

um... really?! No standing? hahahaha

The reflection of a beautiful bridge...

A church as we walked from the Metro into Georgetown.

One of the embassies in the area... I just really liked the building.

Uh oh... there goes the apartment

Remember how I was so proud to have my apartment all organized, decorated and done? Well, it has recently been undone!! They are re-fitting all the potable water pipes in all the apartments in my complex and so they have cut holes in most of the walls and some of the ceiling to get at the pipes. Of course, they thought that this would be good to start on a Friday (they don't work on Saturday or Sunday) and then complete sometime in the coming week... *sigh* So, now I am living in a construction zone and my little kitty is living with friends... Below are a couple of pics of what it looks like at the moment.

The Gingerbread Project

This entry is dedicated to my friend Sophia who got me addicted to this project. The Gingerbread Project is one where kids research, design and create a gingerbread house that goes to charity in some form or another at the end. I did it twice in Korea and have now begged and convinced the people that I work with that this is a good thing and so I am doing it here in the US for the first time. It's much more convenient here because you can find all the ingredients in the stores and you can buy tubs of pre-made icing... hahaha... it's like I am cheating!!
Anyway, below are a couple of photos of what's been going on in my classroom over the last week.


The blueprints that the kids made to design their house...

Their cracked up versions of gingerbread people... very funny!!

The display board with all the things going on... there is a master plans section, the blueprints section, a reflections section and some progress pictures as well... very neat and orderly (thanks to one of my room moms!!)

Making the blueprints... so cute!!

More working kids!! Look at that, 5 year olds getting along and working cooperatively!!!