Have A Tacky Christmas!

Well, a tacky Christmas tree at least!  So I shared with you in this post about my daughter and her Dad going out and getting our Christmas trees.

My daughter Olivia then raided all the old tree decorations and announced that this year she was going for the old fashioned, tacky Christmas tree!  She has had a great time stringing popcorn, making paper chain garlands, snowflakes and I don't know what all else.  But the pictures say it better than I, and frankly, I love the results.  She has done a great job and had a lot of fun doing so.

My girl loves the holidays, her enthusiasm spills over.  A number of you wanted me to make sure I posted some pictures of her tree once it was decorated, so here they are.

Have a Warm and Wonderful Holiday, from my family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Feeling The Moments

It's that time of year, everything narrows in focus and our normal routines get set aside for all that the holidays bring.  I'm doing what I can to make it memorable and fun, especially for me.  I know, I know that sounds off somehow, but life is coming to terms with what is, not what it use to be.  Changes come and with them we have to be open to a different way of seeing and doing things.  I've simplified where I can so that I'm free to enjoy the moments.

Speaking of moments, my son Wes took his girls out for their first ski run of the season.  We don't have near the snow that we will have, but they had a grand time just the same.  This is Grace's first year snowboarding, she has been skiing for the last couple of years and now joins her Dad as a snowboarder.  They say once you've used a board you won't go back :-)

Grace getting the hang of ski skating, it's how she gets around, kind of like skateboarding.

Taking a break and watching the snowboarder action.

Watching the snowboarders do their tricks.  Love the look on Lyvia's face and Grace is hamming it up for the camera as usual :-)

Lyvia is getting her second taste of skiing this year and is loving it.  Love to see those smiling faces having so much winter time fun!

Snack time, and a chance to warm up!

Even my art has taken a back burner. Not sure if this is due to the holidays or me just hitting an inspiration wall.  I did start working on a design for a large canvas tonight, I'm liking it so far and have plans for some fun mixed media elements and lots more texturing. Love the designs I can create with the Gorilla Glue, so appreciate the creative genius of Suzy Andron for coming up with such a concept. Her DVD on Polytychs opened my imagination to a whole new world. We will see just how long this one simmers or if it comes to a full boil quickly :-)

Hope you all are enjoying the moments this Christmas!

Brenda Goes To School

Well the deed is done, I had a blast and never got one picture!  My Grand-daughter Grace's class invited me to come and help them make their own bookmarks from their original abstract designs.  Tuesday was the day, we hit the floor running at 10:30am and we were flat out until shortly after 12 noon.  What a great bunch of artist!  It was fun to see them create their abstracts the techniques were new to them and as always I'm fascinated by how people work with their materials, their unique approach to art and self expression.  I would have loved to just hover over each of the groups and watch them, as it was, there were a lot of steps, and things to get done in between drying times.  Who would think so much goes into creating bookmarks!

I had two goals, enjoy the process and complete at least one of their bookmarks so they could then work on the others on their own.  Mission accomplished!  At least I hope the kids had fun, I know I did although I did have to stay focused, which was a little disconcerting for my Grand-daughter.  She's use to Nanny being so involved and out for the fun, flexible, it threw her off a little that I had to cut some things short in order to show them all the next steps.  But Grace was invaluable to me.  I could not have done it without her constant help with her classmates, walking them through the steps, helping pass out items as well as getting 27 abstract paintings dried!  My hubby, Jean, was great as ever with the kids and Grace's teacher, Krista is a gem, wish I had had a teacher like her when I was young.  You know it is a rare gift, the ability to truly teach, to share the love of learning in ways that capture and captivate young or older minds.  Krista is one of those people.

So if you're checking this out Classroom Connection 4W's, thank you for allowing me to come and share with you a morning of creativity and great fun, your the best!  To think I had our video camera in my purse the whole time and completely forgot about it, not sure who had a paint free hand to hold the camera with anyway :-)

Bren