lauradodson::art + life

rainy day games

 

Three rainy days in a row!

The living room tells all.  :o)  The above game is called Blokus.  I LOVE IT.  I saw it in a magazine and at an upscale toy store in Fredericksburg over Spring Break.  I was intrigued.  I bought it yesterday at Target.  We've played it quite a bit.

It's darkening again...yaaaay.

redux

After looking at two of the four little 6x6s for Blessings, I decided to totally rework them.  I was glad I did because the owner really liked them.  She feels confident they will sell and she is planning on ordering more.  She was even talking about Christmas!  She said she'll need a dozen.  :o)  I kinda of like the wholesale end of this deal simply because I can make something small that's reasonably priced for the coustomer, and they get an original piece of art.  Everyone is happy.  :o)

Psalm 4:7

This was the before...above is the after.

Joshua 24:15 

2 Things

Thing One:

It's raining.  It has not rained in over 2 months in our town.  Yes!

Thing Two:

 Isn't Claire's drawing turning out great?!  She is 8 and will be entering 3rd grade in the fall.  She is such a cutie.  Last week she didn't utter a peep.  This week was a whole 'nother story.  :o)

softly, softly, softly

Enter with Care.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Joshua came home from the library with these noses yesterday.  Guess they're promoting the circus. 

These noses hurt!  (I know they're not the real noses.)  They feel like a clothespin is pinching your nose shut!  I think that's why my smile is odd...anyway, cheers to a good day!

 

new art/new place

Remember spread joy?  Well, these tiny babies are headed to Blessings tomorrow.

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Psalm 118:24

"For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death."

Romans 8:2

"Choose this day whom you will serve...as for me and my house; we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:15

.....

I also got word this week that one, maybe two, of my pieces sold in Boerne at Vintage Bliss.

YAY.

4th time to try this post

I will NOT click spell check.  It is freezing up my computer.  I will not click spell check.

What I have been trying to say is this:  We are really excited about the books we purchased yesterday at the fair.

Here's the lowdown:

Starting Points:: a worldview program that guides the student through numerous literature, theological, and history books all the while directing student to a biblical worldview.  We get to read Frankenstein!  Joshua saw it and is quite excited.  Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Narnia, Mere Christianity, and some American History books.  YAY.  This will take care of our bible, literature, and history courses.

Teaching Textbooks:: (Thanks, Kori) a wonderful math program on DVD for both boys.  We saw it first hand at the fair and Jeff really liked it as well as I and it will mean NO MORE TEARS FOR MOM.  Double Yay!

Apologia:: Science with lots of experiments. 

Texas History:: I have found a book for this.  The worldview course does cover American History but not til the end so we'll plug in Texas History now.  Trips to the capital and Bob Bullock museum as well as field trips planned in total by the boys.  :o)  They are VERY excited about that.  Joshua is already looking at a field trip guide we got at the fair.  There will be guidelines on distance and expense but other than that, carte blanche.

Institute for Excellence in Writing::  WOW, I am psyched about this program.  We purchased the shorter version since we are doing it for the first time...but next year we'll progress.  It is also a DVD based program with lots of writing assignments.  And, after they're done with the program they can apply what they've learned to their other subjects.

Grammar:: Abeka.  Like it.  Covers everything...'nuff said.

An arbitrary pic to end this post.  My 13 year old.

red letter day

Jeff and I went to the CHEACT Homeschool Conference in Austin today.

We listened to two excellent speakers: Jeff Baldwin from Worldview Academy, and Andrew Pudewa from Institute for Excellence in Writing. 

WOW.  Not very eloquent but that pretty much sums up the a.m.  I wish you could have been there.

We walked around the exhibit hall looking at several curricula that we were interested in but wanted to thumb through.  We purchased just about everything we need.  Lots of the dealers had discounts.

Look where we ate lunch.

Yum-O!  Austin Java Co.

Jeff had a blackened crawfish pasta dish (eeeeew!) and I had a samie:  avo, cheese, sprouts, lettuce with homemade pico and chips.

Then, we went back to the exhibit hall looked around some more and decided to join THSC and CHEACT.  CHEACT has an academic fair each year that allows homeschoolers to compete with other homeschoolers and then, depending on their placement, can proceed to the regional and state levels with kids (all schools) from all over. Science, History, Art, and Math.

After our long, informative day Jeff asked me on a date....to here:

Peter Pan Mini Golf.

I came from behind but in the end, he beat me by one point.  However, I was the only one to get a hole in one, thank you very much.

It was a red letter day.

The boys stayed home.  Upon returning, I noticed the hair dryer in the living room.

Me:  Uh, why is the hair dryer in the living room?

J:  Oh.  Well.  I was trying to melt butter.

Me: Huh?

J: Well.  I didn't want to use the microwave and I needed butter for my toast.

...

J:  It didn't work.

...

p.s. sorry about the photo quality.  i used my phone.

 

Happy Birthday :: 11 years!

"bad cookies gone good"

The boys made cookies last night.  Together.  Joshua read the ingredients list and they both just dumped everything into the bowl...without mixing a thing. What I heard from the kitchen during this time of togetherness:

"Caleb!  That was my eye you threw sugar in!"

"Shut up."

"Well if you would do it the RIGHT WAY and FOLLOW the DIRECTIONS!"

"JOSHUA!"

.....

 That's when I hear, "Mom?"  I walk into the kitchen to find the above.  A conglomeration of ingredients.

So the only thing to do was to try to mix them up as best as we could.  In Joshua's words, "These are bad cookies gone good!"

And for the most part, they were.  Although, the first cookie I ate had a clump of undissolved brown sugar in it. 

On the bright side, Joshua can still see and they both ended up having a good time and were quite proud.