I Love Thursdays! Especially when they include a Trip to the Mobile Museum of Art

Thursdays are Free days at the Mobile Museum of Art. The girls love going there. And we have not missed a Thursday in the past several weeks. Emily and I went this past Thursday and it was amazing. Let me repeat that A-M-A-Z-I-Z-I-N-G!


Ella did not go with us this time. She decided to stay home as she was busy making cartoon flip books so I decided to let her stay home and continue doing what she was doing. So Emily and I had Mommy/Daughter time. Emily attended the Kids Art in the Afternoon hosted by the Azalea City Quilters Guild. The Kids' explored the art of textiles and patterns and the steps it takes to make a quilt. Emily enjoyed the activity. She loves anything to do with arts/crafts and especially if it has anything to do with sewing. So she had fun.

Thursday's events at the museum were to honor the Grand Re-Opening of the Museum's Gift Shop. If you live in the Mobile/Baldwin County area or are planning a visit to the Gulf Coast, you MUST visit the Mobile Museum of Art. It is something to see. The Exhibits there are just breathtaking and the newly renovated gift shop has something for everyone. Gifts, books, educational toys, clothing, art, household items... the items are limitless. I could literally go bankrupt in the Museum gift shop. But then again, I am in debt and beyond the point of bankrupt, so what does that make me? LOL. Anyways,  a different story for a different day and a different blog. hahahahha But seriously, it's amazing in there. I think I could literally spend my days in the museum and the gift shop just browsing, and reading and searching. If they had a library in the museum, oh no! They'd never get me out of there. Just throw in a comfy couch and I'd be there daily. It's such a peaceful and spiritual place. It's filled with so much emotion. The sights, the smells. I always loathed art history class, it's so boring just sitting and listening and lecturing about it, I'd rather be doing, looking, seeing, smelling, moving about ..... okay, so you get my drift? So the girls want to sign up for their homeschool art courses that are taught there this upcoming semester and the next so I need to get on the ball and make the tuition so they can participate. It doesn't cost that much but to me, at this point and time it does, but the experience they will get from there will be so worth it.

Okay, I strayed from the main idea of this post.....Thursdays...Museum...

But Thursday night , guests were treated to light refreshments. ... an assortments of soda pop and champagne, wine and cheeses, crackers and olives and catered hor d'oeuvres that were just absolutely divine. I'm talking crab cakes with mango salsa, a toasted cake with peaches and raspberry sauce, and a few more. It was just magnificent.

After our light refreshments, Emily and I headed upstairs to view the newly installed exhibits that are purely breathtaking.

We then ventured back in to one of my favorite exhibitions in the entire Museum,

the Katharine C. Cochrane Gallery of American Fine Art.

. I am in love with the work by Miriam Schapiro. Her collage work titled Vera (Paper Collage mounted on Paper) , is just spectacular. I wish I could post an image here but you are not allowed to take photos in that particular part of the gallery so you will just have to go there and see for yourself. Its just amazing. Words can not describe it. The colors, the textures, movement...ah, it's just....go see it... go see it. you will see for yourself. It's my favorite. I've made a point to go see it every time I visit the Museum. Every time! If you Google Miriam Schapiro (or click the Wikipedia link above) you can learn more about her and even check out her works online. She's an amazing artist. Amazing.

And another spectacular piece you must see in person is titled Boy Boy Pinguino (Oil on Canvas) . Luckily, there is a link to this one online from what looks like the public school system here. But you must see this one in person to experience it. The texture and brush strokes give life to this painting. You want to reach out and touch it (but you don't do that, no touching the paintings) You can see every hair strand and eyebrow and lash as if it were really actually there. The eyes seem to move with you as if the boy was gazing upon you from across the move, watching every move you make and you are so mesmerized my his gaze, and the textures of this painting that it's an all of a sudden notification of the penguins in the distant background. I had no idea they were even there, hidden in the distance. I was more focused on everything else that is about this painting. My words and this internet image do not do this painting any justice whatsoever. Go see it!

Boy Boy Pinguino (1998)

Alette Simmons-Jimenez

 

So if you are in the mood for something to do with the kids or the family and it's Thursday, check out the Mobile Museum of Art. They have Kids Art in the Afternoons from 3-6, a free art lesson and then tour the museum for Free. There is a donation box by the Front door as well, so feel free to leave a donation so that they can continue to offer these wonderful services to the community. Here's the Schedule for the rest of the month of August.

This Upcoming Thursday, August 15th, You will definitely find us at the Museum from 3-9. It will be an amazing night . Lots of great things going on. 

August 15
Cool off with a snow cone, freeze in place as you watch the live creation of an ice sculpture, and chill out as you watch the movie Ice Age on this special evening of activities.

• Free admission
• Kids art activities from 3:00 - 6:00 pm
• Purchase tasty snow cones from the KONA ice truck beginning at 3:00 pm
• Live Ice Sculpture by Israel David Archible of Pat's Deli and Catering begins at 6:00 pm in the front parking lot
• Movie showing begins at 7:00 pm in Larkins Auditorium
• Galleries are open until 9 pm
• Light Refreshments

We hope to see you there. 

Thinking Ahead - Our Lesson Plans this week:

• We Will continue Following our Studies of the Planets and Meteors in preparation of the Perseid Meteor Shower (August 11-13)
• we are going to look into the art of Ice Sculptures just for fun of it so the girls know a bit about Ice Sculptures
•  our Art activity will be to create a large Sun by Collaging using mixed media and we will do our basic
• Language Arts
• Spelling Words
• Social Studies/History 
• Handwriting
• Math-Including Multiplication Tables Practice
• We will also continue to read , yes all of us (it's great for the girls to even see their parents reading daily) 30 minutes a day, a book of their choice.  
• Physical Education-Family Time Fitness Lesson Plan and Visits to Ymca for swimming.
• Followed by our weekly trip to the Museum on Thursday with the Kids Art in the Afternoon.

 Until Next Time.....
Go Learn Something New!
Jennifer

( I am in no way affiliated or employed by the Mobile Museum of Art, Nor was I compensated or asked to write up this blurb about their services or events.... I just am passionate about the Arts, my community and the services they provide and it's a great place to visit, family friendly and the staff are wonderful and this place is a must see)

Catching up on This week's Adventures...Releasing Sonic the Turtle Back into the Wild....

Despite My daily migraines, fibromyalgia pains and all the other daily stresses of life we managed to make it over to the Asian Gardens to release the little turtle we found in our front yard. He/She is so cute. And from the size of it, I am guessing it;s no more than 2-3 years old. Little guy it is. (For the turtle's sake, we named it Sonic LOL). So we decided Sonic needed a safer environment to rome about as we have no idea where he came from and I am sure Sonic will get run over in our neighborhood and so we decided to take him/her over to the Asian Gardens. ...

(The Girls Carrying the Cooler we had Sonic in to transport him to the gardens for release -no lid-as you can see, while in transport-he was ready to go and starting climbing the side of the cooler-now we see how he was getting out of the cooler when he was inside our house--we found him walking down the hallway -LOL)

Now, the Asian Gardens is a neat little place...It is fully equipped with a small walking path, 3 ponds filled with koi fish and other small fish, tadpoles and of course, turtles. We found a nice shaded area just at the beginning of the path from the steps where it;s nice and shaded and the water was clear and cool and we put Sonic there on the grass and off he/she scooted and Plop!, into the water Sonic went.

We watched Sonic swim about for a bit, little minnow type fish swarming about , checking out their new neighbor, nibbling at his feet and then swimming away. He then found a nice little shaded grassy area to hide underneath and then poked his little head out, then turned around and swam a bit more towards us, turned around, and poked his head under the grass and it was if he was home. So he found his place. I hope that he is happy there, lives a long happy life there and he/she grows up healthy and like my girls stated, starts a family and has turtle babies of his own one day. I think , if I remember correctly , that his eyes were a light golden brownish yellow, so need to check to see what that meant,... I know we took care of an injured turtle in the past, actually 2 of them this past year.... and I forget what it meant, but you can determine the sex of the turtle by their eye color. So we have had one with red eyes before. hmmm, will look in to that.

(Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming !)

We wish you Many Happy Healthy Years Sonic the Turtle ! We will come visit you often to feed you and your Turtle buddies and fish buddies oh and the Geese and Ducks too.

Until Next Time,
Happy Homeschooling!
Now Go Learn Something.....
Jennifer

Okay, So YEP, Its Been Since Thanksgiving SInce my Last Post, LOL

It's NOW August.... And we have been doing lots of De-Schooling activities and Homeschooling and other such activities that I plan to update this little blog with photos, this that and the other. I need to get it all together. I have been having issues with migraine headaches and the meds that I am on make me tired and so I tend to forget about coming and posting and keeping up with this blog so I vow from here on out to keep up with the blog and what we are doing.

I have filled my Pinterest board with soooo many Pins lately and have uploaded so many Free PDF files on my hard drive that I think I need a new hard drive now. The resources that are out there are UNLIMITED !! It's nuts. NUTS I tell you. I don't see why people pay for curriculum when you can basically get it all for FREE on the internet or for pennies basically (if you find the right sale) online, book sales, used curriculum sales, etc  So with that said, I am in the planning phase for this week's lessons.... lessons which will include a late night meteor shower viewing... if we can make it, which I am sure as we seem to be on the late night train anyways.

The Perseid Meteor Shower .. I have a small Pinterest board going, you can view it here. It can be visible a few days prior, but August 11th - 13th are prime viewing days and between the hours of 1am and just before dawn or 430am. So find a nice dark field, away from artificial lights of the city, and set up with lawn chairs, a nice beverage, blankets if its cool and start your viewing. It can take about 20 minutes for your eyes to become accustomed to the dark so be patient. And you can be there for about an hour. So little ones can become impatient as well. So you may want to bring a flashlight or something for the littles to do if they are with you. But it should bring about some good viewing and something to talk about prior to or afterwards as far as a nice lesson plan is concerned :)... Life, something always a nice lesson in the midst, and for free.

So I am hoping me and my 2 lovelies and hubby will be up for it, weather permitting, and we find a nice field or quiet area away from the city lights , near home that we can view the Perseid Meteor shower. I know the girls are excited to atleast try to view it. I know I am. So hopefully we can view it...

Meteor Shower Posting to be Continued....

• Plans for Thursday... 

1. lesson planning, 
2. trip to the Mobile Museum of Art (Free on Thursdays)
3. laundry
4. dishes
5. sleep
6. perhaps an early morning walk
7. swim at the YMCA with the girls
8. maybe some sewing.

Mobile Museum of Art Kids Art in the Afternoon- Aug 8, 3:00 - 6:00 pm Kids Art activity: Inside Expression - Join The Azalea City Quilters exploring textiles and patterns in the afternoon.