I had one simple ambition when I began knitting- that one day I'd be able to make clothing and socks. I love cozy, woolen socks. While I have (yet) to cast on anything sock-wise, this is happily the second vest I've completed. My first sweater vest went to a newborn friend who looked quite dashing in it, if I do say so myself. This one turned out pretty well too!
This was an Isia-driven idea. We've been talking about how the trees are starting to bud, and how they'll soon be colorful. Well, she waited. And waited. Finally she asked, "Can we just paint them?" Sure, I said, not quite sure how we'd go about it. Yes, we've drawn on trees with chalk- but paint is a new one for me. Then I had an inspiration. We'd been talking about what to create with eggs for the Tinkerlab Egg Creative Challenge. Why not paint the trees with them?
Even though I've been teaching art for over ten years (yikes!) there are some things I've still not gotten around to. Or else I've done them so long ago I've forgotten all about them, which is a good possibility too. My kids are fascinated with cotton swabs- to the point that I've had to hide them away. So it was fun to give them the chance to paint with them, something I've been wanting to try. Since the cotton swabs are small and hard to grasp, they're excellent at building little hand muscles. And there are so many options for painting!
While these pictures were taken last fall- notice the leaves on the ground?- this is an art experiment that we will definitely be repeating this spring. Perfect for rainy days, and captivating for eyes of all ages!
Spring is in the air around here, and it's starting to pop up out of the ground too! There are lots of lovely little green stalks poking their heads up and looking around to see if the warm weather here's to stay. This will be our first spring living on a lake, which means canoeing season will be arriving soon and fishing too. While several people took advantage of our frozen lake- with its eight inches of ice!- to fish this winter, we weren't among them this year. We have got around to some fishing inside though, which is a great way to practice until the weather cooperates- and learn our letters too.
I think everyone should have a mark for a successful day. For me, it's learning something. Often when I'm going to bed, I think to myself, "What did I learn today?" I'm trying to pass on the same tradition to my kids. Because I think learning is a temperament, just as much as happy or fussy, etc. So here are some ways that we're encouraging learning around here right now.
