during my jog today, i turned a corner and

suddenly ended up on a street that looked like

a slow motion snow blizzard.

there were so0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o many

white cherry blossom trees and thousands of

flower petals were floating in the wind.

i think it was the most beautiful
thing i have ever seen in my life.

i can't resist mega sales at bookstores...

 i was so drawn to the cover of this children's book

and as i was reading it, i decided to buy it

because it reminds me of myself/how i think i think:

then i also got this ^ graphic garden guidebook because

i plan on spending part of my summer

"creating a fantastic yard" and then 

sunbathing and drinking lavender lemonade in it,

with mops lying next to me ~ ~ ~

just realized i can now snapchat

my kiwi friend james...
KIA ORA

!!  ^____________^ !!

everytime i'm about to do

something big or make a decision

that i will have a GREAT day,

i turn on dirty paws and think about snowy mountains

of Kazakhstan.

CRAZY HAT DAY

i deliriously designed this template hat

at 12:30 am last night:

i love projects where you lay out

materials and first model for kids how to

twist/twirl/fold things and then let

them go wild. it was so FUN to
see how different everyone's turned out.
their personalities/spirits totally came out,
which is what i hope school can
do for all children. 

or as fijians would say:
 "yaloqu, lesu mai"
~ ~ ~

package from maryna-na-na!

she sent me wool socks,
home-made dehydrated apple chips,
and a beeswax candle with pressed flowers
(made in the santa cruz mts!)

THANK YOU! :) ) )

coffee oreo with salted caramel

+ purple ube with chocolate!

$1 tulip stems are one of my favorite things.

i cleaned the entire apartment just so
these flowers can look good in a clean space.

explored some new places today!

i sat in the "educational center"

at the SAM asian art museum and

read all these darling colorful picture books.
i want [almost] ALL of them for my future classroom!

"Growing up in Toyko" inspires me to design a

unit that explores what it's like

to be a child growing up in various countries.
I'm thinking it would be fun to learn about:

Japan, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Iran, Guatemala,

First Nations of Canada, Brazil, India,

Fiji, France & Sweden.

then, i stared at stunning puget sound while

eating my piroshky and holding my tulips.

exactly one year ago, i was standing right here,
wishing i could be admitted to UW,
so i could live here and have this view :~)

today's recess felt like a dream.

puffy white clouds in a bright blue sky.

children picking blossoms, making wishes

and prancing through the blooming fields.

this is the evergreen state.

this tumbling king can cartwheel

nonstop down a grassy slope.

 this has been the LONGEST week,

soOo good, but still:

T G I F

~seattle~
you're always the best commute view after a long day.

"are you checking her hair for....lice?"

"yeah...it's lice season."

my CT was out again, so i taught

another day of kindergarten by myself!

~*~*~*~*~

we crammed in a ton of reading, writing & math,

but also made time for dr. seuss, skittles,

drawing, surveys, songs and watching youtube

videos of newts (we are studying letter 'Nn.')

t i l a p i a
today, our class experimented with gyotaku

(Japanese printmaking with fish!)

it was SO fun and something new. what a great

launch into our fabric unit!!

it's that time of year again!

SPRING IS COMING.

row row row your umiaq boat.

on the field trip, i had to manage my group of

10 children on a boat........... 

eventually, i just sat back and took pictures
 while they rowed me around lake union.

celebrating finishing our 3rd quarter at UW

with yam tacos, drinks, bookstores

+ earl gray/honey lavender ice cream!!

somali folk tales,
jumping rope with 5-6 year olds,

waiting for the bus,

and coconut everything.

^ what my life consists of now.

adventures in
canada & hawaii

just gotta finish these last few assignments

and i'll be doneeeeeee

with my masters degree coursework.

drjslkrjeslkjerkldsflsjeresjfkj!!
!!!!!

then gotta find a way to
sustain myself for the next 3
months of full-time student-teaching,
TPA work, and staying sane
and have fun while doing so too. 

then i hope i can have some time
to relax & sleep.

H A I K U

We brainstormed topics about nature

that we can write a haiku about.

they came up with:

FISH

BUNNIES

THE SUN

LADYBUGS

BEES

GOATS

then we tried to count syllables to follow

the conventions of 5-7-5 syllable lines in haiku poetry.

coconut shrimp in a shack at the

bottom of waimea canyon!

daffodils + crocuses are blooming,
mr. a's turtle laid 3 eggs,
and it doesn't get dark at 4pm anymore,

which all means spring time is coming!!~*~

in the midst of my coconut-crazy frenzy,
i overheard some people talking about the "paleo diet"

and i became re-intrigued by the idea of

eating only fruits, vegetables, meats & nuts

and avoiding preservatives/food coloring/additives.

so i went on pinterest, found a paleo recipe and made

this "coconut milk chia seed walnut banana 

breakfast custard." my roommate said it
was "seriously one of the best things [she's] ever eaten!!"

last night, she made us burritos + guacamole for dinner

and it was sooo good!

hooray for co-cooking/sharing meals!

during our short time (15 minutes) at the dole
plantation on oahu, i discovered that unripe pineapples
are hot pink.

i invited my colleagues to anonymously

contribute their thoughts and feelings about the

debrief to a google doc. then, i used handy wordle.net
to make something tangible to begin monday's
student generated lunch conversation part II.
here is the creation:

siva afi