mini mocha

Plant Study - Collage

2012-01-30T22:28:00.002+10:00

We have been sick, a nasty bug zapped all our energy.
With 40 degree temperatures outside we decided to crank up the airconditioner (not looking forward to the next bill) and camp in the lounge room.
We had to postpone our plant study presentation for friends, but we managed to make this collage before we fell ill.
I used anything I could find...paper plate, old streamers, rope, old book paper, blu tack(for water) and masking tape.
The boys liked seeing themselves as miniatures on the blackboard.

While we were sick our little seed sprouted in the test tube - amazing!

Plant Study - Day 4 Photosynthesis

2012-01-26T17:00:00.000+10:00

Today we started with what we had for breakfast - cereal, a plant!
I asked " why do we eat cereal for breakfast" and luckily the boys replied "because we need food for energy". Hooray!
Energy is important for life and the sun gives us energy in heat and light.
We talked about how the leaves take in the sun energy along with water from the roots and carbon dioxide in the air and convert it to sugar energy to use for growth. While this is happening oxygen is pumped out those factory smokestacks in the leaves (stomata).
We went over photosynthesis in a few different ways, using different words and I introduced respiration and the carbon cycle to J.
The simplest way I could explain the process worked ok, we had some worksheets/questions to answer and it all seemed to sink in.
I talk in both simple terminology (for H) and try to use correct jargon for J, rather than do two separate lessons.
These lessons are not long, maybe 20mins to go through a topic. I figure H will take in as much as he can and will get the rest in a few years.
After the lesson and worksheets (separate level for each) we did a mosaic pumpkin with seeds and lentils.

It was an appropriate 40 degree day in Perth, perfect example of the power of the sun!

Now we will look at making a display and giving a little talk on the subject to friends.

Australia Day 2012

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000+10:00

Plant Study - Day 3 Review

2012-01-25T18:00:00.000+10:00

I decided to use today as a review day.
We went to the library to find some books on what we had been learning so far and we spent time brainstorming and writing poems to help reinforce some of the new ideas.
J gave us a little presentation on the board (which confirmed what was in his knowledge bank).

At the end of the day we did some more art.

Pumpkin Watercolour Still Life

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000+10:00

I couldn't resist joining in the watercolour activity, at first I thought it would be quick session, but as it turned out I had trouble getting the right pumpkin colour.

Plant Study - Day 2

2012-01-24T19:30:00.000+10:00

I thought it best we start the week by having an in depth look at what a pumpkin is exactly (well enough info for a 4 and 8 yr old).

I don't think about the pumpkin being a fruit because it is called a vegetable. Our first exercise to learn how a pumpkin grows from a seed-sprout-plant-flower-fruit.

We then discussed plant parts, some of these we eat every day (ie peas are seeds, carrots are roots, celery is a stem) and then their roles.

(from the school zone activity books)

Things we did -

-Estimated how many seeds are in a pumpkin and then counted in groups of ten to reach 463.

-Asked why are plants important? why do we need them?

-Planted seeds and discussed what a seed needs to grow, what would happen if we put one in the dark cupboard?

- I dipped paper towel into water to show how nutrients travel up the stem

-We pretended to be a seed on the floor breaking through the coat and turning into a plant with flowers and fruit.

-We discussed the partnership between plants and animals.

We finished the day with a reading of the parable of the sower...

[I like to explain scientific things a little differently to the boys because of their age...

I described an imaginary world of miniature workers in each of the parts of the plant to help explain what is going on inside, ie. in the roots there are workers with little buckets of water and nutrients sending them up to the stem, and even H suggested the stem was an elevator (going up, first floor leaves!).

In the leaves we have a factory, complete with chimneys for waste products such as oxygen. There are little workers with sunglasses taking golden nuggets of light energy from the sun that slide in through tunnels in the leaf. Others with gas masks taking Carbon dioxide balloons to the mixing tank. Of course there are pipes and hoses coming up from the roots/stem/leaf to add water and nutrients controlled by mini firefighters! etc etc ,I add as I go, I wish I could illustrate what I see!]

We touched briefly on the idea of Photosynthesis and cycles without getting caught up in the big words...that comes tomorrow!

Our Study of Plants - Day 1

2012-01-24T00:21:00.000+10:00

To begin our week long study on plants,I decided to begin with a pumpkin.
Over the week I will cover maths, science, literature, social studies, art, history, and health, but we start with some art...

We begin simply by looking at it, measuring it, weighing it and using our five senses to describe it.
After some pencil sketching, we study the colours and how we can use a blue/purple background to highlight the orange pumpkin.
We look at Van Gogh paintings and how he sometimes used short strokes.
Oil pastels were used from light to dark, then blended and we tried to add movement by altering the direction of our pastel.

The Sower by Van Gogh.

Typing and Handwriting

2012-01-23T19:29:00.004+10:00

We are extremely new to the world of "Apps", but are embracing some of these new technologies to add variety to our learning day.
Handwriting is fun with "English cursive letter practice" and "I write words".

At night we have been going outside and using the "Go sky watch" to view stars and planets (cool) and I think the "Show me" whiteboard app will be very handy for presentations.
We do like the new "Reading Eggs" for 7 yrs up, lots of fun there.
The boys are also using the BBC Dance mat typing lessons and they are lots of fun...

There are probably so many great games and apps for education that we yet to discover, but we look forward to discovering more.

Art with H - Colour and Emotions

2012-01-20T18:39:00.001+10:00

Today we spent a little time looking at colours and how they can compliment each other and express emotion in art.
The above is a quick paper plate colour wheel, but if you have more time a collage like this would be good.
After a look at some Van Gogh (a favourite of mine yes) paintings displaying a variety of emotions (such as sadness, joy, rage etc etc) we discussed what emotions we felt the colours suggested on our colour wheel and what we would use for anger, calmness, fear if we were going to do a painting.
I then asked H how he would draw a face to show different emotions...

Fairly straight forward.

I asked him to look at how my face changes for this one and I think he got it just right.

This is funny, the wrinkles on the forehead!
You could then go on and colour the faces based on the emotion/colour match discussion.
Drawings by H (4)

Bubblewrap and Boxes

2012-01-20T07:00:00.000+10:00

We saw this lovely production and really enjoyed it.
It had a lovely message and was funny, with a bit of acrobatics thrown in.
Worth seeing.

Collage - Matisse Inspired

2012-01-19T20:30:00.001+10:00

(Music composition by J. ) Trumpets, piano keys, notes, guitar, sax.

Today we looked at a collage by Henri Matisse... the colours... the shapes and then we did some of our own.

(Frog Chorus by H.) The yellow squares are flies, purple dragonflies, blue pond with frog and yellow sun.

The Sorrows of the King by Henri Matisse.

Self Portraits

2012-01-18T17:50:00.000+10:00

Self Portrait in Oil and chalk pastels By H (4)

Self Portrait in oil and chalk pastel by J (8)

After looking at some self portraits by Van Gogh, we sat in front of the mirror and started looking at where everything is located on our face.

The cross on the face (see here) helped the boys to locate where the eyes and ears and mouth etc go and I think was really helpful.
After drawing we went and discussed the difference between oil and chalk and how they can be used in different ways.
I used black paper and oil pastels and began by asking the boys to make a u face and colour all the skin. We then added eyes and nose and mouth and hair.
We used chalk for the background and then black for the outlines.

In hindsight I probably should have done a refresher in colours (contrasting etc)
because I noticed that H got a more vibrant finish purely by accident, choosing colours he had on and liked most.
Overall for our first use of oil pastels I think it was a good result , a quick art session is always a good thing on a hot afternoon.
I got the idea of using pastels from here.

Fremantle Lunch

2012-01-18T17:30:00.001+10:00

A friend from QLD met us at Freo for lunch at Fishermans wharf and it is always nice to sit by the water and eat fresh fish, watch the gulls, ducks, pelicans and boats.

Swimming Lessons on the Beach

2012-01-18T17:27:00.000+10:00

So far this week at swimming lessons we have had a sting ray, jellyfish and dolphins swimming in the water.
It is beautiful to see a dolphin swimming alongside a human being, stroke for stroke and saying hi.

Macadamia Nut Farm

2012-01-15T21:08:00.001+10:00

After lunch with friends and a swim, we stopped in at the Macadamia nut farm not far from Rockingham, to check out the nuts. They are cute nuts aren't they.

Choc top macadamia ice creams!

Book Review - The Great Paper Caper

2012-01-12T16:56:00.001+10:00

This is a book review by H (4 yrs)...

The Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers.
This is a book about a bear who cuts trees to make paper planes.
I like the book 100 %.
by Harrison.

Book Review - Monsieur Cadichon

2012-01-12T16:52:00.001+10:00

This is a book Review by J (aged 8)...

"Monsieur Cadichon Memoirs of a donkey" is the title of the book.
The book is about a donkey named Cadichon and what he gets up to in his lifetime. It was written in 1860 by Countess de Segur.
Cadichon is energetic, noisey, fast, helpful, friendly and sometimes naughty. He had good and bad masters. Some mistreated him and that made him misbehave.
His life wasn't always happy, but in the end he learned to treat people nicely to have a happy life.
I liked this book because of the adventures in it.
I give it 9 out of 10.
By J.

Swimming Lessons

2012-01-12T16:38:00.001+10:00

This week we have been at swimming lessons early in the morning and it has been cold (shiver, shiver) with the wind up until today which was lovely and warm in, however... because it was calm lots of stingers came to say hello today and left behind a few crying children (not us fortunately).
It was a good lesson in looking out for stingers!

Coffee Table Book

2012-01-09T15:00:00.000+10:00

This is a great book. Plenty of ideas in here.
There are a few other recent books by Sibella Court which I will be keeping an eye out for.

Sushi

2012-01-08T16:00:00.000+10:00

We like sushi.
This one we made with roast chicken, avo, cucumber, carrot, pea sprouts and mayo.

The Colour of Books

2012-01-08T06:00:00.000+10:00

I liked the colour of these when I saw them at the 2nd hand bookshop.
I didn't even look at the title, I may read them, but most likely just look at their worn exterior and wonder where they have been in their lifetimes.

They do compliment my birds.

Fabric and Ribbons

2012-01-07T15:00:00.000+10:00

My fabric was in bags, which is not inspiring at all I might add.
My ribbons in a box.
When I saw our IKEA paper holder dismantled and parts being used as a car ramp, I seized the opportunity to place my ribbons on the shelf alongside the newly tidied fabric and the cars get to keep their ramps too!

Inspired by two Bloggers...
Margaret got me excited about organising my fabric stash here.
Then I saw these shelves (and cardboard used for folding fabric) on A little piece of pie.

CWA Scones

2012-01-06T23:47:00.002+10:00

The boys did some baking.

Scones a Country Woman's Association mix.

They were very nice indeed with jam and cream.

A Spare Thread Bird

2012-01-05T22:34:00.000+10:00

A few stitches later.
Experimenting.

Another Visit from Dolphins

2012-01-05T22:30:00.000+10:00

We are lucky enough to see them most times we go to the beach now, the dolphins were amongst the swimmers today.
Hopefully next time they catch our wave...

Cardboard Didgeridoo

2012-01-05T22:25:00.002+10:00

An extra long cardboard tube (from a roll of fabric) makes for a great Didgeridoo.

Words that come to mind

2012-01-03T21:13:00.001+10:00

Buttons, bobbins, naked thread,

Painted, baked, sewed and read.

Captured thoughts,in pink and red,

Viewing pleasures on the web.

by Me

2012-01-02T23:12:00.000+10:00

From the Second Hand Shop

2012-01-01T16:00:00.000+10:00

I found these little cuties at the second hand shop in York.
The cup is made in England but I have no idea where the jug is from but I love the colour and pattern.

Tourist Drive - York to Pickering Brook

2011-12-31T23:26:00.002+10:00

A big day, a long drive, we went to York. A historical town with plenty of old buildings and cars to show the boys...

We went on the old swing bridge and visited the old flour mill markets and lolly shop in town.

A few places were closed for the holidays, including some antique shops and cafe's, so we took our lunch to Mundaring Weir...

After this stop we meandered our way along the top of the hills to Pickering Brook, enjoying the views and lovely orchards along the way. We then stumbled upon a biodynamic farm/cafe and decided to stop of course (they made cider too!)

The boys enjoyed their biodynamic local apple juice and we shared an apple tart overlooking hills of fruit trees, a lovely spot.

After buying a box of tree ripened peaches from a farm we headed off back down the hills and are all needing a good rest.

Pi Rats

2011-12-30T18:54:00.002+10:00

When I heard J talk about making a wooden boat and H carrying a stuffed rat I automatically thought of Pi Rats, so I made a sail, mini paper hats, eye patch and telescope and we set sail as you do!

Arghh the adventures these two Pi Rats will go on.

Cooking with Nature

2011-12-30T18:50:00.003+10:00

A no beach day today, we made some mud pies and leaf art though.

More Beach Play

2011-12-30T18:47:00.003+10:00

Animal Hands

2011-12-30T18:39:00.003+10:00

Have you seen these? They are lots of fun.

Temporary tatoos that a special friend sent us.

Even after a day at the beach and bath they are still hanging on strong...

Surfing with Dolphins

2011-12-28T18:26:00.001+10:00

Today at the beach we were lucky enough to have the dolphins come in a bit closer and do some surfing in the waves and some tricks for us too (very hard to get a photo of this because these wild dolphins don't do their tricks on cue). Very exciting to have the dolphins share their waves with us and come and say hi.

Christmas Day 2011

2011-12-25T19:10:00.003+10:00

Today we spent the day not rushing anywhere... just being.

And just as we normally do, we decided to cook something we haven't cooked before (as our Christmas Treat) and believe it or not I have never cooked a whole turkey!
We did it in the BBQ, yes the portable one with lid and it was so moist.
The turkey was not stuffed (except for a few lemon wedges), however I put duck fat, crushed garlic and parsley under and on the skin and popped the feathered friend on a bed of onions, carrots and beef stock. After seasoning with salt and pepper it was into a medium heat for 3 hours (first 1 hour with foil on the breasts)...

After a lunch of roast turkey, apples and salad, we built lego, played some board and card games, shuttlecock, kite flying and went for walk...

Ding Dong Merrily on High

2011-12-25T18:57:00.002+10:00

Hope you are having a very special Christmas, we are.

We are enjoying being together and making music too...

2011 Christmas Concert

2011-12-24T12:00:00.000+10:00

We shared piano playing, a poetry recital, a dance performance and carol singing with friends, it was our 2011 Christmas concert and we had a lovely evening.

(This is H putting on a smiley face after falling off the chair)

A cranberry fruit cake.

Chocolate Roulade (no flour, just good chocolate, sugar and eggs! and King Island Cream in the middle)

Baby cherry and coconut friands and white chocolate rocky road.

Making a Hardcover Poetry Book

2011-12-23T21:00:00.000+10:00

This is the finished book, a hardcover, fabric covered, french sewn original Poetry book.

Not perfect (the bookmaking side of things, not the poetry) but the children have all worked hard creating beautiful poems and now they can be cherished in a book format.

I slightly adjusted the cover in Photoshop, after seeing this fantastic one and printed it onto a Tshirt transfer sheet, however I did try printing directly onto the calico fabric (which I had glued to card) and it worked ok, minus a few ink smudges.
I glued white card onto thicker cardboard then glued fabric onto white card using this glue (it is all I had)...

I designed the page layout and printed them using my trusty little printer and 100gsm paper.
I used a wax covered black thread to sew segments of the book together(white would have been better had I had it) and white cotton tape for extra strength. Then the glue was out again to stick the cover plain pages to the cardboard.
I roughly followed the tips in this tutorial for sewing the pages together.

These are books I made by sewing (with the machine) cardboard and paper together and stamping the front.

Little Gifts

2011-12-23T20:30:00.000+10:00

Little bits and pieces, to write on, stamp with and just look at.

Christmas Mouse - In Paris

2011-12-23T20:00:00.000+10:00

The Christmas Mouse has been busy buying macarons in Paris (for his Mummy Mouse).

Musical Angel Wings

2011-12-19T16:00:00.000+10:00

I saw this here (using book pages) pasted onto cardboard, but we are having a Christmas concert on thursday, so I thought old music paper would work.
The boys collected tree branches and made this star too...

I saw the idea here.

Frame in a Frame

2011-12-18T22:51:00.002+10:00

I decided to recycle an old blue frame.
First I covered it with canvas leftover from the science party, then found items
that I wanted to hang...

Tidy Mouse

2011-12-18T22:48:00.001+10:00

Our Christmas Mouse is very tidy, he has a mop, broom, cloth and little bar of soap.
I wonder whether he uses the wheelbarrow for a bath tub?

Out and About

2011-12-18T15:00:00.000+10:00

Now that we are free of the Chicken Pox we can go to the beach...

Make sand castles with our new buckets.

Yes we need a giant bucket to carry everything in!

"cleaning the water!"

Catching things!

Gingerbread House

2011-12-18T00:11:00.001+10:00

We decorated an IKEA gingerbread house this year.

Wrapping

2011-12-18T00:09:00.001+10:00

Bird printed on an old book page with twine and button.

I do enjoy wrapping gifts!

Poetry Thursday - Tanka Poems

2011-12-18T00:07:00.002+10:00

This was our last formal poetry lesson for the year (next week we are book binding!) and what fun we have had learning about poetry, thanks to Ms C.

Now we have plenty of poems to fill our little poetry books...how exciting.

Baking - Mini Christmas Cakes

2011-12-15T09:30:00.000+10:00

We don't normally make Christmas cakes because we make Puddings, however I found this recipe with cranberries in it and they are quite easy to make.
Mini ones and a medium size round one, which I will ice with fondant.

Yes we need hair cuts!

Lovely Magazine

2011-12-15T06:00:00.000+10:00

I just found this lovely magazine called "Fete" ...

Beautiful ideas and styling.

What a fun job they have.

Mr C Mouse - Pom Poms

2011-12-14T20:09:00.003+10:00

Mr C Mouse has been making gifts too...he made us a pom pom and a mini one for a little mousey friend.
He seems to like decorating at Christmas time.

A map? A route? Interesting.

More Clay Brooches for Gifts

2011-12-13T14:00:00.000+10:00

Baby quail acrylic paint.

This one was an experiment. I saw an abstract picture in a magazine I liked and cut to fit the brooch, then glazed over with varnish a few times.

Something fun.

Christmas Gifts

2011-12-12T21:40:00.003+10:00

Off to the post office today to send some little gifts we have made...

Our Christmas card made from fabric, clay star and white pen on brown card.
A few brooches...

Screen printing

2011-12-11T21:49:00.001+10:00

(Peach ripple Ice Cream)

The screen is out!
It has been a while, but I enjoyed experimenting.
I recall doing Tshirts with friends on the weekends and now twenty years later I found myself making Tshirt prints again for Christmas presents.
The little Dick Bruna inspired fellow will be used on stockings I think and the bird for bunting or bags.

Mr C Mouse - Chocolate Feast

2011-12-11T21:46:00.001+10:00

We found a piece of our chocolate cake and a choc peanut on the table this morning.
Must be all that flying paper airplanes that works up an appetite (we found a mini paper plane).

Contagious

2011-12-11T21:36:00.001+10:00

We were all a little sad this weekend because poor H caught a very mild case of the chicken pox from J (even though he has been immunised) and we thought might be contagious.
We missed a brunch with friends and carols in the park (soooo sad).
Happy though that he just has spots and not sick.

The boys baked a brownie cake to cheer us up and spent the weekend making things, such as this board game...

A NO TOYS weekend!

Mouse Pox

2011-12-10T06:00:00.000+10:00

Mr Mouse left us a letter saying that he had mouse pox! Which explains the cotton bud and first aid cream.
J wrote him a poem to cheer him up...

Mr Mouse has been writing his Christmas cards too.

Mr C Mouse Uses a Canon

2011-12-09T11:00:00.000+10:00

These are the snaps Mr C Mouse took with his Canon camera in London.
He also needed a map...

He fell asleep with the tv on last night, which is how we ended up with the ABC test pattern.

Muppet Drawing

2011-12-09T06:30:00.000+10:00

J has been drawing The Muppets. I think they look quite spot on.

Clay Brooches - Ink and Acrylic

2011-12-08T23:59:00.001+10:00

On these brooches I used black ink pen and acrylic paint and then sealed with a satin varnish.

Thursday Poetry - Shape Poems

2011-12-08T23:48:00.001+10:00

Another wonderful poetry lesson with Ms C. Today we looked at shape poetry.

Snake poem by H and me.

Worm Poem (joint effort)

An Australian Christmas

2011-12-08T21:00:00.000+10:00

I like the red berries with the dried gum nuts and leaves.

This is one of the clay feathers I made when we were going clay making crazy.

Mr C Mouse in London

2011-12-08T00:31:00.001+10:00

Mr Christmas Mouse went to London for a few days to visit his Italian friend who is a chef.
He took his scooter and bag and even sent us letters (by Mouse Mail) to inform us he was having a good time eating cheesy pasta, but he was a little cold.
However, he is back now and he gave us a little pillow to say thanks for looking after his suitcase...

Mr C Mouse has himself a sleeping bag and a new table with doiley tablecloth.

Advent Calendar Christmas Books

2011-12-08T00:28:00.001+10:00

Every evening we have been opening our advent calendar books and finding some beautiful stories such as this one with wonderful illustrations.

Some funny stories too.

It is very exciting opening the parcel, we never know what book will be next.

Christmas Turkey for the Toys

2011-12-08T00:23:00.001+10:00

A Christmas turkey and some other fun wooden food arrived in the mail today. Another exciting parcel with lots of goodies for the soft toys to enjoy a party.

The Russian doll Santas were also lined up, so I guess they would like an invite too...the more the merrier!

Nativity

2011-12-06T19:09:00.000+10:00

Clay Brooch Painting

2011-12-05T13:38:00.000+10:00

I spent quite a bit of time on the weekend painting some clay brooches, seeing what works and what doesn't.
The stamping is simple, however acrylics are a different ball game to watercolours.

Christmas Mouse likes Chocolate

2011-12-04T20:24:00.001+10:00

Mr C Mouse has been busy decorating his Christmas tree.

He likes famous art and has been raiding the Lego boxes...

Mr C Mouse likes Chocolate too.

Drawing in Bed

2011-12-03T13:00:00.000+10:00

We are still confined to the house, but we have done some drawings and have been treated to a surprise package from NZ with some 3D butterflies to make.

Christmas Mouse Pencils

2011-12-02T13:52:00.001+10:00

Mouse Mail delivered a shipment to Mr C Mouse last night and included in the goodies were some tiny pencils (as small as toothpicks!!!)

We found more furniture, the beginnings of a Christmas tree, mini keys, suitcase, lamp, book and tv (Mickey Mouse show of course)...

There was a little lace bag filled with a measuring tape, postcard an IPAD and a coin all the way from the Netherlands.

What will we see tomorrow?

Playroom Christmas Tree

2011-12-02T12:06:00.000+10:00

Our Plywood Birthday Tree also is used as a Christmas Tree!

The Christmas Mouse Has Arrived!

2011-12-01T12:30:00.001+10:00

We awoke this morning to find a Christmas Mouse had moved in...

This cute little mouse carries his suitcase all around the world at Christmas time and even has mail delivered (by Mouse Mail)!
He has been to Paris and London and now is in Perth, Australia.
Mr C.Mouse had some trouble with his travel arrangements and lost some of his luggage, but is expecting them to arrive any day.

He has white washed furniture, a lace mat, padded mattress and warm wool blanket to keep his mousey toes toasty (mice get cold even in Perth didn't you know).

Mr C has been to Russia.
He has his advent calendar too.

What will the Christmas Mouse delight us with tomorrow?

Christmas Tree 2011

2011-12-01T09:00:00.000+10:00

Our tree this year has handmade clay and other porcelain ornaments along with metal cookie cutters I got very cheap last Christmas (make the cookies and hang the cutters on the tree!).

Advent Calendar 2011

2011-11-30T18:48:00.001+10:00

We are ready for Dec 1 with a blackboard calendar.
Christmas books are wrapped for every day in Advent.
I wonder what other surprises await us?

Cooped up with chickens!

2011-11-30T18:46:00.001+10:00

Chickens I say!

Well chicken pox actually.

Cake in Kings Park

2011-11-26T22:00:00.001+10:00

Yummy cakes and a beautiful afternoon birthday party in the Park today.
Kings Park is huge, so we really need to go back for a full day to play again.

(note the smoke haze from the bush fires!)

Our Red Sun - A Mirror

2011-11-26T21:53:00.001+10:00

We were reminded today of the fires down south.

The sun, a mirror, showing us the intensity of the blaze and the smokey haze.

Poetry Today - Cinquain

2011-11-24T21:38:00.001+10:00

What a beautiful day spent with friends.
Today we were introduced to the colourful world of Cinquain Poetry.
We loved this creative greeting!

By J.

By H (and me).

Drawings by J

2011-11-23T18:42:00.001+10:00

Art - People in Proportion

2011-11-23T18:31:00.001+10:00

Our Art lesson this week was about drawing the human body in proportion.
We started with drawing basic stick figures and then adding joints and fuller figures (reinforcing the idea of proportion all the time!)
We looked at how long our arms are in comparison to other parts of our bodies.
Then we traced hands and feet to learn how to draw them in miniature.

By J.

By H.

I think we made progress...from a circle with nodules to a real looking hand.

Quick trip to the Beach

2011-11-23T18:29:00.001+10:00

Lovely warm water and weather.

Cars Chess

2011-11-23T18:26:00.001+10:00

J decided to make a cars chess set.

A little too confusing for me!

Poetry on Friday

2011-11-18T20:16:00.001+10:00

Another fabulous poetry lesson with Ms C today. Our topic was Limericks!

Collaboration by J,E,J,H,C,T

There once was a giant fly. By H (and me).

There once was a man named Ted. By J.

Storm by J.

Sky by H.

Handmade Christmas - Clay Decorations

2011-11-15T23:39:00.000+10:00

These are our Christmas decorations we have made for this year, we really enjoyed making them.
I have been wanting to use up the remainder of the air dry clay from our sculpture lesson a few months back and what better way, than to use cookie cutters and make Christmas tags and hanging tree ornaments.
If you have the December 2010 Home Beautiful Magazine you will find the instructions in there and they seem to be popular this year, perhaps because they are so easy to make.
Simply roll out some air dry clay and stamp or cut to your desired shape, then let dry.
I used a rubber stamp and cookie cutters.
Sand with a nail file when they are dry to smooth out rough bits.
Can't wait to make some more, I have lots of ideas for shapes and patterns.

If you have a doiley you could do this.

I really love these from Paper Boat Press.

Christmas Pud

2011-11-15T23:27:00.001+10:00

Baking for Christmas...always begins with the steaming of the Christmas fruit puddings.
This year H helped me with the breadcrumbs and mixing.
Trying a new recipe this year.
I don't use suet (so I probably can't call it a traditional pudding then).
8 hours later they were finished.
We like a slice of moist pudding in place of fruit cake at christmas and nice for gifts too.

Homeschool Poetry Morning

2011-11-10T20:44:00.000+10:00

Our very dear friend Ms C prepared a wonderful poetry lesson for us today,

this is what we found at the door when we arrived (so clever) but it all started with this fantastic invitation...

Very clever indeed!!

We discussed different types of poetry and did some brainstorming and of course wrote some poems. Actually we each composed a Haiku poem.

Thank you so very much we loved it!

The Muppets - Flavour of the Month

2011-11-10T20:30:00.001+10:00

When I woke this morning the boys were drawing. H (who is 4) was drawing The Muppets...

This would have to be my favourite, it is Scooter and looks exactly like him in cartoon form! Perhaps we have a cartoonist in our midst.

This is Ralph (the piano playing dog)

Dr Bunsen the scientist.

Fozzie Bear.

It seems I was right in thinking that the boys would enjoy watching snippets of the Muppets, just as I did when I was younger. However they keep asking for more and it is not so easy finding Muppet books or dvd's.
They especially like the Swedish Chef...we all like the Swedish Chef!
We will have to keep looking in the 2nd hand bookshops I guess and keep checking the library and Utube.
Of course they could always put the Muppets back on TV!!!!

Little Summer Dress

2011-11-09T18:29:00.003+10:00

My first try at making a dress...

A miniature sun dress in a lightweight fabric, made from the "Prints Charming" Book again.

Now to make a few different kinds for Christmas.

Weekend Sewing - Boys PJ's

2011-11-07T18:00:00.000+10:00

After I received this lovely book from a special friend, I was inspired to sew.
So I made some PJ's for the boys from a pattern in the book.
I was surprised how easy the pattern was to follow, I am not used to following patterns, I normally "wing it", but they turned out quite nice and I made 5 pairs and used the scraps to embellish Tshirts.

For some strange reason H thinks this is how you pose when showing off new PJ's??????

These ones had a little denim pocket on the front.

A little baby onesie.

A recycled print used on a singlet top.

A little Tshirt of bunting!

Crabbing and Bird Watching

2011-11-06T23:39:00.000+10:00

Today we went crabbing, well actually Dad went crabbing and we went bird watching and foot print hunting...

Too much water, too many small crabs and not enough big ones...better luck next time.

(hurry up little crabs and grow bigger)

Sunset Beach Play

2011-11-06T23:29:00.000+10:00

Even seagulls take time to watch the sun set over the water.

Pencil Sharpenings

2011-11-06T23:22:00.002+10:00

I was sharpening pencils the other day and ended up with a pile of colourful waste that would normally end up in the bin...

so I decided to get some sticky paper we had been given, and do some craft.

Vintage Memory Game

2011-11-04T19:25:00.002+10:00

This old memory game (1976) has some lovely images in it, which I could use for quite a few different things and it was only $1 at the second hand bookshop.

Second Hand Bookshop Finds

2011-11-04T19:20:00.004+10:00

We visited a "save the Children" bookshop today and Nanny gave us an early Christmas present...lots of lovely books!

Could have stayed for hours and hours.

Special Friend

2011-11-04T18:31:00.001+10:00

I got such a lovely surprise in the mail, from a dear friend.
She couldn't have picked a more appropriate book.
It has lots of printing designs that I love and many crafty things that I will definitely get on to making.
Prints Charming...there is a blog here.

I do appreciate my very thoughtful friends.

Pencil Drawings - Outback Scene

2011-11-03T20:10:00.000+10:00

Top drawing by J and bottom by H (with some help).

Online Magazines

2011-11-02T21:49:00.000+10:00

I do love magazines. Home, decorating, craft and most recently these online magazines...

Tiny and Little (we especially love this one because H is in it with his cardboard plane! He was so excited to see it.)

Plumetis Magazine (not in English but beautiful ideas)

By Fryd

Sweet Paul Magazine

91 Magazine

Finger Painted Horses

2011-11-02T20:07:00.002+10:00

We did some finger painting for the Melbourne Cup.
This idea is from an Usborne book (love their art books).
This is a great way for children to create a good looking horse quite easily.
Fingers used for head,body and neck and cardboard used for legs. Black marker was used for tail etc.

We gave them names.

This is a mouse by H. He is on rollerskates and filming the race!

Watercolour Vintage Schweppes Girl

2011-11-01T17:33:00.000+10:00

Having fun with water colours and this vintage photo of the Schweppes Tonic water girl.
(I just couldn't get the hand right, so it is hidden on purpose, the feet need work and the dress, however I think I captured the facial expression.)

Its nearly Cwab Hunting Season

2011-10-31T18:28:00.000+10:00

Next week we might just go crab hunting, but until then we will study the fishing guide and paint them...

By Me & H.

by J.