Big Sigh

I am finally caught up with grading, have all the courses fixed from the "bug", and grades ready to submit (pending assignments due this week....) Now on the to do list is to finish up 2 big family presents, take Christmas photos, finish and mail cards (and packages....) AND then PAINT THE HALLWAY!!!!! Agh.

This week Lil'Bug and I went out and purchased pet food for the next month and stopped at the local art supply store and bought 12 bottles of tempera paint. I started to notice that all her paintings were green, yellow, and purple and upon investigation found that they were her only paint bottles that had anything left in them (and barely). So I more than replenished her supply. We even bought metallic gold, silver glitter, and evergreen glitter. I contemplated sticking it all under the tree with a Santa tag BUT decided no, these are things she uses everyday and needs in the course of her daily life. Yes, needs. She paints everyday. Soon we will upgrade to Acrylics, but I am waiting until she finishes the sucks on her hands and also paints her clothes/body/my floor phase. :)

I read on a blog once (I can't remember whose!) of a family, who lives much the way we do, that did not buy things like bikes and games and art supplies for Christmas and birthdays but saw them as educational expenses and necessities. That's how I feel about it- if it is something she needs to live her life more fully to her own direction then it is my responsibility to provide it for her.

She enjoys painting and the texture of paint, she relishes in each painting. The one I have pictured is her giraffe she painted for friend. She's gone from spider looking people to actual body shapes this month, she is also mixing colors thoughtfully and asked to buy a new plastic palate that would better serve how she paints (they are 99 cents) and new bigger brushes (hers are basically like the watercolor brushes that come with Crayola sets). The request just blew me away. I knew right then, standing in the supply isle at the art store that I had missed something critical at home and had a chance to fufill it right then. I let her pick them both out.

So those are my thoughts for the day. What are yours?

What is this and how did it happen?

If I had a prize to give, I would. Can anyone tell me what this is, how it happened, and any science behind it? We froze water. We pulled tray out once frozen. No fanciness involved. It is about an inch long/tall.

The Fairy Superhero Princess Saves the Day for a Ladybug

Once in a while Lil"Bug gets an idea in her head that she must save the world one ladybug/spider/earth worm at a time. This particular day she donned the uniform and went to work.
December in Iowa: no difficulty finding plenty of ladybugs indoors to "save".....


"I shall do the saving, Mama. The ladybug does not want her picture taken. No thank you."

And out the back door went the superhero princess with her bug box. She gently set the bug in her garden. The end.

A Day with Daddy

The title makes it sound like I wasn't around, but I was! I am just in the midst of a grading crunch so my dear Dearest Husband took the call whenever Lil'Bug had "an idea," and I took the pictures!


Here they are planting a baby pumpkin that she's had around for the last couple months (but it was starting to goo.) I told her throw it away or go plant it. She got on her boots and coat and out they went to "her garden"......


Then she wanted to make cripsy chocolate chip cookies....."DADDY!" They make quite the culinary team.


"Ta Da!" and "Yum....." These are by far the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten.

UPDATE - it's now november of 2008. that pumpkin came up in august and we couldn't figure out where it came from. HA!