Writing/drawing

I am finding it fasinating watching Scout develop her drawing/writing skills. There is paper and markers on the kitchen table all the time. She also paints in the art studio several times a week. She has such a deep concentration on her face when working.

For a long time she always made circles.

Then I found her at the easel making lines. Was it the easel, the pastels or was it just her time? I don't know but it is very fascinating to watch.

Jousting poles

Becoming a knight is something one of the kids is interested in. This works well for horsemanship and also gave us an idea for our next art project...jousting poles!

We happened to have some pvc water pipe lying around. I cut it into sections, sized to each childs size. This section is curved because the pipe was in a coil. But hay, it was free, so we just keep bending it and it will eventually straighten out. We cut the top of a milk jug and positioned it as a hand guard. Then taped it into place.

Next we wrapped the "business" end of the pole with a piece of pipe insulation.

A piece of insulation, about 1 inch long, was left extended past the pipe. It was folded over the end and taped with electrical tape to make a soft point. You can get any color electrical tape you like at the hardware store. The bigger stores may have better color selection. We happened to have green already so that is what we used.

The whole thing was wrapped in the electrical tape, including the hand guard.

You could use multiple colors for a more dramatic pole.

Then the knights mounted up!!

Spring chores

The ground was to frozen to pick up the paddock so we cleared the trails today.

Using your pony makes the chore extra fun!

When everyone was getting cold we moved into the art studio.

The kids are all at different stages in making and painting their paper mache horses.

I set Scout up with this horse, came back, and this is what she had done...all by herself. It even has eyes!

A finished pony

good times

whats better then a boy whistling while he works!

Ar day-collage

The kids made collages about themselves. They used scissors, glue, magazines, yarn, sticks, foam shapes, stickers, glitter and imagination.

Zach started the wood stove early in the morning to take the chill off the room. All the kids, even the littlest one's gathered around the table with piles of inspiration.

Scout is getting so focused now, she stayed at the table for 30 minutes!

Beautiful projects began to appear.

We had cocoa and snacks and laughs.

Exploring scissors.

The day ended with snow play, kids, dogs, swing set, fun!!!

Life is Good