Lately...

My life has been very full lately. Summer at Compass has been both incredibly stretching and incredibly amazing. Just to give you a little taste of what I have been up to lately....

As part of our service learning project, the kids held a lemonade stand to raise money for childhood cancer research. 

Standing on the corner yelling at cars to stop and cheering when our first costumer arrived, laughing until I nearly cried at the commentary, and seeing how excited the kids were when they found out how much money they had raised are memories I will hold for a long time. 

A friend of mine came to teach dance. 

I don't remember the last time I saw them get into a lesson so much. They were loving it! 

Playdough math, and art... 

And jelly bean math...

And puzzles.... 

And drama... 

And pretty much my life has been really, incredibly, amazingly, full and blessed. 

And just in case you were worried that my life is consumed with work, I find time for other things as well. The above story? True story. :) 

Two wheels for two weeks...

I am officially on 2 wheels for the next two weeks. 

Commuter map and super toned legs here we come! 

Becoming an Artist

I decided the other day, after an entire childhood where I shunned art because I was so terrible at drawing even stick people, that I was going to become an artist. This was mostly provoked by the fact that artists can have crazy hair and eclectic wardrobes and everyone applauds them for it. Of course, I had no intention of doing anything different, just owning my crazy hair and eclectic wardrobe a little more. But a few weeks after this decision, I saw a project online that looked so cool, I just had to try. 

First, I had to face my fears and go, alone, to Hobby Lobby. For a person who has never been 'creative', Hobby Lobby with its massive amounts of materials just waiting to be creatively used frightens me. In fact, I know many men who are less afraid of fabric stores than I am of Hobby Lobby. Once I had a purpose in mind though, Hobby Lobby turned out to be the place to go. 

The actual project involved painting a canvas with rubber cement, letting it dry, then painting over the rubber cement with watercolors. I hadn't painted with watercolors since I was probably six. I don't know why I ever stopped. It is highly therapeutic, let me tell you. And just as fun as I had remembered from being six...

Then I had to wait an agonizingly long time for it to dry. This also had not changed from when I was six.. 

Once it was dry I rubbed off the rubber cement and tada! The finished product! I am a long ways from being an artist, but I was inspired to try this again on a bigger canvas. If nothing else, I discovered another thing that I not only enjoy, but that is productive. See, not having internet at home isn't all bad....:) 

Silence...

My blog has been strangely silent lately. Here is why... 

 First there was all this prep work for summer here at Compass. My desk got a little overrun with all the cool things I was pulling together for the kids. 

Oh, and there was getting all the decorations ready. Want to guess what our theme is for reading? 

Then the kids arrived. And my life has been crazy-awesome ever since! 

Field trips are every Friday. Last week we went to the zoo to be the monkeys. I mean to see the monkeys... 

Math class is a blast. 

As is drama.... 

I love it when they enjoy the activities I plan. 

So yeah, the blog silence is not indicative of actual silence in my life. But rather of a very, very full schedule. I hope your summer is shaping up to be at least half as fun as mine!