A semi-warm day today. Spring?

I taught Art Start in Dex's class today. We studied Johannes Vermeer's "Milkmaid", concentrating on the light and shadows. Then the kids drew still life photos of some flowers in cobalt blue bottles with pears (I took the bottles in from my blue bottle collection). They worked with pastels which were actually very chalky. Anyway, it was fun and some of the kids really understood the light/shadow thing and it was exciting to see their results. I had to take Cars with me today which sucked because he was in the way a bit.

I freaked out a little when I went into the class to gather last month's project and it was GONE! The teacher gave it away to be showcased at the school district's resource center but I need it for the Art Auction night on May 10th! She promised it would be back by then. The kids studied Matisse's "Les Bêtes de la mer" and they cut paper sea creatures and glued them on the pages. They turned out really cute so I decided that those art pieces would be featured at the Art Auction. Anyway, I hope they are back on time! Please-please-please!

Tonight the PTSA was sponsoring a talk on "Stranger Danger". I had planned to but things got hairy after dinner. There have been a few attempted abductions around here lately and people are getting skittish - calling the police anytime a teal or white van drives by.

From sheriff's office:

"Citizens are asked to call 9-1-1 if they see a truly suspicious vehicle in their neighborhood. However absent some sort of suspicious activity, please don’t call 9-1-1 if only a white or teal van is seen, as this ties up call receivers and prevents other callers from reporting incidents."

Notes have been sent home from school so now my kids freak out when they see a white or teal van. The most recent letter from home mentioned a red van. Soon it will say beige, silver and grey and that will cover just about every van around here!

Anyway, I am sorry that I missed the talk at the school tonight. In the meanwhile, we'll just re-watch "The Safe Side" dvd and try to condition my kids to be cautious but not frightened of every van driving around.