I had this brainstorm, and I'm sure someone else on the Internet has had the same one. So, if you've seen this teaching idea somewhere else, please know I'm not claiming this as my own.
This was a lesson on Michaelangelo.
First, I gathered the supplies. Paint, brushes, plastic tub, bedsheets, and paper. The paper I used was a huge roll DH had gotten from the newspaper - it was the end of the roll and was free.
I cut a piece of this paper long enough to fit under our dining table. Our dining table is one DH made cuz our dining room is kinda long and to buy a table that long was out of our price range. The table is about 7' long.
So, this made it easy, each child had a 3 1/2 foot area in which to work. This was their "ceiling" of the Sistine Chapel.
Next, I put several old bed sheets down on the carpet. I put paint in cups and put the cups in a plastic tub so the kids could get to it, but when they took paint, it would drip in the tub.
We went through the book "Art for Children: Michaelangelo Buonarroti" by Ernest Raboff.
Next, I had the children paint on the paper (aka the ceiling of the Sistne Chapel) while lying on their backs under the table.
It was quite fun.
If you haven't had a chance to meet Molly Green, check out her site at
econobusters.com.
There's a great link to a free anti-virus site and a yummy recipe for Christmas leftovers. It's a turkey recipe, but I'm going to try it year-round for chicken. We eat a lot of chicken, and I'm always looking for casserole type dishes.
And
check out this chicken recipe Molly shared.
I'm so very thankful gas prices have come down, but I just don't see the reduction in grocery prices. I appreciate the frugal recipes!
DS16 and I went to Greece this past fall. It was quite fun. I sat between him and my mother for 10 hours on the flight over.
Now, I don't mind sitting in the middle, but I hate it when the person in front reclines all the way - especially if they are in the bulk head and already have extra leg room.
My brother and his wife went too. They were on the same flight out of JFK. They sat in first class. DS and I were going to go up there and mooch an extra pack of caviar or something, but were stopped at the "division of the classes" curtain. We weren't allowed up there - imagine. Like we were some sort of lowly riff-raff. My brother heard the ensuing "scuffle" as DS and I wrestled the flight attendant to the ground. He turned around just as we were letting her stand back up - he just smiled and waved a Miss America wave. I wanted to do the really mature thing and make a raspberry noise at him or something.
Boy, talk about getting my feathers ruffled. They were already mushed from being in the middle and having some ladies head in my lap for 7 hours, but to be denied the ability to mooch some smoked salmon off my brother and make him feel guilty for not switching seats with me or at least our elderly mother, well that just stuck in my craw. And, to have him give me that Miss America wave. Well! I was not going to share the trail mix I had stashed in my carry on with him! He' d miss out on all those yummy almonds and M and Ms.
The movies were ok. There was some weird foreign film about a guy who comes home and there's some couple living in his apartment. This is how that movie experience went - the movie played for about 8 minutes and they stopped it and restarted.
Then, it played over, from the beginning - another 8 minutes. Stop. Restart. Another 8 minutes Stop. Restart.
By then, the riff raff in fourth class was throwing ice at the flight attendants and boo'ing.
We really hissed when they announced that someone in First Class was having electrical problems. Like the 4th class herds really care about the spoiled travelers in the First Class cabin.
Well, they finally just let the movie run. And, about 15 minutes later my brother comes back, all smiling cuz his legs aren't cramped, no one has their head in his smoke salmon, and he says, "Man, the worst thing has happened! Our electrical doesn't work. We're the only people in first class with no lights, no headphones".
I said, "Are you the spoiled first classer that has made us watch the weird opening to this completely odd movie, like 8 times? And you didn't even bring your poor mother and sister an extra pack of smoked almonds or nothin'?"
And, now everyone in 4th class knew that we were related to the cause of this huge inconvenience. We threw him back over to the other side of the "division of the classes" curtain. Yes, we sent his spoiled self packing. HMPH!
Since this was about 102 hour trip, they played gobs of movies. One of them was the new Get Smart. It was kinda goofy, but there were some hilarious parts.
Now, when you wear those headsets, you really can't hear how loud you're laughing. And, DS16 and I, well, we like a good laugh just as much as the next person. And, we tended to laugh out loud at a few parts and kinda talked to each other while laughing, "Oh, man, that's hilarious." you know, that kinda mother-son banter. And, apparently, at the top of our lungs.
Well, when we finally disembsarked, after about 154 hours, we're riding this bus to the terminal in Athens and this lady says, "Oh, you were the people laughing really loudly at the movie."
I really wanted to say, "yeah, so?" But, I pulled my mature 48 year old, mother-setting-an-example self together, looked at my son, and we busted out laughing about the fake swordfish going through a window.
So, are you still with me? I thought I'd post a few photos of the trip...maybe one per entry. Check this out...it was on the island of Lesvos, in a little fishing village tucked away in some bay. They were drying this octopus outside a restaurant on the water.
(copyright disclaimer: thou shalt not control c/control v photos off my blog)
No, we didn't eat octopus. My son did eat goat one night.
Explain this, the boy won't eat spaghetti sauce, but will eat goat. Tell me, where is the reasoning in this?
