Valentines Week

The girls had a wonderful Valentines Day.  Here are some pictures of Elyana wearing a heart dress ready to go to school. We didn't have time to get a photo of Mikayla as she took too long getting ready. (Yes, we are in pre-teen mode these days.)  The day after Valentines day, the 4th and 5th grade classes at their school had a 50's/60's party.  My mom made her a cute poodle skirt to wear. Enjoy the photos!

Ice Sculpting

Rochester does seem to have so many cool opportunities. When we were picking Nate up from work a few weekends ago, we realized that the Rochester Winter Festival was taking place downtown.  They had so many neat ice sculptures.  One of the sculptors had little blocks of ice he helped kids make snowman sculptures with. The girls also got to sit on ice benches.

The Wonders of a Hairdryer

When I was a child, my favorite relaxing memory is when I would put my hair in rollers and sit under my mom's "hard hat" hairdryer. I used to read or paint my nails under it.  I've wanted one for a long so I could give my own kids that same memory.  I've been searching Craigslist for one off and on over the years.  This week I found one at a thrift store in a nearby town and cleaned it up.  We had a perfect weekend to try it out as we have had a bad ice storm.

She's reading to her beloved monkey!

You can even use your hairdryer to dry out boots that are completely soaked!

Tooth Fairies and Ceremonies

January has been a busy month at our house. The girls are still taking gymnastics, and are involved in American Heritage Girls (they just had their winter ceremony where Mikayla collected 7 badges and Elyana 6), and we have been enjoying our couples bible study titled Boundaries With Kids.  Both girls lost a tooth in the last few weeks.  Elyana's tooth was her very first to loose with many more to go.  Mikayla has a total of 9 teeth lost over the last few years.  Next month gets even busier as I take on an additional class on Friday afternoons teaching the homeschool group art and tackling 52 report cards, lesson plans, and newsletters for my normal classes. Yikes!

We pray daily thanking God for our health and safety each day as the flu has become an epidemic in America right now. Many families we know have been hit hard by it.  Safety related, my sister took a terrible tumble down the stairs this week and has two nasty breaks in her leg needing possible surgery.  Please take care of yourselves and your families. Eat healthy and stay safe!

Elyana on the bus going on a fieldtrip. Her new toothless smile!

At Quarry Hill with her first grade class measuring a beetle.

Mikayla about to go on stage with her AHG unit. She was doing a skit about their World Heritage Badge. She was a Norwegian!

Elyana with Oliviya and her unit leader.

Elyana ready to receive her 6 badges!

Elyana doing a skit about her Best Me I Can Be badge. They did a fitness routine.

How to Spend a January in Minnesota

Despite the teen digits, the girls and I got out and went sledding after school on Friday. We went over to RCLC school and their hill was just perfect (not too steep, but just enough steepness for a good ride).  It all started by me purchasing a new sled since ours from last year deflated. My only regret is that  I should have purchased it during winter break so they would have wanted to get outside instead of bickering from boredom. On our way back to the car, the girls discovered a cool "cave" that some kids had carved out in the snowbank.

Elyana is still enjoying a little doll table and chairs she received for Christmas. She was busy with it today and was so cute that I snapped a few pictures.

I have been having fun trying out a whole new curriculum for a Home school art class group I will be teaching. This is a picture of a neat idea that is so easy. You take a sheet of peel and stick felt, draw a landscape design on the paper side of the felt.  You peel a section away at a time and decorate it with embroidery floss.  You can also use tiny beads or glitter.  When you are done, you can paint a coat of watered down glue and let it dry for a nice protective coat. I'm also working on a neat kinetic wire sculpture for the kids to do.  In my preschool class I am working on a fun Picasso lesson.

We have a busy week coming up: ice skating tomorrow with American Heritage Girls (AHG), AHG award ceremony on Monday, gymnastics on Tuesday, Bible Study on Wednesday.  I am also embarking on a nutrition program I've started through my chiropractor. I'm hoping to make some lifestyle changes that will make me healthier, happier, and skinnier. 2013, here we goooooooooo!!!!!!

Elyana is 6 1/2!

Half birthdays are a big deal when you have a summer birthday and your half birthday is during winter break. We invited a friend of Elyana's over to play. Then we made, decorated, and ate cake pops. She had a blast. You will see in the photos below that the girls chef hats and fake mustache from the dentist are still a big hit.

Her friend, Phillip, had placed his stuffed lamby inside his chef hat for safe keeping. Look at Elyana looking on with big smiles.

Check out the chocolate beard on Elyana. Chocolate beards = happiness!

Art

I am gearing up to teach 4-8th grade home schooled children art in February. I have spent part of our winter break researching and trying out a few new projects.  Here is one that I've tried. It will be used in a lesson on printmaking and on visual perspective. It is supposed to be a reflection of a city in the water at sunset. I didn't quite have the right materials for the printmaking, but that's what experimenting is all about. Here is a website where I got the idea if you're curious: http://laughpaintcreate.blogspot.com/2011/08/city-prints.html