Learning the Human Body for Children

Kids Learning Tube is such a wonderful channel on youtube! This playlist is all about the human body, sung from the perspective of each body part and teaches countless facts about each one. My son is now 4, and he loves these videos so much! He knows every word of each one of these songs and can tell you all about the human body, what it's made of, and what it can do. Kids Learning Tube has all sorts of other videos as well and the songs are so catchy that kids just can't help but get caught up in these videos!

Product of Endless Inspiration

These are the things I create. I have been deeply inspired to pursue the things I love the most, though I love my son more than all of my passions combined of course. He has named a few of my paintings, and we love having evening painting sessions together. He loves to paint, and usually paints the solar system. He is often the subject of some of my drawings as well, and of course I take so many pictures of him that I have yearly folders all split into each month ever since he was born. I love my son, what can I say?

Here are some of my works:

You can find more previous and upcoming art work HERE. Please like my page.

I am currently illustrating a book series, writing a Metaphysical book, and constantly creating abstract art. I'm also considering some performance art concepts that may come to fruition with the help of a few friends. This is all also on top of my 4 blogs and other social media accounts because I do all promotions on my own. While I've been working on these things a little over time, I have just been so motivated as of late to put a fire under my butt and get somethings done. I hope you enjoy my art, and thank you for checking it out. Here's some pictures of my son and his paintings...

No matter what you put in front of him, he will be painting planets because that's what he loves right now.

Thanks for checking it out!

Endless Inspiration

I'm sure people who know me are just so tired of hearing about this, but I am truly inspired. I've been wishing for years that I could get back to creating art, photography, and finishing a few books I've held the concepts for for a very long time. Recently, I came across something that just instilled an endless amount of inspiration. It's hard to explain really, but it's just true.

What was it?..... Shia Labeouf. Yes, you read that right. I said Shia Labeouf. I am a long time fan of his work, and I had come across the #Introductions performance which led to other performances that I wasn't aware of because we had been without internet for a bit. I started reading about the Metamodern Manafesto by Luke Turner and listened to several interviews by Shia Labeouf talking about the work that he's been doing. I began to consider what metamodernism actually is, and wondering whether or not these performances are sincerity or irony. I came to the conclusion that it didn't really matter either way, because either way conforms to metamodernism in every way. But this isn't the point. The point is Shia Labeouf and his astounding mind that most have not considered.

I for one love people with complex mental processes and find them terribly interesting. Labeouf particularly amazes me as I've seen this person grow into someone who has a true interest in genuine connection, and will become the only celebrity in history to be famous for being normal... human. Anyone who has kept up with his career will see that he has gone through some major existential crisis and feels everything very deeply. He's that child we use to be grown into the adult we should be, still carrying that flame of inspiration and child like curiosity about the world and how we interact. He is what is known as a "Method Actor". This means that anything he can do to get as close to the role as possible he will do, such as dropping acid, getting drunk, having a tooth removed, scarring his face, and plenty of other things to literally become the thing he is trying to express. What he says about his acting is this.. "All I do for a living is just open up and let you look, so it's all me up there.".."The only real thing I'm good at is baring my soul." I believe this because through all of my research on this person, all I can see is a human, in tragedy and joy, feeling every experience as if it's his last. In this, I find genuine inspiration coming from someone who had declared "I am not famous anymore" with a paper bag over his head on the red carpet due to the pressures of constantly being followed by paparazzi, having all of his mistakes exposed and never being able to live a normal life. He has come from that to declaring that he WILL bare his soul for all to see and I see him living up to that in the most normal ways possible.

This may not make much sense to anyone else, but he truly inspires me to do exactly what it is I have been wanting to do my whole life, and to never give up on that. From his experience I've learned that I must embrace every experience regardless of what that experience is, and to accept my feelings so deeply without regret or hesitation. This experience that we are having is the point. The point is not to numb ourselves so that we can get to the other side unscratched. The point IS to experience! His search through this life for any and every experience is inspiring for me in such a big way.

For kicks, here is one of his latest performances.

DIY Spinning Wheel of the Year Instructions and Images

When I started this project, I hadn't considered taking photos of it, but quickly I realized that others might want to know how to do this because it's a lot of fun and a wonderful visual representation of our year. I had seen a simple wheel that someone did, that was just flat paper pinned to the wall and I wondered..... How can I make this thing spin for real? So I devised a way to create an actual spinning wheel that we could turn throughout the year to show exactly where we were in reference to the seasons and sabbats.

Here's what you'll need:
Large pieces of cardboard
Scissors
Poster board (white, or whatever you like)
Wire
Wire pliers
Glue
3 plastic pony beads
Decorative paper/markers/stickers
and whatever else you want to decorate it with.

What I did was cut our patterned paper for my letters, lines, etc. But if you fancy yourself an artist you may draw or color it however you like. It's yours and you will have to look at it for however long you leave it on your wall.

1. Make your Circle that will become the wheel:

Measure and cut a circle from a piece of cardboard. Make it as big or as small as you like. What I did was glue white poster board to the cardboard so that I could draw and write on it. Measure and make a small hole in the very center of the circle. This hole will be used later to suspend the wheel, and is also helpful when drawing the spokes of your wheel.

2. Create a base/back board:

The size of your back board will depend on how big you want your wheel to be. Notice the small hole in the center of the bottom piece. First, the round, top part of the back board is where your "title" will appear if you choose to have one ("wheel of the year"). The hole is where the wire will go so it must match up to the hole on your wheel and leave enough room for your words on the back board. I placed my wheel on top of the back board and measured how much room I wanted for the words on the back board and also for the pointer which indicates "we are here". Measure, and make your hole. You might notice that my back board is two pieces. I don't know if it's absolutely necessary, but as I was experimenting I wasn't really sure how I was going to do it... so it just happened.

3. Decorate your back board:

Again, I glued white poster board to the back board for a nice, clean surface to decorate. I cut my letters from patterned paper I got at walmart such as this:

NOTE: Don't glue or otherwise attach the pointer (red triangle) at this time. I found that it was best to wait until after the wheel is attached because the pointer will be on top of it and you'll need to leave sufficient space to keep it from rubbing the wheel too much.

Once you've cut out your letters or whatever you are going to put on the back board, place the wheel on the back board, line up the holes and draw a light mark to show how much of the board the wheel covers so you know what part of your decorations will show, or exactly what area to decorate. Then Decorate AWAY!

4. Decorate your Wheel!

With light pencil marks I outlined my wheel, the spokes, months, and outer edges that I used to mark the seasons. Then it was time to add some color and decorations. I used a lot of patterned paper for this. I first covered the "seasons" areas with patterned/colored paper:

I cut out leaves, snowflakes, and other images we associate with each season and glued them on, then put letter stickers on, but I didn't have enough for every word so I wrote the rest. After I was satisfied with the seasons sections I cut out some lines for my spokes and glued them on, and wrote the months, sabbats, and other special days on the calendar section.

5. Attach Wheel to Back Board:

I used copper wire because that's what I had though you can use whatever wire you want as long as it is fairly firm and will keep it's shape. I used 4 pieces and twisted them together. Open up one end to make an x which will keep the wire in place on the back of the back board. Thread it through the back board:

Then I covered it with a circle of white poster board and glued it down really good so it wouldn't spin. And I mean I put glue all under and on top of the wire, then glued the poster board. I really wanted it to stay. hahaha

I also cut out an even larger circle and glued on top of the first circle.. just because I wanted it to never come apart.

Flip the board over and put one plastic pony bead onto the wire. Cut off the excess wire and leave about an inch.

Thread the wire through your wheel:

You might choose to put something there for the center of your wheel. It could be anything such as pretty beads, a nice stone, or whatever. Of course, I didn't think of that until I cut and curled my wire so it's too late for me, but you've got options. I snipped a bit of the wire off and curled them under. I did notice that since my lines were glued pieces of paper the wire was catching when it spun, so I went back and curled the ends outward. Now it spins just fine.

6. Attach Pointer

I cut out a triangle, covered it with white poster board, colored it red and wrote "Here" on it. Then I mapped out where I wanted it. I wanted it to be in front of the wheel but not too far down. I glued 2 pony beads together and then to the back board. This allows for enough space since one is used between the wheel and back board. Consider the thickness of the cardboard you've used as well as the bead separating it from the backboard when deciding how far out your pointer should be.

After the beads were dry and well in place I glued the pointer on top of them. Simple enough I suppose.

7. Hanging your Wheel:

It's really up to you to decide how you'd like to hang your wheel. There are many way to hang things. You could attach a string to the back like some old fashioned frames, use brackets assuming you are able to attach them to cardboard, or do like me and just use thumb tacks. By the end of this thing I was like.. "I think I've done enough. I'm just gonna shove some tacks in there!" hahaha

Either way, you'll have something great to share with your kids to show them where we are in the year, what season we are in, how close special days are... It's just great! I did later go back and put more stickers on it, and will probably continue to do so as this year progresses and certain themes become available in stores such as Ostara eggs and things of that nature. This is also something you can do with your kids as a fun project.

I really hope you enjoyed this post and I'd love to see what you come up with if you decide to do this!
Thanks for reading! And may the Gods Bless you and your families!

Furious With the Head Start Staff! A Heated Discussion About Why My Son Won't Be Attending Public School

As you may have seen in previous posts, I had decided to let my son attend head start so that he could develop some social skills and get early social interaction as most kids really need. He's an only child and he's not around that many people really. He liked it, then he didn't like it, and now he doesn't want to go. I had already made up my mind to Homeshcool him even before I was pregnant. I always knew I would homeschool my child because of the effect that school has had personally on myself, and both of my brothers. The feeling was even 10 times stronger once I realized that my son and I were moving back to my hometown. I know what these schools are like, and from the state of the people in this town.... nothing has changed! Soon after I moved back here I saw my second grade teacher. Yes, she actually remembered me and we had a long discussion about these schools. She informed me that a few years after I was gone she dropped all of her kids from school, quit her job, and homeschooled her children. The teachers notice, the parents notice, so why are the people doing something about it the "Odd balls"?

I have tried for nearly 3 weeks to get my son to go back to school. And by try I mean all I've done is ask him. A few times I got him up, fed him breakfast, and got him dressed for school but he refused to leave the house or get in the car. He refused with his words, his actions, and even his screams. That was it for me. I'm not going to make him go if he doesn't want to go. I went to the Head Start this morning to sign the Drop papers and when I got there his teacher and the Secretary started drilling me on why he needs to be there and why am I not letting him go? They ganged up on me, preached to me, yelled at me..... I was furious!

His Teacher said, "What are you going to do when he's older and he wants to go out. He can't stay home forever. He's not going to have any of the social skills he needs to function in this word with other people". My response? I looked him dead in the eyes and said, "I went to these schools. I grew up here and attended these schools until I was almost 18 years old. I have no social skills other than what I've learned myself through working with other people. I know what these schools are like. I know how these people are. We are strange people who aren't like all of these other people and the amount of ridicule and bigotry my child will endure will be way past an excessive level by the time he reaches 4th grade. Maybe even sooner. Aside from the people who attend and work at these schools, I have plenty of other problems with the Public School System!" I went on to explain what those problems were, getting cut off in the process and basically being called an idiot without the actual word being used. I then explained to them that I have always known I would homeschool my children, and when he's done with head start he won't be attending any other Public Schools. Then what? I tried to make them understand that this isn't a practice run to see if I'll let him go to school. This is far from that. It was simply so that my son could be around and interact with other children. If he doesn't want to do that, then I'm going to listen to him and do whatever it is that will make him flourish.... NOT send him off to school so that he can be a "perfect little robot" as my mother would put it.

What I've seen at this head start is that "head start" is not at all what it once was. I don't know about other towns or areas, but from what I can tell this place is nothing more than to prepare them to shut up and listen during "real school". The things my son has come home repeating... well there have been some doozies. The one that made me the most uncomfortable would be "Get in Line! I'm gonna put you in that Line!" It's not even the worst quote I've heard him repeat from school, but for some reason it made me so uncomfortable like my skin was just crawling around on my flesh. This is all that matters to them. What matters to me is my son's ability to have critical thought and to be a free thinker! He doesn't need to go to school just to learn to follow all the rules and become a mindless little worker bee. No! I want him to explore the world, discover what HE is interested in and capable of... Not what someone else thinks he should be interested in or capable of. He's an amazing boy, and I want him to know that! Not that he is just like everyone else, because he's not.

Still, they would not just accept my decision and kept hounding me, so I had no other choice but to pull out the religious card. I told them straight up that we were "different", and that I had plenty good reason to feel the way that I do about it. You have to understand where I'm coming from. This town is a very small place in the center of Louisiana. This is "God Country" as far as anyone here is concerned. Why, since I moved back here, as an adult, I have dealt with so much discrimination and cruelty.... more than I have in the past 8 years. We've only been here just over a year. I'm not getting this from kids in school. I'm getting this from the adults, at my job, in my face, all the time! What do you think they are teaching their kids? And kids are especially mean when they want to be. It's at the point here where even if someone feels in their heart that they were an athiest..... They would NEVER tell their own family. That's how you get abandoned, shunned, cast out.

I grew up here, so everyone I went to school with knows I'm "weird". I had no problem coming here being exactly who I am openly without regrets. I still have no regrets about that. I am who I am and anyone who might not like it can step aside and get out of my way. I really don't care. There aren't that many people here that I care about outside of family. Even some of my family have nothing to do with me because I'm "different". That's their problem and only goes to show just how bigoted and hateful these mindless sheep can be. The fact of the matter is that I'm not going to be something I'm not to please others, and I wouldn't want my son to think it's ok to do so. I will not let the idiocy of others stifle his or my spirit. We are perfect just the way we are. Another fact of the matter is that we aren't going to live here forever. I know that I don't belong here. I never did, and I'm willing to wager that my son doesn't belong here either. I can't make that decision for him, though it will take him time and maturity to figure out where it is he belongs so in the mean time... I say we don't belong here.

I agreed to let him go back to head start next August simply to get them to leave me alone so I could walk out of the room but I doubt it will happen. If by some chance my son says he wants to go then I'll let him, but I mean what I say when I say that at the end of his head start experience there will be no more public school for him.

Needless to say, I have plenty of things to express about my experience with these people at this head start. I refrained from saying anything too ugly as I've mentioned how small of a town this is. Anything too drastic could send out a wave of gossip and even cause me to lose my job (which has nothing to do with anything, but that's how things work around here). Many staff members and parents come into my store all the time so I'm sure I haven't heard the last of this. I'll be asked for the next 3 or more months, I can almost bet! Regardless, my decision has been made. He is my son and it's no one's business how I chose to raise him. It is especially not the business of a "teacher" I've caught sleeping at his desk while the aid attends to his class. No joke. I saw this with my own eyes. So no, he has no sway over my choices or my reasons for making them.

Thanks for reading my rant. Have a great day!

Is Unschooling For Your Child? What Is Unschooling?

I find myself falling under this type of Homeschooling more and more. I think it's very important for my son to learn about the things that HE is interested in. I still have that urge to structure a curriculum based on what I think he should know at any given point, but I haven't done that yet since he is only 3 and have seen in the time he's been alive that he learns so much better when presented with something and allowed to explore it rather than trying to teach him

what I want him to know about it.

One reason why my 3 year old can count to 100, say abcs backward and forward, knows all basic colors and shapes, and knows all the planets (I'll explain Pluto later) and can even tell you who named Jupiter..... Is because he loves music. He loves to sing and dance, and knowing that he loves music, all I had to do was find songs that he enjoyed. The rest is history. Of course he doesn't like all the songs I find, so we just stick to the ones that he does like.

He learns all of these things because when he finds a song that he likes he wants to hear it a million times until he knows every word. When he became interested in the planets, my mom crocheted all the planets and stuffed them. He places them in order by himself and sings songs about them. I gave him planet flash cards to play with and he does the same with them. He even knows how to spell Sun now (among many other words he's learned to spell). What I'm saying is that if your child is interested in something I think it's great to provide them with whatever you can and let them explore it on their own as opposed to "teaching" them what you think they should know. It's important to find things that will expand his knowledge on the subject that he can discover for himself.

I've been doing this with my boy, and I just sit back and watch him light up and flourish.

That's not to say that I don't throw a few facts and things at him here and there to get that little wheel turning. It's just in my nature, but I'm not going to force information on him that he cares nothing about until there comes a time when he just SERIOUSLY needs to know something.

Here is a great explanation of Unschooling and I wanted to share it with everyone.

Thanks for reading! Have a Wonderful Day!

Having Trouble Potty Training? This Helped My Son So Much!

I spoke about this book in a previous post and wanted to share it with everyone. The book is well tattered at this point because we've had it for a while. We had a hard time getting my son to use the potty. A few months after he turned 3 I saw a video of one of my favorite people in the world reading this book to his kids. It was adorable, and also I wanted to find out who wrote the book so that I might find it for my son. Listening to Misha Collins read this book, my initial thought was, "This is a bit graphic for a 3 year old." lol. But after thinking about it for a while, I realized that it would be really good for him to learn these things about his own body and sensations, and that it would help him understand why he needs to go to the potty. I came to the conclusion that the Author of this book is a genius!

We received the book a day or tow before I went into the hospital where I spent the next 5 days. I had only gotten to read it to him a few dozen times before I left.... He liked it and when he likes a book he wants you to read it over and over, and over. While I was gone, my mom read the book to him. I'm sure she got to read that thing a million or more times because he seemed to really enjoy it. She said that one day he looked at her and said, "Go Potty like Joshua? I want to use the Potty like Joshua." or something to that effect. So this book really helped my son understand that he must use the potty.

After searching the title and author, I found this book on Amazon (becuase you know I like Amazon) for less than $3. There were several versions of the book. Ones for girls, ones for boys, ones with sound buttons, and ones without. The original I think is a longer version than this one, but this one was fun for him and had all the important stuff in it.

So if you are having trouble potty training, this may be the thing for you! It's always worth a try!

Here, for your entertainment, is Misha Collins reading the book to his two adorable kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9kNGeS804M

Grandmothers Are Gold

Did I mention how grateful I am for my mom? She has been so good to my son and I since we moved back home. When I started my job here, I had never been away from my son since his birth and it was hard for me. I'm not sure if it was as hard for my son as it was for me, because he had his Grandmother every step of the way. She got up in the mornings to be there for him when I had to work early, and she has been there for him every single day..... Playing and laughing with him, teaching him things, helping him with things. She kept him while I was in the hospital for 5 days, and then basically bed ridden for the following week. During that time, she potty trained him with the help of a book that I had bought him prior to my stay in the hospital. (I think I'll make a post about that book.)

What I'm saying is that she has been so good to my son, and I don't know what I would do without her. When I see them together I can see the love in both of their eyes, in their smiles. My little boy loves his Grandmother so very much! And I'm so grateful that she is here with us.

I love you Mama!

A Wonderful Samhain

We had so much fun on Samhain day. It was the first Samhain that my son and I were able to do much, and he had a blast! He's still talking about it, so I know I did a good job! My mom and I stayed up the night before cutting out a paper tree to put on the was so he could tape fall leaves to it. He was so excited to do that, and he played with that for a few hours at least. We bakes some cookies....

We did lots of fun crafts like a qtip skeleton........

And making a pumpkin face on an orange paper plate with

black cut out paper shapes.......

And since my son is too young for a knife, we decided to draw pumpkin faces.......

But one of the best things we did on Samhain day was take a trip to the Cemetery,

Where my son gave his first offering and prayer.........

It was pretty special. It was such a great day. We were all so tired that evening that

our dance party didn't last very long. I don't think that my son could have

had any more fun! I hope your Samhain was just as special.

I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks for reading!

Our New Talking Stick

I found this random piece of a wooden post and decided that it would make a good talking stick. I feel that a talking stick will do some good for my son because he's having trouble understanding the dynamics of a conversation. Or, should I say that I think he understands mostly but refuses to engage in a proper conversation. Yeah, that's more like it *chuckles*. At this point in time, he is repeating everything that we say and refusing to answer questions. He has recently started answering our questions such as "Are you hungry". Before a few months ago he would never answer such questions with a yes. He would say no, but if the answer was yes he would just repeat the question. We finally got him to answer these questions with a yes or no, but in the last 2 weeks he has started repeating again, and if it's a question he's not use to hearing he refuses to say anything at all in any form of an answer or even a repeat. I don't completely believe that he doesn't understand. I just feel like he's being silly or pretending something. I had thought that being around other children in head start would help improve is interactions with others and us, but it seems to have made things worse as far as the things that he says to us and how he treats us (however unwarranted).

My Idea was that maybe a talking stick would help him to grasp the concept that we should interact and treat each other with more respect when talking to one another, and that we must give one another their turn for speaking. I used sharpy permanent markers for the talking stick, and when considering whether or not to use paint I remembered that he's 3 years old and that the paint probably wouldn't last. So I chose permanent marker. Of course, nearly every object is a magickal one to me so I used runes and theban script to express what I thought the stick should represent. The largest rune on the front (second image from the left) is a bindrune used for finding answers and truth. The theban script around that bindrune says "Telling the Truth is Imporant". At the top there are 6 different colored lines and each of the have a repeat of the rune Ansuz which I have used to encourage communication. There is also a larger Ansuz on the revers side of the bindrune. I tried to make it as colorful as possible, and since my son has a hard time expressing himself I decided to put some little faces that he can point to in the case that he doesn't know how to tell me how he feels. They say, "Happy, Sad, Angry, Confused". I'm really hoping that this will help him to express how he feels in a comfortable way to me.

I'm waiting for the right opportunity to try this stick out with him and see how he reacts, but it should be soon because I have started my vacation yesterday and am off work for the next week. This makes me very happy since Samhain is coming up very soon. I'm sure I'll be making a post of our happenings! Until then, Blessed Samhain everyone!