What a Wonderful Maker

If you have never been to Yosemite, you need to go! We have so many pictures to share with you but here are just a few!

We were greeted with this view as we approached our camp ground. Huge Granite Mountains jetting out of the earth around every turn.

Apparently it was shocking! Our campsite was located in between the waterfalls and the famous half dome on a awesome river. What a blessing it was to wake up to such a wonderful view.

You cannot live in California without seeing the Giant Red Wood trees. Little did I know some of the largest trees in the world are found inside Yosemite National Park! (Giant Sequoias in Mariposa Grove)

 

Here is sweet Grayson enjoying hanging out on the river. I really think this natural beauty is proof

that we are we are loved.

DIY Mason Jar Coozy

Here is a super fun tutorial I found on Pinterest. Also, I used a polymer clay button I made in a previous post. I made this one for Mikie to use as a coffe sleeve but he is refusing because I sewed on a heart. Now I am trying to brainstorm a more manly design.

This Boy

I miss him! I don't understand why God chose me and my family to share this little blessing with. He is pure joy and so special to me. I have so much Love for this boy, and right now I'm having a really hard time understanding why I have to live so far away from him. I'm trying to figure out the lesson I am supposed to be learning in being so far away.... Ready for less confusion and more peace.

I can not overlook the adventure we are living here in california. This weekend we are going camping in Yosemite. It's my first camping experience, and yes I'm a little nervous but I'm sure I will have memories to last a lifetime.

I promised myself I would right my(OUR) story down. I need to start doing better job!

3rd grade flowers Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh

In 3rd Grade we carefully examined Van Gogh's Sun Flower series of paintings. We talked about his FAMOUS brushstrokes and the style of IMPRESSIONISM. We began creating impressionistic drawings of Van Gogh's sunflowers. We defined impressionism as painting our 'first impression' and not painting ever single detail that we see. It was super fun and every students art work looked different. The medium we used was OIL PASTLE, the kids were amazed by the ability to mix colors and color in layers. I encouraged them to "color the paper away" so that their was color on the entire page.

Here are Van Gogh painting that we examined:

I covered the desk with newspaper so the students could color all the way to the edge. I also told them to choose their own colors,  they are the artists so they can make their own artistic decisions :-)

I showed them how to add a white highlight so the vase would look "3D"

Here are some finished product:

Glass Mosaics with 4th Grade

Hopefully this is my first post of many elementary art projects!!! For the past few months I have been teaching ART to 3rd through 6th grade at Yuba Feather Elementary School. It has been an awesome experience and my creative juices are flowing.  One of the first projects I decided to do was making glass mosaics. I have a ton of glass left over from a stained glass course I took in college. I chose to do this project with the smallest class, which happened to be 4th grade with only 19 students. Here are some pictures I took along the way...

Cutting glass took FOREVER! All you need is a glass cutter, running pliers, and a willing husband. Glass cutting took way longer then I expected so Mikie and I took shifts (I probably shouldn't have left cutting for the last minute :-/). I think all of the blisters, cuts, and glass shards were totally worth it :-)

Time to glue glass to pieces of cut wood. I learned that wood glue works the best, we applied glue with a small paint brush. The theme we decided to go with was "under the sea", we made some sketches, talked about creating an image with small squares, and discussed the importance of creating contrast between image and background.

When they finished I took them home to grout them. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into here! I learned it would have been way easier to grout one large mosaic then 19 small ones, needless to say after a few hours I did it! If anyone has grouting advice I am open to any suggestions!!!

Here is a before and after of an awesome crab, made by Kylie:

Take a look at a few finished products!

Starfish

Sea Turtle

Clam with a Pearl

Shark

Their talents are impressive!

Extreme Home Makeover!

Welcome to the house we moved into directly out after our 

honey moon!  I promised pictures so here they are... Check out the sink/stove combo and notice there is no oven. Is this even safe?

So we tried to cook, the stove was super finicky it sometimes would work but sometimes we were not so lucky. I became a a huge fan of crock pot cooking!

Here was our Thanksgiving turkey! I have learned you can cook absolutely everything in a crock pot!



RENOVATION TIME!!!!

Here is a before and after of the kitchen it was finished right before Christmas, what a wonderful christmas present! Everyday this kitchen reminds me I do not have to worry about anything but by prayer and petition present my requests to the LORD! I have never felt more provided for then I do right now in this little house on a mountain a world away from my family. I am reminded daily how good and big God is.

We ended up painting every room in our house and the floors were replaced in the kitchen living and dining room.

Hope you enjoyed our 'extreme home makeover' I know this is old news but I wanted to share it with you all.

Life Update!

We finally got our wedding pictures!!! Of course I had to share a few of my favorites! We are so thankful for a extremely talented photographer Meaghan Elliott. 

So many more wedding pictures, I need some good ideas of what to do with them all! In other news in the Kane Household I have become employed (woohooo!!) I am teaching 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade art at out local elementary school; I will be sure to show you some pictures of my kiddos and their awesome art work!  Also, we have been very busy with house guests and Nor Cal traveling!!!

We are starting to have a routine when our east coasters come to visit! This usually includes wine tasting in SONOMA or NAPA, lunch or dinner in CHICO CA, and you can not forget a quick day trip to LAKE TAHOE. 

Lake Tohoe

Napa/Sonoma

I have to add this last picture of my Handsome Husband sneaking a kiss on top of Table Mountain! 

Mikie and I are feeling extremely blessed that so many of our friends and family are willing to fly all the way across the country to visit us! We love having them here, and they remind us of the wonderful adventure that we are living over here in California! 

Our next visitor will be my Mom, Dad and of course Josh! They arrive May 31!