MFT: Flowers

Happy Monday!

     Although the weather is telling me differently, I still believe that it's SPRINGTIME!  Wahoo!  My bike is sitting in the garage just itching to be ridden, but until this rain passes it's just going to have to wait.  *sigh*  Anyways, the favorite things I'm writing about today are flowers, and not just the ones that spring up (har har, that's a season pun for ya') this time of year.  How about we let the pictures do the talking?  :]

by Mary Anne Morgan (an AMAZING photographer)

They have bushes full of these flowers in Puerto Rico...I love them!

Wouldn't it be great to have a bike with flowers all over it?  :]

I would love to live in this building.  Gorgeous.

*pictures 2-7 are from We Heart It*

     Sigh, don't you love flowers?  My co-art teacher gave me some potted Narcicuss' today as a thank you and I'm so excited to watch them grow.  Remember to link up one of your favorite things below.  Also, I think I'm gonna make this a bi-monthly linky party...any objections? 



P.S.- I'm listening to this mix today on 8 Tracks...it's a great feel good mix.  Check it out! 

Where My Love Lies

     Last night my parents and I watched "I Am Legend" for the first time.  Awesome movie, but it definitely gave me the heebie jeebies.  The idea of being "the last one" is pretty much a universal fear, in my opinion. 

     So I went to bed last night having some not-so-happy thoughts about being the sole survivor, and then this morning at church we talked about the end times.  Great.  As videos comparing Biblical prophicies and current events played across the screen, I could feel the old familiar fear creeping up on me.  The fear of the unknown, of pain, and of fear itself.  

     Now guys, this is me being very honest.  I'm a Christian, which means I have no reason to be afraid of the end times, but I am.  On the drive home, I started thinking about why I have this fear, and one thing stuck out to me: I love this world. 

Ouch.

I'm afraid of the end times because I love this world.  I don't want to leave it.

     What a slap in the face that must be for the God.  He sent His son to die for my sins, and I'm not rejoicing in the fact that one day (sooner or later), I'll be in His presence forever.  In my deepest darkest parts, I love being here on Earth.  I love what I do, music, entertainment, relationships, shopping, and so many other things. 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  -Romans 12:2

     The pull of the things in this world are very strong, and it's natural for us as humans to feel that pull.  But my enjoyment of the things here on Earth should never be higher up than the Lord (or even close). 

Lord, help me to find the joy and peace of knowing You.  Change me so that I desire the things you desire, and so that I am no longer living for this life, but for the life to come.  Forgive me for ever putting material, finite things above You and an eternity in your presence.

WIWW: I'm baaaaack!

     I've missed you all over my several week long WIWW break.  But with the onset of spring weather comes the onset of new outfits and my sandals...yay!  Plus, I charged my camera battery, so fewer of those awful cellphone pics.  :]  Remember to link up with Lindsey over at The Pleated Poppy.

Black dress and blue sweater: Walmart
flats: Payless
watch: Target
Boo the cat: a gift from Heaven ;]


St. Patty's Day...gotta have lots of green on at the elementary school!
button up shirt: Kohl's
Khakis: JCPenny's
lanyard: Vera Bradley (my favorite pattern- Hope Garden)


floral blouse: Kohl's
watch: Target
skinny jeans: Arizona from JCPenny's
sandals: Tevas from a random shoe store
nail polish: Gold Coin by Revlon...LOVE this stuff, and it was perfect for St. Patty's


Saturday: The World of Coca Cola
white shirt and bag: Target
grey sweater: WalMart
jeans: JCPenny's
sandals: brown Tevas
flower hairpin: Jordy is Crafty


red shirt: hand-me-down from my little sister
grey sweater and sandals: WalMart
necklace: made by women in Uganda--I got it through 147 Million Orphans
watch: Target
bracelet: a girl at my sister's college is selling these to raise money for her summer mission internship...they're made by women in the Philippines!  Half of the money goes to the girl selling them, and half goes to the Filipino women.
jeans: the same ones from Penny's

     It feels good to be back.  :]  Stay tuned for more posts later this week, including the art show, some sweet spring shots, and possibly some art ideas.  :]

When a Teacher Feels Cruddy...

     Today was not my best day.  As I told my mom this evening, "I feel cruddy."  The hard thing about teaching is that if you feel cruddy, you can't just hole up in your cubicle with your Ibuprofen, tissues, and coffee...you've gotta perform!

Yep, that's me on a typical school day.

     Today as I was trying my gosh-darned best to be "perky" and engaging, I came across one precious 5th grade boy.  He said to me, not once, twice, or even three times, but FIVE times: "Ms. S, you look tired."  Why yes, 11 year old boy, I am tired, thanks for pointing it out (it's great to know that I look the same way I feel).  And thanks for asking, but no, I cannot take a nap during my lunch or planning period.  As much as I might like to today.

     Don't kids just make you feel great about yourself sometimes?  ;]

Don't worry, I still love teaching.  Today was just a blah day.  I'm not hopping off the teaching train just yet.  :]

Picture from here.

It's been a long, cold, lonely winter...

     Five cool points if you know the reference I made in the title of this blog.  It has truly been a long, cold, and sometimes lonely winter.  But it officially feels like spring!  Halleluiah!  Psst- true sign of spring?  My throat is acting up because of the pollen.  Today my family celebrated spring and my youngest sister's birthday by heading to the World of Coke down in the ATL.  It was my first time at the new one and overall I was impressed.  I missed some of the displays of vintage advertising memorabilia, but the addition of "Pop Art" was pretty awesome.  Go check it out if you have a chance.  :]

Creepy, hilarious bear.  Hittin' on all the ladies.

I really liked this bottle.

Sisters!  We were celebrating K's (red shirt) 17th b-day.

Love love love the artwork.

Hanging out on the American Idol couch.

Ending the day with Chick-fil-A...perfect!

     How are you celebrating the onset of spring?

Cute, Handmade, AND Affordable!

     Look at what came in the mail this week!

     Yessir, my new hair clip from my friend Jordyn's etsy shop arrived on Wednesday and it is SO CUTE.  I had to wait for two whole days to wear it because it wouldn't match my green-themed outfits for St. Patty's, but it was worth the wait.  I wore it today to the World of Coke, and ya'll, I'm not gonna lie: it looked great on my head.  ;]  Definitely take the time to go check out her shop.  She has a ton of cute accessories and all of them are very affordable.  I almost bought this headband, too:

[source: jordy is crafty]

     Ok, I'm gonna stop typing now, which means you need to go read her blog and peruse her shop.  You won't regret it.  :]

MFT: Light @ Night

     It's that time again!  My Favorite Things!  :]

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     This week my favorite thing is the extra hour of light we have in the evenings.  I love enjoying a nice relaxing evening outside in the diminishing sunlight...as long as that sunlight isn't diminishing at 5PM.  Plus, daylight savings is a great sign that "real" spring is right around the corner!  Yay!

[source: we heart it]

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     I love reading about all of your favorite things...they always bring a smile to my face!  And always feel free to link up late.  I know sometimes we're so busy that we don't have time for stuff like this.  If you're new to MFT, you can read this post to get a bit more info.  :]  I hope you enjoy thinking about things you love today, and possibly reading someone else's, too. 

The Week in Art

     It has been quite a week in art class.  We've been super busy getting ready for the art show, so I've been happy with our "low-maintenance" art lessons.  I didn't come up with these lessons, but I did tweak most of them for my liking.  I hope you enjoy hearing about what we're doing!  :]

~~~

Kindergarten: Up in the Air

     I'm loving this fun activity we're doing in Kindergarten.  It's so simple, but the results are just darling so far.  We've cut out our balloons, drew lines with oil pastels, painted with watercolors, and did texture rubbings on our baskets.  I've been really impressed with some of the lines the kids are coming up with! 

1st Grade: Sunflowers and Swirls

     In 1st grade we've been studying two of Van Gogh's paintings: Sunflowers and Starry Night.  On the first day we painted our sunflowers using only three colors and no water (we cleaned our brushes across the bottom of our papers to create the grass).  On the second day we created our "swirly" skies using dashes, swirls, and curvy lines.  I've seen some super cute, creative results so far!

2nd Grade: Tessellations

     At first I was very nervous about this project, but once I understood how to make a tessellation it was a lot of fun.  We made our own shapes, traced them on white paper, outlined with black marker, and now we're coloring using either warm or cool colors.  We've also been focusing on coloring with colored pencils like a whisper.  ;]

3rd Grade: Op Art

     My 3rd graders have been studying optical illusions, so we've been creating these complimentary color pieces of op art.  On 12"x12" sheets of white paper drew our lines and either circles or rectangles.  Then, the kids picked a set of complimentary colors and colored in their patterns.  The only issue is that we had to stop using markers because they run out so fast.  I'm officially not a fan of markers. 

4th Grade: Georgia O'Keefe

     The 4th graders have learned about O'Keefe and her signature flower paintings.  After studying pictures of flowers, we drew our close-ups on a piece of black construction paper.  Then we traced over our pencils lines with Elmer's glue.  After the glue dried, we colored our flowers by blending multiple colors of oil pastels.

5th Grade: Up Close Portraits

     This projects is one of my favorites we're doing right now.  After studying Chuck Close and his particular method of drawing portraits, we began enlarging our own pictures.  First, I printed off pictures of the kids and cut them to exactly 4"x5".  We discussed how to make a 1/2" grid on our pictures, and then a 1" grid on pieces of 8"x10" white drawing paper.  Using small viewfinders that help us to only view one 1/2" at a time, we are transferring/enlarging our portraits to the larger paper.  We just started sketching on Friday, so I'm excited to see how they turn out!  :]

~~~

     So, in a (rather large) nutshell, that's what we're doing in art class these days!  Next week we are going to start new projects in K-4; I'll share those with you once I decide what we're going to be doing.  Currently I have no idea what we're doing next!  Any ideas about what you would like to do?  I'd like to do a batik with one or more grades.  What do you think?

HELP!

     Hey guys...I need some help.  I've recently garnered some new followers, but I can't find all of their blogs.  So, Rachel and Amie, if you're reading this, please send me a link to your blog!  I'd love to follow you back.  :] 



P.S.- If you follow me but I haven't followed you back, please comment with a link to your blog, too.  Thanks! :]

Here's a funny picture for your enjoyment today (found on a friend's facebook).

Quotes of the Week

     Ya'll, working with >450 students a week means I encounter lots of interesting moments. This week gave me these two gems (along with three cupcakes and a doughnut):

Quote 1:
Context: On Tuesday, I wore a long, floor length dress, a grey sweater, and I put my hair up in a bun.
3rd grade girl: Ms. S, I know you're an art teacher, but from behind you look like Susan B. Anthony.

That's me!

Quote 2:

Kindergarten girl (as I was writing on the whiteboard): Ms. S, your "t" looks like the cross Jesus died on!  (Apparently I have holy handwriting...har har har.)

Oh, the things you hear in an elementary school.  Did you get any good quotes this week?

Tomorrow...

...is Friday!!!  

     Are you excited?

MFT: On A Cold Day Like Today...

     On a cold day like today, one of my favorite things is to find my cat doing this:

Meet my cuddly boy cat, Boo.  This is him sleeping underneath my bedspread.  I don't know how he manages to breathe under there, but he likes it, so I'll let him be.

     That's my simple MFT for this Monday...I stayed at school until 6:40 working on stuff for our county art show, so that's why this is so late.  Remember to link up one of your favorite things below!  :]

If you missed last week's MFT, catch it here.  Wanna know what My Favorite Things is all about?  Read the MFT info here.