Frankie's Art These Days

Frankie loves to do art.  Always has, and I hope always will.  Here's an update since last year!
I loved the way this project from school that they did for Valentine's Day turned out.

I love...

Mermaids

Penguins

Underwater

Valentine's Day!

Frankie's been very into patterns recently.  I'm not quite sure what all the thinking is behind this one, but there are lots of number 3s, several 1, 2, 3s, 2 tulips of the same color, and a shaded (or not!) circle.

This is one of my favorites.  There have been a lot of cowboys drawn recently, with fringe.  This big cowboy has a hat on, is standing next to a tree, and there is a smaller cowboy riding a horse in the back.  The best part is the white paper that she cut into fringe and taped on to the big cowboy's pants.

She has some of these little notebooks and likes to draw miniature scenes in them that all tie together.  This is a princess standing in between two castles.

This underwater scene was done while she and Dex were waiting patiently for me to finish with the H&R Block man

This was a cowboy she envisioned and then spent about an hour making by herself.  I love that she can work on big projects like this now all by herself!

I'm sure most of this is made possible by her sweet teachers at preschool who are constantly coming up with new crafts and encouraging her art.  This was one of our favorite units and art projects of the year so far:

They took a trip around the world in January, "visiting" many countries and learning all about them.  We all learned so much that month!

The trip started in Atlanta on the Marta - "Frankie wants to go with er Mommy, Daddy, and Dexter to Ohio to visit her Nonnie.  If it's summertime, she will go swimming.  If it's wintertime, she will play inside."

Egypt - "I want to have a ride on a camel because I want to see if it's bumpy.  I'd see pyramids and see people making chairs."

India - "I'd like to ride in a howdah on an elephant, and look at the fancy clothes."

China - (Junk Boat) - "I would like to go to the dragon festival"  (There are 4 doggies in the boat.)

Mexico - "I'd like to go the pyramids, and also eat the candy skulls at the Halloween party"

Holland - "I would like to go see the rainbow colored tulips and the blue butterflies with purple polka dots."

Space - "I want to go really close to a star and see how big it is."

At the end of the book is a little passport with stamps for all the countries they went to.

Yoga

Aunt Masha sent this yoga video and yoga mats to the kids for Christmas. They're a big hit! Friends up North who are looking for cold weather activities, this is a great one!


Take this one, Momma!

Frankie the Photographer

We got Frankie a used Canon powershot for her birthday. She has gone hog wild taking pictures. Seriously, it's been so fun. She's actually pretty good! I love seeing life from her perspective. Check out her handiwork:

Uncle Matthew, Aunt Grace, and Momma at Chuck E Cheese on Frankie's birthday

There are a LOT of pictures of the boy. Usually doing something like this.

Sometimes with his cheeser grin



She's really proud of this one.  "It looks like the sun is above the bird, Momma!"

more photo bombs

our fridge

love the perspective on this one

This one reminds me of a certain awkward dog we all know and love...

Frankie's 5th Birthday Party

My baby girl is turning 5! Her actual birthday is Sunday, but we had her "friends" party today at 2 Crafty Chicks, a local art studio that has art classes for kids and also hosts birthday parties. We had a blast!


Since I didn't have to clean my house, I had time to make this cake (and for the record, my house is still rather messy, but that cake was way fun to make!). Vanilla with Strawberry frosting, just what the birthday girl ordered.


I got Frankie a new dress for her party. She was soooo excited about this. I love that she loves fancy party dresses. It was an easy way for me to help her feel special about her special day.

Blooper reel: this one says so much about life in our house.



Setting up, waiting for our friends to arrive



Chris and I actually got to relax and enjoy the party!

The girls worked on mermaid paintings

The boys worked on pirate's treasure chests (Frankie invited all the girls in her class, plus Lawson, well, because he's Lawson)

Happy Birthday to you!

Everyone helped blow out the candles!



The party was so well organized!  They moved the kids swiftly through art time and then kept setting out new manipulatives on these little tables.




The completed mermaid

The boys finish their treasure chests

Happy Birthday, Frankie!