It has taken me a couple of days to recover from last week! At school, we had a full week of Homecoming activities. The children made signs complete with glitter. I am still finding glitter in my hair and clothing!! Their float was definitely a piece of 5th-grade art. They were proud of it and I must say that the future class of 2025 flew their colors well. They loved throwing candy as we passed the parade route. The parade took a full hour. I must say I did not think it possible for that to be true – Wanblee just isn’t all that big. The kids spent the parade route shouting Chief’s Power and of course the future class of 2025; complete with Who’s going to graduate? We’re going to graduate! 

Thank you to all of you who furnished candy, it was a huge hit!! We have enough treats to have a Halloween party as well. Thank you to my friends Elizabeth and Kitty for helping to divide up the candy and bagging it so the kiddos had candy right at hand. Thank you to Jerome for the use of the flatbed and to Jaybird for driving. Finally, thank you to Holly, one of the student’s moms, for braving the float with us. One of my students acted as resident photographer and took over 600 pictures on my phone, I created a slide show and would be happy to share it with anyone who would like to see it.

Last weekend also brought several visitors from Omaha. My friends Elizabeth, Kitty, and Lori were here. Kitty and Elizabeth spent Friday afternoon cleaning and fixing sewing machines that were donated to the school for sewing dance costumes. They were able to get 7 out of 8 machines working. The two women spent over four hours cleaning and troubleshooting issues on the machines. Boy, it is nice to have smart women as friends!! Friday afternoon found an additional seven Omaha folks here from Messiah Lutheran. They got to have time with Jerome and Theresa. The group brought my students’ new balls and ball pumps, hygiene products, pants, candy, and school supplies. Thank you Thank you!!!! On Saturday while the Messiah folks took part in a giveaway with the High Horses, Kitty, Elizabeth and I headed out for a tour of the Badlands. While I have driven through the Badlands on several occasions, I have never done so with a resident geologist, Kitty in the car. I now have a much different respect and understanding of what I previously just saw as pretty. Saturday ended with our friend, Lori returning to Wanblee after several days of business meetings in the Black Hills. We were able to go into Kadolka for wonderful steaks and my first glass of wine since August! My house was filled with laughter, knitting, and inflatable beds. Thank you to my friends from the Wooly Mammoth for all the hand-knitted hats. The photo is me covered in hats! It is cooling off up here and my students will be excited to receive these in the upcoming days. It was sure quiet Sunday after everyone left. It made me realize just how homesick I really am!

Last week also was our MAPs testing. My students worked hard on these tests I was proud to see the initial results and look forward to having the full reports. I have several students finishing tests tomorrow. We will be celebrating completed tests with Root Beer Floats prior to my leaving for home. I am looking forward to being home for a few days. While I have a full list of things to do once I grace the borders of Omaha, I am really looking forward to being home for a bit. I miss my family, friends, and activities. Jeff teases me that I have filled every minute I am home. I know that I will be pushing it to get in everything I want to do, but I don’t want to waste one minute while I’m there. I’m also looking forward to getting my hair cut, this also hasn’t happened since August!

Finally, I will close with a bit of Fifth-grade humor. Joke of the day, as per one of my boys who has a new joke for me most days.

  1. Why did the chicken join the band? He already had his drumsticks.
  2. The children tell me that if you google a picture of Donald Duck and turn it upside down you will see Donald Trump. They swear Donald’s beak looks just like President Trump’s hair. (Fifth Grade perspective on politics)

I look forward to seeing many of you while in Omaha. I appreciate all the support I receive from you in prayers, materials, and notes. The cards and emails I receive from you help to keep me going.