Gillian's Art Show

Tonight was Gillian's art show. The boys stayed home to work on John's book report, so it was just the girls. Gillian was so excited! We ran into her art teacher and she told me all about the projects they have worked on this year. 

Here are some of Gillian's pieces. 

A Duncan Story

A little over a year ago, Daddy and I made the hard decision to put Duncan the family dog to sleep. 

He was ten and a half and surgery was risky. Not a day goes by that I don't think of my pup. I guess I don't realize how much the kids miss him too. Today when going through John's backpack I found a little story he wrote about Duncan.

 

After reading it, I complimented John on his well written story. He said "It was hard to write. I miss him so much."  Me too Buddy. Me too. 

Robots

John is reading a new book series called "Nick and Tesla."  They are eleven year old twins that solve science mysteries.  This month's book report for John's class has to be a mystery book.  We were very happy that John was able to read one of these books for his report.  Book reports for John's class normally involve some sort of special project to go with it.  This time, they have to take a shoe box decorate the outside and then put five objects that go with the book inside.  John read "Nick and Tesla: Robot Army Rampage" for this report and in the book they actually give directions on how to build the robots in the story.  John and Daddy spent some time and built two of the robots. 

The first one they made last weekend.  He is a friction robot made with some parts from Radio Shack, a paper clip and the head of a tooth brush.

They made the second robot yesterday.  He is made out of a computer fan, wire hanger legs and some other parts from Radio Shack.

John's Art Show

Tonight, John, Gillian and I went to John's school for the annual art show. John was so excited to show Gillian all around the school. Here are some of my favorite pieces that John created. 

This is a piece where the kids "stomped out bullying." He stepped on clay and then painted it. 

This was another work made out of clay. John was a little disappointed that the tail broke off. I think he's cool. 

And here's John's cityscape. I love his animals!

Glasses

John told me tonight, "When I grow up, I'm going to still wear glasses. I'm not going to get contacts. But on my second pair I'm going to make guards that would flap down and cover my glasses. I would still be able to see, but the guard would block the smoke. You know when I'm building stuff." Gillian said "Or you could just take the working glasses in my room." John looked at her like she was crazy. She said "I have glasses in my room that you could put over your glasses and they would stop stuff from flying at you." John said "Gill, my invention is for smoke!"

I love that he has created a solution to a problem he hasn't experienced yet. And that Gillian solved it with simple logic. 

Pez instructions

Gillian wanted Pez for dessert tonight. She had a brand new lamb Pez from her Easter basket. She couldn't open and asked me for help "Why do they make it so hard to open?" I said "I don't know." Then she asked "Why do they put instructions on the back?" I said "I don't know. It's so easy." She said "Yea. It's like putting a pickle in the oven." Never heard that analogy before. 

Fashion by Gillian

Friday afternoon, I found Gillian glueing construction paper together in the laundry room. 

 

I asked "Gilly, whatcha doing?" She looked up and said "I'm making a dress!" Don't know why I didn't think of that. I left her alone. Later I asked "What made you decide to make a dress out of paper?" She said "Remember when we were doing crafts this morning? That's where I got the idea!" Earlier in the day the kids spent time in Monmouth Museum's art studio creating. She glued all her paper together on Friday and left it to dry. 

She continued working on her dress on Saturday. 

I helped cut a whole for the head. But she added ribbon and made the straps all by herself. 

She made a beautiful dress!

I can't wait to see her next creation.  

Easter Best

I loved the kids Easter outfits this year. I always make them pose for a picture on the front steps. This year they really got into it. Here are some shots from our little photo shoot. 

The bug

Last night, we put the kids to bed. But it didn't take long before Gillian was out of bed and standing in our room. She said "There's a bug. A little bug." Neither Daddy or I said anything. So she kept talking. "Well not a little bug. A medium bug. On my flower." Daddy went with her to investigate. He came back and said "There was nothing there. But I got rid of it." Daddy saved Gillian from the medium bug. 

April Fools Day

This morning Daddy found John downstairs watching TV. John is an early riser and he is allowed to watch TV on weekends (or spring break) without having to wake Daddy or I. Daddy told John, "Turn off the TV, go upstairs and get dressed we are going to the dentist. You are having all your teeth pulled." John got very worried and a little scared. Daddy quickly said "April Fools!" John said "Good one Dad!" He didn't hesitate and said "We gotta do the water thing to get Mom!" And the two of them went upstairs and John tied a rubber band around the sprayer on the kitchen sink. 

Later that morning I went to use the kitchen sink and got sprayed. I knew immediately who was responsible. I called John upstairs. He had a huge grin and said "April Fools!" He was so happy that he finally was able to trick me!