Chicago Art Institute

The kindergarten art teacher is amazing. She actually teaches about art and techniques while doing the actual art projects. She has all the kids practice their art with dots--just like Seurat! She shows a poster of this painting--and explains the techniques. Then they make a painting with q-tips. We like to take the kids to Chicago so they can see the painting in real life. J-man loved it! It was like he had been waiting since he did his art project to see the painting. FUN!

The Big H never draws things--he only draws swirls of color, shapes, and other. You know abstract. So he loved seeing the Rothko's, Pollack, and others in the modern wing.

My undergraduate degree was in Humanities--you know literature, art history, history, philosophy all combined. I especially loved the art! It is fun to see my kids captivated by different paintings.

NYC

This summer we had a great time on our vacation. The first part of our vacation we went to New York City. Each child chose what they wanted to do. Sadly, for me, there was no mention of seeing a Broadway musical or going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The fun for me was seeing the kids soak up the city. J-man soaked in everything, from the pigeons to the Statue of Liberty.

In the many times I've been to New York City, I have never been to Liberty Island. I'm glad I've been. It was interesting to see the inside of the statue. Everyone loved it (except the climbing of stairs!)

Rising from the Ashes

Prairies rise from the ashes.

Wall Street continues to rise from its ashes.

The Towers are rising from their ashes.

And we too can rise from the ashes.

Manhattan Temple

As we were driving out of the city, we passed by this building. The Manhattan Temple. I took all these from the car! Can you see the angel popping up?

This isn't a bad shot except the van got in the way!

Not too bad as I was in a moving vehicle!

I'll post more about our amazing vacation later!

GG's Birthday and other GG news.

This was probably the easiest birthday party I have ever done! It helps that it was summer and sunny! We set up two little blow up slides, a sprinkler, and a slip and slide. The kids had a great time just playing in the water. They would go from one pool to another, then down the slip and slide. They would start all over again. I also made finger paint from baby shampoo/body wash, cornstarch and food coloring. I let the kids paint the house, the porch, the windows, the sandbox. Anything they could get their hands on--literally since it was finger paint!

GG has been into reading Pinkalicious, and Purplelicious, Goldalicious, and Silveralicious. So she got Pinkalicious's doll for her birthday. She was so excited! She had a really fun time at her party--and so did all the other kids!

(Maybe not J, there might have been too many people at the party. I finally forced him inside and made him play on the computer. After that he settled right down.)

We are very pleased with her progress as of late--and she hasn't had a seizure for three weeks. That is a new record for her! This next year she will be going to two schools! She will go to the same school she went to last year. The class is geared to kids who need more care. She will receive Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy through the public school's Early Childhood program. It is 5 day a week program from 8-10:45. There is one Early Childhood Teacher (Special Ed) and two aids for the ten children. Some of those students need an aid full time. Then on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays she will go to a Lutheran Preschool from 12:45-3pm. I wanted her with regular kids-- to prepare her for kindergarten--and to see if being in a regular classroom will help her with socialization. Whenever she has been in a well structured environment, we have seen tremendous growth!

She is also doing great on the piano. She can play "Honey Bee", and has most of the second song: "Lightly Row." It's a fun little party trick to have her go and play the piano. She continues to read and is catching up to J--who is a good reader for an almost 1st grader.

She does some funny things: She always asks, "Are you happy or sad?" Then she will go and eat in the living room, knowing that it is a wrong choice. Later she will eat in the kitchen, "Mommy are you happy or sad?" "Happy!" I reply. Or if she gets hurts, she just want to be happy, and through her tears she says, "I'm happy, I'm happy."

She is still our sweet girl--and brings much joy and happiness into our lives!

The Harry Potter House

Just as in Harry Potter the house comes with its own Floo Network!

Another one of those glorious floo networks!

Just as in Harry Potter, there is a room under the stairs. GG and her cousin are modeling the size. Not quite as big as Harry Potter's, but still really really cool.

Just as in Harry Potter--there is a collection of muggle contraptions. In this case, it is old dial up telephones. I am so glad we don't have to dial this way any more.

The Three Little Pigs Built a House out of . . .

Straw, Sticks, and Bricks. GG and I went to visit my brother in Pittsburgh, and we broght back my sister and her three little kids. While in Pittsburgh, we built houses out of straw, sticks, and bricks. The straw was by far the hardest. We had to cut all the grass. The bricks, however, were quite easy. I might have to re-write the story of the three little pigs some day after my experience.