My dog died

Mini Shnauzer 15 years old. Died from Congestive heart failure.  It was the saddest thing ever.  We are all so sad and the other dog is freaked.

Meanwhile, I kept busy by moving into a new store space as well as the ton of other things I had to do this week

Rote memorization- just practice

sketch a day- day 2

In the art video I watched today, the artist instructor demonstrated how to draw the human figure and understanding how the body works and what shapes it is generally made up from.  So, today's sketch is of a model dummy I have that interestingly enough is not comprised of the same shapes that he demonstrated in the video.

Something he said in the video caught me as very interesting. He said that an artist has two talents... the first is being able to remember what things look like and to draw them from memory. I am and have always been weak in that. The second is in being able to see in a way that most people cannot, to break down an item, a figure, etc, and draw it on paper in a realistic way. That is my strength.  I have always happily leaned on it.

I always thought that my talent was what it was and that I could not fix the missing part of my artistry and learn to draw from memory. But according to this instructor, I was wrong. It seems that the way to strengthen this missing part of my skills is through wrote memory.  To practice. To draw items (in this case he was talking about anatomy and the human figure) over and over again. Use anatomy books.  Draw bones, tendons, muscles, etc until I can draw them without looking at the item.

Sounds familiar doesn't it. Isn't this how we taught our kids the alphabet, to count, to multiply, and history and grammar facts when we homeschooled them?  And the homeschooler becomes the homeschooled!

Why wouldn't I treat practicing my art like my kids practiced piano, or like I have always insisted they practice math through doing a few problems a day?  Why should it be any easier..  And considering that my hand feels crampy after just a 15 minute sketch, I can tell you it won't... but I will be better for it. Likewise, kids will be better for daily practice of math, language, and whatever they are endeavoring to learn.

Oooops. Did I do that?

Best innocent face.  (From passenger seat!)

Me: (in passenger seat)  The curb.  THE CURB!
Daughter: (in drivers seat) What curb? (thump) Ohhhh, that curb (thump)



I think she was more focussed on pulling into McDonalds than anything.  She wanted Monopoly game pieces.  We ordered what we thought would get those pieces and got home to find out there were none.  Bummer.

I tend to vent a bit about my kid, but I love her to pieces.  She's funny, and talented, and I am glad to say that the ADD child (according to the school) that I had on my hands in Pre-k through 1st grade is now a mature-ish, beautiful, quirky, entertainer who has grown into her skin.

I'm not saying she doesn't have her faults, because she does.  There is still some mental hyperactivity going on, and a level of distractedness (see above).  But if you look at the kid the schools claimed I was going to end up with, she is a superstar in comparison.

So don't believe what they tell you.  Don't let negativity be spoken into your child's life.  You speak positivity into them instead. They might surprise you.



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Mark Twain Re-mixed

In popular music lingo, a remix is an alternative version of a song, made from an original version. With the sterilization of Mark Twain's books the term remix is clearly spilling over into the world of literature.

If you follow my blog, you may have noticed

It's about watching and guiding

 Even before we started homeschooling, I always felt that my job as a parent was to watch and guide my children to be who they wanted to be, not who I wanted them to be.  I have always said that I couldn't wait to see what they would be come, and I always hoped that while I wanted to influence who they are as good human beings, that I don't want to influence what they are to become.

There is an interesting blog post with thousands of comments at this point where the mom let her son dress up as Daphne (from Scooby Doo) for Halloween.  She wrote

Teaching kids the importance of research

So this was an interesting week. My son had a recital where all of the kids in the Artios conservatory program demonstrated what they had learned this year... my son played a Mozart piece that he had only been practicing for two weeks, so he wasn't exactly happy with is performance, but it was a valiant attempt... He was also in his first Movie short that one of his friends produced.

But on the homefront, my kids learned about the importance of research. You see, my husband and I decided to replace out 12 year old sofa and ordered a sectional. Delivery was supposed to be Friday and I did not find out otherwise until I called for a delivery time... apparently there was a problem and I was livid because they did not have the courtesy to let me know in advance.

I my angry state I went online to see if the same furniture was on sale anywhere else... and guess what... it was. $200.00 saved! Take that!

So my kids have learned that proper research can save you $200.00.... I just hope they don't wait to get mad to do the research like me.


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