Caleb draws Jeremy

 

Over the weekend I was thinking about all the various drawing 'tasks' I have to do over the coming weeks, and about how nice it would be if Caleb was more interested in drawing, so that he could join me. Unlike Aaron and Hannah who were always busy doing art and craft at this age, Caleb is perfectly content to play with his really useful engines all day long. 

 

Then yesterday, out of the blue, while he was busy with the trains and their friends he suddenly declared "Mummy, I'm going to draw Jeremy" and off he went. 

 

I love the fact that instead of drawing a stereotypical plane, he put Jeremy next to his paper and drew what he could see - exactly what every high school art teacher drums into his/her students...

 

Now he's back with his engine friends. I'm curious to see when the next artistic urge will strike.

Our pencil pot centrepiece

 

I love it when we can find one solution for two 'problems. I've always had a pot plant on my dining table as a bit of a centre piece, but because we are always busy doing something or other here, the plant pot was always being shifted around. In addition, our colouring pencil situation was not working for us. The pencil tin would be carted from the cupboard to the table and back many times a day (and dropped every so often too) and the small pencils were impossible to get to at the bottom of the tin.

 

So now we have a pencil-pot centrepiece instead of a plant-pot centrepiece. I'd hoped to find a glass cookie jar (reasonable wide but not too deep) but this trifle bowl also does the job rather nicely.

Impromptu

We needed a photo of kids doing craft for something, hence this impromptu art project after school on Tuesday. Now they can't wait to turn their fabric drawings into quilts!

(Yes, I know I'm not so prompt about blogging this - I think my brain is still stuck on Monday or Tuesday. Last night I forgot to turn up at our church's girls Bible study meeting, after telling them all on Sunday that I would see them on Wednesday. I enjoy leading the meeting every second week, and feel awful about forgetting. Phil says I can blame the baby, but I still feel bad! If nothing else, a little warning bell is ringing that perhaps I have too many different things on the go right now. I am working on cutting that back by the end of the year!)

Making stuff

The kiddies are hard at work making stuff... drawings, houses, people, towns, roads. They can't wait to show Mummy!

Please excuse me...

... while I head off into the wide, wide world for a bit. I'll be back in a couple of weeks!
Meanwhile here's a picture of our entertainment strategy for the kids while I'm away. Can't wait to see what they come up with!

Chalk

We had beautiful weather yesterday, and our kids spent the day outside with chalk and 'snow' (more about the snow later...). I love what they did with the chalk - it kept them busy most of the day, and I like how they made good use of their 'canvas'. The bucket of chalk is finished, but for a few dollars, I don't mind!
I know I haven't posted much about my own work lately - I try not to let my sewing take over from family and housework, so with all sorts of other things happening lately, I haven't made quite as much progress as I would like, but I will post more about my latest projects soon!

One to watch

Keep an eye out for this up and coming quilt artist...
In addition to her simple but imaginative and eclectic artworks, she is also highly prolific, producing one quilt within an afternoon. I have already been the lucky recipient of three in the last two weeks!

Juf is jarig!

(Translation: "It's Teacher's birthday!" - just flows better in Dutch!)We made one of these notebooks last night for Aaron's teacher's birthday, but forgot to photograph it this morning before school. These pics show some we made last year. The kids love to give something they have contributed to, and I love childrens drawings, and handmade ideas that incorporate them.

Wet paint

Just completed: self portraits by Aaron and Hannah, while Caleb tries to make his escape! If only it wasn't so hot outside, Caleb!

Meanwhile, I did some little portraits of Phil and I based on our grade 1 school photos.
On the subject of childrens artwork, I love what I have just discovered here - books for preserving your childrens masterpieces!