Noah's Tribal Masks!

Noah has come to love making tribal masks. He learned about them in art class.  He was coloring pictures of them and decided he wanted to make his own tribal masks out of paper.  He has done a great job.  He glues them to paper because they are smaller than normal masks you wear. I decided I am going to frame them and hang them on the wall.  He is really cute when he makes them because he makes idea banks and picks out different eyes and noses and mouths he likes before he chooses which one he wants to use. He’s so great it! He has also started making real masks that he can wear. I need to remember to buy some string for him to put them on.  He carefully cuts out the shapes. He is able to cut out eyes without cutting in the paper on the sides. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me. He is such a great artist.  We wanted to share a couple masks Noah made. I helped with the cutting because some of the pieces were really small. They were all drawn out for this left handed mama, who can’t cut very well. I am so proud of all he has learned in art this year. He loves to draw and create things out of clay. He also loves to paint. He has moved on from using crayons which is definitely bittersweet for me. He loves colored pencils though. I have a hard time keeping them all together no matter how hard I try.  He received Citizen of the Month for April and it was so cool they gave him colored pencils as one of his prizes.  I hope you enjoy the masks as much as I do. He worked really hard on them.

Noah's Tribal Giraffe Mask

School Uniforms: Good or Bad?

As I mentioned before, Noah goes to an elementary school that requires uniforms. Was I happy about this when I found out? Not really. Did I make a huge deal about it? No. I accepted it because it is their policy. It was hard to find the required color polo shirts. It wasn't because it was some outlandish color. I just happened to register and move to the school system late.

Let me tell you what Noah wears to school. He wears a light blue or navy polo shirt and cargo shorts or cargo pants. He also has a school t-shirt he can wear. Noah would most likely wear the same cargo shorts and cargo pants regardless because those are what he likes. They aren't stuffy starched pants or shorts. He doesn't have to wear a tie, normal or bow. His uniform has never been a big deal to him. When he gets a positive referral he doesn't have to wear his uniform. Honestly I don't see what the big deal is. I am sure you have some questions running through your head.

What about self expression? Shouldn't kids be able to express themselves through clothing?
Self expression is awesome. I believe that kids should be able to express themselves whenever they can. However I don't think that school is a place to have a fashion show. Kids get picked on for wearing off brand clothing. Kids also wear clothes that are too revealing or are too short. In high schools in some areas kids wearing  gang colors are an issue. If everyone has to wear the same thing, that will possibly help eliminate it.  I personally think that kids go to school to learn not to be complimented on their keen fashion sense. How many times have you heard a child in class say hey I love your uniform? Probably none.

Aren't they just like little clones?  I don't think that they are clones. Every child is unique and just because they are required to wear their uniform it doesn't take away from who they are. What about drones? Nope they aren't drones either. They are at school to learn and learn through art and music and work to express themselves. They will have to most likely wear a uniform when they work as an adult. School is their job.

Won't they rebel? I am sure different kids rebel for different reasons. I don't really see any correlation of wearing uniforms and rebellion. I haven't heard of tons of kids rebelling because they wore uniforms. Most of us go through a rebellious stage at some point. We do it, we move on. I have a vast knowledge of crime and serial killers and I have never heard of someone running amok because they wore a uniform in school.  There is always some kind of big issue that causes them to kill.

Think back to yesteryear when you were in school? Do you remember the majority of what you wore to school? I can probably remember a several outfits from each year. I have a great memory, especially when I have photos to remind me. It doesn't matter what you wear to school, what matters is your education. No one will look at your transcript and say oh Susie  wore Abercrombie to school and Billy wore Walmart clothes so let's give the job to Susie.

What's a Payphone?

Remember pay phones? When you had to stand there and talk to someone. Usually with other people on the phones next to you. You had to have change or call collect.  Back when you had to gasp stand there and hold the phone and you couldn't walk around or comfortably sit down and talk.  I remember I would call friends on their home phones when I was out on pay phones. Only a few people had cell phones or car phones. It was such a pain to talk to someone when you were away. A lot of them were outside so in the summer you would be sweating while you chatted. You had to stop and make the call.  If it was wintertime you would be shivering at the other end. Most payphones didn't allow incoming calls, you had to make sure you hung up before it went to an answering machine or voice mail, or you would waste your change.

There aren't many pay phones anymore. I can't remember the last time I saw someone use one. I think the last time I used one was on my honeymoon eleven years ago to call my mom.  I remember when I was in jr high there was always a long line at the pay phone at the movies to be picked up on Friday nights. I remember being with my friends and thinking it was funny to call Hooked on Phonics and the Jerry Springer show and hang up before anyone was on the line.  When we were at Epcot, it was so weird to see a pay phone granted they were London pay phones or phone booths but Noah asked me what it was. Kids are so used to their parents having cell phones, it's hard for them to fathom what a pay phone is. I know that there are pay phones still some places but they are always deserted. There is no one waiting to use one impatiently.

When was the last time you used a pay phone?

My Most Embarrassing Mom Moment.

I shared with you my most embarrassing moment when I threw up all over the bus on a field trip in the ninth grade. Now I want to share with you my most embarrassing mom moment. As a parent we all have one or two or five depending on the child and the number of kids you have. It could be something like your child said something inappropriate to someone or that they did something silly. Mine however involves me. 

When Noah was 3 months old my cousin and her three kids were visiting. Noah had a dirty diaper and of course I wanted to change him right away. So, I took him to his changing table. I know what you are thinking, he peed on you. No that wasn't what happened. I started changing his diaper and he wasn't quite done yet so I quickly closed his diaper and waited for him to finish. After he was done, I changed him. I went back to my company and was sitting there talking to my cousin. I always play with my hair so I was running my fingers through it and all the sudden. I felt something on my hand. I looked at my hand and it was covered in poop. I had poop in my hair and on my hand. I gave my cousin Noah to hold while I washed my hair in the sink. Her kids thought it was the funniest thing ever. They told their dad on the phone. I was so embarrassed. Thankfully it was my family and I was at home. Could you imagine if I were at a restaurant or the store. 

What is your most embarrassing mom moment? 

Art 101 Review

As a mother of a budding artist, it seems like I can never keep enough art supplies in our home.  It seems like he is always losing colored pencils or running them down to where they have to be sharpened daily.  He really enjoys art class at school where he has had the chance to try out other mediums of art.  I really love that he is an artist, because I am extremely unartistic. He did not get the art gene from me.  I am great at coloring but that is about it. I took ceramics in high school thinking I would be good at it, I was not.  I really want to foster and embrace his love of art and implement some of the techniques that he has been learning at school.  I think in order to be a great artist you have to have talent, and the proper tools to succeed. There are a lot of art sets out there. I know, I have been looking for a while to get one for Noah. Most of them are just crayons, colored pencils and markers.  We have so many crayons that they fill a medium sized plastic box. I wanted to find more than just the standard stuff he was already used to and possibly starting to grow bored with.  We had the opportunity to work with a company called Art 101.  Art 101 sells really cool quality art kits for children and adults.  They have artist sets, and even a kid’s line called Art 101 Kids.

I finally found the art set I had been looking for. It has some of the basics and some not so basic items in it.  We received The Art 101 179 pc Double Sided Trifold Easel Art Set to try out. The Art 101 179pc Double Sided Trifold Easel Art Set comes with 48 crayons, 48 oil pastels, 24 color pencils, 19 watercolors, 12 markers, 10 sheets of paper, 4 large clips, 3 paper clips, 1 Art 101 Painting and Drawing Guide, 1 sketch pencil, 1 paint brush, 1 ruler, 1 eraser, 1 color wheel, 1 palette, 1 pencil sharpener, and 1 sponge with a double sided easel in a trifold organizer case. This set is every artist’s dream. Noah really likes the easel because he can draw and paint at different angles.  He says you can never have too many colored pencils which have been his tool of choice lately.  I was never really big in to colored pencils. I liked crayons.  He is also a great painter so we will have fun painting on our balcony with the watercolors.  I don’t really know too much about pastels so we will learn together. I forgot to mention that I am taking Art Classes. Noah is teaching me at art class. We have so much fun together. I try really hard but even then he thinks some of my creations are silly looking. Hopefully through the extra art lessons and the new set we received from Art 101, there might be hope for me after all.

This is a great gift if you have an artist or artists in your family. It is a great set because like I said, it is more complex than a hand full of crayons, colored pencils and markers.

For more information please visit Art 101. You can find Art 101 products at Amazon, Toys R US and Target.

Thank you to Art 101 for providing the sample for our review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.