~My Girly Girl~

I'm not much of a make-up person.

In fact, I'm not much of a dress-up type, either.

Let's just say it's a good day when I actually wash my face once.

I don't like to shop.

The thought even makes me tired.

I don't accessorize or bling or go glam or any of the rest of it.

But I have inherited a very girly girl!  She loves the glam, the over-stated, the ultimate frills, lace and twirls.  And show her some make-up?  She's in love.

Like the uni-brow eyeshadow?

How about those dark purple cheeks?  She's not convinced by my plea's that cheeks are supposed to be pink, not dark purple.  

She came out of the bathroom looking like this and said:

"I think I put on a little bit too much lipstuff."

An eye for the finer details, that one.

Our Halloween Fun

This year, everyone was their own unique thing for halloween, but Mom seemed to give everything the same costume!  Hello Walmart sheets and ribbon!  =)

Also this year, we had our cousins Cora and Tyler come and visit!  It was their first experience trick-or-treating and after two houses, that was enough for them.  

Aidan was a White Wizard, with a really cool hat!

Tyler was an alligator, too cute!

Cora was a white fairy, and her mom made the cutest white and purple wand/circlet to match.

Lucas started out being willing for wizardry, but changed his mind to Harry Potter.  Papa made him a knockout pair of glasses out of welding rod.  Woo hoo for creativity!  His flexible wand of juniper and lizard hair was waiting for him outside.

Julia was a Crystal Fairy, one of the Crystal Fairies that Thumbelina went to live with after her adventures.  Just in case you weren't sure what a Crystal Fairy was.  She was asked if she was a flower girl.  =)  During the making of the crowns and wands, Calysta and I laughed at the differences: Cora's things were dainty and tasteful, Julia's flowers were huge and all over the place!  But my daughter knew what she wanted and love the result, so who am I to stand in her way?  (who am I to make something cute and tasteful, either?)

We always like to start out with a little practice at our own front door, both for pictures and to teach them manners.  It was the only house in which Cora felt comfortable walking up to the door!  

Even though we only went to the houses on our street, mind you on one acre lots, so not close together, they came home with their pumpkins over half full!  Way, WAY too much candy!  Lucas had apparently overheard Shane and I discussing how country folk often drive into town for more candy opportunities.  He informed us as we walked around our road that the country was the best place to trick-or-treat!  More fun and not too much candy!

Atta boy.  Indoctrinate them early, I say.

An Art Lesson

Fridays are the easiest school day of our week.  It was designed that way on purpose!  We love to have Fridays for extra reading time, science experiments, history projects and most especially: Art!

I chose a simple curriculum for art this year called ARTistic Pursuits.  It's a basic introduction to the visual arts, and is expressly for kids.  Each lesson is based on something an artist does, then what artists see, and where to find art.  Today's lesson was about how artists LOOK.  After we looked at a famous painting that gave attention to detail, we tried to remember everything we could see from the living room window.  Then we went to the window to see what we had missed.  That was illuminating!

Then for the most fun of all, we went outside, and tried to draw something in nature while paying particular attention to some detail.  Julia drew a beautiful castle complete with tooth fairy before I realized that my directions needed to be more specific.  Lucas threw a boo-hoo tantrum(because he can't draw exact replicas), until I became inexorable and would not let him off the hook.  Once we were clear on the lesson and over the tears, we had a LOT of fun!

Here, Aidan draws a juniper tree, or two close together.  His detail was the leaves of the juniper.  His special touch was a very elaborate play house that "Mom is going to build here soon".   Oh.  I believe that is a chimney I see.

Julia drew a tiny Alberta dwarf pine that has barely survived in the chicken yard this summer.  Her detail was also the needles, but I have to say, I like the detailed root system she's got going on underground.  

This is what Lucas was trying to draw: an ant hill with some sticks beside it.  He left out the truck.  But the boo-hoo part was that the ant hill first was drawn too small, then too tall.  And these ebony pencils brook no eraser!  Interestingly, he had tried to draw a grasshopper first, but he informed me tearfully that it had hopped away.  Shocking!

 I'd say ya did good, Son!  He included darker spots and depressions in the hill for his details, and I was pleased with his efforts!  We just need to do this more so that he can learn to master frustration in order to enjoy life.