Collage Friday - Poetry, Pastels, and Purging
Friday, March 22, 2013 at 5:00AM 
This week was a little tough getting back in the swing of things after a wonderful trip to The Great Homeschool Convention in Greenville, SC.
I'm so thankful my husband's back is improving - he was able to come with us! We had a relaxing change of pace for three days.
I am planning a post for next week to tell you about some very helpful things I learned, but for now I would just like to encourage you to attend a homeschool convention if you get the chance.
Attend it with your spouse if you can. Learning alongside my husband was the best part of the weekend!
Well -- maybe the best part! Truth be told, the Tim Hawkins concert was the best part!
We had such good seats -- and he even sang directly TO ME (jumped on the seat in front of me, in fact) and rubbed my husband's bald head. It was hysterical.
Our favorite skit? Yoga Pants!
It's great to laugh!
We also did a special, unexpected thing for the kids after the concert.
Signs of Spring
The weather has been a bit strange recently.
Monday evening we were caught in a terrible hail storm (the car I was reviewing was all dinged up by the hail) while Anna was at her children's chorus rehearsal.
Tuesday it was a gorgeous, sunny day. During Anna's piano lesson Grant and I took a nice walk and saw signs of spring everywhere. The Bradford Pears are in bloom, and you can tell the Pine Trees are ready to burst with pollen. We identified the Tulip Poplars in bloom (we studied these last year).
Tonight they say we may get snow.
What?
I can't keep up.
Taming the LEGO Beast and the Great Purge
My son really has a lot of LEGO bricks. We needed to get a handle on them this week. Once upon a time they were organized really well, and we needed to get back to that.
His room is VERY small - just enough room for his bed, a dresser, a small bookshelf, and that's about it. I'm thinking of doing some wonderful Pinterest project for a LEGO table underneath his window.
He does have a nifty storage unit for his LEGOS that I really like, but we need a larger building surface.
Or, maybe this storage unit would work?
He also has a 6 cubbie storage bookshelf for all of his books, cars, and LEGO activity books.
We also got rid of a favorite CARS rug and his little boy bedding. He told me he is growing up and now he needs big boy things in his room.
Sniff.
Poetry and Pastels
My dear friend Tricia has written an ebook - A Simple Start in Chalk Pastels.
What I love about this ebook is that it is an entire year of EASY TO FOLLOW chalk pastel tutorials.
Currently Anna is working on a Shakespeare poem, Youth, I Do Adore Thee. We are working through an Evan Mooe poetry book (it's something she requested) and this was the first poem she chose. The book has such beautiful poems, with a nice explanation of each, along with two activity pages. She is doing the pages, copying the poem, and creating artwork for each poem.
The Tree Silhouette chalk pastel tutorial was just perfect for her poetry notebook - she chose the tree because it reminded her of the seasons of life talked about in the Shakespeare poem.
We haven't done a lot of poetry, so I'm looking forward to this with Anna.
Please check out Tricia's Simple Start in Chalk Pastels. You will be so pleased!
And, I have a deal for you!
$5 off (makes it $14.99 for a whole year of tutorials!) with code Hodgepodge
On Thursday I overcame a fear - speaking in public.
I gave a talk to our homeschool group about how I show Jesus through my blog, and also about the wise use of technology for kids. I prayed long and hard about this and did much research. It is an area I feel very passionate about.
My blog is my ministry - but anything can be sinful if it takes us AWAY from our relationship with God. I'm trying to keep this in mind with every word I write, tweet I make, etc...
I never imagined this would be my life at the age of 41, but I'm quite happy with God's path. It's unexpected, difficult, and blessedly wonderful.
Yes, even as I was driving to co-op on Thursday with my van window duct taped up {sigh}, I was thanking God for a van that runs, children that see the humor in things, and the ability to get it fixed right away.
That's our week in a nutshell.
How was YOUR week?
Please join me for Collage Friday!
The rules are simple. Link your post (that incudes photo collages) about your homeschool week. Be sure to grab a Collage Friday button or text link back to this post in some way. Then, be sure to visit the other blogs on the list to offer support and gain ideas. This is a wonderful community and I love reading through your blogs each weekend and seeing how you all encourage each other.
*I will delete any links that don't comply with these guidelines. {not trying to be crabby, just trying to respect the hard work of those who do follow the rules}
Reader Comments (22)
I am finding this Georgia weather bewildering too! Now that we'v had a peek of warm weather, I'm ready for it to be warm all the time.
Wow! What great concert seats! AWESOME! I have been working on Lego organization over here too. I hope to get my post up Saturday.
Blessings, Dawn
I love this heartfelt post. I truly think that your blog is a ministry. We are having trouble taming the Lego beast as well. I am interested in learning how you master it. Isn't Trisha's e-book amazing?
The pastel art looks like so much fun. I wonder if my kids would like it. Never know, right? I am so jealous you saw Tim Hawkins. I love the guy. He's hilarious. :)
You aren't kidding when you say your son has a ton of legos. My goodness! Yet, it it wonderful he uses them! I hate seeing toys in any amount - NOT used. :)
Legos. :sigh: My nemesis. Nah, just kidding. We have about 200 POUNDS of Legos, maybe more, about 5 bushels worth? And that's what isn't made into something they want to keep (on shelves). It really is crazy! I've put a boycott on any more Legos coming into the house. If we don't have a specific piece then Lego doesn't make it! LOL
At some point we had to say "enough" to the Lego guys in our house. It made them be more creative with their building. We have a super small house and there were two boys who lived in our family room until a couple of years ago so they had no real space of their own to fill with toys.
Anyway, bummer about the hail damage on the KIA. I never thought Atlanta would get more snow then we would this year! We had rain but the gentle spring kind which was enjoyable.
Thanks for the link-up and hope you have a great week.
Don't you love stepping on Legos in your bare feet? :) I had initially tried organized bins with my unorganized son, but he had no desire to sort them into my system--go figure! I sewed Lego sacks (you can Google for a tutorial) for both my kids and they work pretty well, though my son doesn't have as many as Grant! Now they all go in one sack and he can pick up all by himself. Anna could easily sew one--it's basically a large circle of fabric that cinches up for storage, but spreads out during play time for searching for pieces.
My kids were amazed by the hail story on the news. We "only" got a foot of snow. :)
We had the privilege of taking our older three children to see Tim Hawkins. Oh such a wonderful dose of constant laughter!!! Definitely a favorite memory. I sure admire your Lego organizational methods and efforts. Wow. And it thrills me to hear how much Anna is enjoying the chalk pastels!! Beautiful tree!
I'm so glad Hal is feeling better! And we are about to tackle several Pinterest projects and purging over spring break while John is home. The boys will have their room together and the other bedroom is going to be the school/play room so we can have a living room again!
Anna looks like she is quite the creative with her music and art! You have two awesome kiddos!
So glad you guys got to go to the convention as a family. That Hal got to go is such a great thing! I love the comment you make about learning beside your husband. That's awesome.
I also love the link to the story of the doughnuts. I think those are the moments that build family, personally.
I also love the chalk pastels piece. That's neat that your kids have that artistic experience. I wonder how long it will be until I start seeing chalk pastel ninjago characters appearing in church! LOL
Try keeping Legos organized for THREE kiddos- geez! I finally banished all Lego storage to our garage play area, cause it was like a Lego Apocalypse in their bedrooms... ;0)
I truly relate to the talk that you did with your homeschool group. I am a new blogger and getting into this whole world that I kind of avoided for a long time. My husband was trying to get me on board for a while. :) Anyway, I was looking at a helpful video a few days ago where the person talked about all they had to give up to build their blog to where it is. While that is admirable and respectable, I immediately refused that route.Simply because I consider my girls to a huge, most import priority, my bible reading time (which I will post about one day) and my husband (not in any particular order). Hard work is a must and I'm committed to that but there's a line for me and I know when I cross it. When dinner's not done and the kids are eating fig bars!!! LOL that's too much...for me..
Nice, entertaining and extremely enlightening post. Thanks!
Golly, I just love reading your blog. Thanks for this, and for just how encouraging you are :) I hope we can go to a homeschool convention soon. Not sure it'll happen this year at this point. :( I've never been, but I hear they are just great!
Yeah.. I see how it is.. I was here lookin' at pigs while you were watching Tim Hawkins. Fine! :-)
Enjoyed reading about your week. Yes, the weather has been crazy! I sent my kids to the basement during the hail storm and then grabbed my camera! I know, I'm ridiculous! I'm itching to go to a park and see color; my yard isn't showing much. Loved your signs of spring collage. One of these days I may get brave enough to try pastels. Perhaps on the deck where I can blow off the dust?! My Friday post didn't quite qualify this week to link up :) Have a blessed weekend!
So many good ideas in this post. We are floundering with art, again. When are we not? Amber adores poetry, I found out earlier this year, and I'm trying to decide how to incorporate more of it into next year (6th grade).
Glad to hear you had a relaxing trip and that your husband was able to attend. I hope all continues to improve for you both.
Thank you for your personal words of encouragement today they made me smile :)
We also have a LEGO beast at home and I am enjoying watching Sir N be creative as I know this season changes and leaves so quickly.
I'm off to look at the pastel link thanks :)
Thank you for hosting
Blessings
The more I come to your blog the more I love ti! I've totally been perusing all of your Lego stuff! Will be utilizing some of it for our hoemschool group and our current LEGO learning class. I love that you guys are bird watching too! I love all God's little creatures. Well maybe with the exception of spiders. LOL
Anyway thanks for hosting this link up every week.
LOVE Tim Hawkins! And we have a similar lego issue - though not NEARLY as much! I'm also thinking of building some kind of table/drawer combo thing. And thanks for the code for the pastel book - I'll be sharing it in my post on Monday!
I love how you are combining poetry and artwork!
I detest public speaking...good for you!!
I hope you're having a nice weekend, Mary :)
The video was hilarious! Thank you for sharing =) I am thankful I got to hear "you show Jesus." You are a fabulous public speaker! It resonated with me in a lot of ways. I really was ready to give up somethings, and then I listened to your wise words, got two notes of encouragement- completely unsolicited and unexpected. Funny how God orchestrates things. ~
Spring is trying to show itself. Your pictures are so pretty. If only the temperature would cooperate!!
I love the chalk lesson you guys completed! So pretty.
Thanks for sharing your week faithfully with us =)
Wow, that is a lot of lego bricks! My boys have a really big "underbed" style box to put all their legos in...it allows the legos to "spread out" a bit so they can see what is there. We tried a complex organizational system, but they are just too young for it. What is working well for us is a couple fishing tackle boxes they can use to organize mini figs, accessories and really special pieces they don't want to lose. The minifigs are really their favorite part of lego play so they are motivated to keep those organized!