Woodland Adventure

What's that old saying....what are the 3 best things about being a teacher?  June, July and August! Although I am the first to admit I love being a teacher, I also love the fact that those 3 months off certainly sweeten the pot. Those 3 months allow me quite a bit of scheduling freedom!

So when my daughter and son-in-law invited me to their home for two weeks to visit, I jumped at the chance!
The first week was spent celebrating my daughter's last week of maternity leave.  While my son-in-law traveled a few days for work, my daughter, my baby grandson and I went shopping and out to lunch, went for a very short stroll in a nearby park and generally enjoyed each other's company.  My daughter rented a movie for us one night and proceeded to fall asleep about 3/4 of the way through.  I smiled because that's usually me!  Ah, young mothers!  She and I even snuck away Saturday morning to scope out baby bargains at some local yard sales.  It's very rare that I get to spend so much time with my daughter, and I totally loved it!

The second week she went back to work, very teary-eyed, and I got to spend this week of my visit babysitting my sweet grandson. I sent my daughter texts, photos and videos throughout the day, reassuring her that her little man was just fine.  It's been a long time since I was home all day with a baby, and I have to admit, I am not exactly used to entertaining a 3 month old, but my love for my grandson, far outweighs my desire to do just about anything else, so I played kids' songs for him on my computer, and, believe it or not, I still knew the words to almost every one!  My grandson smiled the widest when I sang them for him and made funny animal sounds!  

My visit is at its bittersweet end.  They will drive me back home to return to my son and husband who have been fending for themselves for 2 weeks. Although the time away from the house was a nice change, I missed them both and will be happy to see them.  I can only hope there is some semblance of order in the house when I return!

Two weeks back, when I arrived at my daughter's house, she had the guest room neatly arranged with a sweet little note tacked to a small bulletin board hanging over the bed, welcoming me and letting me know how happy they were to have me there.  I immediately started thinking of some little thing I could do to return the sentiment.
My grandson's room is sweetly decorated, in a woodland sort of theme, with little animal pillows I made, a turquoise ceramic owl, a white ceramic snail, and bunny, and  white ceramic deer head on the wall.  A bear printed tea towel is framed and hanging over his crib and a imitation birch stump holds some knickknacks and photos and a tiny felt rabbit on a detailed colored pencil background in a shadowbox frame I made to accompany a book I made for him.  A rocking chair I painted with his name sets in the corner of the room.  

So in keeping with the woodland theme, I returned the lovely gesture of the welcome note, and I left a few little handmade gifts of my own on the bulletin board in the guest bedroom. I made an ink drawing of a little squirrel which I left in the baby's room, and a tiny fox painting on burlap paper I purchased on one of our shopping trips with a little thank you sign over it tacked to the bulletin board.
I hope my grandson still remembers the Grammy who lives 4 hours away as he grows, since our visits will be limited by logistics.  I know he won't remember this very special visit, but maybe when he hears some of those silly songs, my face will flash through his little mind.

My beautiful summer adventure is coming to a close, but many others lie ahead, as I look forward to spending many more happy times with my little Cole.
                                                               

Crafty Imitations

Now that school is out for the summer, it's time to gear up for camp season! Parents are always on the look out for some stimulating and fun activities for their children to keep them mentally and physically active during those long, hot summer days.
Our school offers a 2 week summer program during the months of June and July.  It's my feeling that you can't offer a summer program without having something artsy/craftsy involved, so I am always one of the first teachers to sign up for our summer academy.
Two years ago when we ran the program, I offered "Fashion Runway", which was based very loosely on the show "Project Runway".  I had the middle school aged students start off the week with a t-shirt and with the embellishments and sewing techniques they learned throughout the week, they created their own designs and modeled them for their families at a mini fashion show in the school cafeteria at the end of the week.

This year, I offered a class entitled "Crafty Imitations" which was based on knock off ideas from stores like Anthropologie, J.Crew, Pottery Barn, and more. I wanted to strike a balance between accessories and decorations, so we created some jewelry, containers, sharpie "tie dye" t-shirts, sharpie mugs, yarn wrapped coil pots, and patterned paper dress designs on canvas.  The beginning of each week began with a power point showing various products from various companies and their knock off versions to show the girls what they would be creating during the week. Our first project both weeks were pom pom pens.  These were a big hit, and came out very well.

One of the students I taught the first week said she didn't know how we were going to finish all of the projects in one week. I smiled the smile of a very experienced art teacher and told her that she would be surprised.  As promised, at the very last minute of the very last class the final project was completed.
I took a few photos of their projects, forgetting to capture some of them, but the results of the 6th graders were very cute and they really seemed to enjoy each project. The second week I taught 7th and 8th graders and tried and a few different ideas with equally successful results.
When the second week was over, I closed up my classroom one last time for the remainder of the summer, ready to embark on my own creative journey!