A Mission, A Dinner and the Modeling Clay...

The dreaded 4th grade Mission project.

 The deadline is drawing near all the while my dinning room table is being held hostage to the bits and pieces that we hope will soon resemble the grounds of the San Juan Capistrano Mission.

Only one problem, the clay that Mr. Treasures and Lil' Red picked up for the project NEVER hardens.
Yep, just like it says on the package.

I haven't had a chance to pick up any other kind of clay nor do I have flour (that would mean I bake) in the house in order to make our own. So we have $20.00 worth of clay, with NO use for it.

Tonight, while eating dinner  (at the other half of the table not being consumed by the project) I asked the kids about their day. Lil' Man started to tell me about wood shop class and how his teacher finally operated one of the machines today instead of talking nonstop about his travels around the world. He then began to tell me about his P.E. teacher who is obsessed with everyone "suiting up" and his dreaded English class.

As he was talking, I began to play with a piece of the clay, rolling it the way you'd roll a map. The end of it resembled a cinnamon roll. I showed the kids and they laughed.
Now, it was Lil' Red's turn to tell me about the mean 5th grader who had a date with Karma.  It was a tether ball match up that appeared to be lopsided. On one side Lil' Red's friend, a very meek, soft spoken girl - on the other, the Meany.

By  some cosmic payback to all that have been pushed around, the tether ball came off the pole, flew up in the air and managed to come down right on top of the mean girls head.  I asked Lil' Red, "Do you know what that is?" she answered "Yep, Karma."

Now of course I didn't stop there, we talked about what might be going on in mean girls life that would cause her to behave that way. We also talked about ways to handle any situation that might involve mean girls.

By this time, I had rolled the clay into what looked like the handset part of an old telephone. I held it up to my ear and said "hello" again, everyone laughed.

Mr. Treasures said "What can you make out of it?" and just like that we found a use for the clay.

Lil' Man took the receiver part of my phone and came up with this

While Lil' Red was hard at work on her laptop

 Mr. Treasures was working on his Football

Think someone might miss football season this year??

Next was a cell phone

 Followed up with a computer

complete with mouse and keyboard no less!

There was a penguin,

and an airplane

(Momma needs a vacation)

This went on for the rest of the evening.

 I think it might have been the best dinner I've ever had.

Angie

An Interview With Lil' Red

Sorry I didn't post this earlier!!  I decided to FINALLY work out last night and let me tell you, THAT took all my effort!!

Better late than never right?

If you missed yesterdays Makeover Monday, you'll want to start there!

Otherwise, here's the quick interview from a soon to be 10 year old and her outlook on "Living Creatively"

Q) What made you decide to paint your clubhouse?

A) What made me decide to paint it is that I want it to be a cool place to hang out and not be a dirty old thing in the back yard.   (I'm thinking we need to take better care of the backyard, how about you?)


Q) Can you tell us why you chose the colors you did?

A) I chose those colors because they are cool, funky and fun so it won't be boring in there.
      (Great reason. Who wants to be somewhere boring? Not me!)


Q) What do you think "Live Creatively" means?

A) I think live creatively means to just have fun and to do things that you've never done.
     (Can you imagine how great life would be if we didn't forget this as we grew up?)

Q) What are other ways you can be creative in life besides crafts?

A) I'm creative at school doing things my own ways. (explains a lot) I'm also creative the way I dress or when I play games.

Q) Pick 3 words to describe yourself.

A) Three words to describe myself would be cool, athletic and weird.
(I love that she views being "weird" as a good thing)

Lil' Red really enjoyed answering these questions so I might have to do something like this more often.
In fact I think it is a "creative" way to interact with your children!

Thanks for taking the time to find out more about Lil' Red. She's definitely a character!

Angie

Makeover Monday...

Today's Makeover Monday is a special one. Lil' Red came to me a few weeks ago and asked...

"If I clean and take really good care of the club house, can I paint it?"

Now, for others, this might warrant the same enthusiasm given the choice between PB & J or Turkey sandwich for lunch.

But for me?

This was the best thing ever!  She was able to see "outside" the box.

She believed in her self and she knew she could make it better!

And above all, she felt creativity and acted on it.

Dramatic? 

 Maybe just a tad, but outside of blogland, I see creativity squashed all around us.

Young or old, I rarely see it nurtured. 

So of course my answer was "Yes!"

She stuck to her word and cleaned the entire club house
(never mind the fact that it took her approximately 40 swiffers and a bottle of pledge)

Thus the Clubhouse Makeover began!

She brought her supplies up...

Opened them up...

And got started...

She choose to do one wall in 2 shades of blue..

Another in pink and red, while the third in pink and blue....

And the last wall in a variation of all shades...

How fun is that??

She and her friends are so excited for the clubhouse makeover!

Now that the paint is almost done, they are on the look out for bean bags and floor pillows.

Something tells me I'll be getting hit up for an allowance soon!!


Angie

P.S.- I was so proud of her that I wanted to give her a chance to talk about her "creative" process during the club house makeover. Stop by tomorrow to see my interview with Lil' Red!

Treasure Thursday!

It's late so I need to keep this short. I haven't had the time, money or energy to do a lot of Treasure hunting lately. Which is disappointing to say the least. It certainly feeds my soul in only a way a fellow junker can relate.

Since I'm not able to get out, I've really enjoyed taking part in Leslie's 31 day challenge. If you don't know about it, stop by here and check it out at Words of Me. It's not to late to start!!

On to the latest Treasure....

Mr. Treasures is the one who spotted this baby on the morning we were headed to Tracy Porter's store.
I fell in love with the shape and at $15.00 I couldn't even bring myself to haggle! I have NO idea when I'll actually get around to having it covered in new fabric so for the time being here's how she'll stay....

Don't you just love her curves???

I know I do.


Angie