back to school

It was a great week back to school. I love all my classes ( they are small groups of very respectful and delightful students).  I finally don't feel new- I guess the third year in teaching usually works that way. I have forgotten what it feels like to be confident in my teaching.  I hope this is a great semester!  We cleaned the art ed room all summer and now I am teaching in an organized and half empty room.  I am excited to fill it up again with beautiful creations. 

Here is Andrew ( my colleague) knee-deep or maybe even waste-deep in our classroom mess!

Happy back to school everybody! 

Refinishing the floors- is as hard as it sounds!

Here are a few photos of our upstairs loft bedroom that we refinished in 7 grueling days!

That concludes the end of our home improvement plans for the summer! Jeremy starts his new job at Hoover Middle School on Thursday and I start next Monday!  It was a great summer and I am looking forward to an even better school year!  Happy back-to-school everybody!!!!

Great places to see in Wisconsin!

We took some friends to House on the Rock and to Dr. Evermore's Art Park- featuring his famous "Foreverton" sculpture!  Here is a link to read more about Foreverton - it is a must see if you are in Wisconsin. The best part is that unlike the $25 it cost to go to The House on the Rock (with our coupons) Dr. Evermore's Art Park is free and right by the Dells if you are interested in a very different kind of fun.

First photo:  Forevertron,  Second photo:  Dr. Evermore  Third Photo: The birds of The Bird Band
(if you look at my photos from Baltimore in April, I saw one of the Doctor's sculptures at the American Visionary Museum.)
It was really great to meet him in June, we were sad to hear that when we came in July with Steph and Kyle that he was not doing well and was not present.

House on the Rock....

 Wisconsin is full of great art- from the Dickyville Grotto to these fine places I have mentioned.  Don't forget Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin (his school of architecture) is in Spring Green as well.  I wonder about the correlation between F. L.Wright, Alex Jordan ( House on the Rock) and Tom Every ( Dr. Evermore). That would make a very interesting dissertation!

Two Words...

Mini Kiss!!!

 

Camping

The ladies of the Prison and Juvenile home all went camping this weekend!
(OK so it was really the ladies who volunteer together at the ICIW and IJH) 
We had a great time roasting weenies and making s'mores and telling really great stories!  Sadly, Rebecca is moving to NYC this August so we are losing one really great volunteer and friend!

Here is Rachel's new RV called the Odyssey that she just purchased this summer!  We made sure that we had a very exciting adventure in it to add to her RV log - starting at the Hy-Vee parking lot where we had some difficulty parking! 

It was an interesting evening due to the only camp sight available was on a slight incline.  We lost a few beverages and plates due to this slant.  But after getting a few drinks in us, Rebecca and I decided to hold a photo shoot in the RV to showcase some of the Odyssey's terrific features! Here a few to share with you! 

Another great adventure for these volunteers!!!

Water is rising in Waterloo!

We had a flash flood today in Wateloo- here are a few images of what it looked like. I was trying to get out of town but ended up stranded in a parking lot a few blocks away because all of the streets were flooded and cars were stalled everywhere- what a mess!

Memories of the 2008 flood came back quickly today!

latest renovations....

Here is our new office!  Jeremy and I have never shared an office before but we wanted to have an extra bedroom for all our guests so here it is! Below is what it looked like before we took possession.  Check out the great new ceiling fan Jeremy put it!  He is getting so handy! 

I will miss that John Deere Green ceiling fan! HA!

Happy 4th of July!!!

We have been busy!!

Check out all the new colors in our house!!!

Meet the new kitchen...

Our latest revisions to the living room....

and our dining room is still in progress but here it is so far... lots of blue paint!

 We have been so lucky to have some help with all of the painting.  My mom came this week to paint the living room and our friend Jason came to help with the dining room.

I think we have set a date to paint the office next and then upstairs will begin!  We are taking a break today to relax and enjoy the sidewalk sales and the beautiful weather. Yay for no rain!!  

Enjoy your weekend!

Friday Fun!

I spent the day with Sophie and Marissa and we had a great time!
My morning started with this great poem by Sophie. 
"Roses are red, violets are blue. I hope you have a great puddle of joy"

We held a Barbie fashion show and then made little sculpey food for the barbies to shop for. Sophie made a fruit market and Marissa made a little bakery! 

Couldn't think of a better way to spend the day!  xoxo

REQUESTS...

There have been some requests from family and friends to post some particular photos...
Here is the new dining room table we acquired from Craig's list- thanks to my #1 step-dad who scoured Craig's list for weeks to find just the right one!  The flowers are from the Good family for my birthday- they arrived just in time to decorate the new table! Thanks everybody!

                              Here is the sneak preview of our new kitchen.... (still in progress!)

Home renovations have begun....

First the wall paper came down and then the curtains....
Currently I am sewing new curtains with some fabulous fabric from Home Ec
I loved the color so much that I went to Sherwin Williams and matched 2 gallons of paint! Take a good look at the peach and country blue, it is the last you will be seeing of it!  I am so excited to see it go away!
Next update will include paint and new curtains!!!

NAEA conference

Here are a few fun photos from my trip to Baltimore!  We went to the National Art Educators conference and I presented for the first time! 

We took some time to sight see and visit some pretty amazing art. My favorite place was the American Visionary Museum in Baltimore. I highly recommend that anyone going to Baltimore- this is a must see!!! I will admit that Rachel and I spent equal time in the museum as we did in the gift shop. 

We took a day and visited Washington DC- we walked so much, it put a day in NYC to shame!
Here are a few shots form our whirlwind tour....
Rachel holds hands with her favorite sculpture at the Hirshhorn Museum
I find my favorite sculpture in the National Gallery Sculpture Garden
Rachel insists we all see The White House even though it means we might miss our train-  we do miss it by the way but here I am in front of The White House!
Rachel and Rachael decide to become a piece of art- too much coffee that day perhaps!?

Next year NAEA is in Seattle!!!! woo hoo!!!

The End of the semester!

 Well the end of the semester arrived and I survived! 
I took my UNI students on a field trip to U of Iowa.  We went to the special collections and saw some fabulous artist books and some zines!  It was great! 

We met up with the art educators from U of I that we blogged with all semester!  It was great to put a face with a blog finally! 

Here we are in front of the zine machine at the Main Library on campus!