Ice Skating in Central Park

It's been a pretty crazy week since I last posted. One of my students locked me and the rest of the kids INSIDE the classroom for about 30 minutes by ripping off the door handles. The next day, another student got into quite a bit of trouble for a different incident. And on Friday we had quite the freak-out when a mouse, that had been living underneath my radiator, decided to make an appearance during math workshop. There must've been something in the water this week.

But it all ended on a high note, because I had the opportunity to take four of my scholars ice skating in Central Park for the afternoon on Saturday.

Here's the lucky winners: Daniel, Darilis, Davita and Jesslyn.

Darilis falling on the ice ... for probably about the fifth time.

Out of all the students, Daniel was the one who was glued to the wall the whole time.

Jesslyn enjoyed the skating so much, it was hard to get her off the ice.

Have I mentioned how much I love Darilis? She once told me that she wished I would adopt her.

This is just one of the outdoor rinks in Central Park. It's at the north end, about 10 blocks from my apartment. Here it is from a look-out point above it. It was VERY crowded on Saturday.

We had enough time at the end of the day to take a little stroll through the park before heading back to the subway. What we found was awesome: not only was the lake frozen, but there were still geese just walking around on top.

We also had time to take a bunch of extremely silly pictures. In each one, they decided to yell something else, ranging from "CENTRAL PARK!" to "HEY HO LET'S GO!" I wonder if they know that's a Ramones song ...

Waiting for the 2 train on our way home after a very fun day.

There's just two weeks (10 school days) before our week-long February break. My roommate, Becca, and I are heading to Massachusetts for the first part of the week. Her parents have a time-share at a ski lodge with an indoor pool and a hot tub. So we're going to leave our school work at home and just relax. I'm counting down the days.

Ice Skating!

So I've been meaning to post this for about a week, but I guess the only free time I have any more is at 7:30 on Saturday mornings. I'm cool.

Anyway, last Friday, January 16, to celebrate the completion of our English Language Arts standardized test, the ENTIRE fourth and fifth grades went to Chelsea Piers to go ice skating. At first, I'll admit I was slightly terrified that one of my kids would lose their fingers or get stabbed by an ice skate or something else that is equally horrifying. But surprisingly, nothing bad happened. Even more surprisingly, it was really, really fun.

Here are some of my favorite pictures:

Zeinabe and Steven shortly after the latter crashed into the former and they both took slid about 10 feet across the ice.

Darilis, my adopted daughter.

Mohamed after a hilariously spread-eagle trip.

Brittney and her brother, my favorite chaperone. He keeps all the boys busy on the bus by playing with Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Awesome.

Some of my boys: Heriberto, Justin and Steven.

Khristian was posing for a picture and I snapped it right as Jesslyn came crashing into him. Perfect.

What's Next: Studying for our standardized math tests, planning a character study unit and figuring out my grad school admissions. Fun, fun, fun!

Stopping by Central Park on a Snowy Evening

So I meant to post these photos weeks ago. They are from our first real snow on Friday, December 19.

I couldn't help but think of Robert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening." I think I read that poem in about the fifth grade, and I still for some reason remember the words.

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Blue turning grey

So my beautiful orange, yellow and red fall was rather short-lived. The trees are now shades of grey (to match the sky most of the time these days), and the weather has turned from chilly to brrrrrr.

While all this was taking place outside, lots of stuff was also happening inside. Including, but not limited to, THANKSGIVING.

Mom came to visit for Thanksgiving, and we had lots of fun visiting PS 132, eating lots of food and doing lots of shopping. Fun. Here are some pictorial highlights:

Matt Sto ... I mean, Kermit the Frog at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The best part of the parade? The pooper scoopers! What a fantastic job!!!

Becca and Smurf!

Macy's lalalalalala

Mom taking a picture of me taking a picture of her taking a picture of me taking a picture of her taking a picture of me .... creepy, huh?



And later that day ....

Mom, Becca and Courtney cooking a lovely Thanksgiving dinner.

Bryan doing what men are supposed to do on Thanksgiving: watch T.V.

Here's me caught somewhere in the middle of the kitchen and the living room. As the official Thanksgiving photographer, I didn't really have a place.

There's a party in my tummy! Yummy yummy!



Later that weekend...

The Brooklyn Bridge, probably my favorite spot in Manhattan. Please know that if you come visit me, we will be taking this walk.

Lovely!

Hey mom, you look cold!

I don't have much coming up soon, except that there are only 12 school days until Christmas break. C-R-A-Z-Y. Can't wait to go back to Phoenix and eat some Mongolian, some Ethiopian Christmasy stuff, Caffe Boa and Four Peaks. Oh, and see you all fools again, too. :o)

I recall Central Park in fall ...

My first real fall:

The North Lake


Leaves!

I made Courtney pose for a dramatic falling leaves photo.

Follow the Yellow Brick (Leave?) Road

Kicking a pile of leaves!! How I've always wanted to do that.

Two more reasons to love NYC

6. The leaves are changing. I walked by Central Park on the way to brunch this morning, and all the leaves are shades of red and yellow. Expect pictures sometime this week.

7. I went sailing in the harbor last night with a friend from high school who has the very fortunate job of being first mate on a boat. The city never looked more beautiful. Pictures below:

The Brooklyn Bridge from the East River

Downtown and the Brooklyn Bridge (to the right) from the Harbor

The Financial District from the Hudson River


And in other news:

Frodo Baggins and an evil Gladiator on Halloween.

5 reasons I love NYC this week

1. I found the only Ihop in Manhattan, and it's only 20 minutes away!

2. It snowed! Sure, only for like, three seconds, and only in the Bronx. But it was awesome.

3. Bruce Campbell (of the Evil Dead series) is here this weekend for screenings of his new movie, answering questions and stuff. Jealous?? You should be.

4. Halloween in the East Village is AWESOME.

5. This morning I randomly walked into a street festival in midtown. Turned out to be a Greek Festival. Yum!!