Drawing on the back of a placemat ...

... while we waited for our food to arrive.

Three dogs for keegan

He drew this one while everyone was resting and "cooling down" after playing outside for field day at school. Keegan excitedly stood there and watched over his shoulder, pretty excited to see it.

Our front yard

Today Aiden came home from school and wanted some time alone in the office to draw. It's often his "come down" from a busy day at school, and I couldn't be happier that he knows how to manage those emotions creatively. When he was midway through drawing, he asked if it was okay if he used a lot of marker (of course!), if I would stay out of the office so it could be a surprise (of course!) and when he handed it to me, he asked if I liked it (a great big of course!).

I love it!

Scenery from New York

He used to be shy???

And I must add, he's really overcome his shyness. He's quite the showman when presented with the opportunity!

"..... I'd like to thank the academy .. AND MY MOM!"

Performing "Indian Song" for his class

A few days ago, Aiden mentioned to his music teacher that he has been taking piano. Mr. Purrington invited him to play for the class, on his piano -- a double thrill for Aiden to get such an exciting honor.

Today he played his current favorite song from his piano lessons, "Indian Song".

Today's art is a poem about a bald eagle

Bald eagles soaring
Increase your flight
Rapid Speeding
Dark through night
Soaring in skies

Fine Arts Fiesta

Today was a culminating event in Aiden's class -- the Fine Arts Fiesta. The students sang a song on the stage in the gym, and Aiden did really well with that. He actually took a couple of bows at the end, which really made Randy and I laugh ... since no other student took a bow. He's become quite the showman, and quite comfortable on the stage -- something we are quite proud of, given how shy and scared he used to be.

Then, he was the co-host of the Spanish portion of the event -- he got to introduce the songs that the class would sing, and the other components of the performance, and he did it all in Spanish, of course. He was very proud to be selected to do that, and he did a fabulous job.

To showcase what they have been doing in art, they each made a Picasso-styled self-portrait.