Krista's Art Work!

Krista is spending 5+ hours a day doing an art "stage" this week. In the a.m. she is with the younger kids and primarily painting...and in the afternoon she is with the older kids (up to age 17) and working on sketching and drawing skills/techniques. The class size is very small (only 4 kids per class). She did her first charcoal yesterday, her first "fruit and veggie" still-life on Tuesday and also a self-portrait! Today she worked with sanguine. I was truly impressed with her work. She has a real hand for art according to the teacher. I'm glad to see her enjoying herself so much! Here are a few examples of what she has done this week. Click on the image to enlarge for detail.

And the winner is....

KRISTA!!! I can't belive this...Krista just won an MP4 player! Her school had a drawing contest, sponsored by a French National Bank and KRISTA won! :) She reieved a certificate from the Bank and an MP4 player! I'm so happy for her because she really takes pride in her art. She loves drawing, painting etc and has requested private art classes for next year on several occasions. After winning the contest I think I'm going to have to find room in her schedule for a 1 hr/week class. She is so inspired by drawing.

Kids Project Time

All I have to say is that life with three active kids doesn't leave much time for the computer! THAT, and I've been dedicated to "kids-projects" this last week. I have been MEANING to get my DV collection onto DVD (since August!). Poor Grandma hasn't even seen the video of her trip to visit. If you know me then you know that my video camera receives very little downtime. So a backlog since August spells TROULBE! I don't think my video camera (or still camera for that matter) have EVER been "put away" since they were purchased.

So, I have been busy getting my DVD's burned--I think I've only done 6 though. It takes about 5 hours per tape! A LONG process, but very worth it. At the moment the kids favorite videos to watch are homevideos of themselves! The downside of all of this DVD making is that I can't use my computer when I'm creating a DVD. So all of this "computer freedom" has given me a lot of time to do OTHER kids projects: including updating both Krista and Erik's baby books and school year books! I was sort of sad to realize that Krista is now officially FINISHED with her baby book. It covered birth to 7 years and so this is it! Erik and Kaitlyn's only go to 5 years so Erik will wrap his up next year! And today I FINALLY completed a project that I have been meaning to do for MONTHS! I took Kaitlyn's hand-mold when she was a wee newborn (2 weeks old) and just this weekend FINALLY poured the plaster into the cast! Krista and I painted it today and it is precious. Krista said it is our neatest craft yet! We've also done "footprints in the sand" molds of Kaitlyn when she was itsy-bitsy and full hand and foot castings (done at a week and a half). We are experts now at this baby memento business! It was really fun to complete and see...and just a few hours ago we hung it in her room. I put a little ribbon through it and it is just so sweet to see how TEENY TINY her hand was back then! This was a neat set--you can keep the "mother mold" and make as many as you wish. I love it! When I hold her baby hand cast it is amazing to think she was THAT small! We are nearing her 9 month birthday now...WHERE does the time go?!

School Vacation

Here in France we're on school vacation this week and next week! The French seem to have a LOT of school vacations (this one being for All Saints Day). All of these vacations are great for the kids, but the downside is that summer vacation is rendered a bit short in my opinion!!

We aren't up to much this vacation...just keeping busy in the neighborhood (with a few planned outings for next week). The kids have a million friends here in the cul-de-sac so they aren't bored. We've been taking Kaitlyn on walks and going to a few of the local parks. PLUS, we've been sleeping in! It feels great not to have to rush around in the morning. Krista's rhythmic gymnastics class is still being held during the vacaction though, (2x a week as a matter of fact), so that is something for her to look forward to!

The weather is still wonderful here. Sunny and in the 70's! We couldn't be more spoiled!

I thought it would be fun to take a look at what they are on vacation from:

Here is a sample of both kids school work at the moment!

Krista (2nd Grade): Reciting a poem "Le Tamanoir" and her notebook where its written.





Erik (Pre-school): LEARNING to write the days of the week!

Erik's Family Sketch

My favorite pirate, Erik Andres, has drawn a photo of his family. You can see from left to right: Daddy, the head pirate, leading the family along (complete with his sword, feather, skull & crossbone hat and a big smile on his face), next in line is baby Kaitlyn and her stroller. You might want to note that the 3 wheels on the stroller isn't a mistake because we do indeed have a 3 wheel carriage ( the only oddity is that Kaitlyn appears to be riding on the handle bar of the stroller--something she's never tried, but Erik seems to think is possible!). The lineup continues with Erik... pirate bandana on his head, and pushing the stroller. I'm up next...the Mom (proudly walking as the TALLEST memeber of the family--does that mean I am viewed as the authority?), and finally you see Krista with a necklace on her chest. Well, I hope you enjoyed the drawing...it is one of 10 Erik made today :) And since he worked so hard on all of the others....I will also include this last one too....


He really wanted Grandma to see this one before she leaves on her trip to come visit us (we can't wait)! This one is of Erik's second favorite things next to pirates---BATS! It is a cute drawing...One bat is even hanging upside down to sleep (which Erik learned about in his new book "Stella Luna"). You can also see that Erik has learned to print his name (the K's were cut off by the scanner--sorry EriKKK).