Sparrow in a Pine Tree

This is a drawing that Julia brought home from her drawing class this week. She says they drew with a black marking pen and colored it in with crayons. Maybe I should take this drawing class! I don't think I could make a bird look this good!

The Assignment: Make a Contour Drawing

Julia was asked to get a stuffed animal, prop it up on the table in front of her and to keep her eyes following the outside edges of it while her hand drew. Anyone who knows Julia well knows that this in one of her favorite teddies. In fact this teddy was just upgraded from "Daddy Teddy" to "King Teddy," hence the crown.

"James and the Giant Peach"

This was one of Julia's recent art assignments. She was to use only red, yellow and blue watercolor crayons to create something that communicates. When I asked her what the title was she told me, "James and the Giant Peach." I asked where James was in the picture. Her reply, "In the peach, of course!"

What have we been doing?????

For starters, I have been doing a LOT of interference between kids and the new cat. Julia seems surprised that Friday doesn't behave they way her stuffed animals do. There have been arguments, some hissing, a few scratches, etc. I have to watch them very, very closely. Yesterday was an all-time record. Friday sat on Julia's lap for probably 10 minutes and they both seemed content and no one got hurt.

I've been to the gym three times so far this week! Another all-time record. I started taking a yoga class on Tues and Thurs mornings. Kind of strange at first, but I'm sure all the stretching, balancing, relaxation will be worth it. I'm also trying to get in two to three days a week of cardio. Hard to find "extra" time this time of the year for that though.

Saturday is our piano recital. I'm a bundle of nerves. I'm performing Canon in D (Pachelbel)with three other beginners. Two of us per piano. We have been working on it for 6 weeks or so and in the beginning I didn't think there was a chance that I could get my part down, but I have to say that my fingers have really, really improved the last month or so. I just hope my nerves don't take over on Saturday. In addition to the group piece I'm also performing a solo piece, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (Bach). This piece I started working on in June. It was really, really hard in the beginning. At first I could only do the right hand and it seemed impossible to do both hands together. I left the piece probably in July sometime deciding that it was a longer range goal and moved on to something else. Well, last week my piano teacher told me to pick a new thing for the recital and I picked this piece up again. I have to say that I have worked on it a LOT during the past week and as of TODAY I can finally get through it, without breaking tempo and without mistakes. Now, I'm not sure that in two day's time I will be super confident in performing in front of 100+ people, but I have to say that a few months ago I would not believe that I could play it as well as I can today. Yippee!

School is going ok. Julia is finishing her human body study this week. Then we move on to animal classification and then hopefully some plants late spring. In history we are working on early Roman times. We should finish our ancients book probably in February and then will start in on Medival times. In phonics Julia has just 3 more lessons before the book is complete. She is reading some tough words, even words that she doesn't know (synagogue, etiquette, etc). She is also wrapping up her penmanship book and she and I are considering beginning cursive writing (although her printing is not as neat as I would like. I think she can do it, but she gets lazy).

Everything else is moving right along: spelling, grammar, vocabulary, math. She is currently more in favor of math, but that can change daily.

Our exciting news is that KARLEY IS BEGINNING TO READ!!!!! Karley read her very first two books earlier this week. I think she is pretty proud of herself, but she is at that stage where reading each word takes a lot of work. And after reading the second word of the sentence she has already forgotten the first word. At least she has a good attitude about it.

Karley's dance recital is a week from Saturday. I'm really looking forward to that one (more so than this piano recital!). I signed up to be a parent volunteer to help the girls in her class get dressed, find their way back stage, costumes off and turned in, trips to the restroom, etc. It should be really, really cute.

So, even though it seems as though this blog has been quiet. We have actually been really, really busy! That of course, is not to mention the big holiay at the end of the month with all the bazillion things that come along with it, or the fact that I'm attempting to toilet train the cat, or......