The Thanksgiving break

...where I didn't do a whole heck of a lot. I was determined however to rest. I really felt I needed it.

Also, a bit of time was taken up with Christmas decorating. I LOVE Christmas and really love decorating my house. Above is my snowman collection...

and the Christmas village over the TV and the constant hum of football (just kidding Jer). The tree is up as well but I didn't take a picture yet.

This week in art class we looked at the works of the British sculptor, Henry Moore. I gave each child a palm size lump of air dry clay and, after showing them pictures of his work, asked them to make their own abstract sculptures. I told them that I didn't want to see any bunnies or kitties or anything like that and if I did I would smash them mercilessly! Bwa ha ha ha ha!!! I told the kids that I didn't want to be able to recognize their pieces at all. ABSTRACT!

Ok, I forgot my camera and had to use my iphone, which only seems to be able to upload pictures sideways. But they're abstract... does it really matter? Kidding. Anyway, I'm well aware of what terracotta looks like, and let me tell you, it's about as messy as it looks, but the store was out of white air dry clay.

Hmmmm.... this one is interesting.

Now I know this is not abstract, but it is gorgeous. The girl that made it is about 13 and a sort of  "at risk" kid .... she's at risk of choosing men poorly the rest of her life because the boys she hangs out with are total turds. Anyway, I praised her for this and told her she should keep up with clay and sculpting. You could tell by her reaction that she doesn't hear praise much and she was very proud of her piece. And it is experiences like this that remind me why I do what I do.