~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. ~
{pretty}
We began Snuggles’ Bible Study this past Sunday. Every week or two we will read a Bible Story, he will narrate it back to me while I type it up, and then he will illustrate it for his Bible Story Book. (Yes, he is making three books this school year: Writing the ABC’s on Little Hearts, My Picture Book of Saints, and this book of Bible Stories.) I don’t know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn’t this! Didn’t he do such a great job recreating the picture?!
All I did to the blank page was draw too little dots to get him started on the faces of Mary and Baby Jesus… He took it from there! I sat there watching him (completely amazed) compare crayons to the original to make sure the colors matched. He took a few breaks, but by the end of the day he had it completed.
{happy}
Hot Cocoa and looking for Constellations on Columbus Day
(After the photo the lights went out so they could see the stars better. I also have been thinking that I might need to make the Big Boys their own Blankets! They LOVE Snuggles new Beavers Blanket.)
{funny}
I hope I don’t get in trouble for posting this picture, but I just had to show you all this mug of ours… My sister-in-law has the same mug and one day when her friend was helping her sort through her kitchen cupboards she said that she needed to “get rid of the mug with the Ugly Cowboys on it!” My husband’s sister responded, “Those are my brothers!” Hahahaha!
Can you tell which one is Hubby? 🙂
{real}
Trying to paint while holding a baby who wants to grab EVERYTHING is tough!
OK, I'm torn between the one in the white hat and the pink shirt and the one in the grey hat sitting in the tree. I'm going to guess the grey hat because he looks younger than the other guy. Oh, and in Texas, cowboys are never ugly!
Ack… the first half of my comment got chopped!
Snuggles did an amazing job with his picture!!! He has great artistic skill, just like his beautiful mama!
Your hubby is definitely the one in the pink shirt. Is that pink or faded red? 😉
Snuggles did such a fantastic job on his picture! I've done similar projects with my oldest 4 when they were in kindergarten and they never did anything like that. He did such a detailed job. I was lucky if I could get my kids to do stick figures, lol!
I would love to know your secret in getting the children to be great colorers!!! I know part of it is natural ability, but I'm curious if you cultivate somehow- do you show them how to color? Do they learn from their siblings? My 6 year old and 4 year old really have no interest in coloring….I would be grateful for any input. (I'm not a naturally gifted artist)
I agree with Kelly, hubby is up front in the pink/faded red shirt! Snuggles picture is AMAZING!!!! You have quite the little artist!!
yep, I agree – your hubby is the one in the pink shirt.
Snuggles is quite the artist. He must take after his talented mommy!
Great week! I love the book your boy is making. He's doing a very nice job.
Snuggles picture is great! I find it so interesting to watch my kids different abilities develop. I am hoping one of mine are more artsy but the boys are not the type so far.
Katie, about coloring, my oldest two did not get into coloring (even drawing/scribbling) until this past year at 7 and 5. My 3 year old (a girl by the way) is picking it up, whether from watching them or naturally, I don't know. I used to just sit down and draw, color, scribble, etc. and the kids started to join me more and more. My 5 year old now likes it as he is detail oriented. My 7 year old still does it grudgingly but he will do it.
Snuggles' picture is incredible! Details down to the animal's heads and the tree outside the window too.He's quite an artist.
Yes, that is him in the pink shirt! lol Even though he is the second to the youngest, he does look older than his other brothers. I can't even picture him in white pants and a pink shirt now… that would be hilarious!
As for tips on getting kids to color… I really am not sure what to suggest. I think I was extra shocked with Snuggles coloring since I was bracing myself for a repeat of my oldest son in Kindergarten… One of my most vivid memories of Kindergarten with Captain is yelling at him to "JUST COLOR THE LADYBUG RED!!!!" him refusing, and my husband sending me out of the kitchen to calm down! 🙂 We were using Seton (which, as a whole, is not the best program for us) and I just couldn't understand why he couldn't just TRY and color that darn ladybug according to the instructions. (I mean, really, they wouldn't tell him to do it if he wasn't capable, right?) At the time I had no idea the extent of the challenges we were facing with him (with Auditory Processing/Dyslexia), and figured I was just NOT cut out for homeschooling. I've become much more laid back, allowing the kids to develop in each particular area as they choose to on their own. (Captain may not have colored in Kindergarten, but he does a beautiful job now!) I think every child develops these fine motor skills at different ages… Snuggles is definitely the earliest of my children! Perhaps from all the years of watching all of his older siblings color? I don't know…
Jessica, what a beautiful job Snuggles did on his coloring book.
I love the idea of looking for the stars on Columbus Day. We are celebrating tomorrow for Fun Friday in our homeschool and then watching two movies on Columbus history. Thank you as always for the beautiful posts. =) blessings
I have a possible off topic question…what were you painting? You always have such great projects going.
My kids won't color either. My daughter used to more but then my mother-in-law turned her off to it. (She doesn't believe in structure for young children and aparently coloring books restrict their brain development!?!) My son won't even try. I have given up for now and am trying to at least get him to use crayons at all. I loved to color, they like crafts and painting but coloring just doesn't get anywhere. It's most upsetting though when we are doing a lapbook or other project. My daughter is dyslexic and I don't know if that has something to do with it. I just want her work to look nice and she just wants to get it done.
Wow, that is really amazing…I think you have a talented little artist there! Even more impressive to me is that he was willing to put so much effort in it. The boys I have taught usually take a few token swipes with a crayon and call it good, lol….
I wondered if someone would ask! I'm dying to share pictures of my project, but since I'm now thinking of making some more as Christmas gifts for a few of my godchildren – whose mothers read my blog – I'm thinking about waiting until after Christmas to share them. 🙂
My son with the Auditory Processing Challenges (dyslexia) was much older when he started enjoying coloring. Now he loves drawing pictures, especially in his journals and for his state pages!
Now we just need to work on his narrations! 😉
Wow–Your 5-year-old is amazing with the crayons!
Thank you Nicole and Jessica for your thoughts! You had me laughing me Jessica with your ladybug experience. I feel much better. I think I will try showing them a little more. And as you said, each child develops at their own pace. I guess they are like little flowers that blossom at different times.I think it is helpful to keep a sense of humor and be patient! God bless you all and thank you Jessica for sharing and inspiring!! Your blog is a little corner of happiness on the Internet for me!! Especially now being so far away from my homeschooling friends and families! We are in Colombia now and my oldest son is going to an all boys Catholic school. A big change for us!