What washes ashore..

Last month, the kids entered an art competition sponsored by Jeff's company. The participants were encouraged to collect plastic bits and pieces that wash ashore on the beaches of Bermuda. You'd be surprised what litters these pink sands! I entered the kids, and dragged their little behinds out to multiple beaches over the course of the two weeks the competition ran. You might remember how hard the kids worked on this.

I'm kidding. They did work hard, particularly when it came to sitting down and thinking through the project and coming up with a design. The art was displayed at work. Jordan made a mobile from a found plastic bottle, using it to create a cloudy sky. He designed birds from washed up cardboard and dangled them from bits of fishing wire. Mina made a mermaid princess, also using a bottle and multiple bits of discarded plastic and netting.



Guess what? They both won, in their respective age categories.



Jordan won first place!



And Mina won second!



We were really excited! Especially Jeff. Those very generous scholarships will help pay for summer camp next year!! Woo-hoo!!!

Agricultural Fair 2011

Since it was Friday, it stands to reason that the kids should be off from school.

Again.

What? They don't do this where your kids go to school?

The occasion this week was the annual Agricultural Fair, held at the Botanical Gardens. I was warned that most of Bermuda comes out to visit.

"Expect chaos," was how someone succinctly put it.

That being said, of course we had to go. So, I rounded up the troops and off we went. Added bonus - I was really looking forward to seeing Mina's school entry, a picture of "Big Bird and Friends." She even won a ribbon for it. The ribbon was presented at school, at their weekly school assembly. I wish someone had notified me to be there. I would have loved to see that.

I took a picture of her for posterity at home though.



And here's her winning picture:



It only took me about two hours and two Fair volunteers to ask before I was able to locate it. Nonetheless, we were very proud of our little bean.

The Fair itself is something like what I imagine a 4H festival must be like. Lots of animals on display, lot of arts and crafts, lots of baked goods competing with one another (might have to enter something next year.) The kids and I walked around for a long time admiring everything.

Some samples:

Miniature gardens



Container gardens



"High Tea" party hats (Speaking of which, someone needs to invite me to a Royal Wedding celebration party here on the island.)



Easter egg shell art,



Baked goods (My favorite)





They also had livestock being judged.

Baby cows - which made Jordan very happy.



And bunnies too - which made Mina positively gleeful.



No awards for cotton candy eating monkeys though.



Pity. I'm confident we'd win that one hands down.


ps.. They have off next Friday too. I'm not kidding. Good Friday or something. Can anyone say tuition reduction?

Arts & Crafts - December

Fall Crafting

I like having planned activities on hand for the afternoon during the hour or so before dinner time. While the weather is nice, I like to get the kids outside, but that hour before dinner, I need to be in the kitchen, and they need to be somewhere I can see them.

So, we spend a lot of time at the kitchen table. This afternoon's craft was inspired by a really lovely project I saw over at Montessori Mama's blog. Hers is much more Autumn-y looking. I hope we can complete ours as successfully and have them hanging in the windows this month.



Both Mina and Jordan are little gatherers when it comes to bits of nature that catch their eyes. Every day, when I pick Jordan up from school, he and Mina walk along the sidewalk to the car. Inevitably, one or the other stops at least twice to scoop up an acorn or a leaf or a twig laying on the ground.

"Here Mommy. This is for you! Do you want to hold it for me?" Jordan will ask. How am I supposed to refuse? As a result, the pockets of all my clothes contain outdoorsy detritus that I have to empty carefully before doing laundry.



So, when I saw this craft, I knew I would finally have a use for all this stuff. Now, I admit, I supplemented the stock a bit with feathers - recycled from one of Jordan's school crafts from last year, some dried sage from my garden (there's no way I am going to use all these dried herbs), some beads, some flower petals from the impatiens, some flower petals from a bouquet on its last legs, etc.



Jordan was particularly inspired by the orange feather. Whether these feathers exist naturally, I don't know. Since orange is his favorite color, I didn't want to quibble.



Beanie just enjoys getting her picture taken. Now that's she's figured out how the digital camera works, she insists on seeing each picture after I take it. Vain little thing.



I thought this one came out nice though.

The internet is a wonderful resource for crafty ideas to keep the monkeys occupied during twilight hours like pre-dinner. I often scope out sites for suggestions, and file them away for future use. I'm partial to crafts that don't require me to go out and buy a lot of stuff, and that are easy to clean up. Just in case, our table is always covered with a hideous plastic tablecloth, the kind I swore I would never use when I had a real house of my own.



This afternoon's craft, courtesy of this site, was quick to set up, kept them entertained for a full hour, and only required the purchase of one can of shaving cream from CVS. Total cost, $0.99. I suppose I could have just swiped Monkey Sr.'s shaving cream, but I had a feeling he wouldn't appreciate me using up his pricey can of sensitive skin ultra gentle deluxe foam. Old Spice brand for less than a buck worked just fine.

Everything else, we had on hand. I modified it by just putting the shaving cream in individual paint palettes so they could mix the colors separately. And because our goal was just to use the cream to paint, I gave them brushes to use on sheets of construction paper, rather than expensive cardstock.



They had fun mixing colors - with the gel food dyes I had laying around since God knows when.



And then we discovered that shaving cream provides a wonderful three dimensional aspect to our art. So we practiced our "gobbing it on" technique.



Bean does a good job of keeping up with her big brother.



Ok, I had fun playing too.



Jordan's masterpiece - "Apple Picking!" He's taking a field trip tomorrow with his school to go to a local orchard, and he has been talking of little else all week. I can't wait to see what he comes home with.

I'm hoping he comes back with some good ones. I've been on a baking kick of late, and apple pies and brown bettys are some of my favorite fall desserts. Tonight I made a walnut cake with praline topping, courtesy of Cooking Light.



It came out good. The monkeys approved. Naturally - it was sweet. Of course, I have to parcel it out to friends, family, colleagues, and Jordan's teachers so that it isn't sitting at home calling out my name. Monkey Sr. considers it a bribe when I send it off to school to share with the teachers, but hey... I know what it's like with just two howling monkeys to contend with. A whole classroom? They need all the sugar they can get.

The Sandbox Park.

The only thing that separates us from the animals...

is our ability to accessorize.

-Steel Magnolias.

Painting.

Some of us are really into it.

Saturday playdate.

The art table and birthday craft supplies got some good use today at the monkeys' playdate. Chalk, watercolor, and markers combined for a mixed media medley of colors. I held my breath, waiting for the inevitable water spillage, marker on the walls, or paint on the floor. It was not bad at all. No major damage. And since the whole house has become one big playroom anyway, my standards have gotten pretty lax.



But not so lax that I can't put the Monkey to work, when the opportunity presents itself. As it did here. A little water on the floor? Get to work mopping, kid. There's no free rides in this house.




We had the pleasure of hanging out with another little Mina today. I don't think she's quite made up her mind about us yet. I think I managed to get one hint of a smile out of her. I'll try harder next time and bring out all my best tricks.



Creativity can take a lot out of you. So we took a break to refuel. Would you believe out of the four children at the table, Jordan ate the most? Jordan?!?! He actually asked for seconds on the sandwich and the yogurt. I'm not congratulating myself just yet though. I expect a hunger strike will hit tomorrow as it dawns on him how many calories he actually consumed. I should probably follow his example.



Oh Angelique...one day I will make something that will tempt those toddler taste buds. Give me time.

Confronted.

By the Monkey's ever-growing collection of artwork. This is actually the second wall of art. Here's the first one. It's a little more free form in its arrangement.



Not a day goes by that he doesn't come home armed with a sheath of art projects from school. There seems to be an abundance of glitter for sale cheap, because I have no other explanation for why so many projects require it.

I'm considering going the digital route, as some wiser folks have. Nice idea, Ben.

But, what can I say? I get a kick out of seeing the Monkey's expression when I hang another picture up in the playroom. And they're all originals, many signed by the artist himself. I like the variety of colors too, and the ever-growing collection frees me from having to actually decorate my house like a sensible adult.

In other news, I think I might have made an enemy. At the gym, of all places. Argh..like I need another excuse to avoid going there. It's hard enough as it is to motivate myself, but I do! I get to the gym at least three times a week, because I actually like it. It's my one respite in the day, I work up a sweat, decompress; and it's an hour of preciously carved out me-time that allows me to come home recharged and ready to do battle. Plus, if I didn't work out a little bit, I would be even bigger than I am right now. I like to work out, but I LOVE to eat. At my current pace, I'm maintaining, which is all I can ask.

Never did I think I'd have to do battle while at the gym itself.

And I was totally minding my own business!! Argh!! There I was, on the bike, furiously peddling away, eyes watching the false-reading calorie counter. I cheered when it crossed the 150 mark and upped the level just a bit. Out of nowhere, I hear a voice behind me.

"You really should be more careful with other people's things, young lady." She spat at me.

My mind was not registering this clearly. Was someone talking to me? I was so lost in thought in my workout, I had even managed to tune out the horrible music blaring on the gym loudspeakers. Dangit..forgot my ipod again. But she repeated herself.

"You should be more careful young lady!"

Now, I was momentarily caught off guard by the young lady comment, as I haven't been the subject of that appellation in a long time. Then I realized what the grumpy old troll was talking about. She was bustling about behind me, collecting a pile of rumpled up coats, bags and miscellaneous items on the floor. I realized then, that she thought I had thrown her junk on the floor so I could use the bike. Meanwhile, I had been working out on the bike for almost thirty minutes now, the stuff had been abandoned on the floor the whole time, and had been there when I got on.

I replied, "I didn't touch your stuff. It was all laying there when I got on the bike."

"Well, someone touched it!" She replied in a huff.

I couldn't believe I was having such a stupid conversation. The whole point of escaping to the gym was to get away from baby nonsense, and yet here I was, once again, engaged in a confrontation with a childish tyrant.

"Look lady, I don't know who touched your stuff, or who moved it, or what happened, but it wasn't me." I tried to sound as tough as possible for someone wearing Target sweatpants and an H&M hoodie from six years ago.

She walked away mumbling under her breath and shooting me the stinkeye.

I continued to pedal, but that happy blissful feeling was gone. What the hell!?!? I fumed in silence. Next to me, a guy spoke up and said,

"I wouldn't worry about her too much. I'm the manager here, and I get complaints about her all the time. She's senile, I think. The light's on but no one's home, ya know?"

Yeah, I guess. I mumbled something and finished my cardio. Then I did a quick round of arm work, then a few minutes of abs. All the while, psycho beeyotch glared at me from points around the room.

Damnit.

The loon also left her cellphone behind at the bike. I noticed it as I got off while I was making sure I had mine. If I was a vengeful type, I should have pocketed it and tossed it. Instead, I pointed it out to the manager and asked him to give it back to her, since there was no way I was talking to her. She'd probably accuse me of stealing it.

I'm convinced I am a magnet for the crazies. I'm serious. I send off vibes that just invite the wack jobs of the world to approach me with their mumblings and ravings.