History projects

Assignment: Creative project done at home for chosen subject.
Kaitlin - for 6th grade Ancient History, Kaitlin chose greek gods.
Breana - for 5th grade American History, Breana chose the Declaration of Independence.
Ideas: clay sculptures for diaramas.

My job: buy the clay in yellow, white, tan & blue - easy enough...
Due: Wednesday, March 7

There are too many varietys of clay! There's polymer, suply, clay you bake, clay that hardens without baking, clay you reuse, clay you add color to while you're kneading, clay you paint after baking...here a clay, there a clay, everywhere a clayclay. The clay I found that hardens without baking for $3.49 only came in white & tan. To buy yellow, I would have to buy another multi-pack but would be stuck with neon pink, green & black. To buy blue, I would have to buy a single pack the size of a brick for approx $10. I decided on a completely different route - a neutral color that could be baked if you wanted to but would also harden without baking and could have dye added to it before baking and painted on after baking. I knew we had food dye and prayed that our tempura paint was still in good condition. This clay seemed quite versatile to me and for $3.49 a package I grabbed two, one for each girl, and intended on walking to the register but took a detour to the back of the store to walk down the aisles of pens & erasers & pads of paper before I worked my way up front...uh oh...and that's where I saw the kid's aisle. On those shelves were four completely different types of clay and colors and uses - ohmigosh this is only a 5th/6th grade project! I finally decided on 2 different types; a tub of white clay that hardens without baking and a package of 20 sticks in different colors of reusable clay. I walked out with my wallet $8 lighter, 4 minutes left on my meter & 15 minutes until the girls get out of school...my job is complete!

Kaitlin made 5 different objects significant to the greek gods and placed them on pillars. Her pieces were smaller in scale. Some pieces were easier to sculp than others. One piece, the wings on the sandal, took patience and a little bit of ingenuity to keep the reusable clay to maintain it's shape.

The end result is simple and well thought out. It makes a nice display representing symbols of the greek gods.

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Breana sculpted Thomas Jefferson signing the Declaration of Independence. For his blue jacket, Breana kneaded 2 different sticks of blue clay together and spread it over the body made of the white clay. Jefferson's hair is swabs of cotton and the feather was cut out of vellum. Breana always gathers feathers but could not find a single one for this diagram. The end result is stunning.

They both did an incredible job.

Concerns: getting them to school unharmed.

What we learned: the reusable clay isn't the best for projects like this.

Morning Rituals

I tend to be the first one awake in our Begin household. I give myself some time to be in silence before I wake up the family. First things first, I must wake up the house by opening it up to the outside - I throw open curtains and let in the natural light and get a peek of the sunrise. I turn off night lights and intruder alerts as I make my way through the house. Lastly, I turn on the computer and open up the curtains in the sunroom. Once that is done, I'm able to break the silence by shattering the girls' lovely sleeping state. I try to be gentle about the whole procedure yet I need to be firm & persistent. The rest of the morning entails packing lunches, eatting breakfast, feeding Tiger (Kaitlin's morning duty) and getting girls dressed. I'm thankful for the close proximity of their bedroom to the kitchen for there truly is no need for raising my voice to get my point across - 'truth' doesn't always prevail here. Constant reminders of what needs to be done; brush hair, where are you socks?, yada yada yada...you'd think they'd tire of hearing my redundancy in the morning! The hustle & bustle increases as we approach their foresaken hour - more than not, the 3 are out the door, with all of their days' necessities, on time... leaving me back to the silence I started with.
All I'm left with is the whirr of the computer, the purring of the cat, and the "weather channel" in the background. Once the remains of that part of my morning are turned off, whisked away to the dishwasher, folded w/ hospital corners, cleared away to drawers & cabinets, I take a peek at a few of my favorite blogs, I publish a post on my blogs and my day begins!

...finding love in all that we do...

Weekend Begin style

Fridays aren't considered part of the weekend, I know. It surely helps start off the weekend, though, when the week ends like this...

Violin lessons and accompanying on the piano up in the mountains......dinner at Shogun w/ Kaitlin...

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Kaitlin suggested she pose like this - the picture is a tad blurry and I should have taken another shot. I need to get over my feeling self-conscious of taking pictures out in public. I travel through my days thinking, "this would be a great post for our family blog!" as do the girls and even Dan. Most often I get too camera-shy and the photo doesn't get taken. Beware when I overcome that!

Dinner was delicious.

With Dan & Breana away for the evening, I took this opportunity to spend time with just Kaitlin - no multi-tasking, no distractions, no temptations of reading books, none of that. She dined on California Rolls and me on Hawaiian rolls (love the macadamia nuts) and we shared vegetable tempura - yum! I loved this time with Kaitlin. I love being with my family of 4 and I love having my girls at my side but to be able to focus on one child as I was able to do w/ Kaitlin was a treasured moment.

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Saturday, Dan & I went out to Chocolat. We had a nice pesto dinner at home w/ the girls but felt it would be fun to slip away for a bit. I was in the mood for the delicious 'Bianca' - yum - and book hunting for Mom B. We found two wonderful books - I cannot wait for these to fall on my lap! I definitely found more - how does one stop at just two books!

On Sunday afternoon, after Kaitlin's last full concert for that series, we ended the weekend at the Nickell's for our monthly family dinner & Mom B's birthday.

The Nickell boys had a satisfying weekend as well - their Cross Country Bike Team came in 2nd place! Proud Coach Jesse poses with the trophy.

Appetizers and wine were shared outdoors so that we can catch the last bit of warmth before the sun went down. (72 degrees!)

A perfect weekend - cherished moments, lovely music, delicious meals and the glorious sun.

school play - Cinderella

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Kaitlin & Breana's class is putting on "Cinderella & the Glass Slipper" in 4 weeks!

jumpin' jahoezafats!

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They're not able to just 'jump' on the trampoline, they don't know how to just jump. There isn't much a Parent can do but remind them, 'stay in the middle and if you're going to do a flip, jump high!' When Dan joins the mix, boy does it get squirrelly! A soccer ball gets retrieved from the garage and "Poison Ball" is the game of choice!

For this particular time of the year (between soccer seasons), my girls go straight to the trampoline from school...they have to get the 'jitters' out before they hit the homework - yes, that's what they tell me!

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(top, Kaitlin - bottom, Breana)

Picture & Post by Melissa!