New art lesson this week.

Today we had a lot of fun with the girls doing our weekly art lesson. We moved from Impressionism to Expressionism. After doing some research on line about the movement, we found out that Wikipedia had a nice write up and plenty of art works to view. It was a bit difficult for the girls to understand, but after we read it and then I tried to explain it in my own words, in simple language, they seemed to start enjoying the art work and expressing their opinions about what they were seeing.
We stopped on two artists. They decided to chose a German artist, Franz Marc, and a Russian one, Wasilii Kandinsky. Ivana wanted to draw horses and Leona went with the "clock" and wanted to work with construction paper, cutting shapes of different colors and arranging them in free patterns. At the end, she ended up drawing horses as well.
I had some fun myself and tried to encourage them to use bright, bold colors in their art work.
Outlining everything with a black oil pastel worked out great, as it created sharper images. We've been using oil pastels a lot lately and definitely developing a preference.
Milana was busy cutting and gluing for her own art work, and then was helping us to peel off the paper from the pastels.
We had a great time together! I asked the older girls what they were trying to express with their art creations, and both said that it was about freedom. Ivana named her painting "Horses, running to freedom".

Our little guy.

Our little guy is three months old and we just can't have enough of him!
He has brought so much more joy to our already pretty joyful lives, that life without him seems to be illusive. He filled our hearts with more love, laughter and happiness that they are bigger than big!
Ivana wants to have another 2 brothers so that our family is well balanced. Leona plays and sings to him like the best big sister. She also likes to play with his ears, folding them to make him look like "Cheburashka". Well, when he is big one day and has big floppy ears we'll know whom to blame.
And Milana wants him to play with her dolls so she keeps on putting one or two by him every now and then, and she thinks he really needs to have glasses on, so she is putting the pink ones on his cute little face every day with a determination of a 2 year old.
Mirek loves to talk to his son, and it seems that it is pretty mutual as Evan is screaming from joy when with his Tata.
Life everyday with our kids is a true blessing!

Love of reading.

This is not a set up picture...
And neither is this one....

Pizza party.

We had a Pizza Making Party at our house today. What a fun day it turned out to be! Even though I was a bit tired after organizing the St. Valentine's celebration at the co-op on Wednesday, pizza making went pretty smoothly! We had three families over, but since each family has 3 kids, plus ours, do the math. The house was full of kids, and due to the holiday it seemed like we had an ocean of red, pink and purple.

I bought the frozen dough at the store, shredded cheese and the sauce, prepared three types of topping (black olives, broccoli and zuchini). The kids were taking turns since we don't have much space at the counter. We started with the little ones, and Milana was a star! She just was the master Pizza Maker instantly! And her favorite topping... black olives! Since I had to hold the baby at some point, Leona took care of the pizza for the Moms!

The kids did a wonderful job truing to make their heart shaped pizzas, just for the Valentine's!
We had chocolate dipped strawberries and bananas for dessert, played gamed with the kids and just had a great time!

In preparation for St. Valentine's.

Working hard...
Half way done...
TA-DA!!!

What a day we had. Actually, it is a second day in a row for us that was so busy my head is about to fall off. We even had to skip our dance class on Monday, the to do list was too long.
On Monday we made all the Valentine's for the girls' friends at the co-op and the boxes to collect the Valentine's into.

We had to stop to write the cards to teachers because their little hands were hurting. All that penmanship Leona did, I was so proud of her. She was trying to write using the low case alphabet since that is what she is currently working on in our homeschool. And Ivana was writing in italics, also a practice, since it is a part of her English language program right now. She did awesome! It was actually pretty easy for her , since she knows the writing in script in Russian, and many letters looks very similar.

We finished the notes to teachers today and then started planning the wardrobe. Everybody at the co-op is supposed to wear red, pink and purple. The child with the most items of those colors would win a prize. Since the girls are in two different age groups, they will not not be the rivals, we went crazy! They really thought my idea of making rings for each finger with a red, pink or purple bead on it was very clever! Besides the usual dress, skirt, top, stockings, shoes, we have two pieces for the girls' hair, color coordinated, two bracelets for each hand, color coordinated, a necklace, also color coordinated. And the rings! That will add a lot of points as each finger will count as one!

The morning was pretty busy as I was trying to take the opportunity and do as much as I could since Mirek was home till 1 pm. Dipping strawberries into melted chocolate was a lot of fun! I hope I will have enough for everybody at the co-op.

Milana was an eager helper, and was upset when she wasn't allowed to double dip her strawberry after licking the chocolate off it!

Ironically, just last year I posted about how we DO NOT celebrate St. Valentine's , that we are trying to show our love and appreciation to each other every day. And this year, I am the organizer of the St. Valentine's party at the homeschooling co-op, celebrating the holiday of love at our house with three local homeschooling families (that's 12 kids total), and are being invited on Saturday to go to a friend's house for, yet another, St. Valentine's celebration!
Wow... So much Love is in the air!

Healthy start of the day.

It has been a little over two weeks since we started to do our stretches and exercises in the morning with the girls. It is a wonderful way to get a positive boost of energy for the day and for me to get my thoughts together. I have noticed such an improvement in my ability to handle the day if we do those exercises. And 20 minutes is all I need to make myself happy, teach the girls some basic physical activity and work on my post pregnancy body. It is about time! Spring is around the corner, and I am not buying jeans a size larger! No way, Jose!

And this morning we had a surprise, a healthy bonus from our Tata! While we were sweating in the summer room, Mirek made this awesome berry salad with fresh oats. Well, he actually made it for himself... (selfish, right?). Guess how much of it he had to eat? The girls were racing for the biggest spoon and, of course, wanted more when the salad was literally swept from the bowl a few seconds later!

Ingredients:
Raw oats, kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, could be also bananas, mangoes or oranges.
What to do: soak half a cup of uncooked rolled oats in some milk/almond milk. Let stand for 10 minutes, meanwhile working on the fruits/berries. Drizzle with agave nectar or some honey, mix together, add some love... and enjoy!

Note: it is easily digested, so you'll be hungry again in an hour, or sooner. Then you'll be ready for some scrambled eggs and buttered toast!

If you listen...

New fashion, a "tutu head"!


They say you should listen to your teens. How about listening to your toddlers, preschoolers, 1st graders, etc.? I mean really listen to what they are telling you, or most of the time trying to tell you. We are so busy with our everyday lives and countless chores that all that "chattering" so often goes unnoticed or not really paid attention to.

I admit, I am guilty of that myself. With so much already going on during my day, at times it feels I have reached my brain's capacity. I have given up on listening to music for relaxation purposes. Music (read here "noise") does not relax me anymore. Silence relaxes me. When all our kids are in bed, finally, I really appreciate piece and quiet, the rare opportunity to get my thought together, recharge my brain and reflect on the day.

So, when sometimes one of our girls comes to me while I am cooking dinner, or trying to quickly do some other things around the house while the baby is taking a nap and I really NEED certain things to be completed, and she tries to tell me something, my mind is somewhere else and I just say "OK", or "really?", or "that's great". But in reality I didn't give much thought to what my child was trying to tell me, or effort to try to understand and engage in continuous conversation to feed their fire of curiosity.

I do feel bad afterwards and do promise myself not to do it again, and do realize I am doing it again a few days later. That's just how it is. It is not how I want it to be and that is why I am writing this post. It bothers me and I am trying to work on myself to change that approach so it doesn't become a habit. And that's when the roles reverse and my children become my teachers again.

Since I do not each any of my girls' classes at the homeschooling co-op we are attending every Wednesday, it is hard for me to grasp the whole picture of their day at the co-op, when they happily chat away in the car on our way home. I know in general what they are saying, but I am missing a lot of the details. And details are important. We are homeschoolers, and I know exactly what our girls know, what they wouldn't know, how they'd react to different things and situations. I can predict certain patterns of their behavior in those situations and influence it if I need to. I know our girls well, and that gives me great comfort and confidence.

And that made me wonder about families that spend most of their time apart from each other and get to see the kids for a short time in a day during dinner (if that) and then over the weekend. How well do they know their kids and if it is an issue for them at all. Again, they say listen to your teens, they might have something important to share with you. My point here is that we have to listen to our children in general, regarding of their age.

Listen to the newborn's first "cooing" and "aaing", and enjoying every minute of it, paying close attention to a new tone, and higher pitch, a different squeak. I mean really listen!It is the baby talking to us, telling us very important things for him! Telling us those things in the very best way he can!

Listen to a toddler's constant blabbing, as she is trying to show us what a big girl she has become. Listen to that subtle curiosity in her voice and provide that positive encouragement by trying to understand her and repeat her words.
Listen to a 4 year old, while she is jumping on the sofa, making millions moves with all the movable body parts and chatting away meanwhile. And if you really listen, you'll hear amazing things to your own astonishment.
Listen to a 7 year old when she talks about feeling happy while playing her violin and that some notes remind her of Mom, and some remind her of Tata, and there are notes that remind her of her sisters and a baby brother.

Listening is good. It gives you prospective, teaches you to see things, enjoy life and cherish every day with your kids!

Healing energy of love!

Grandpa (Dedecek, in Czech) left a couple of weeks ago, going back to Europe, after spending fabulous 10 days with us. I meant to write about it and simply boast what a great Dedecek our girls (and now a boy, too) have! The time and energy he devoted to all of us one would say could only come from a person who truly loves us! We so much appreciated having him over and can't wait to see him again!
As we learned today he is down with a flue back home and feels kind of crabby. Too bad we can't cook a fresh chicken broth for him for speedy recovery (you know how they say that chicken soup does healing magic when you are sick and it is a must to have, even if you are a vegetarian!). But I strongly believe that when you are sick what you need the most is the avalanche of positive energy and kind thoughts, so that it sweeps you off your feet, covers you up from head to toe, keeps you snuggled and warm, puts you to sleep and makes you wake up completely healed!
And that is the purpose of this post!

We miss you, Dedecek! Feel better soon! We are thinking about you every day and hoping to see you soon again! We are so blessed to have you! And, yes, the award for "The best Dedecek of the year" goes again to you, for the seventh consecutive year! Congratulations! Your "trophies" keep on growing!

Our young artist.

Milana has been working with various media lately and she has discovered the joy of creating! You could hardly recognize the true colors in that set of water colors she is using. We have to change her clothes a few times a day if she is painting and the stains stay after the washing. A few times the snack she was holding in her hands (like a peeled apple slice or a banana) turned a weird color since the "master artist" did not wash her hands and I had simply overlooked this minor detail. I am absolutely terrified to walk into that room one day and see a huge stain on the rug and that is when we are about to put the house for sale. But it is not important here!
What is important is that she is well occupied when I need some quiet time to explain something to Ivana if we are "doing school", or reading with Leona, or nursing the baby, or making lunch or cooking dinner, or talking on the phone, and the list goes on.

And she has so much fun arranging over and over again the pencils and markers from the set. Half of the markers don't have the caps anymore and she has moved on to mastering her skill of sharpening the pencils. Boy, this child can concentrate!

Art lessons.

When last summer I read a book by Mona Brooks, "Drawing with children", I got so excited and inspired and did a few "drawing lessons" with our girls, 5 and 3 at that time. They did so well and we had such a good time together, that they have been asking for more drawing lessons (like they don't draw enough on their own and need my guidance!).

Also, they have been saying that "Mama is no fun, but Daddy is", I got a bit worried and decided to incorporate some "fun" into our already very busy homeschool day.
So, I have decided to do some more art lessons again. We are not just drawing together, we are learning about an artist and then doing a project in his/her style. We started with Claude Monet and did the water lilies using the strips of the tissue paper.

And today we learned about Georgia O'Keefe and her paintings of flowers. The girls also tried to work with new media as they followed my instructions and did the Jimson Weed flower using oil pastels. The smudging part was a bit too hard for their weak little fingers, so I had to help both of them a lot in this area, and MY fingers were hurting after a while! But with Ivana and Leona doing the drawing part and me the smudging part, I think the final product came out great!

I think we are ready to take down the art display from last year (the one that is hanging on the walls by their beds), and slowly replace it with the new one. Both of the girls definitely want to keep their old art work and we decided to create an art portfolio for each of them.

Happy New Year 2009!

Just wanted to drop by and wish a Happy and Healthy New Year 2009 from our growing family! Better late than never!
A little something I've overlooked as a family photographer. Do you see my foot on the photo above? Oops...
I don't make any resolutions for the new year. As I am trying to enjoy every day with my family I want to live this year to the fullest. I want to make more arts and craft with my girls, I want to bake more cookies with them and go for more walks, I want to hold the baby as much as possible and see his every smile, I want to read new books to them and play more games.
And since we are contemplating to move, I want it to be quick and painless. I want us to find a nice house and settle in the area that suits us better. I want to spend more time with my DH, I want to read more books, and I want to succeed in my idea of opening a Russian School/Club in the area. Wish me good luck!
Happy New Year 2009!

Frozen beauty.

I've been getting a question like, "How do you do it, taking care of 4 all by yourself?", pretty often lately. And I have neither a straight forward nor a magical answer for this question. Having a family and raising even one child requires constant work, and all I have to say is that having four to look after just needs a bit more work :0) The secret is in the attitude.

And it is a job I don't ask myself about how to do it, I simply do it. It is a job that I don't get paid for with money, but it is a job that I get paid for with smiles, hugs, being able to watch our kids learn and grow day after day, being able to teach them what I know and learn more with them. It is a job that I know will pay me back in the future.

And for me to be able to carry on, moments like I have experienced today are absolutely crucial.

I went for a half an hour walk taking along my best friend, my camera. After the ice storm the nature around me was just breathtaking! The sharp breeze on my cheeks sharpened the sensation of being alive and made me realize once again how blessed I am. I am blessed with the ability to see this frozen beauty around me, hear the cracking of the branches and falling of pieces of ice, feel the cold on my face and the warmth of my body under the jacket. I am blessed to be able to enjoy a few moments of solitude and put my thoughts together, but to know on the other hand that I have a bunch of people waiting for me at home who love me. I am blessed with the ability to appreciate the moment and feel really happy. And who cares there is a pile of dishes (and who knows what else) waiting for me at home. I'll be doing my chores smiling today!..

Ice storm.

We have started something new in our family. I now let the kids go outside to play in front of the house all by themselves. As I can see and hear them from the front windows and Ivana is in charge of her littlest sister Milana I feel that it is a big step forward! I know they will not run anywhere and since we live on a very short cul-de-sac street, the chances of cars passing by are slim to none. So, we are good, with kids getting some fresh air and playing with the snow and me staying warm in the house with the baby.

We did take the baby for a walk in the stroller over a weekend, but when I am alone with the kids it is a bit too much for me to handle by myself, so, I am cutting some corners here.
Yesterday, the girls made a snowman, actually it is a snowwoman, and her name is Melanie. The snow was just perfect, heavy, wet and sticky. Ivana and Leona wanted to make a friend for Melanie the next day, but... we woke up to a surprise!...
As I stayed up very late waiting for Mirek to come home from work, the rain had been falling steadily and freezing almost instantly on the road, driveway, trees and bushes. They were talking about the ice storm, and there it was!

In the morning everything was under a pretty thick layer of ice! Melanie's organic nose ( a carrot!) had been eaten off, and the suspect is a deer. And the rest of her body was all in ice, she seemed to be cold! Sorry, Melanie, no friend for you!

Another highlight of the day was the power black out in the afternoon. I knew it was coming, but was hoping it wouldn't happen. It was not so bad after all. I managed to get the fire going in the fireplace to keep us warm, got the candles, made cheese sandwiches with green salad for dinner, we read "Ann from Green Gables" by the fireplace and told each other stories. Leona was so cute asking me if I had watched Tata make the fire before and if I knew what I was doing.

Ivana is a great storyteller! She had just read a book and was able to retell it to us with amazing accuracy and fine details! And when it was my turn to tell, they asked me about my childhood. It simply fascinates them when I tell how it was when I was growing up, and sometimes it is really hard for me to explain, since they have no clue and only with using the smallest details in describing things seem to help the girls understand and visualize what I am talking about. I am glad they like to hear those stories and it helps me to remember better, and brings me closer to my idea of writing a book (or series of books) for them about my girlhood.

It was fun to be without electricity for a while, and we had a nice time together. And it was good I didn't have to put the girls all into our bed and then move them to their beds later at night as I was planning to in case there were no lights by 9 pm. But a really good thing about having the electricity back is the fact that Mirek won't have to go to bed without being able to take a shower after working the whole day with fiberglass! It's almost midnight... he is not home yet.

Hand made gifts.

Even though Christmas is over, I wanted to write a bit about our hand made gifts this year. We've been teaching our girls about the importance of hand made gifts and how much more special a hand made card could be for someone they love. It has finally started to pay off.

For years now since Ivana has learned to write (and Leona is quickly catching up) they've made tons of "thank you" , "happy B-Day", "missing you", etc. cards and sent them to friends and relatives. And this Christmas our seven year old really surprised us with her special gifts she thought up all by herself. She wrapped a ball for Milana, not a new one, but the one she thought her little sister might enjoy playing with. She thought up a game for Leona. And since she didn't want to ask for help to wrap it, she was creative enough to wrap it into a burping cloth, which Leona didn't really appreciate (I don't think I would've either!). For Mirek she made a paper sleigh with Santa and his deer. And I think I got the most precious of all the gifts from both of my beautiful daughters... With Mirek's help I got a rose from Leonka. They dipped the dry rose into white paint and let it dry in the basement. I thought it was such a great idea, and I am planning on taking a step further by spray painting it.

And Ivana made a "My Prayer Book" for me. There are only a few pages, but the words in them are priceless. Those words she wrote for me at the age 7 I want to remember and keep in my heart forever!
Page 1: "Morning Prayer". Thank you Jesus for the good morning sun, for the singing birds and for the yummy breakfast that Mom makes! Amen.
Page 2: "Lunch Prayer". Thank you Jesus for the good lunch that Mom makes and how good it is! Amen.
Page 3: "Dinner Prayer". Thank you Jesus for dinner, and that it is good and that Mom made it. Amen.

And in addition to all that tear jerking first gift I got something else. It is a box from cream cheese with dried flowers in it mixed with some herbal teas that she had torn from the tea bag (I was wondering what she was going to do with it when she had asked for the tea bags earlier, but I promised not to ask too soon). When I was presented with this gift, she told me that whenever I feel down or sad I should smell the inside of the box and it would lift my mood and spirits up almost instantly! Honestly, I was ready to cry... it was so special to hear those words and get those gifts!

And from us , finally, the girls received Noar's Ark that took us a few years to complete! When Ivana saw the ark she said, "Wow, you finally finished it, Tata!Thank you!"

Better late than never... Plus it taught Ivana that sometimes it takes a very long time to make something, but if you really want to make something special for someone you love, it is all worth the effort. I hope our grandchildren will be playing with the Ark one day!

Grandma.

Today I am feeling very , very sad... Grandma (Babicka) left home after having spent over a month with us. She came to help us when we were expecting our little prince who didn't want to be born on time. So, we waited and waited for two weeks, enjoyed ourselves meanwhile, being able to leave the girls with Babicka and go places just the two of us! What a treat it was! Just to run errands without having three permanent tails attached to us was so relaxing. We forgot how it feels to be alone , without the kids, and it was definitely refreshing for us as a couple!
The girls LOVE Babicka and would not leave her alone. Leona was even waiting for Babi by the bathroom door. It took Milana only half a day to warm up to Grandma, thanks to Skype, I think. She was used to hearing Grandma's voice and seeing her on the screen of the computer. All her brain had to digest was how Babi was able to step OUT of the screen and come alive!
Girls had so much fun with Grandma!They did crafts together, read books in Czech, planted tulips for the spring blooming since it was quite a challenge for me to bend already.
What a blessing it was to have her over! She was such a tremendous help that there are no words to express my gratitude and appreciation for everything she has done for us while I was (and still am) adjusting to running the household with the newborn in a tow. She helped to have the house clean, kids happy, stomachs full and everybody's moods uplifted.
It is hard for the girls to let Babicka go. Yesterday they were packing up their suitcases and getting ready to go to the Czech Republic. Ivana was ready to give up her "teeth money", $22 total, for the air fair. Only one thing keeps us from bursting out into crying is the fact that Grandpa is coming in a week! Yeppee!.. Something else to be looking forward to in these cold snowy days, besides Christmas!
Thank you, Babi! We will miss you! When I asked her when should we expect her to pay us a visit again, she said, "Well, when you are going to have another one, I'll have to come". OMG...That's blackmailing!
Have a safe flight and we'll see you on Skype again!

A day in the back yard.

You can actually have some really good times while getting ready for the winter and preparing wood for the fire place... Mirek came up with a new toy for the girls! He made them a sea saw! After a few try outs, limbs getting scratched and Milana falling over they finally got the hang of it! Having so much fun together!
And the amount of leaves around the house was driving me into depression. Usually we try to do clean them little by little, but this year we haven't even started yet, until today! Here Ivana is working really hard (smile!) as a super weight not to let the leaves fall from the wheel barrow.
And, finally, two days over my due date, trying to keep myself busy! Have you tried shovelling the snow or raking the leaves being 9 months pregnant? I have! Great way to exercise!
The good news is that the baby was not a "Halloween baby", and the bad news is that I could still wait for another 12 days! Our babies simply don't rush to enter this world, all of them took their time! And this one is obviously no exception!

Officially a pet!

Congratulations to us! We officially now have a new pet (besides the 5 fish)!
Mirek thinks our Yertle, the Turtle was a late summer hatchling and would not survive the winter, we decided to keep it for the cold months. That meant a trip to the pet store!

How ready are the sales people sell you all wonderful things! I asked for some advice, and a few minutes later ended up with a full cart of things absolutely crucial (according to the sales man) to raise an aquatic turtle at home. As I was pushing the cart along the isle, he kept on putting more and more things into my cart while explaining things and giving hints. I felt like in a trance under some kind of spell. I could hardly keep up with noticing the prices on those things and feeling that my blood pressure was rising rapidly. "Maybe Yertle should go back to where it came from!", was all I thinking at that moment after estimating the bill for over a hundred dollars.

The sales man politely escorted me to the cash register and assured me that we were all set!
Not so fast, mister! The girls did want to try to have Yertle as a pet, so I decided to see what could be eliminated from the cart that was not so crucial for Yertle's survival! All the plastic stones, decor, and a divider went back to their shelves. We live in the woods, for God's sake! We'll get a real rock and a piece of wood for it's tank habitat!The air thermometer and a lamp were switched for much cheaper ones, a bag of gravel went back as well, since I remember to have half a bag leftover from when we were setting up the fish tank just recently.

Now it was more doable, money wise, I mean! I managed to cut the expenses almost in half! Our Tata works too hard for us, so we don't want to spend the money unwisely.

It had been three days Yertle didn't eat. But when we put it into it's new home and let it get used to the surroundings a bit, the little guy got quite an appetite! Mirek is having a lot of fun feeding the turtle with live worms, and the girls also feed it with dried mini krill and shrimp. Yertle is a carnivore, so no salads or carrots for him! Give him the flesh...

Lantern making.

I always get excited if I come across something new to do with the girls, as I, too, like to have a good time creating. We haven't tried making lanterns yet, so we decided to give it a try. It took us two days to complete the project, which was OK , since the first part took a pretty long time to do, so they were running low on patience.
They picked up a few leaves outside, traced them on a water color paper and filled in the designs with water colors. I love to work with water colors, since you can see how the colors blend and you never know what the outcome would be. And both Ivana and Leona were ready to explore and try out different ways to come up with new colors of their leaves. They had a blast, and so did I, watching them.
The second part involved rubbing vegetable oil on both sides of the paper, once the paint dried up. And the trick here is, the more oil you use, the more translucent the lantern would be. A bit messy, to be honest, but definitely worth it!
After that we had to wait for the oil to set in and let dry completely. On the second day we finished the lanterns, by punching holes, going with a needle to outline the designs and I helped them out a little by making more carved lines to let the light shine through a bit more.
We didn't hang them, but used mini tea lights and let them stand on the table. And we decided to have a candle lit dinner today. It was so cozy and beautiful, and we'll be doing it more often, that's for sure. Christmas is around the corner... That gives me more ideas!

Millbrook Village.

Today it was a day to grab a good book and stay under a blanket, or pick a nice recipe and bake a cake, or watch a funny movie cuddled warm under covers. But, I promised the girls to take them to this Historic Fall Celebration, which happens in the Millbrook Village, preserved and run by the Historical Society of NJ. They were looking forward to it, and I didn't want to disappoint them. So, we went...
Due to the weather, I guess, it was not crowded at all, which made the event so pleasant since we didn't have to worry about loosing the kids in the rooms, it was held indoors, so the rain was not an issue at all.
The fun part I thought was their idea to let the kids dress up in the clothes from 18oo's and then have a little contest. Well, the volunteers at the event were all dressed up appropriately. But, it seemed to me that only I remembered the dress up part for the kids. Anyway, the girls got a lot of compliments and attention from people at the event, and what's more, we got all three places, the first, the second and the third! Besides bringing home all their crafts , we got three new sets of Crayola color pencils!
We did potato stamping last year at home with fabric paints, but they had fun decorating paper bags, book marks and envelopes this year as well.
Paper plate masks... they wanted to be pussy cats. Meow, meow... Leona made hers and I did one for Mimi. They also painted pumpkins, made mini ghosts from cheese cloth and starch water, created leaf rubbings masterpieces on the color paper.
One new things we were able to do was the apple carving. We took home two apples with faces carved on them. We'll have to wait for at least two weeks to let them get dry and then we'll make dolls.
We had a nice time at the Village and we'll try to make it for their Christmas celebration in December.

Surprise!

I got such a surprise today!
Yesterday evening I was checking my email and found our that I would not have even one free period at the coop. I usually teach the first period, then aid during the second, now on top of everything I would have to substitute for the third period due to the teacher absence. Then comes lunch and after that I again aid in the art class and the final period is Ivana's violin lesson that I have to be present at. So, no breaks for me! Oh, yes, and the cleaning duty! I was OK with that since I don't like to be treated as handicapped when pregnant and like the feeling of being involved.
And apparently, my third period substitution had been arranged on purpose and I later found out why! Ta-da! I thought nobody throws a surprise baby shower when you are having your forth one! And I got one!
I was so touched by all the effort, attention, warm wishes, gifts and support that there are no words to express myself!
I am so glad I'll have a few photos to remember all that special time that was meant only for me! Thank you all!