Aubrey Does Plasticine

Hi I'm Aubrey. This is a project that our class did. We watched a children's book illustrator, Barbara Reid, make a book page using plasticine clay. She taught us that we spread plasticine in the back ground, and how to make little clouds and a mouse. Above is a drawing I did first of what I wanted to do with clay. Below is my final product. It took me the whole time before lunchtime.

This is the first one I ever did and I like it a lot because it is a bunny in the sunset, and it was really really fun to make. It took me a really long time but it was worth it.

Now I want to make another one! And I get to at ScienceWorks Camp next week because my mom is teaching a camp called Read it Write it Draw it Do it. She's going to read a book called The Subway Mouse and our class is going to make a bunch of little creatures in big scenes.

Nickel Slots With Mom

After sticking a nickel in my crack as I got a trash bag from under the sink, Aubrey drew this picture of me.

What a lovely girl.

Just in case you've been confused
about the password...

SCOOBY DOO AND THE MISTRY
OF PHANTUM VALLY by Dane Reynolds

One night when the gang was driveing donw a dusty road when they happen to find a little tonw called Phantum Vally and when they got out no one was ther.


The gang started to look a round town and fred said "Something must have scard them away" and Shagy said "like if you think so!!!" And Scooby said "ruhu." Velma said "You chickens be Quiet."

"O.K." Said Shaggy. "r.o.k." Scooby said. Velma, fred, Daffny, Scooby and Shaggy all said "hear that sound?" And there hair stoud up...

AND THEY RAN AWAY FROM A GHOST SCREEMING!

and they finally got away and they made a plan. Fred, Daffny, Velma and Scooby would get the ghost behind the mistry musheen. So Shaggy can cut the rope and catch that ghost.

The plan begins...


and the ghost relly was Dr. Mick. and he said, "I would have goten away with it if it weren't for those metleleng kids."

So one by one the people came back to Phantum Vally. the end


About the Author: Dane reynolds. my sister is aubrey. and I also like the movies and Books because they are good!*


*Author Dane Reynolds self-published this book at home and took it to school to read to his 2nd grade class, who loved it.

SCIENCE THURSDAY

Dane and Aubrey have been preparing for the WALKER SCIENCE FAIR for a few weeks now - with a long break for some family Flu in there, of course. Now, Thursday night's the big night. Funnily enough, they both had thought it would actually be held at ScienceWorks (a decent guess) and they'd secretely hoped there'd be rides. (C'mon, it's a fair, right?)

Following is what they've individually prepared (after probably a good ten to twelve hours of work each).

DANE
Dane asked the question How can you make outdoor furniture out of material that is natural and environmentally friendly?

Read his list of possible answers on his white board (hopefully you can click on the picture below to read easily). Then peruse the rest of the display to learn about building with cob.

He made a mini-cob bench with his buddies, Logan and Avery, and they got permission to make a large bench (with their parents' help) to put outside the school library. Project set for mid-Spring.

For the science fair, we decided to have the boys figure out their own separate displays for optimal learning - and it'll be fun for them to compare how they each focused their displays.

AUBREY

Aubrey asked the question Why is it important to use baking powder if a recipe calls for it? You can read her answer, how she got to it, and how she tried to grasp the chemical reaction of a leavener on her display board below.

One of her personal goals this year is to bake more, so this was an applicable, fun, and, yes, tasty project -- at least for the one made with baking powder.

With "Cob the Magnificent Mixture" and "Baking Powder to the Rescue!" all finished up and ready for tomorrow's big fair, these two budding scientists went to bed happy and proud tonight.

And rightly so...

What is this? you might ask. Well, it's a pile of Dane and Aubrey's friends at stuffed animal camp, each with their own single strand crocheted scarf to keep them warm and show which team they're on. (Shelby? Remind you of anyone we know?)

And what is this? you might ask, although it's probably obvious. This is Aubrey's ice skater.

STRAIGHT FROM THEIR NOTEBOOKS

Peso Penguin - by Dane

Purple Girl, Purple Tower - by Aubrey

Boy, I miss these kids! Don't get me wrong: I'm loving life here for these two weeks at Soapstone, but I definitely think of my family often. Mick's plugging away at school; Dane and Aubrey are having a fabulous time with their Grammy. I can't even imagine all the reading, drawing, snacking, and singing going on there.

I'd better get back to work now...

De Young with Pals

We brought Vincent and Amelie with us to Art Class at the De Young this morning.

The docents took the kids through the African art exhibit, focusing on patterns, colors and shapes. Then the kids got to identify shapes ("bowties," concentric diamonds, stripes, triangles) on their own pattern sheets in the art room, using a permanent marker to create a pattern of their own onto broadcloth. They ground up brown clay for brown paint and some orange pastel for orange paint (adding drops of water).





Mick tagged along to study in the museum cafe, and afterwards we went out for crepes in the Haight. Celine's taking the picture, so too bad she's not in it.

AUBREY'S MERMAID

Coffee with Grandad

The rest of us were at school -- Mick at dental school, Dane at kindergarten, Anjie at pre-school (teaching) -- so Aubrey and Mike went for some "coffee" together.

There, they worked on drawing a family baseball game (the big craze around our home) and took a self-portrait.

GRANDPARENT ART

his (Mike's) sketch -- with Aubrey's help


her (Jan's) cut-outs -- with kids' help

FULL WEEKEND

Between the four of us, we tried to bust out our home to make sure it's organized and clean enough for guests. In tight quarters, that ends up making a noticable difference!

Other than that:

*Yesterday, I filled in for the owner at Butterfly Life 8am-1pm

*Mick took the kids to the art class at the DeYoung Museum. Fashion and the Vivienne Westwood exhibit were the focus this time. After the interactive (age-appropriate) lecture, they drew a shoe shape around a foot/calf drawing -- Dane, a roller skate; Aubs, a HIGH heeled boot -- and then decorated it with various materials like tissue squares, jewels, laces. Westwood once said, "You have a much better life if you wear impressive clothes," so at the class the kids were encouraged to bring their own aesthetic to the wardrobe item.




*Today, other than cleaning house, we got the van buffed out (interior/exterior) -- the kids were VERY excited about this.

*We recycled bottles, cans, and plastic to earn $5.43! We spent half of it at Starbucks for kids' chocolate milks and then banked the other half. (Our money training is pretty haphazard. Now that the kids are interested in recycling, and now that they're starting to understand currency better, we're going to have to have a bit of a plan for teaching them how to manage it.)

*I took a couple good walks.

*Dane and Mick took a long bike ride, using the trail-a-bike.

*The fam's watching "Chicken Little," a pretty hilarious animated film.

Anjie's Holiday Art

Holiday Excitement

Watching The Muppets Take Manhattan

Rudolph - by Aubrey

Snowman - by Dane
(Yes, we had a conversation about yellow snow)

Person With the Walking House - by Aubrey
(watercolor and pencil)

Ice Skater - by Dane
(colored markers)