Will's Drawings

I have always believed that art should be something that comes from you. I encourage the boys to draw from their imaginations and create their own ideas. During the Spring I had done quite a bit of reading on how you can teach children to draw and had checked out a few books from the library on art curriculum. Although I did not follow it exactly I tried out some lessons that looked interesting. We focused on the drawing lessons.  It wasn't a pre-made craft but did give step by step directions or ask questions to get them thinking about what to draw. I called it our directed drawing time.  To my surprise they both enjoyed it and made some pretty great drawings.  I worked right along side of them and had fun drawing myself. I guess you would call it a prompt. This will not take over all of our creating time but I think it may be a regular occurrence. I have found several books at the library that have "directed" art lessons that we may use.

So a peek into Will's drawing book.

Self- Portrait

Cross Section of Castle

An imaginary good Alien

An Imaginary Bad Alien

 A Royal Portrait

A Bug's Point of View

Favorite Ice Cream Cone

A Big Bad Bug

keepin' cool

Oh, we are making the best of what we got and enjoying the summer movement.  

Sleeping in later, cooking/baking before the heat rises, creating a bit and outside with water somehow, someway in the afternoon. 

We are extremely grateful we have friends and family that like to invite us over to swim in their pools. (although I thought the boys did a good job of making our own) In just the past week Will has learned to touch the bottom of the deep end and Landon is swimming half the width of the pool underwater. Both are so very proud of themselves.

Ah, summertime......

weekending

Spent time listening to music, watching fireworks, swimming and catching up with old friends. Good times.

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing you a safe and fun day celebrating!

Sunday Smiles

Moments from the past week that created a smile, while reminding me to pause and smile this upcoming week, knowing that life is good.

drawing tools: natural crayons

 I found these sweet little crayons while placing my drugstore order one day.  They are shaped like rockets and go on so smoothly. They are a mix between soy and beeswax.  They are just the right size for little hands, although I like how they feel in my hands.  They are made in Colorado by Clementine Art. There are more products in their line that we may have to try out soon.

I am in no way shape or form receiving any endorsements for reviewing products. Just want to share the things that we love with others.

late nights and slow days

The past three days seem to have merged all into one.  There has been two full days with a break day in between.  We have swam and then went BMX riding the very same nights.  We checked out a new track one night. There are 4 in our state, so we can essentially race 4 different days a week if we really wanted to.  The boys are just loving this new sport and they are completely exhausted by the time there little heads hit the pillow.  Which is why the day after  becomes a home day with lots of down time.  They play, read, cool off and craft. I picked up some wood kits awhile back and we have been making good use of those. 

I have been having fun watching them, while at the same time I have a great excuse to read. It's not the best place to craft, very dusty, so I have been just sitting and soaking up the last of the days sun and reading.  It actually is quite peaceful, and I just marvel at how much time the boys spend pedaling.  And how much they eat. All night long.