Team Aurand

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

WonderMan and the Shelf

We have these great 12 foot ceilings in our garage, but we haven't been using them to their fullest potential-- we have been using our basement for storage (like most people do), but since we would like to eventually finish our basement, we have to find a new storage place. Over the past year, we have slowly been accumulating identical clear plastic bins from Target and putting our storage-ables (I know it's not a word, but you get the gist) in them so that we can see what's inside.

This past weekend Matt, aka WonderMan, devised a plan, proposed a budget, and created a storage shelf around our garage above the garage doors-- in two days (really just Sunday and Monday nights), without deviating from the plan, without going over budget, AND it only took one trip to Lowes (sorry Home Depot, you didn't have the wood we needed)! Below is documentation of just how awesome he is....

the before picture

the first frame

the first half section installed

measuring and installing the second section with the help of our awesome neighbor who came over to give Matt an extra hand or two

night one done!

Night two, Matt's brother Mike, came over after work to help install the support beams (he had a compound miter saw that made things MUCH easier

the top finished!

putting the first of many storage bins up

admiring his handy work

Voila! DONE!

There's just enough space for two storage bins to stack so that they are not rubbing against the ceiling... hmmmm almost like it was planned that way (it was). So now all of our Christmas decorations are stored propperly and some of the clutter in the garage is off the floor-- we are waiting for some warmer weather to really reorganize the garage, then, hopefully our garage organization will be complete!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Anxiety

Tomorrow three of my students are going to the state level of the Governor's Honor Program interview. For those of you unfamiliar, the Governor's Honor Program (GHP) is a highly competitive summer program for high school sophomores and juniors. Students are nominated in different subject areas and interview at the school, county, and then state level before being selected to participate in the 6 week summer program at Valdosta State. As such, it is a very prestigious honor to be selected. Art students have to not only interview well, but also submit a portfolio and take a written exam as well.

I nominated four junior girls this year and all four went on from their school interviews to the county level. From there, three girls continued and are interviewing tomorrow morning at Pebblebrook High School. They have been working very hard outside of class assignments to build their portfolio and have stayed after school one day each week since the end of November to review material and fine tune art pieces.

I know they are prepared well. I know they will do great, but I am still very anxious about their interviews. Even though they are the ones interviewing, I guess I feel like their performance is a reflection on my teaching capabilities. I mean .... it is. So I'm anxious.

Since I'm the only art teacher at my school and I don't get to really meet with the other high school teachers in my county, I sometimes feel like I'm in a vacuum. I think my students' work is good, maybe even really good-- but compared to who? So I have been trying to enter them in a series of student shows.... expose them to other high school artists. The Scholastic Arts Show was this fall and I had one student win a certificate of merit-- which sounds like a participation award, but not everyone who entered got one, so it's still kind of a big deal. I had another student (one of my GHP girls) win a certificate of merit and a Silver Key award. It was a good start.... tomorrow is the Paulding County Fine Arts Association Art Show. I have a handful of stuff I'm going to take down there and I'm hoping that my GHP girls will be done with their interviews in time to submit a piece as well. Another thing I am anxious about-- how well will my students do compared to other Paulding Co. students? Oh well.... it will be over-ish tomorrow.

In the mean time.... this is a painting one of my GHP girls did and while it took her a long time to conceptualize, create, and eventually like it-- which she still waffles on, I really like it. The complementary colors are great, the subtle circles behind the angular branches creates an interesting contrast. I don't know... I just really like it. What do you think?

Friday, January 28, 2011

Nanny Cat

When we were pregnant with Weston, both Matt and I wondered what Tungsten would do with a baby in the house. Ever since we brought Weston home, we had no doubt that Tungsten would be just fine!

When Weston was really little and still using the cradle during the day, Tungsten would cry and rub his head against the cradle when Weston wasn't home as if to say, "Where's the baby?" When Weston wakes up from a nap, Tungsten is ready to go fetch him, and constantly meows until someone goes to get the baby. When we give Weston a bath, Tungsten is never far behind, opting to lounge on the bathroom counter and over see the bath routine. Every night we put Weston to bed, Tungsten is in the room saying good night with us. During the day, if Weston is awake, chances are Tungsten is in the room somewhere..... a lot of times he channels E.T. and chooses to curl up with the stuffed animals, lest he be seen by Weston and become a target.

He will tolerate Weston touching, grabbing, poking, and "petting" him, but he prefers to just keep a vigilant eye on the kid from a safe arm's length away. Unless, of course, it's meal time (Weston has been known to feed the cat).

Below are just a "few" examples of our watchful Nanny Cat. See if you can spot him

Making sure he gets up the stairs safely

Leading him to his room for bedtime

"Cleaning" up after Weston

They are both watching the door as Matt comes home... notice the bite size piece of food next to Tungsten courtesy of Weston!

It's a staring contest

Do any of you have a Nanny Cat... or dog?

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Weston's 1st Birthday!

Weston is 1!!! Since his birthday is just 2 days after Christmas, we had his party on New Year's Day. Unfortunately, this meant that a lot of family and friends were unable to make the trip to celebrate with us. So I promised you all that I would take a ton of pictures so you could be apart of the day through the pictures!

Our decorations included a lot of balloons.... I mean A LOT!

The balloons spilled into the orange room-- we were also able to hang all of our picture frames before the party too.

Matt relaxed before the party began.... tons of balloons

We staged the gift table in the dinning room... with more balloons

Weston gave his Aunt Diane a HUGE face squeeze

Even though we had a lot of new toys and even more kids at the party, Weston was the happiest when he was able to explore through the house-- sans baby gates and munch on fallen ice

This was the sheet cake we ordered from Publix for everyone to enjoy-- Matt said his favorite part of the party was cutting GIANT slices for all the kids.

Publix gives free "smash cakes" for 1st birthdays with the purchase of a sheet cake.

Matt's Aunt Amy and Mimi bought Weston a collection of candle holders in the shape of circus animals. This year, we chose the Lion would hold the 1st candle.