Art With Lentil // Whittling

In the story, Old Sneep grumbles while whittling on a park bench because he's jealous of Colonel Carter and the town's celebration of his return. 

Whittling is where you carve something into a shape by cutting small slices off it; typically used with a knife and wood or bone. Little kids have most likely not heard of this trade-skill before, if you're pre-scout age that is. So, we gave the boys a chance to whittle using a butter knife and ivory soap. This activity was right up W's alley so we saved it for the weekend so he could teach them in the backyard.

The boys were way too young to really have the fine-motor skills for this, but they thoroughly enjoyed it and W loved being able to instruct them.

E somehow managed to shape his into a gun with random cuts.

They sure loved this art project.

Math With Lentil // Fractions

We did a little lesson with music and fractions for Lentil. I was kinda hesitant to try what the book suggested, and pleasantly shocked that E grasped the introductory idea of fractions.

We sang a few songs that they know by heart and tapped out the beats to show him examples. He used the work "split" in place of "divide" so I went with that. Together, we split {cut} the two other whole circles into halves and quarters. We practiced splitting a handful of nails and popsicle sticks {it's what I had quick on hand}. And a banana as well. 

We reviewed where Lentil lives on our US map, and where we live.

And on our world map.

We also played the "hearing game" to add to our senses. I pulled up youtube and played a sound effect for him {ie. lion, monkey, fire truck, motorcycle, waves, rain, etc} and had him guess what he thought he heard. He "drew" a picture of his guess, then we checked the screen to see if he was right. He enjoyed me "trying to trick" him and he figuring it out.

I feel like I'm starting to warm-up finally. Like prepping lessons, being intentional about getting school in during the days I have planned, and including T where I can. And it's nice that so far, the lessons have been just the right amount of time before E is done. Short and sweet, but with enough time for instruction and practice. 

Baby W // Coming Soon

I met up with some sweet friends the other night for some maternity pictures. Paula and Andrew used to live near us before they upgraded and we've missed them ever since. They are so fun-loving and going to rock this parenting thing. We are beyond excited for them and their little guy.

Science with Lentil // Sense of Taste

So we started rowing a new book this week for school: Lentil. It's such a cute story about a small town boy named Lentil and his determination to overcome the handicap of not being able to pucker his lips. He finds he can make music in another way: the harmonica. The conflict of the story revolves around Old Sneep and his devious plan to stop a celebration by making everyone's lips pucker via him sucking on a lemon. Lentil saves the day with his harmonica.

So our science consisted of taste testing and learning about our tongue and where the difference taste receptors are.

Of course, the lemon was THE most fun for the boys. T's expressions were my favorite. He tried it a few times before handing the entire thing over to Ezra. Some honest and true distress right here. ;)

E's initial reaction was similar to T's, but on a much smaller scale. And after awhile, I think he just got used to it, because he sucked on the lemon for quite some time AFTER our experiment was done.

Throughout the week, we've also been talking about the other four senses. We've also touched on the letter M for Music and US geography for California and Ohio {where Lentil takes place}. Hoping we can squeeze in a few more activities for math and art this week too. This book has some great content to study!

Snapshot Workshop

A few days in to Ashley Ann's SnapShot workshop and I'm kinda obsessed. Not only is her teaching and feedback excellent, but I'm loving the collaboration aspect of it too with the others in the class. And what's nice is that pretty much everyone is on the same field. So encouraging and so challenging.

It's funny how some things start to click. Like when we need to share about our relationship with photography. I remember walking along Sunset Blvd near my apartment in collage with my mom's old dslr and taking pictures of flowers, front doors, and fences. I even got some of my film rolls printed and framed. I had no clue what I was doing, but I loved it. I've always loved the art behind photography: the elements of composition and story-telling. I'm just so thrilled to finally learn some of the technical.

Here's a bit of what I've been working on...

Here's to brighter and crisper pictures that require less editing. ;)

A Little Bit of Country // Meyers

It was a gorgeous evening when I met up with the Meyers Family. And they were so nice to humor me: I made them trek along a trail until we reached this great spot. We let the kids plays and I tried to catch as many giggles as I could...

It's A Small World, VALENTINE.

I'm excited to report I found new guinea pigs to be my models!! My girlfriend Laura volunteered her two adorable {and super photogenic} babes to help my cause. Paige's SIXTH birthday just past and with her "It's A Small World" birthday party coming up, we decided to play up the theme just a little. 

Now, Paige has a ham of a little brother. And he couldn't not join in {heart-breaker warning}.

And a few of them being silly and sweet together.