This week we were big spenders at the Artisan market (same place I was cleansed at). Holly, Greta and I went while Maeve slept and Conor worked. The girls have both been pining for Ecuadorian dolls and when we were initially packing our stuff to come here, we promised to get them some jugetes de Ecuador (Ecuador toys). So 5 weeks in, I finally made good on my promise. Holly and Greta each got a doll, a clay pot and a miniature spoon. I bought a couple of wooden spoons, a tool for mashing potatoes/plantains and I couldn't help but expand Maeve's musical instrument collection with a set of maracas. It was lunch time at the market and cuy was on the menu with many people eating it. We bought plantain chips, popcorn, salad of tomato and green onion with a tomato juice poured over it and lime juice. Oh my goodness it was delicious! There were two other ingredients that are typically mixed in, but Greta only wanted what was familiar to her. Next time, I'm getting it with all the fixings! 

On the walk home, the rain came down hard and we got pretty wet!

Cluade Monet wraps up our study of artists for now. I'm sure we will do more, but, for now we will take a rest. Monet was such a prolific artists and correspondingly, there are many children books written about him. We had no problems borrowing books about Monet from the library! My favorite two books about Monet are actually from the same series, Katie and the Waterlily Pond, and Katie and the Impressionists. 

For our art work, we painted a water scene with cotton balls, and then made water lilies once it was dry. For the second art project, we stamped with flowers, and once that dried, we scraped blue paint across to make a water scene. I'm so happy with how this turned out.

Now hopefully, I'll have the energy to move onto one or two sewing projects. 

Continuing with our art lessons, we read about Georgia O'Keeffe. I love the work of Georgia O'Keeffe. I love that she's a woman and I love that she painted what she liked. 

We read lots of library books about Georgia, my favorite was Georgia O'Keeffe in Hawaii: When Georgia O'Keeffe Painted What She Pleased. I took Holly and Greta to our local rose garden and they sketched what they wanted to paint. Later, I encouraged them to use bright paints to paint their flowers. I love how their art turned out. 

And a couple of great quotes from Georgia O'Keeffe. Trying to tie in some writing with the arts. 

"To Create one's world in any of the arts takes courage."

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."

This is one of the things I love about homeschool. 

Cross Country in Elementary school is one of the cutest thing ever. I can't help but get a little emotional at the finish line! Holly and Greta did cross country this fall at our neighborhood school. It was fun for them to go to practices and run with kids they know. They both did so great and pushed themselves hard! Greta qualified for the All City race. She has an engine! At her two races she came in 7th and 5th. She ran her second half mile race in 4 minutes! It's been really fun and rewarding to watch these girls practice and apply themselves. Conor has been awesome and he's taken them on some morning runs. So, so cute! 

First up, photos from the first meet.

And the second meet!

Remember when Holly ran cross country in first grade? So cute!

Our most recent art project was Jackson Pollock mimicry. One thing you ought to know about Holly and Greta is that they know how to consume art supplies at the fastest rate possible and therefore they had no problem dumping a ton of paint on poster paper. They really enjoyed this art project!

Unfortunately there are not a lot of children's books about Jackson Pollock, but we did read Action Jackson. We also borrowed from a the library a book with photographs of his work.

I recently visited the Chicago Art Institute and my girls were so jealous that I saw works by Mattisse, Pollock and Georgia O'Keeffe in person! That enthusiasm for art makes all of this worth it. This is one thing I love about homeschooling!