We Have A Winnah

Last year One won a prize for creative writing at our Diocese's yearly Parish Life Conference. This year it was Two's turn: he won third prize for his grade for Creative Arts with a drawing of the cross circled around with the words of the Lord's Prayer. Yesterday was the first day of Sunday School at church, and the awards were handed out before the priests blessed the children and teachers at the start of the new school year.

Here is the proud prize winner with his certificate:

Congratulations, sweet Two.

More New Art

Two's Leaping Bull is not the only art piece we've been admiring over here at the GW home. Here are a few more - proof of why we love Glassell so very much.

One did his first still-life. It's acrylic, which makes me very glad, since the clothes he painted it in are still wearable.

One also did a wonderful diorama. He loves this kind of stuff, and picked his subject based partly on his love of drawing birds. The eagle in the diorama is actually separate and is hanging from the top of the box.

Two did his first "perspective" drawing - a study of the front of the main Glassell building. He also did a cityscape perspective piece that reminds me a little of the famous New Yorker cover.


They are learning new techniques, and best of all they're having fun doing it. Going to after-school class at Glassell remains one of their favorite things ever, and many other suggested activities have gone down in flames when they realize they couldn't fit the new thing AND Glassell in at the same time. I love their self-chosen loyalty to this activity, and am so proud of the work that they put into each new piece. It's so much fun watching wild, sword-fighting boys be passionate about art, and it makes me ask myself the exciting question again and again: who will they be when they're grown up?

Rodeo Boy

Recently Two had a picture entered in the art contest at the Rodeo - over 400 elementary school pictures were chosen for the competition from our district alone, and the winning artwork will be displayed in Reliant Hall during the Rodeo, March 1st through the 20th. The results of the judging came back this past Friday, and while Two didn't win the whole she-bang, his work was chosen as one of the top ten in the competition. He is beside himself about his "rainbow ribbon", and loves that it is on display in the hall at school.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you - Leaping Bull:

Stranger Things Have Happened

When One was three, we "tested" him for a pre-pre-school class at the school affiliated with our then-current church. Yes, they tested him: that should have been my first wake up bell (but this was my first child, so I qualified for the mom version of a handicapped sticker - you know how it is). Anyway, everything they asked him to do, he announced proudly "Oh, I can do THAT!", even when it came to things like drawing circles, squares, and triangles: things he had absolutely no idea how to do. They all looked like lopsided circles, but did I care? Of course not: he was three.

Fast-forward to first grade at the same school, and Husband and I are being berated by the elementary school principal about One's terrible printing, being told he might have dysgraphia (impossible to diagnose in a six year old boy, I learn later) and practically ordered to take him to an OT to "fix" his atrocious penmanship. We shrug: he's a six year old boy. We later take the big shrug and pull him out of school altogether, to relax and homeschool for the year.

A year later, One begins to learn cursive as part of his Montessori odyssey. Not surprisingly, his handwriting improved dramatically, and now he has fine cursive that his 4th grade teacher compliments him on.

And he has this:

Who could be prouder?

Some More of Two's Inventions

Here are some examples of Two's latest fad. They're boats built with his favorite materials: paper and tape. He also made one from a kit he received as a party favor; he pretty much put it together without reference to the directions. He has some new ones I haven't photographed yet; he calls them triremes, as they have banks of oars.

I need to get this kid into a woodworking or woodcarving class, soon. I'm just worried about how much it will cost to build the eventual "shop" in the backyard when he's 11.

Where Does it Come From?

The boys, as I've said before, are significantly more creative than Husband and I combined. Examples? Here is Two's latest fad - he loves to build paper airplanes, but he's graduated to making them out of paper towels. And yes, they fly beautifully.

One has learned to weave over the past year - you can see in this picture the progression of his skills. There is a loom at school that the children take turns on; his latest creation, the largest of the three, only took him four art classes to complete.

Where do they get this stuff?

Creativity

My kids are so creative! No idea where they get it from - Husband and I are distinctly lacking in artistic abilities. But this is what they came up with to do (all on their own) on Sunday, and they continued to work on it through last night.