finally a heart rock

one of my students brought me this rock at recess,

then threw it on the ground...

hmmm i couldn't just let it sit there 

as i never find heart rocks...

so it now sits at home happy as a rock.

on spring break this week

and my brain is definitely on spring break - 

'nuf said.

Happy Easter!

He is risen indeed!

'tis the season

Zoe finally got all 30+ stitches out,

the cone of shame off,

and promptly disguised herself as a bunny 

so we would not recognize her.

Matteo joined in the fun 

and quickly realized it was a mistake.

Any easter bunnies hopping your way?

what can I say?

I missed most of artfest...

went home sick on friday

and can hardly think of it 

as the missed opportunity depresses me so.

 so i sat in bed and pulled out the iPad and doodled...

 and doodled some more jesse reno style...

 and bird doodled...

and i still feel lousy,

but maybe i will be able to share the one class i took later

when i stop feeling so sorry for myself ;(

artfest here I come...

artfest - 

that word causes the heart to pound

and eyes to start twitching.

too exciting for words 

or sleeping for that matter...

these jumbles of string and paper and buttons

were attached to plaster 

and magically morphed into my trades

which are packed and waiting to be given away.

not sure what they are but that is the fun of it.

now onto packing my supplies...

so many items needed

and you all know by now that I have an obsession

with supplies and art desks and brushes and...

well guess I better pack some clothes too...

if there's room.

so tomorrow I am off across the water to Port Townsend 

to the very last artfest.

I promise to bring back lots of wonderful inspirations

from my 3 classes by

Mary Beth Shaw,

Mindy Lacefield

and Orly Avineri.

must sit down to catch my breath!

just me & she

 the sun is out and i am happy...

she is not...

the cone of shame is hard to explain to a dog

so i will try to find a kong neck collar today 

to make life easier for the next 10 days...

sigh.

in the sun - did i mention?

a Sunday blessing - 1000 thank yous

How does one say thank you

to an amazing group of parents

who blessed us abundantly last week?

I am graced and honored and blessed to work at a school

among amazing teachers and a community of faith.

Last week was teacher appreciation week

and I can say we were all blown away

by the thoughtfulness we received.

I wanted to thank each of you from the bottom of my heart

so I created these 'brushes' paintings from your gorgeous displays.

Please feel free to download each of the 3 pieces above and

print them out for your personal use.

Our week was organized around the book

one thousand gifts

by Ann Voskamp

which I blogged about here.

 Our amazing parents changed the theme to

1000 thank yous

and made the invites and all decorations to match the book.

And look at the treasures that awaited us

in the teacher's lounge 

and at a very special luncheon.

And our classroom doors were each wrapped like a present.

 Even plants surrounded our luncheon brought in from the local nursery.

 And if all the week's blessings were not enough,
we were each given a basket filled to the brim
with beautiful wrappings - almost too pretty to open.

 My favorite was this canning jar filled with Bible blessings...

 and you can print out these gems at Ann's website here.

WOW

what can I say but again,

a very heartfelt thank you from the very bottom of my heart.

I get a little teary just remembering the beautiful tribute.