Art Class!

Hi Homeschoolers! Last week was AMAZING! I tried to take a head count of how many people were at my class last week but I stopped trying to keep track once I got to 100 people. I know a lot of people wanted to come, but couldn't so I thought I'd post a link to my pinterest board with some of the projects we've done so far.
https://www.pinterest.com/lashaackerman/northeast-ga-youth-art/

Jackson Pollock Wrap Sheet

This is the third artist wrap sheet I made for the art class I teach for local homeschool kids. Each week we "time travel" back to learn about great artists in history, then make art in their style. I'm going to post the wrap sheets I make here from time to time.

Hello dear time travelers! If you're going to the 40's/50's make sure to check out Jackson Pollock at work!

 

I originally made this for my art for homeschoolers class, but it's free for personal use- just right click/save. Please use your own discretion when teaching young children about artists' lives, as some details may not be appropriate for all ages.

Andy Warhol Wrap Sheet

Hello time travelers! If you need to take a trip to the 60's/70's use my handy artist wrap sheet to learn about Andy Warhol!

I originally made this for my art for homeschoolers class, but it's free for personal use- just right click/save. Please use your own discretion when teaching young children about artists' lives, as some details may not be appropriate for all ages.

Keith Haring Worksheet

Hi Time Travelers! If you missed our trip back to the 80's to visit Keith Haring, here's the artist wrap sheet I made. Feel free to right click/save for your own personal use. Hope you can make it to our next class!

The Best My Little Pony Cake Ever

Dr A wanted to get Elsie one of the huge fancy My Little Pony cakes like he'd seen online for her fourth birthday party.

I called all over town trying to get a feel for how much it would cost to make a cake like that for about 60 people. Turns out the going rate is well over $200 for a large, well decorated cake!

SO I went to my local supermarket where I got a three tiered cake with blue ombre icing (but no decorations) for less than half the price of every other baker in town.

Then I made a bunch of hearts, stars and clouds and stuck them into the cake, and topped the whole thing with Princess Twilight's hot air balloon. (Elsie already had the balloon I just had to wash it to make sure it was clean enough to use.)

The end result was pretty great!

My girl waiting impatiently to cut her cake.

Elsie's New Eye Glasses

20/70 vision is apparently really bad.

I took Elsie to the optometrist because she'd been having obvious depth perception issues; 

walking into walls, etc.

Sometimes she'd complain that her head hurt.

Sometimes her eyes would cross, 

so I made the appointment, 
and less than thirty seconds in was told, 

"Oh, wow, she definitely needs glasses."

I thought it'd be hard to get her to wear them- she's only three!

To encourage her to wear them I made her favorite toy monkey a little pair of glasses out of a purple pipe cleaner.

The morning that we went to pick up her glasses there were several elderly ladies also waiting.

Lillie provided plenty of entertainment for them, showing off her ballet moves from her recent Wizard of Oz performance. 

When the lady brought out Lillie's glasses and she put them on for the first time, there was a collective, audible "Awww!" as her eyes got big and her jaw literally dropped, seeing things clearly for the first time ever. 

I thought it would be hard to make her wear them, but she never wants to take them off. 

At night time I have to physically pull them off her face when it's time for bed!

If I ever get a tattoo...

If I were going to get a tattoo, this is what I'd get:

That red "C" on my forearm is like the international symbol of motherhood- 

the perfect imprint of a baby's ear where he's slept in his mother's arms for hours.

It's an emblem which spans all cultures and races in our maternal commonality;

Mommies hold babies, 

babies sleep in their mother's arms;

That red "C" is the best expression of the purest form of happiness I know. 

I want to wear it on my arm for so so so many days, 

but I know he'll be running around independently before I barely blink.

Letting me rock him to sleep will be the furthest thing from his mind.

If I ever decide to get a tattoo, that "C" will become permanent.

Elsie's almost four!

Why am I making a big deal about my daughter's fourth birthday?

All year long Elsie goes to birthday parties and always asks, 

"Can it be my birthday soon, please???" 

as if I had some kind of control over what day it is. 

Every time she sees balloons, she asks, "Is it close? Can we have a happy birthday party?" 

Every time we walk past the cake display in the grocery store she oohhhs and ahhhs over the confections and declares her favorite saying, 

"THAT is going to be my birthday cake!" 

(Last year she was going through a dinosaur phase and really loved the dinosaur cake in the cake book, but also really wanted a princess cake. This particular cake was called "Princesses in the Garden" but mine was "princesses in the Garden with Dinosaurs." 

Because she loves throwing "parties" for her My Little Ponies 

(who seem to be aging at break neck speed.)

Because ultimately I know it's kind of a waste of money for just one day, but these little kid birthdays are so few and fleeting. I feel like every time I blink she gets a little bigger and before I know it she'll be all grown up and those 300 year old ponies won't be strewn across my living room floor. These sweet early years are finite and I want to make them the happiest I possibly can for her. Someday it will take more than cake and balloons to make her happy, but today, they are the stuff of her dreams, so, for just a little while, I get to make her dreams come true.

Elsie at her third birthday party- just family and two friends.
 This year we're going a little bigger since we're not having it at the house.

DIY: Elsie's favorite night gown

What do you do when your husband will no longer wear the incredibly soft, but slightly ill-fitting and somewhat immature t-shirts he got years ago from Hollister? 

Turn them into nightgowns for a little lady!

This one is Elsie's favorite:

It started out like this:

I just drew a dress shape on it and cut it out, leaving the neck and top seam uncut.

Put right sides facing each other and sew it together, and voila! Super cute and very soft night gown.

Rawr! I'm a dinosawr!

Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas!

I'm pretty sure Elsie and Fox are Santa's favorite elves.

What fresh (wet) devilry is this???

Everything is so gorgeously new for Fox. 

Bath time is absolutely shocking...

Here he is just going about his day, when suddenly his mom takes off all his clothes and puts him into a little pool of warm water.

Everybody's got something to hide...

...except for me and my monkey!

Masks are fun.

Build Me Up, Buttercup!

Click the video below to see the cutest version of "Build Me Up Buttercup" you've ever seen.

Okay, so they aren't perfectly coordinated, but I'm just proud that she actually danced! 

(Instead of standing completely still or crying, which is what some kids do.)

Elsie's First Recital

Elsie started gymnastics at Gainesville School of Gymnastics when she was two. It was the type of class where the instructor spends a few minutes during the first part of the class showing everyone what they should do, then the moms take over to help the little ones through all the activities (usually while the teacher went back downstairs to talk on the phone or just straighten up the rest of the gym. Honestly it kind of bothered me that nine times out of ten the teacher didn't stay with the class for the mere thirty minutes.) When she turned three she moved up to the class that moms didn't help with, which I thought would be really liberating (for her and me!) but Elsie just wasn't a fan. Three year olds are not exactly masters of patience when it comes to waiting for their turn on the equipment. Since her interest in gymnastics was starting to wane we let her try a dance class...

 and she LOVED it. 

This week she danced in the fall show- her very first time doing anything in public. I was so proud of her! 

My parents brought her flowers and she just absolutely beamed. It was the first time she's gotten flowers!

Faux camping

We really miss camping this time of year, but with a newborn it just isn't going to happen, so we re-create our favorite part of camping by setting up the play tent, building a big fire in the fire-pit, and roasting marshmallows in the back yard. Then we go sleep in our warm comfy beds. I asked Lillie to tell me a scary story. It was epic.

Pumpkin Tea Party Picnic

If this isn't just the most precious tea party picnic in the world I will eat my ugly Australian hat.

Welcoming Fox to the Family

Introducing the newest member of the Ackerclan:

Baby Fox*

7 lbs, 10 ounces

beautiful bouncing baby boy.

Elsie couldn't be more thrilled to be a big sister!

 *Not his real name!

Frozen Movie Night

I've lived in some pretty great places...

 By the ocean in St Marten...

 In a beautiful high rise...

 in New York City...

 and compared to the exploits of some of my compatriots who've continued to travel, my familial endeavors probably seem boring and tame, but then we have movie night out behind the old train depot in Flowery Branch, complete with a picnic of Chick-Fil-A,

 a fire truck,

 cotton candy,

 pre-show kiddie karaoke,

 and of course...

BUUUUBBBBLEEESSS!!!

To all the Dads and Stepdads out there...

Happy Father's Day!

(Sorry for the crappy photo quality- it's just a phone pic of the chalk art I put up this week.)

I know she'll grow out of it, but it's so cute...

Dear Elsie, 

There are a lot of words you can't pronounce properly yet, 

and it is adorable.

 My favorite is your name

(which isn't actually Elsie- shocking, I know; a mom using a pseudonym for her child on the internet?!?)

The reason I kind of love that you can't pronounce your name well is because I love your version of it: 

"Wee girl"

You're three now, and beautiful, and outgoing, and sweet and every time you run up to another kid and introduce yourself with "Hi, I'm Wee Girl" it is so incredibly precious. 

I love you, my wee girl.