Jordan's 1st Grade Concert

Last week I joined the rest of the school at assembly to watch the 1st grade classes perform their program. It was called the Crooning Critters and the songs were all about animals.

The kids did a great job and the teacher had their attention and had them organized, supervised, maximized, you name it! (Jordan is 2nd right on the 2nd row).

The kids decorated a 'crown' of sorts with animals and wore them specially for the program. Jordan really got into the singing and I was surprised because he doesn't like to be on stage and in front of everyone.

For my non-US friends and family who bother to read my blog, in the picture below the flag on the right is the Colorado state flag. Each state has its own flag and the state flag and the American flag most often get hung together.

Here are a few interesting facts about the American flag that I know:

(1) if you hang the American flag upside down, its a signal of 'distress'.

(2) There is a book about how to handle and fold the American flag which you are given when you're sworn in as a citizen, and

(3) the American flag can never be hung lower than any other state, military or organization flag. (Once while we were walking up a flight of stairs, Jordan hit each step with a small American flag that he was carrying. A woman went up to him and told him off! As foreigners, we had no idea and that was our excuse too!!).

So my 1st grader is almost finished with 1st grade - his last day is in 2.5 days time (they get out at 10:30 am - why even go to school?) and of course Jordan is stoked!

Cullen starts Kindergarten after the summer and will be going to Jordan's school. We had to open enroll them at this school because we don't live in the district but they were both accepted. The kids go back to school August 25th so they have 11.5 weeks of summer vacation. Lord help me!!! (It should be fun...at times!)

Cullen's Preschool Graduation

Bethany Busy Bee Preschool Graduation

Thank you to the wonderful women who have weaved their threads of love, knowledge and prayer into the fabric of Cullen's life, adding to the tapestry that is colorful, intricate and uniquely his.

Roberta Falk - Monday, Wednesday, Friday class

Karen Walters - Tuesday/Thursday class

Dr Sketchy's - Honey Touche

Armed with my brand new sketch pad and my extremely talented friend Naomi, I braved the world of burlesque dancers and sketching at Dr. Sketchy's.

What is Dr. Sketchy's? Its where a group of artists get together every 3rd Sunday night to sketch burlesque dancers, roller derby girls, etc. who strike various poses for different times (e.g.: 1 minute, 5 minutes, 20 minutes).

Naomi invited me along and I couldn't resist. I've seen her drawings from previous Dr. Sketchy's evenings and they are wonderful and although I was intimated, I thought it would be fun to try.

The group currently meets at the Pink Elephant Bar in downtown Denver and artists sit at little tables (normally reserved for drinkers) with pens, paper, ink, brushes ready to sketch the lovely model for the evening. Drinks are pricey but fun and tasty. The music is funky. The model is clothed (sometimes partly clothed) in a variety of costumes throughout the evening.

Sketching the lovely Honey Touche was a lot of fun and I realized that I wasn't too bad at sketching, provided I stayed away from drawing faces and hands and I stuck to legs, chair legs and the back of Honey.

I also took a bunch of photos of her posing. (I used my flash at one point and got a hairy eyeball look from one of the artists - I later read on the Dr. Sketchy's myspace page that flash photography isn't allowed).

After each timed pose, the artists turn in their favorite sketch and the hostess (with the help of the model or someone else) then picks the best sketch for that pose. To my utter amusement and surprise, Honey picked my sketch from one of the poses and I won a pair of tickets to see the Roller Derby in June. What fun. (I later learned that most of the artists hadn't turned out for Dr. Sketchy's that night so I think they pitied me as a newbie).

This is the picture that got me the prize!

Anyway, I've concluded that this may become a new outlet for me, provided Naomi doesn't mind me tagging along with a real artist!

Naomi (aka Real Artist) produced this picture of Honey which I stole from her blog!

(She has already called me a thief on Facebook so this is double jeopardy)