Art

We had a great day today! Started out with TNT and ended with art. The kids are on week #2 of the Birds and Fish Unit. I cannot believe that we only have 3 weeks of TNT left for the year. I'm not sure that I am ready to pass the kids into 1st, 3rd and 5th grade -- but alas, you cannot put the breaks on time:)

We also enjoyed a very unusual peak at summer -- it was in the lower 90s. As I was writing to a friend in Yuma, AZ I realized that (at that moment) we were almost 20 degrees warmer (that is a very rare event). Unfortunately, the warm weather brings pollen and pollen is not Taylor's friend. Poor girl had watery eyes, a stuffed nose and the whole 9 yards. It helped to keep her indoors. Our deck is turning green in front of our eyes!!

Anyway, we are enjoying art time together. We again used the same site -->> http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/ and tried our hand at an overlapping Matisse design. I wanted to show the kids some example of Matisse -- so I googled Matisse images. Good news, there were a lot of Matisse prints to view. Bad news, there were a few nude images (of course Tay picked up on that right away)!! Oh the things you learn...

Taylor's poetry

Tay has taken to writing poetry lately:

Birds fly high
and airplanes fly by.
I see the pink
balloon up in the sky.


Dogs are brown
and lambs are pink.
Cats are loving
and love to lick.


Purses are pink and
bluebirds are blue,
cupcakes are yummy
and so are you!


(this one is her favorite):

Flowers are pretty
and grass is too,
God made it all
just for you!

Creativity

Taylor made a little person from a wrapper, straw and flowers. Just had to share...

Country study -- Spain

We had another great country study today. Last week and this week we have been studying Spain. Last week we colored the map and flag. This week we learned about the running of the bulls in Pamplona, bullfighting, matador, and flamenco dancers. We watched a bullfight, the running of the bulls and men jumping over bulls (wow, the things you find on you-tube). We also made castanets (went well with the flamenco outfit supplied by Donna).

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! We had a great day yesterday. The temps were warm and the mood joyous -- what a great way to celebrate Resurrection Day! We had pancakes for brunch, play time outside, ham supper and lots of fun in between. The kids woke up before we did and made (and hung) the Happy Easter sign. Abby decorated the E with a beautiful flower, Tay was creative with the crosses in the letters p, and Ben decorated with lots of swirls. What a creative bunch:)