Graduation!

May 25th, 2013

Emilee is finally graduated! One of the busy events of last weekend was her graduation with an Associate’s degree in Visual Arts from Hagerstown Community College. She worked hard, and she earned it. Woo Hoo!

Emilee graduates from HCC May 18 2013

Those who have followed our homeschooling journey know that Emilee pretty much unschooled through her teen years. She did very little prescribed curriculum past 7th/8th grade, but pursued her own interests, reading, traveling, etc. She was pretty well generally educated when she headed to community college, except for math. She took some remedial classes to catch up in that area, but in everything else, she did just fine… a testament that all that book learning through high school is not necessarily the only way to prepare for college.

Emilee graduates from HCC May 18 2013

She and Liz took a lovely shot of themselves when they were leaving in the morning. Amazingly, Liz had hip replacement surgery only about ten days earlier! With the aid of a cane, she managed to attend the Honors Convocation on Thursday and the graduation on Saturday, even maneuvering to the top of the bleachers because her daughter Aura wanted to sit up there. It proved to be a nice seat, as we could lean back on the wall rather than crowding into the really uncomfortable floor seating.

Emilee and Liz

Of course, any time all six Grahls are in one place, we have to snap a pic, since it’s such a rare occurrence!

Emilee graduates from HCC May 18 2013

My mom sent a cute scrapbook page showing Em’s former roller derby team, and it included this adorable little Skater Em!

Emilee graduates from HCC May 18 2013

In a wonderful, serendipitous happening… the girls and Chris killed a little time at an antique store between the ceremony and our lunch reservation. They found a Turbo Man doll with working lights and sound! This movie has been a favorite of Em’s since she was little – in fact, at one point, Chris altered an old Iron Man doll to be more like Turbo Man, but he fell apart over the years. Now she’s got a real live Turbo Man for her very own!

Turboman!

Homeschool Prom

May 25th, 2013

Last weekend was a busy one! We celebrated Katie’s sixteenth birthday on Friday evening, then Emilee graduated on Saturday morning (more on that soon), and that evening, Becky went to her first homeschool dance/prom. She had a blast! She went with her friend Emma, who wore an awesome Tardis dress with glow-in-the-dark lettering on the belt and a Tardis headband that really lit up.

Becky and Emma at PHLiC Prom May 18 2013

One of the moms has a photography business, and she shot the event for free. She set up a little studio area where the kids could have as many pics as they wanted to get. These are some “from the side” shots I was able to get while she was shooting the real thing… so glad we’ll have some nice shots to buy – we don’t have many these days!

Becky and Emma at PHLiC Prom May 18 2013

She managed to get one of Becky and me together.

Marti & Becky at PHLiC Prom

It was so much fun to see all of Becky’s friends dressed up…

Becky and friends at PHLiC Prom May 18 2013

Although they still knew how to get crazy!

Becky and friends at PHLiC Prom May 18 2013_07

Various groups of kids wandered in and out, getting pics done all evening.

Becky and friends at PHLiC Prom May 18 2013_07

At one point, they wrangled all of the kids in together and got a group shot. Again, this is one of the “from the side” shots a mom got.

Kids at PHLiC Prom May 18 2013_07

We loved seeing the kids dance so freely – none of that inhibited barely getting on the dance floor stuff here! They danced for hours,  with some of them doing whatever-the-heck their signature moves were, and no one batted an eye or raised an eyebrow to judge or make fun. They were so expressive to watch, and they really enjoyed themselves.

Dancing at PHLiC Prom May 18 2013_07

The moms who weren’t chaperoning went to dinner to get out of the way for a while. We popped back in for the last half hour or so, intending to stay out of the way. But nope, the kids came right over, grabbed our hands, and got us out on the dance floor, too! Let me tell you, dancing at my age makes the songs seem much longer than they were the first time around. Specifically, we all danced to the B-52s “Love Shack,” and it seemed to go on forever.

Dancing at PHLiC Prom May 18 2013_07

All in all, it was a grand time. The kids had a blast, the work was worth the effort, and we’ll definitely want another next year!

DC Art Museums

May 17th, 2013

I was lucky enough to spend Tuesday accompanying Katie with her classmates from BISFA to some of the DC art museums. We spent the morning at the Renwick Gallery, and then lunched in the park across from the White House.

Katie at the White House

We had fun taking silly pictures.

Selfie at the White House

Marti and Katie at White House

Then we went to the American Art Museum, including the National Portrait Gallery. They had an Art-O-Mat machine, so we bought one! We ended up with an olive keychain. Fun!

Art-O-Mat

Art-O-Mat

Art-O-Mat

Katie Turns 16

May 17th, 2013

For Katie’s 16th birthday, she wanted to take some friends to tea. We headed to Tranquilitea in Waynesboro, where I’ve had several lovely mornings spent with friends. This was an evening tea with seven friends, and they had a blast!

Katie Turns 16

Lovely ladies!

Katie Turns 16

Lovely food!

Katie Turns 16

The birthday girl!

Katie Turns 16

And in a wonderful stroke of genius, the Jenkins family gave Katie SIXTEEN sheep of various sorts and sizes. It was SO funny watching each one appear as she unwrapped them!

Katie Turns 16

 

Mother’s Day 2013

May 17th, 2013

Had a wonderful Mother’s Day. We went out to lunch with Chris’ mom, Katie made me a beautiful card, the girls were wonderful… a lovely day.

Mother's Day Card from Katie 2013

The girls gave me two very pretty scarves – so lovely!

Mother's Day 2013

We make a pretty nice couple, with great kids.

Mother's Day 2013

Em’s art

April 27th, 2013

Emilee/Paisley also had art hanging at the HCC Spring Show. We were so surprised to see her painting and her photos… really lovely work. It’s exciting to not see stuff the girls have done for a while, and then show up and see such artistic pieces.

This is “Rubik’s Cube Self-Portrait,” and I think it totally captures Emilee… she’s always loved Rubik’s Cubes, and I think the design of this painting speaks a lot about how unique and colorful she is.

Rubik's Cube Self-Portrait by Paisley

Chris said he really liked this ladybug photo, enough to talk the artist into selling it to him ;-) The composition and color are great. I think Emilee has a mindful eye behind the lens.

Ladybug by Paisley

“On the Way Home” was taken using a longer exposure, I believe, but not much coloring touch-up, if any. I really love the vividness of the colors and the stars in the sky, much of which isn’t captured by my little phone camera shot.

On the Way Home by Paisley

Here are the photos in context of the wall. The three on the left that aren’t Em’s are by the daughter of a co-worker of mine. The lower middle one is called “Non-Migrant Mother,” and really holds the essence of the original “Migrant Mother,” but with modern hectic-life stresses weighing heavily now. It was interesting to see my happy, light-hearted friend captured in such a manner.

HCC Spring Art Show 2013

All in all, it’s been a fulfilling, artsy, creative, fun few days of seeing all our girls’ hard work shown off!

 

Rachel’s Art

April 27th, 2013

It’s been a very busy art season in our home! Tonight was the HCC 2013 Spring Art Show, and both Rachel and Emilee had work shown. Their teachers and classmates remarked how hard the girls had worked, how much their stuff showed off their talent, how much fun they were in class, what a joy they were to have around, etc. As a mom, I was pretty happy. It’s also been a thrill to watch Rachel blossom in her art this semester. She’s tried a lot of new things, with great success.

One of her best pieces was “I Am Scared,” completed in her 2-D class. She put a lot of raw emotion on the canvas.

"I Am Scared" 2-D by Rachel

A side view, showing the words along the border, “I Am Scared… I Can’t Be Scared…”

Side view of "I Am Scared" 2-D by Rachel

Some closeups of the raised silhouettes:

Closeup of "I Am Scared" 2-D by Rachel

Closeup of "I Am Scared" 2-D by Rachel

By far, one of Rachel’s talents is making jewelry. The bangles are made by a homeschooling friend of hers who was in the same class, but the tree, the heart, and the ring are Rachel’s. I heard many compliments about the heart necklace. I wish the photo showed off the lovely patina – it really fell in just the right places. The tree has a little wire bird’s nest in relief, and it’s really beautiful too.

Rachel and Dakota's Jewelry

This was a self-portrait from her drawing class, and we thought it was really funny that they hung with with a classmate’s head over it! Sort of weird that no one changed it around, no?

Funny drawing arrangement! Rachel's "Looking Down My Shirt"

One of Rachel’s favorite paintings was this still life she did of books on a shelf. She especially likes the fact that Harry Potter fans will recognize two of the books.

Still Life of Books by Rachel

We’ve been teasing Rachel all semester about finally having friends, but she really does… it was fun to watch her float from small group to small group, visiting with this person, then that person… she really does have friends!

HCC Spring Art Show 2013

Becky’s first acrylic

April 27th, 2013

While I’m showing off the girls’ art… here’s one by Becky. It’s her first serious acrylic beyond characters and non-organic beings, and it’s called “Lonely Thoughts.”

"Lonely Thoughts" by Becky

Katie’s artwork

April 27th, 2013

Katie is concluding her first year at Barbara Ingram School for the Arts, our arts magnet public high school. The principal makes a big deal that they are not simply a Fame school for dancing on the tables, but rather a college-prep high school with academic rigor and a focus on the various art disciplines. A recent ranking of high schools in the U.S. proves this to be true; BISFA is first in the county, #16 in Maryland, and #352 in the U.S. for “Best High School” – an all-around score for academics, testing, teacher/student ratio, etc. While I’m not a huge fan of public schools, I like hers. She’s done a great job academically this year, and she’s produced some nice pieces of art. Her year-end show is up now, and we were able to take some shots of her work through the year. She created a lot of art! By far, this drawing of Rachel was a show favorite:

"Rachel" by Katie

The show in the BISFA lobby:

Spring 2013 BISFA Art Show Reception

A walnut under a magnifying glass:

"Walnut magnified" by Katie

One of my favorites – this is a larger perspective piece showing a shop. Katie chose a yarn shop… I wish it really existed!

"Yarn Shop" perspetive piece by Katie

“Melting,” a ceramic piece.

"Melting" ceramic piece by Katie

Two smaller ceramic pieces, “Mouse” and “Whale.” They each fit nicely in your palm. One of the teachers expressed interest in buying the whale!

"Mouse" and "Whale" ceramics by Katie

A nice pencil drawing of “Music.”

"Music" by Katie

An everyday object drawn from an unusual perspective… Becky’s ukulele:

"Mahalo" by Katie - everyday object from an unusual perspective

Still life including cloth:

Still life by Katie

Plaster cast of a whale:

Plaster Whale by Katie

Foam print of a seahorse:

Sea Horse foam print by Katie

And to remember what kind of school she’s not attending, I can’t resist including another link to the Fame “Hot Lunch Jam” clip… when I was in high-school, this was what I dreamed of. Instead, we’d spend the bulk of our lunch period in the band/chorus room, singing Broadway tunes.

Emilee’s jewelry

April 27th, 2013

Emilee’s been busy this semester, finishing her A.A. degree in visual arts. Her year-end art show is tonight, but these are some of her later pieces. This is a self-portrait:

Self-Portrait - finalpainting

Which was developed from this collage of photos:

Self-portrait in progress

Some of her drawings from previous classes:

Em's drawings

This beautiful jewelry piece is a Harry Potter piece, fashioned after the Golden Snitch. The letters read, “I OPEN AT THE CLOSE,” which carries special meaning for HP fans. This piece is for sale for $30, if you are interested!

"I open at the close" necklace by Paisley

Closeup of the closed piece:

"I open at the close" necklace by Paisley

Another shot:

"I open at the close" necklace by Paisley

The interior, with lightening bolt charm:

"I open at the close" necklace by Paisley