Winter Wanderings

SO MUCH has happened since November so I will probably have to do this in sections. 

Christmas Season in the Classroom

This Christmas we had fun learning about different traditions and celebrations in different countries. 

We received packages from our friend globe trot Scott who told us about different traditions and celebrations from different countries he visited. It was lots of fun going to the office each week to see if we got another package. We learned about Israel and the celebration of Hanukkah. We made latkes and dreidles. We also learned about Christmas celebrations in Sweden, Mexico and Germany.

Unfortunately with 4x's as many children picture taking was not a priority and I only got a few pictures of all the festivities.

Teaching about Christmas traditions from other countries can be tricky especially when it comes to learning about the different traditions of who brings the presents. The tradition of the bringer of gifts varies from country to country. For some Saint Nicholas (Saint Mikuláš in Czech) brings gifts on the 5th or 6th of December. Or he brings small treats and places them in shoes. In parts of Sweden they have a gnome called tomten who brings gifts on his sled pulled by a goat and likes to eat porridge. The tricky part is the fine line between real and imaginary. For some kids Santa is real. I covered the whole thing with "this is what the people believe in their country, or this is their tradition." 

The true kicker for this one came when we learned about Mexico and the tradition of having the 3 wise men bringing the gifts. After I shared this tradition with the kids, one of my students pipes up.... "Miss Robinson that is impossible.... the wisemen are dead!" Oh Dear! What do I do now? How do I stop this snowball from rolling? Dashing all the kids beliefs about who really brings presents. So I redirect it back to where the tradition of gifts came from. Why we give gifts. The magi brought gifts to honour the baby king Jesus. 

Having a class with a variety of religious beliefs and traditions makes for sharing the truth about the Christmas story all the more special. Being in a country where many families teach that the baby Jesus brings the presents, makes it difficult to uncover that baby Jesus is not a fictional character. He is real and his birth is more than just a nice Christmas story.

  This is why I have my students memorise Luke 2: 1-20. It is rooted in their hearts and minds and I pray as the years pass, this planted seed of God's word grows stronger.

Below is the video clip from the Christmas Concert. Not the best recording but gives the idea :) We did something a little different this year and had the grade 2's and 3's sing a song that is from
Luke 2: 8-14

When we are Weak He is Strong

The last week of school before the break is a very busy time. It is a horrible time to get sick and be stuck in bed. Since March my parents planned to be in Prague for Christmas. The day before they were getting on a plane to come was the day I went to sit up to get out of bed and found myself in agonising back pain. The kind of pain where you don't dare move, for once you do, it is impossible to find another position where you are not in pain. It was crippling, it was painful and it was unexplainable. In the past I have experienced back pain as a result of over exerting my back muscles with a lifting activity. No such activity had occurred. I believe it was just my time for another lesson in humility and relying on the Lord to carry to me through. 

I am blessed by an amazing flatmate who cared for me and took care of my class. I spent the next two days in bed, missing the field trip to the Christmas markets. However I was not going to miss the last day of school before the break. So with my parents in tow I hobbled to school.

We celebrated our last days with a variety of traditions including breaking pinatas.

So thankful to the team of helpers I have.

Adventures with Mom and Dad

When school let out Mom and Dad and I spent a restful weekend together gearing up for our trip to the Christmas Markets in Dresden. 

I have learned many lessons when travelling by train. Always make sure you have your passport and that you are on the right platform going in the right direction, make a seat reservation when taking a longer journey, and my newest lesson: always check the date on your ticket before you board the train.

When I booked the tickets for our trip I was planning to go on the Monday the 18th, but the cheaper day turned out to be the 19th so I booked for the 19th. However, my plan for the 18th never left my head and so in my mind we were setting out to venture to Dresden on the 18th.

So we bundle up and head out early to the train station for our 8:20am departure on Dec. 18th.

We get on the train and there are people in our seats! Their tickets have the same numbers as ours... how can this be... so we amble to the next available car that happened to be empty to inspect our tickets. Only to discover they were for the 19th! OFF the Train! We leaped off in a hurry just as the whistle began to blow. No harm no foul and it gave an extra day for my back to feel much better.

So we wandered the Czech markets instead and enjoyed our one day of Prague snow which promptly melted after these pictures were taken.

The following day we did make it to Dresden and enjoyed a day of shopping, eating, and exploring.

On the 20th it was Mom's birthday and we celebrated by going to Cafe Louvre (favourite restaurant) and seeing the markets in Old Town Square.

It was a lovely evening.

We left for Warsaw Poland on the Friday to spend Christmas with my Aunt B. (Mom's sister) and Uncle D. and Cousin E. Again, few pictures were taken because more time was spent visiting.

Emily and I conquered a difficult jigsaw puzzle, Mom explored pottery shops and Dad enjoyed sitting by the fire. 

While in Warsaw we got to see the lights and spend some time with Aunt B and Uncle D's church family. Christmas carol sing, gingerbread house building and making new friends.

Building a gingerbread house. It was an intense process and a labour of love. Final product not bad!

First attempt failed but with a little more care it came together

We had a wonderful visit. Aunt B and Uncle D. have been in Poland for almost 2 decades. Now they are in the process of finishing up their time in Warsaw and will begin a new journey in their ministry that may be leading them to a country in the middle east. I will miss not going to their place in Poland for Christmas.

After our trip to Poland we had a few days left in Prague. Enough time to take in the Nutcracker and a Christmas Carol Ballet and a Slavia hockey game. No pictures of the ballet... but did get a few at the hockey game. Seeing a Czech hockey game was on Dad's bucket list and the team did not disappoint with over-time and a win during a shoot out. Great way to wrap up our visit.

Selfie at the ballet ... Dad took better pictures on his phone.
I didn't bring my camera and my phone camera is not great

Happy New Year!

Mom and Dad were troopers on their return flight as they hit delay after delay and almost got stranded in Calgary. After 10 hours delay in Calgary they made it on a flight home. It was great to have them here and getting to share an European Christmas with them.

I spent New Years Eve with some friends playing games and watching the crazy people light fireworks in the street just outside the apartment. Anyone and everyone sets off fireworks on New Year's Eve so you can enjoy the booms and flashes of light from the comfort of your living room.

I always head out to watch the show on New Year's Day set off by the city. This year commemorates the 100th year of the forming of the Czech Republic when it became Czechoslovakia in 1918. So this year is a year of celebration. The fireworks display was a smattering of red white and blue to celebrate this milestone in the country's history.

We started the new school year with saying goodbye to one student and saying hello to a new student; keeping my numbers steady at 16. Looking forward to what the new year has in store. 

The Best Stuffing Ever

Stove Top is not Real Stuffing!

The reason why I think stuffing is the best part of a turkey dinner is because I grew up with having homemade stuffing. Never having experienced StoveTop stuffing from a box I could never understand why people didn't like stuffing. When I was younger mom used to stuff the bird with stuffing. Later she became wise to the ways of making stuffing on the stove and it was my absolute favourite part of turkey dinners at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Right alongside rotkohl (red cabbage), but that is a different recipe. However I have been corrected that MY stove-top stuffing is not StoveTop because it doesn't come from a box. It is just made on the stove (though I have also learned how to cook it in a crockpot)

Having shared my stuffing at various events, many people have asked for the recipe so I have decided to make it easy on them and share it here. It comes from the Fit for Life cookbook under the shepherd's pie recipe.
*Note for those living in the CZ sage can be found at Marks and Spencer, and for the bread I use the day old whole grain rolls - Kaiserka Cereální. It takes about 14-16 of the rolls to make 8 cups.

The Best Stuffing Ever

½ C. butter
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1 shallot finely chopped
1 C. celery finely chopped (about 3 large stalks)
¼ C. scallions, minced
8 cups whole grain bread cubes ( ½ inch cubes) a little old or stale works best

2 tsp ground sage
½ tsp dried marjoram
½ tsp thyme
½ tsp celery seed
½ teaspoon paprika (Hungarian paprika is the best!)
½ tsp sea salt
dash of fresh ground pepper
1 Tbsp fresh parsley minced (I usually skip this one because I am not a fan of parsley)

1 vegetable bouillon cube  

2 C. boiling water

Prep:

Chop the vegetables (this can even be done the night before and stored in an airtight container (don’t want your fridge to smell of onions) Bread can also be chopped the night before and store in a bag. Pour all the seasonings into one cup.

Begin boiling 2C. water (I usually do this in a kettle)
In a large heavy sauce pan (I use a deep Dutch oven) melt ½ cup of butter.
Add chopped onion, shallot, celery and scallions.
(I often do an extra shallot and skip the scallions but this is personal preference)
Sauté until vegetables begin to soften.  Take off the heat and add bread cubes, sage, marjoram, thyme, celery seed, paprika, sea salt and pepper. Mix well.
Dissolve 1 vegetable bouillon in 2 cups boiling water. Add water to stuffing, and mix well.
Cover, and return to very low heat, to steam for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally ensuring it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. (After adding water you can mix well and place in a crockpot on low heat being sure to give it an occasional stir).

Once it has been well steamed it is ready to serve!

  

Added bonus… 

Mushroom Gravy!

2 Tbsp butter
1 shallot minced
1 pound (450g) mushrooms sliced (can be fresh or frozen, I’ve found frozen has less flavour but more juices, if you use fresh make sure they are super fresh because they will produce more juice)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 ½ C. water
2 vegetable bouillon
2 Tbsp heavy cream (optional)
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp garlic salt (I like to mince one clove of real garlic instead)

Boil 1 ½ C water in kettle pour in measuring cup add dissolve 2 vegetable bouillon.

In large deep frying pan melt 2Tbsp butter and sauté shallots and mushrooms until they are soft and have released a dark juice.  Strain the mushrooms from the juice and reserve the juice for later. Set the mushrooms and onions aside in another bowl. Return the pan to the heat and melt the other 2Tbsp of butter. Add the flour and stir with a whisk to make a roux. Add mushroom liquid and continue to whisk until gravy begins to form.  Slowly add vegetable bouillon water while stirring as gravy continues to thicken.  Add salt, garlic and cream (if desired).  At this point reserved mushrooms and shallots may be added.

So whether it is for Christmas or American Thanksgiving: Happy Turkey dinners everyone!

Falling Through Autumn

Reading Adventure Day

Our annual reading day was another success. We had a great day dressing up as favourite book characters and sharing our favourite books. I love the creativity that comes out on this day as you really get to see our students' personalities shine out of their character choices.

This year I got  our grade five teacher to help transform me into a fox from Fletcher and the Falling Leaves. It is a sweet story about a little fox who is worried about his favourite tree that is losing all of its leaves.

It was a great day of laughs and adventures in exploring the creativity we have in literature.

Fall is Coming

First Days of School

Our first day of school was August 30th! So exciting to start the year with such a large bunch of grade one and twos! Looking forward to this year's school adventure!

 

This year we have just over 130 students in our school with 60 being in grades 1-6.

Praise the Lord for the families in our school and the opportunities we have to share Jesus' love with these kids!