Sunday 9/28 Cook off!

We don't have cable, so we have to find ways to entertain ourselves. Today we made lots of sweets to last us the week. 

Abi made cookies and cream bark. She used 18 oreos or similar cookies and 10 oz. of white chocolate chips. We had to use something other than oreos. I could not bring myself to buy an $8 box of cookies. We opted for the cheap brand. She melted the chips in a pan and added the crushed cookies. Then she placed the mix into a foil lined pan to cool. It was amazing and easy to make. I'm going to make sure my little baker's pantry is fully stocked in the future. 

Emily helped me make some macaroons. I love coconut, but no one else in my house loves it. I never get to buy anything with coconut. This was an easy recipe to make. It had 14 oz of coconut flakes and 14 oz of sweet condensed milk. Bake until crispy. 

Dr. Pepper and Chocolate cake mix. 

 The girls can made no bake cookies without a recipe now. They just get the ingredients out and go to work. 

I left all my cookbooks in storage. I miss them on days like this. I like to go through the really old ones and read how women used to cook. I feel blessed to have daughters that enjoy cooking and understand the importance of cooking as a skill for life. You have to nourish your body with healthy food to have a balance life. 

Saturday's madness!

 This Saturday was devoted to spending a special moment with Abi. She decided that she wanted to go to the bush version of Starbucks! We call that going to the AC store and buying coffee and something to much on. We had iced coffee and we shared a tuna salad croissant. It was fun to sit down and talk about what's going on with her and all things Abi. 

Parents forget to take the time to stop and listen. My best advice for parents is to put the electronics away and talk to your kids. If they don't talk now with the easy stuff, they won't come to you with the hard stuff. 

After my brunch with Abi, Toby and I went on a Honda ride towards the gravel pit. We found syphilis boat.

The antennae arrays are pointed nearly parallel to the ground. Strange site for me. 

I love this picture! 

When I got back from my long cold ride, it was time for Craft-ernoon! We made toilet paper roll owls. My owl looked angry. We left them there to dry. 

Then it was time for Emily and Abi to join Terror on the Tundra!

The girls got to practice their writing skills with a published author. We had so much fun writing first lines to a story using random objects. Emily's first line about pills nearly made me cry. I didn't know that she could write like that. 

Then we rushed home because it was time for Friends of the NRA dinner. We mostly went to it to have adult time away from kids. The chicken was good and there were fun raffles and games. They had a special raffle for veterans. I was 2 numbers off from winning a gun. 

Sunday I slept in. 

Friends of Tuzzy Library

Tuzzy Library celebrated its 25th anniversary on Friday. We attended the celebration. The band played and there was a potluck. They also invited an Alaskan author Dana Stabenow to speak about writing and the importance of libraries. 

Emily at School

Emily is selling cookies to support the Yearbook! 

9/24/14 Pics - On the Way to School

I don't miss the traffic. I don't miss the road rage. I don't miss the 30 minute commute. I don't miss the sirens. It's peaceful here right now. These are the pics that I took on the way to school. 

Open House!

The band played at the open house. They are an amazing group of kids. It sounded beautiful. 

Fitting in

I really wanted to share the story about what happened tonight. It was bedtime for Georgia. She completed her normal bedtime routine. Her last step was to get tucked in by Mommy and/or Daddy. She asked one last question, "Can I call you aka and apa?" Aka is Inupiat for mother and apa is Inupiat for father. Georgia is wanting to use her new language. 

I love it! 

The morning after

The morning after the whale harvest was different than other mornings. I had to wash our overalls and clothing a second time with more baking soda. Whale meat has a distinct odor and its difficult to get rid of easily. Last night I was everything with baking soda, washing soap and oxy-clean. I put the washer on several pre-soaks, extra spins, extra hot and extra cold cycles. It took over two hours to finish. This morning I repeated the cycle a second time. I'll let you know if it works. 

This morning I have a dilemma about my pacing. I have a test scheduled for this week, but how do you accurately assess students that spent their night whaling instead of studying. The whaling is very important because it feeds their families. Its a good thing that I have built in time in my schedule for things like this. We are going to review one more day and talk about the science involved in whaling. 

I'm developing a CAIM unit on the physics of whaling. Yesterday has inspired me to go further with it and invite whaling captains into the classroom with scientists. This is a great place to connect home life with what's being learned in the classroom. 

I'll let you know how today goes. I might drive out to see more whales if they catch them. 

9/22 - Best Day Eva!

This post is a difficult post because of all the animal rights activists out there. Today was a great day for me and its one that I will never forget. 

It started out being a normal day.

I went to work.

During the day the school started buzzing about a whaling crew was bringing in two whales. The season just started on Saturday! Great news for the community. Two whales is a lot of meat for everyone. 

We decided to go out and watch. There was a possibility that we might help out.

Now is the time to stop and prepare yourself for the rest of the story. Ask yourself, Are you mature enough to handle the rest of the story? If not, stop here. Don't scroll through the photos. This is the Inupiat way of life. This is how they have survived in the Arctic. 

We stopped and got drinks and dinner before going out to see the boats bring the whales in. 

We ate on our way out past the old airport. 

Two large trucks were going to drag the whale onto shore and two other trucks pick it up and carry it to the site where they cut the meat. 

Abi was the only daughter we took with us. Emily was sick and Georgia wanted to play with her friends. 

The crowd cheered when the boats arrived!

It took 2 boats to tow the whale to shore.

Now.... continue the story only if you are mature.

Abi and I took quick picture of our excitement. 

There's the whale.

There's the whale.

The crowd backed up due to line tension. It could break and decapitate heads or limbs. 

Large machines make it easier to transport the whale.

I didn't get the weight, but it was 26.7 feet.

Everyone gathered to take pictures and touch the whale. This whale chose to give itself to the community. 

This is the last picture you should look at if you have a weak stomach. 

That's not a hockey stick. That's a knife for cutting the whale and that young boy is learning from his father. Abi wanted to touch the baleen. 

They saw the meat and grab hooks to pull it off the body. 

Its an all hands effort by everyone in the community. 

And you dress for mess. 

The meat is divided into piles. 

All of the whale is used.

Whale #2

Even bigger whale!

We took a selfie with a group of girls!

The kids pose with the whale.

Meanwhile back at whale #1. They continue to cut the meat.

And they really get all the meat off the whale. 

Whale #2 has its flipper cut

It was getting late so the Village brought in lights. They were almost finished with one and started on the next and the third was still out to sea. 

Whale vertebrae. 

Whale backbone and possibly an artery?

Today was an amazing day! My family was able to learn the tradition of the Inupiat. We tried unalik (?) its boiled blubber and skin. I thought it tasted like chicken fat. I didn't want to eat more than one slice because we were far from the bathroom. I hear that if you eat too much it makes you go potty fast. 

I think today could be summed up in a question an Elder asked me out at the beach. "Did you have a whale of a good time?" Yes, I did have a whale of a day! It was the best day eva!