What a cute idea – from Martha of course…
(Here’s a screen shot in case the link doesn’t endure:)
Oscar is planning to be an Archer from the Roman Empire. (Specifically differentiated from Robin Hood.)
Lucy will be a Kitty Cat.
More details to follow, when we get back from New York. Everything in our world is now On Hold until we return from vacation. (i.e. Lucy’s Birthday, Halloween, etc.)
Oscar will be journaling his trip – hopefully I can share that here. Stay tuned…
Awesome kid photos by Omi – Click any to see larger
The Grandkids were “In it to win it” as American Idol would say.
They played, they crafted, they lunched, they napped. They listened to Fiona’s music. They cooked mini sized German hotdogs. They had so much fun just being together.
Omi had my kids for the day, and then that turned in to a spontaneous sleepover. (I know, lucky me!) Also, as luck would have it, there was just enough diapers in the bag to make it.
Aunt Karen was so thoughtful – she sent along some fun boxes of crafts for the kids:
I love how Lucy is rocking the scarf in these shots taken in the backyard.
Fun times in the frisco fog! XOXO Thanks Omi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(click any of these smalls to see larger)
CAS is Community Arts & Sciences Day. It was a extremely well organized day, run by parent volunteers. I volunteered to be an escort, so I chaperoned a group of 6 kids to different workshops.
First we did a session called “insects” (my favorite, first thing in the am).
Not pictured: a hissing cockroach. Not kidding.
Next our schedule sent us to “Silly Putty” – run by Lucas & Rachel’s dad Robin!
Next was a fun flash mob of dancing, led by the Italian teacher, Barbara
Some older kids were doing fencing, which looked fantastic!
This was an arts ‘n’ crafts workshop, making “Eco Friendly Pins”.
With more than half the stuff made in China, I kept my critical
comments to myself, and enjoyed helping Oscar.
The last scheduled workshop was on the upper yard, with the SF fire dept. I secretly wished we had gotten assigned something that Oscar didn’t know so much about already. But it ended up being hilarious, because Oscar was the know-it-all who answered every question (correctly) and told at least 10 stories. A firefighter in the making.
Last was the Egg Drop, which was great to see. Oscar didn’t make an egg package, but maybe now that he knows the deal, he’ll be excited for one next year.
Its done! Amanda has done a terrific job. We’ll be auctioning this beauty off to raise money for Clarendon. If you want to take the quilt home it might cost you – but you won’t know, unless you come to the Clarendon Auction this Saturday night! And if you’d like a last minute raffle ticket – let me know!
Here’s the way the kids contributed to their quilt:
We started by asking them to draw a tree. Amanda, our art teacher Ellen, and I all agreed that ‘nature’ might be a good theme for the quilt. Beyond the tree, the kids were invited to add other fun natural elements.
The line drawings were done in pencil, on canvas that I taped to cardboard at the suggestion of Ellen. That was genius because then the kids had a flat surface that was easy to work with. Then Amanda and I traced the drawings in Sharpie.
(click to see larger)
In Room 5’s art class, Ellen provided us with some terrific fabric crayons that the kids used to color in their drawings. We limited their color palate in the name area, to attempt a more cohesive look, but also to give them a parameter they had to work within.
(click to see larger)
After this step, I removed all the tape and ironed the squares so that the heat would lock the color in to the fabric.
(click to see larger)
Finally, Amanda took home all of the squares (22!) and began sewing the quilt. She sourced the fabric, cut, battened and sewed it all together. I’ve made a quilt before, with the help of my mom, and let me tell you it is not easy! I think she rocked it:
(front and back)
So come to the auction and bid on this baby!
What a wonderful keepsake of the kid’s first year of school.
Oscar and I made Christmas ornaments from acorns that we found this fall at Camp Okizu.
We also purchased some little wood star shapes at the Hobby Co, and a couple of mini white pumpkins at the market down the street.
The big black table is still up in the living room from Lucy’s birthday party. I love having a space to do projects, wrap presents and generally spread out. For now, the table is here to stay!
Here is a snap of the glittered items drying. The glitter got everywhere!
The tops naturally came off a lot of the acorns. That made it convenient to glitter the tops seperately, and not get the bottom part of the acorn messy.
The idea to make the acorns was heavily inspired by these acorns on Etsy:
So, we painted glue, sprinkled glitter, and drilled little holes for the ribbon.
Soon, we had pretty little ornaments.
Ps. Oscar wants me to add the following story. We picked the pinecone off of a tree growing near Oscar’s school. We were walking back to the car, after school, and I found one I could reach. He was delighted and mildly alarmed to discover an inchworm living in the pinecone! After about 45 seconds he decided he didn’t want the native inhabitant anymore. I told him I didn’t want it, plus I was driving. The solution was to put the little bug out the window. “Did you put it out?” I asked. “Yeah. I think so.”
(the end)
Bring on the Holidays!