Awesome Octopuses

Yesterday was class 2 of the June Art Mega-Session. The Fathers Day project is completed, but the pictures to show off their projects will have to wait until after this Sunday. 

After we finished the Fathers Day stuff, we began Awesome Octopuses. 

What better way to conquer the summer then start with "cool colors". Actually, I'm getting ahead of myself!

Here are some examples from the original lesson plan. It is from Grade 3-5 students in Wisconsin. The beauty of a mixed-media project like this is it can be modified for younger and older students.  The students start with pencil and then waterproof black ink pens to draw their 8-legged creatures. Then, the background is embellished with watercolor paint of cool colors such as purples and blues.

And as detailed below (and the first picture on this entry) is 12 year old Brooke's completed Octopus. I permitted some green to be added to the cool color palette as green can go either way. A green with blues and purples gives it a cool effect, and green with yellow and orange sends it more warm on the color wheel. 

 And just like green can go either way, so can its opposite color:Red. If you use red with the blues and purples it gives off the cool appearance as opposed to using it with oranges and yellows.

The other kids are still working on their Octopuses, which is just fine. We have plenty of time to finish them. We're not on a time crunch like the Fathers Day project that we started with. 

Sharpies are great for these kind of projects because the watercolor doesn't react to the ink and causes it to bleed or anything.

As for the home front outside of the art classes, not much is going on because we were in the 112 degree range this week. It is hard to get out and do anything, let alone want to do anything. However, Mikelle is getting ready for Girls Camp in a few weeks (her first year!) and I of course try to throw in my aerobics or treadmill session at least 5 days a week for that therapy. 

Also, one of the hosts of the yearly Halloween party commissioned me to do some artwork for his parents. Therefore, I'm also working on that. As all artworks, I'll post it when it's completed and given to the customer.

X-Man with Mom's Glasses!

The other night, however, Mikelle and I captured Alexander in his genius and comical glory once again. 

And seriously...after all the knowledge about vertical videos, Mikelle committed that transgression with this one. Oh well. The cuteness still works.

Click HERE to view!

Down to Business, Show Business and Back to Business

Today I began my third annual Summer Art classes! Sadly though, this is the last time I'll be doing it here as we'll be in Wickenburg in a year. 

I cannot really post pictures of their project, because this first one is for Fathers Day which is this weekend. So that project will have to wait until after this Sunday. 

Therefore, here's a catch-up of last month's events at the end of the school year. 

On May 18th, Mikelle had her Triple Threat/Crew Show which showcased Pop Culture and Historical Events since the 1950s. Most of the kids dressed in 80s outfits, but Mikelle wore the Groovy Hippie top and some of those duds from my Halloween 2011 costume. She was upset that I sold her 80s costume nine months ago. But I reminded her she was 10 when she wore that costume, so I doubt she would have been able to really fit into it now anyway. Plus, it was good that she and a couple other kids wore outfits from the other decades. Otherwise, it would have been an all "80s Show" despite the music and events from the preceeding decades. 

And even though she didn't want to, I had her wear her Groovy Duds a few days later so we can get a nice close-up.

The day of Mikelle's performance was interesting. We had a birthday celebration for our friend Bruce, so we basically had to leave after seeing a movie with our friends, run to Mikelle's show, and then run back to a restaurant where our group was having dinner. Now that's dedication! (as friends and parents...though the best would have been to magically have the events on different days! haha)

Birthday Bruce with his Vulcan Ears

Meanwhile, Christian dazzled us last Month by making High Honors and receiving a medal for maintaining High Honors scores for the whole school year!

May 22nd Awards Assembly - High Honors Medals

It's been quite a year for Christian! The school-wide Student of the Month for December, ELP (Gifted) Program, enjoying after school music and performances, and working hard with his grades. We are so proud of him!

With his Medal!

And I almost forgot his class performance of 101 Dalmations! He played the Black Labrador! This was cool because it was held on a Monday, so Chris was able to see it too. 

I love this above picture because of the Dalmation helping Cruella De Vil of course, but check out Christian's smile in the background. 

Christian in Character!

It was really cute little production!


And coming back tot he present, Mikelle returned from her Idaho/Wyoming trip last night. 
Yes, she wasn't too pleased that I was taking pictures at the gate. But I feel it was the least she could endure after the pat-down I had to endure going through security en rote to her gate (No, I don't have a picture or video of that). 

The culprit was the under-wire of my bra, but they still had to do the pat down. It's fine. I'm not as cranky with the TSA that many are. I'm just confused why the under-wire didn't set anything off when I was taking her to the airport about 10 days earlier. Therefore, I blame the bra brand. 

Public Service Announcement: Don't wear a Chantelle bra if you have to go through security. Other than that, I have no complaints about the Chantelle bra. They're not cheap, so they're often a tax return splurge once a year, and if I'm lucky, when they go on sale at Nordstrom in July!  I don't know yet if I get to participate in next month's sale, however.  It kind of depends how many more students I have sign up for my art classes! 

And yes, the leash came out at the airport. And I am not kidding, later Alexander jumped on the baggage carousel! 

(No, I don't have a picture or video of that)

 I insisted to make sure this moment above was captured on film (or digital data I guess....)

So now it's back to business! Surviving the Summer!

Leashes and Tazmanian Devils and Why These Go Together...

You know, it's a nice perk when the town in conjunction with the school district offers free lunches during the summer! It's a chance to get the kids out of the house, it's free (not for adults - but that's okay), and it keeps us Moms from having to make anything. I like that, because I like a clean kitchen.

That said, if they're holding district wide summer school at the elementary school where you can also go for lunch (well, at least for K-8 Summer classes...I don't know about High School), your toddler poses a risk to the well being and peaceful learning environment. 


I'm in the cafeteria Thursday with the boys (Mikelle is in Idaho and Wyoming having bonding time with her Grammy, Aunts, Uncle and 5 younger cousins...) and X-man grabs a pencil out of my purse and started running. Well, that's a sharp object and if he fell, that can be bad news. However, the more you pursue him, the more he runs. 

Yeah, look at that face. You know he knows better!

It's such a game for that little turd - I mean, sweetheart.

So I casually started to follow him hoping to cut him off at one of his turns. That technique works most of the time. However, this time he ran out of the cafeteria instead of turning and took off down the hallway where the classrooms were. I picked up my pace, but not before he darted into a classroom with 7th Graders, takes a football that's sitting by the door, and takes off again down the hall.

I'm sure the 7th graders just loved the interruption and baby drama, but I doubt the teacher did. I apologized and returned the football promptly despite X-man's loud objections to the contrary.

So the following day, instead of going for the free lunch, the boys and I went to McDonalds. The play area was more contained! 

Similar to this Monkey

It looks like I may have to use the cute Monkey backpack "leash" for X-man next time we're at the school. 

Sure, there's the arrogant and holier-than-thou "leash haters" and those that judge and look down their noses at us "leash parents". These people equate the use of leashes as the same as dog leashes. They call parents who use them stupid and even abusive.  They claim leashes are because parents are too lazy to hold the kids' hand. 

They clearly don't get it.

They also never had children that did what Christian did at age 2, and what Alexander now does. And anyone that has seen first hand my boys in action in their toddlerhood knows exactly what I'm talking about!

If these holier-than-thous did experience the toddlers that I have been blessed with, they would change their tune real quick! 


A lot of arguments I also hear are: "My kid never needed one of those."

Well, good for you! Is your kid the symbol of all kids? No. They're all different. We didn't need one for Mikelle either! But we did with her brothers.  To say, "My kid never needed one of those," is as stupid as saying to a parent, "Why is your kid wearing glasses? My kid doesn't need them." 

 Sounds stupid, doesn't it?

We purchased a leash for Christian when he was two years old the same day we lost him at the Renaissance Festival for a few minutes (more than five, I think).  It was terrifying. Earlier that day when he bolted, we nearly lost him but he ran smack into a older child and that stopped his momentum.  (I was grateful the other kid was there to get in Christian's way. The other kid wasn't hurt, but his mother must have eaten too much Meow Mix that morning). 

However, later, Christian did it again and it was really scary until we found him! 

What? You weren't watching him?  
Yes. And we were watching him as he took off, as we went after him and as he disappeared into a crowd. 

May 2006 - when Christian was 2. Just a few months younger than X-man is now.

And the leash turned out to be a behavior changer for Christian, because he hated that thing so much, we only had to use it about 4 or 5 times after that. Just the mere threat of bringing out the leash shifted Christian's behavior. 

Take that, leash criticizers! It helped him make better behavior choices. 

Leash Boy 1 - Age 2

Leash Boy 2 - Age 2

Alexander is even more dramatic with the leash. He flops down, plays dead and refuses to move because of the leash (and when I say refuse to move, it  includes "walking"). Well, too bad. If he's going to play games like he did in the cafeteria Thursday, he's wearing the Monkey! 

Sure, what happened Thursday wasn't exactly a safety concern in the technical sense (except for the pencil in his hand) compared to when Christian terrified us at the Renaissance Festival. But Alexander is constantly running around. When we were sitting and eating, he wants to jump on the table, or forget that it's time to eat and just run. This leash inclusion will hopefully be a similar behavior modification as it was with his brother, because I know Alexander knows better. Like I said above, it's all a game to him. 

Wish me luck! And those that want to criticize me for using a leash, I invite you along one of my outings with Alexander that includes trying to sit and eat.

Where Did May Go?

May is now gone along with our double digit temperatures. So far, I'm enduring it. But I think July is where I start to lose it. However, I won't think about that right now. 

My Owl Go Round was listed along with my whimsical USA Blocks!

I have a lot of "end of school year" tidbits to catch up on, but I am going to do that on the next posting. Mikelle had a Triple Threat/Crew show, Christian made High Honors and received a medal for keeping that High Honors average for the whole year, and Alexander is amazing us every day with added skills and knowledge. Seriously, he is on turbo mode with his abilities. 

I am thrilled he is a smart kid, but a smart kid is a double edged sword at this age. He has fantastic drawing abilities, but it means he wants to draw on everything. He has a thirst for knowledge, but it means he's all over the place wanting to get into and discover new things. 

Check out this YouTube from last week of Alexander displaying his snowman skills. It is rather advanced for his age. Also, even though he didn't want to do an A in the video, I have an A he drew the following day. And now he draws a lot of As and then connects them with lines.

And yes, Chris committed the Taboo of the Vertical Videos. To understand the evils of the Vertical Videos, click here. These guys are genius and I love when new videos by them are uploaded. Of course their videos aren't Vertical Videos.

This is an abbreviated posting this time. Next week I start my first session of Summer Art Lessons and of course the blog entries will have cool projects we'll be doing. However, before that, I am going to update the fun from the end of the school year with Christian and Mikelle's various activities and accomplishments! 

Mothers Day, Spoons, and Commandeered Sandwiches

Mothers Day was last weekend. We tried to get a couple of snapshots, but Chris was recovering from the same stomach bug that went through us all last week. Therefore, we're lucky we got this Mothers Day picture.

And as usual, don't let that face fool you. The fact that it's Mothers Day means nothing to a 2 1/2 year old. Trying to get through dinner that evening was "interesting".  I believe the word I've used to describe X-man's behavior as of late is "Turdwagon". 

However, you wouldn't know from this shot of him with the chocolately goodness that was the most amazing cupcakes I've ever had! 

A little bit of the Mothers Day 'attitude' from earlier that day!

And while we're on the subject of Mothers Day, here is the scanned artwork of the Mothers Day present that was commissioned by a return customer. It has the grand-kids listed and some of the grandmother's favorite things such as roosters, lilies of the valley, and lilacs. 

I threw a couple owls in there because the customer (the grandmother's daughter in law) loves owls. I will use this artwork as the example for a separate custom art listing on my shop for Mother/Grandmother gifts. Hopefully that'll bring in more traffic for this kind of custom piece! 

Fathers Day custom piece, anyone?

I know I left off my last entry without finishing the part about Christian's art show and my birthday.  I will get to that, but I have to get to the spoon part. Monday night, Alexander showed off his spoon talent. The smile is priceless. There is a video, but that'll have to wait as there are more technical difficulties.

May 2013 - Age 2 1/2

And Chris took it a step further.  Back story: In 2007, on the way to drop Chris off in Vegas for business and then Mikelle, Christian and I were to head on to Cedar City Utah to visit a friend and meet up with my mom and sister, we had lunch in Seligman (along Route 66) at the Roadkill Cafe! That is where the picture of Chris and Christian (then age 3) with the spoons was taken. 

Monday's Alexander spoon shot has been added. This is the desktop image on Chris's computer at work. 

The June 2007 Spoon Pic with Alexander Photoshopped in to join the fun!

Incidentally, while at the Roadkill Cafe, there were quite a few French tourists sitting nearby. We locals looked looney.

Anyway, back to present day. Well, sort of. Here is Christian showing his artwork at the school's art show almost 2 weeks ago.

One of the attempts to get Christian to enthusiastically point at his artwork.

The photo booth! Cool concept!

 

As shown in the previous entry, Christian and I in the photobooth.

 And a few days earlier...brothers doing what brothers do! I love my boys!
 

 

Okay, the birthday. There's some cute pictures of the kids, but I look like I added on about 25 extra birthdays. Anyway, it was on a Monday and we went to Joe's BBQ in Gilbert. I didn't know it, but Chris arranged for our friends' Bruce and Liz and Sholee and Tev to be there too! That was a neat surprise and was happy to see them. We didn't have cake at dinner (I wanted to grab an ice cream cake on teh way home and eat it later), so Bruce commandeered my sandwich with the candles. I really wanted to keep eating my sandwich.

I'm running into Technical Difficulties again with uploading pictures! I don't know what the deal is with this batch of pictures! We'll try again next time!