Express Yourself!!!

Why do we do the things that we do? Why do we write? Why do we volunteer? Why do we teach? Why do artists create? All of these examples are ways of expressing emotions, the way you think and feel. 

I recently took an art class. It was watercolor painting. I wasn't really sure what I would get out of the class. I mean, you remember watercolors, they are the little paints that you bought as a required school supply in elementary school! How much can you do with that? 

The first thing that I learned was that you could do a whole lot more than we did in elementary school! I have always considered myself an 'artistic' person. I love lots of creative things such as writing poetry, drawing, painting, etc. I love everything that there is to do with the creative process. But why? To me it is a way of expressing myself. Reading through old poetry journals from when I was young, it is easy to see what I was feeling at the time. The same can be said about any art process. Once I began to learn the process of painting with watercolor, I fell in love with it! We began with small little 2 by 2 inch squares to get the hang of it and learn the processes and techniques involved. 

We moved on to bigger and better projects once we began to get the hang of the processes involved with watercolor. We even learned how to paint with coffee! I have to say that the coffee painting was one of my favorites. It was fun and smelled wonderful! To begin, you get a cup of expresso and pour it onto a saucer plate. You let it dehydrate until it gets to the desired consistency. You want the center of the plate to be thick, dark and still gooey. The outsides of the plates are of a thinner and drier consistency. Your painting is a monotone painting with the various tones coming from different thicknesses of coffee coming from the different sections of the saucer plate. I thoroughly enjoyed using this media to create! This photo was a mug shot that my son took of himself on his cell phone. I painted it in coffee!

The watercolor class only lasted a semester, but my love for painting with it will remain. I love to paint others and present it to them as a gift. I take photos and turn them into paintings. I have many favorite paintings, but somehow didn't manage to take pictures of the finished product. Two more examples are below. One was from a photo of my dad on his wedding day, he looked just like Elvis!

Another was from a photo of my grandmother when she was young. It was such a cute photo of her caught in the moment, not sure what that moment was but I love the photo, and it is now one of my favorite paintings!

My husband's favorite was my self portrait. I would never have believed that you could get such dark colors on the paper from watercolor!

Watercolor is one of the hardest types of paints to control. One of the most difficult parts to me in using watercolor was that once it is on the paper, it is not permanent! If you touch something that you just painted with a wet brush, it lifts the paint off of the paper. This creates a very big challenge in controlling the paint and where you want it to go on the paper. If you painted an entire painting and spilled water on it, it would be gone! So be careful using liquids around your artwork if you give it a try!

I love expressing my emotions through painting. I love making someone feel good by giving them them the gift of seeing themselves in paint. It makes me feel good to make someone else feel good. 

This is what artwork is all about. It is all about getting your emotions out through your media. You can do that even if your paints only cost 98 cents!

Photo to share for blogger- OU

I explained my son to OU blogger. It was a discussion about kids that play electronics being unhealthy and such. So I was explaining that my youngest is quite accomplished with the video games as well as his classwork and athletics.....so here is the photo with all three of my sons and one of Tyler alone!

What happened to the three R's?

Does anyone remember the three R's besides me? Growing up I remember hearing about it in school, we have to learn our three R's! The phrase in itself was just a way of getting you to remember the three things that were going to be emphasized, reading, writing, and arithmetic; or as we said, readin', writin' and 'rithmetic!

Unfortunately, I think that our schools are so wrapped up in testing and scoring what they need to for state mandates, that the art of reading and writing, as well as spelling have been shoved aside.


***Only a little more than half of the students in today’s U.S. elementary schools learn to read and write well enough to be functionally literate.
***More than 40% of the employees in U.S. businesses are functionally illiterate.
***More than 94 million adults in the U.S. can speak, but not read, the English language.
Source: Literacy in the Labor Force Report, 2003. http://literacy-research.com/

As a parent of a child that has struggled with reading and writing, I am very sympathetic to this issue. The public schools of course have implemented programs to help children with these struggles. As an observer to these programs, I fear that they are not helping children to develop these areas as well as they should be, but lowering expectations to help them get by. I realize that some children need the expectations lowered and I appreciate that help. However, here are a couple of things that I personally have heard come out of the mouths of teachers; "Don't worry about spelling, there is always spell check.", "It's ok if they can't read very good, there are always books on tape." "Handwriting is not important, when they grow up they will be doing everything on computer anyway."! That's just a sample of the many excuses that I have heard. That is what they are, excuses for not wanting to put forth the extra effort that it takes to get some children up to speed. Believe me, I know that it can be frustrating! The teachers need help too! One teacher does not have the time to help thirty children with individual needs every single day!

I also understand that some children have disabilities that will keep them from ever being 'up to speed' with the other kids, and that is ok, the programs in place for these kids are wonderful and I am glad that they are in place. Every child deserves the chance to a good education. I just think that there are a drastic number of kids that need extra help in this area that are not getting it. The kids struggle in class and at home with tons of homework, and the schools seem to be ok with these kids barely making it to the next grade. It is a vicious cycle for these kids and it certainly takes any fun out of school!

The complaint from schools of course would be funding, funding, funding! It takes money to get all of the extra help for kids that need it. My fear is that some kids are being put on IEP's, or Individual Educational Program, yet not getting the extra help that they need to overcome their educational shortcomings. Why would this happen? Schools get a substantially larger amount of funding for students that are on IEP's compared to the regular student body. If that money is not spent to educate that child, it's basically income for the school budget! What a terrible thing to suspect, but I am guessing it happens!

Research shows that adolescents with reading problems can master college preparatory material if provided with appropriate, quality literacy instruction. 
Source: Alliance for Excellent Education, Fact sheet December 2004

With the extra help that these kids need, they can be successful! There is nothing better than seeing a child that struggles in school see success in their grades from a job well done! I have always said that it is ok if you are not the quickest worker in your class, every one is on a different level. It is ok if it takes more effort to get the job done. Just like some kids can run faster than others or hit the baseball farther, it just takes a little more practice to catch up! With the help of attentive teachers, helpful and involved parents and even willing friends, kids that struggle in the classroom can see success! Do a struggling child a favor and take the time to listen and help!

PED's

PED’s- Who’s to say what is and what isn’t?

I understand the argument. But, who started the argument and where does it end? As long as there have been sports, there has been something that helps the athlete to get better, faster, stronger. Athletes are always looking to enhance their performance. Longer and harder workouts, more coaching with better expert advice, better equipment, and yes medicine. 

When did we decide that we needed to regulate who as an athlete could take what? Which vitamins, supplements, and other drugs enhance an athlete’s performance? Who gets the privilege of deciding this in the name of all performing athletes? Dare I even say, “What is wrong with trying to enhance one’s performance?” Isn’t that what we want from all athletes? Don’t we want them all to run faster, jump farther, hit homeruns, throw touchdowns, be the best of the best, and be a physical specimen? Of course that is what we expect out of them! 

How many people that simply watch the news for the latest name of who has been banned from sport or forced into early retirement actually even know which substances are banned by which sport? Do people even realize that different sports have different lists as to which substances they consider to be performance enhancing? Are you, the average fan, taking performance-enhancing drugs?

Did you realize that if you drink a lot of coffee every day that you would be considered to be abusing performance-enhancing drugs in some sports? Did you realize that if you took Nyquil last night that you could be banned in some sports for performance-enhancing drugs? Did you realize that if you used an inhaler for asthma today that you could be abusing performance-enhancing drugs? Did you know that a number of items that you could have purchased at your local vitamin store today could get you banned for life if you are an athlete?

I realize that all of the above is the lighter side of the items that are on the banned lists, but one still has to wonder why they are on the list to begin with! The more serious side is of course steroid usage and many other drugs. I am one of those that feel as though there is too much regulation. It seems the problem just grows, as the restrictions do. There will always be a new substance! Where does it end? Will athletes soon be banned from taking vitamin C because it gives them an unfair advantage? Try doing without some of the above-mentioned items on or before a day that you have to do a big presentation and you are not feeling too well. Sorry, do with out them and perform as well as you can anyway, best of luck!

Pet Owner Benefits

     Most people just can't resist the urge to own a pet when they see cute little puppies. Then the potential owner picks up the puppy and instantly falls in love with the cute little creature that is snuggling and instantly loving the person that picked it up! Most of us can relate to a moment like this. Whether we decide to take the dog home or not is a huge decision. We all know what an enormous responsibility it is to be a pet owner. The pet nets constant care and attention. Not to mention training and medical care. These are just a few things to consider before taking on pet ownership. But have you ever considered the many benefits that come along with the responsibility?
                                                                                                       
     Pets can have many benefits to their owners. Of course, children love to play with pets. Having a pet helps a child understand the nature of animals and the responsibilities that come along with owning one. The social playtime with their pet can lead to years of enjoyment. Aside from the joy a child receives from a pet, their are numerous benefits to the adults that own them as well.
                                                   
                                                  

                                              
                                         
     The simple joy of companionship is enough of a benefit for some people. Pets become friends and to some even become more like family. As if companionship was not enough, some dogs even work for their owners. There are many owners that are handicapped that depend on their dogs for their every day tasks. There are dogs that help the blind, hearing impaired and even those that are confined to a wheelchair. Other types of jobs that dogs can have are working dogs such as sniffing dogs, that sniff for drugs or explosive devices, search and rescue dogs and military dogs. You have to love an animal that works so hard and only asks to be fed and loved!


                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
       
     Research has even shown that ownership of a pet can give positive health benefits to senior owners. Some of these benefits are increased movement, a sense of security, stress reduction, help coping with the loss of a loved one, and even a reduction in the need for medication.

     Even though the responsibility of owning a pet can be great, it seems the benefits of pet ownership far outweigh the challenges. No matter the age of the occupants in the household, everyone can enjoy the love and dedication that pets can provide.


Precision K9. Precision K9 Professional Training. 2010. Web. 31 March 2011. <http://www.precision-dog-training.com>, Pattel, Sacchi. "Pets Make Great Companions." N.p. 2011. Web. 31 March 2011.