The Art Box – Oct. 18, 2010

No picture of the Art Box this week.  We all just need to just be ok with that, don’t you think?  ;)

But I do remember what M had in there:  regular tempera paints, watercolor paints, paper, glue, scissors, tape, stickers, markers, some empty ribbon spools, and red and gold glitter glue.  Also, some collage items: pom poms, buttons, googley eyes, confetti, beads, dyed macaroni.  These are the staples we usually go with (except for the glitter glue and ribbon spools), so nothing too exciting!

He is LOVING his new art strings.  All four of them are practically full at this point, and there’s still art taped to the walls in random areas.  Since the purpose of the art strings was to minimize the amount of art randomly taped to the walls throughout the house, I’d have to say they have been a huge failure.

However, did I mention that he LOVES the art strings?  So, my guess is he’s going to be asking for more art strings, and then our house will look like… I don’t know… like the reason why Mama is crazy, I guess.  Sigh.

Anyway – on to what he made this week…

Another birthday present for Daddy (in addition to the collage last week):

 

I sent M packing on his first guilt trip, and asked him why he never makes anything for Mommy, even though I had a birthday last week too.  I made him feel bad and got these two pieces of artwork out of it:

 Those are hearts!  Cute, no? 
I don’t see any hearts on Daddy’s artwork! Hee Hee.

And another heart with a very cute smiley face.  An M for M and an M for Mommy. :)  Now I’m happy.
Although, I’m not sure, but I think he just used scrap paper for mine – see the chunks cut out?

Some art string artwork:

Experimenting with white on red:

This is my favorite:

The next one is my least favorite.  Can you see the face with a frown on it in the lower left?  That was because Mommy was crabby that day (I asked him about it and that’s what he said!).  You can imagine how awful that made me feel.  However, it does go to prove that he’s able to work out his feelings with his art, and in my mind that’s one of the most important and beneficial things about art in early childhood.  And he was better able to talk about his feelings when referring to the art he’d made.  And of course, there was a big lesson for me there too:  I’M A BAD MOMMY.

Oh wait, maybe it’s more like I’LL TRY TO BE A BETTER MOMMY AND GET MORE SLEEP. ;)   

If you have a kid's art post, link it up below! Be sure to link back here somewhere in your post.

Have a beautiful day! :)

Review – Masquerade by Nancy Moser

This was a fun and fast read for me.  I really enjoyed the story of two friends switching places. 

Charlotte is the heiress of a once-wealthy English family, whose father has made some bad decisions in both business and morals.  Charlotte is offered marriage into one of New York’s wealthiest families and sets sail for America with Dora, who is her maid and confidante.

It is Charlotte’s idea for the two girls to trade positions, and Dora willingly goes along with it, thinking this is her chance to live the life of those she has always had to serve.


Both girls face serious dilemmas as they carry out their deceptive plan.  Charlotte has her money and jewels stolen and ends up living with an Italian family in some of the worst tenements in the city.  She learns about the needs of the poor and her eyes are opened to their plight in a way she’d never imagined.  Dora struggles with guilt as she learns to care for the man she (as Charlotte) is supposed to marry, and is pulled between him and another man she met aboard ship on their way to America.

This book gives a good account of how life was for many immigrants in the latter part of the 19th century.  It also helps one see the foolishness of trying to be anyone other than who one is, and the hurt that can be caused when deceiving others.

This was a good story, historically accurate, with many layers of wisdom in its pages.   I thoroughly enjoyed it and definitely recommend it!

Thank you to Bethany House for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book to review.