To start off the week I spotted this beautiful rose on our bush as we headed out the door to go to church. I decided to take a photo BEFORE we left, as the weather was forecast to be very warm. Good thing I did too because by the time we returned home in the afternoon, the heat had done serious damage to the bloom.
Our daily Christmas picture books for this week...
Munchkin working hard on some Series of Unfortunate Events inspired papercraft...
Monkey has his first ever commissioned piece of artwork. Friends of ours from church are moving to New Zealand in the new year. The wife asked Monkey if he would draw a picture of their dog to give to her husband. Monkey agreed and was given a photograph to use as reference for drawing the photo. The LEFT photo shows how Monkey zooms in on part of the photograph (in this case the nose) to work carefully on the detail... The RIGHT photo is a progress photo...
This project stretched Monkey a lot... he didn't have as much time to work on the drawing as he thought he was going to because he didn't realise the drawing was going to be framed and then packed into the 20 foot container that was getting packed and sent several weeks before our friends fly out. He thought he would have a month to work on it, but it turned out he actually had one WEEK to draw the photo. Also, he had to enlarge the photo as he drew it and that is something he had not done previously. Initially, when he began the project, the process of having to enlarge the drawing stretched him and stressed him. But after a chat with his dad and also with me, he stepped back, thought a bit, and then got started...
We have at least two resident Blue Tongue Lizards living in our yard (though it might be as many as three) and because the weather was warm for a few days this week, the two were out and about in the backyard. We are seriously obsessed with these guys so there are a LOT of photos...
I used my zoom lens for these photos, but this particular lizard seems pretty comfortable with us and will allow us to get pretty close (providing we move slowly and quietly) without running away. The other lizard is a different story... noise doesn't particularly bother it, but any movement (even from far away) sends the lizard scurrying back underground.
Munchkin did some online research about what Blue Tongue Lizards like to eat and discovered that apple and mango are good foods to feed them. So we chopped some up and put it outside to see what they would do with it...
I love it when I manage to get photos of the blue tongue when they stick it out...
The "brave" lizard lets Munchkin get VERY close to place the food...
In order to get photos of both lizards when they are out together, I have to stand on the back verandah and use my zoom lens. The blurry lines are the rails - any time I tried to stand up and take the photo while leaning on the railing the scared lizard would run away...
Non-fiction read alouds for the week...
Hair cuts for the two younger boys Tuesday night - compliments of hubby's cousin
BEFORE and AFTER shots of Munchkin...
BEFORE and AFTER shots for Monkey. He was more than ready to cut his long hair. He has actually wanted to cut it since his birthday in July, as he only ever intended to grow it until he turned 13, but it took awhile to organise it.
Another progress shot of the drawing (LEFT) and the finished product (RIGHT).
Our friends were thrilled with the final drawing and blessed Monkey with a monetary gift which means he has officially "sold" a piece of his artwork.
Library After School Activity - Lego this week...
Finally a couple photos taken on my phone of Munchkin feeding the lizards.
I got my progress report from DuoLingo this week showing my progress with learning Spanish. Considering that most days I only managed ONE lesson I'm pretty pleased with these results.
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