Mrs. H

Painting – With a Twist!

I love art. Which is a relatively new thing, all thanks to Becca… and stepping outside of my boxes and pre-conceived notions about what I’m able to do, and what I’m good at… Art used to be crafts for me. But now, I’m able to enjoy the creative PROCESS that goes into true art, and another way I’ve really gotten to enjoy that is by stepping outside of my box with my best friend. One day she said, “We should go do that Painting with a Twist thing where you drink wine while you paint.” Well, of course I could paint if I was drinking wine and laughing with her, right? And thus my real love affair with painting began.

That first night, the teacher said we could make it our own … we could use different colors… and there was no right or wrong. At that moment, something clicked. And I became a rogue painter. Now, at this time I’ll pause to say, I’m not one of those rogue painters you might have seen online… When I say I’m rogue, I just mean that my artwork never looks like the teacher’s. Either I change the color, or the design, or whatever. I just have to do my own thing. I have to feel it. And if I don’t feel it, I go out on a limb. It’s more fun to live on the limb. And we’ve had several girls’ nights and painted several really awesome paintings since that first night. It’s safe to say we are hooked.

Because of getting “hooked,” I became friends with the owner’s daughter, and enjoyed learning about a different aspect of the business. You see, it’s not just about adults going and drinking wine and painting. It’s also about getting the whole family involved. Every Saturday (and lots of other times, too!) they have “all ages” painting. No alcohol involved – just lots of fun and laughter and some serious young artists! I loved taking Becca to paint one Saturday morning, and look forward to taking her again sometime soon. The teacher was fabulous with her. Kat had the snail already drawn on the canvas in pencil, and when Becca went rogue (like mother, like daughter) and finger painted her entire canvas… then freaked out because her snail was gone, Kat happily came over and painted the shape of the snail back onto her canvas for us. Totally a kid friendly and fun atmosphere, Becca was one of four kids that morning – two elementary aged girls and another preschooler joined us. I love that they also have family painting evenings (with pizza often involved), and I’m hoping that sometime before too long we can get a babysitter for Gray and Cody and I can take Boo for a fun evening just the three of us.

Another amazing aspect to all that PWAT offers is the ability to do private groups – they do team building events for companies and even do surprise birthday parties! Because Johannah is my permanent painting buddy, and I knew she had several friends from work that she would love to paint with, I coordinated a surprise party for her 40th birthday. Katie (my friend who is the owner, Melissa’s, daughter) helped me plan everything with Nik, who would be our teacher. I was able to take food, flowers, and a balloon over earlier in the day, and Nik had it all out on the table along with a butcher paper “card” that all the guests signed. Everything went off without a hitch, and she was totally surprised.

I also loved that in setting up the group, I was able to select the painting based on what I knew Johannah would want. We set it up as a public event, so while others could have joined (which would have been fine), it truly was a surprise – it looked to Johannah just like any other regular class we would attend. It ended up that our group didn’t have anyone else join us, and we really thoroughly enjoyed each other, and hanging out with Nik, who truly is a superstar teacher.

In building a friendship with Katie, and spending a LOT of time at the Painting With A Twist Alon Studio, she told me recently that they’d like to gift Cody and me with a date night sometime soon! We’re excited to select something that would be awesome in our bedroom over our bed – which has always been a blank spot on the wall that seems to need something “his and hers”. (When she sent me that, she didn’t know I was going to do this blog post, but I did want to disclose that gift they are giving us, lest anyone think anything was going on under the table here.)

I’m simply a huge PWAT fan. I love that they are encouraging friends to get out and enjoy art. Not just painting for adults, not just painting for kids, but encouraging families to collaborate and make art TOGETHER. I love it. And I am so glad to be a part of what will hopefully sweep our city with a new found love and appreciation for art – and painting in particular.

Are you curious to learn more about PWAT? Here’s a little bit from my friend Katie, about how they got started:
Painting with a Twist started in Louisiana in 2007. Melissa Smiley is a born and raised New Orleans girl. When she heard about this fun new “paint & sip” concept, she loved it so much that she bought a franchise before she took her first class! Melissa was so excited to open San Antonio’s original Painting with a Twist in 2009 in a sweet little village of shops in Artisans’ Alley on Bitters Rd.
Melissa has always loved art, especially painting, and realized that this business was the answer to her dream job of using her creative talents. In the beginning, she taught most of the classes with her son as her assistant. Business grew and so did the PWAT family! Fast forward to today, we now have a second location and a great team of over a dozen local artists keeping the dream alive! (You can still find Melissa instructing classes too!). Our artists work at both locations and truly know how to deliver a great evening – making sure you leave with not only a painting, but an incredible PWAT experience. Individuality and uniqueness are encouraged – there is no right or wrong in these step-by-step painting classes!
Some of our artists have been with us since we opened our doors and some are new to the studio – you will definitely see their wonderfully different “paint personalities.” You may even realize that you paint best with instruction delivered by a certain artist so make sure to request your favorite when you sign up for your next class!
Check out our painting choices by viewing our events calendar online and by following us on Facebook (we are known for our random fun freebie/prize posts!)

Contact and location info:
Painting with a Twist – San Antonio (Artisans’ Alley)
555 W. Bitters Rd.
San Antonio, TX 78216
210-495-7928
Located in The Alley on Bitters
www.PaintingwithaTwist.com/SanAntonio
www.Facebook.com/PWAT.SanAntonio

Painting with a Twist – San Antonio ALON

10003 NW Military HWY #1126

San Antonio, TX 78231

Located in the Alon Town Centre

www.PaintingwithaTwist.com/San-Antonio-ALON

www.Facebook.com/pwatALONtx

Have you tried PWAT? Share your favorite memories in the comments, please!!

Are you new to my blog? Looking for more “Fun with Art” Friday segments? Click here for a full listing, and be sure to follow me via Facebook so you don’t miss a thing!

Apple Activity Box

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you probably remember the really fun activity centers I made for Becca last fall using our water table. I brought it in from our summer play on the back porch, and she really had a blast… and I was super proud of all I came up with for her to do! Fast forward a year, and lil Bro is into EVERYTHING… even things he’s not ready to do yet. So, I found a way to re-make her apple activity center into a box that can easily be packed up and kept out of reach of Grayson’s little grabby hands!

You can find boxes like this one at your local craft store in the scrapbooking section – they are 13×13 and are fabulous!!! I used scotch tape to stick the index cards on so they can easily be removed and the next seasonal activity center can go in their places.

Here are the skills that I included:
Math – apple patterning / apple adding & subtracting / measuring
Reading – a book to read and retell / a poem to read and recite
Writing – magnetic words to build / a blank book to write them in
Art – markers to make illustrations in the book and on the poem cards
Science – non-fiction book to read
Hand-Eye-Coordination/Fine Motor/Engineering – create an apple tree with popsicle sticks and buttons

Here are the direction cards, which guide play but certainly don’t limit it – she has gone way outside the box of just following these cards, though the lil OCD in her followed each card in order to some extent before moving on to do her own thing. I also included with each instruction the list of items your child will need to complete the activity. Some require prep, some don’t.

1. Write and illustrate a book about apples using the words on your magnets.
–>I got packs of 3 blank books for $1 at Target before school started! Score. You could make your own just by folding paper together and stapling. You’ll also need to write a few fall words on index cards, cut out, and stick magnet tape on the back.

2. Practice saying the poem without looking. (Recite from memory).
–>You’ll need to write the poem on index cards. I got it online – original source unknown. Here are the words:
—->card 1: Apples are so good to eat,
—->card 2: To have them is a special treat.
—->card 3: Red, green, yellow too,
—->card 4: All of them are good for you!

3. Draw pictures on the poem cards to illustrate what the words say.
–>Provide markers or crayons for illustrations

4. Make an apple pattern. / Add the apples: green apples + red apples = how many apples all together? (We extended this and did subtraction and multiplication as well – we have 2 groups of 5 apples.)
–>I got these little apples at Dollar Tree. You could easily use buttons or gems or place apple stickers on index cards and cut out. As long as there are at least red and green so that your child can make patterns, you’re good!

5. Make an apple tree with popsicle sticks and buttons. How many buttons did you use? How many are left over?
–>You’ll need a bunch of random red, green, and/or yellow buttons, and some popsicle sticks. I had green popsicle sticks, so we used those. Any color will work. You can really extend this by having your child pattern with the buttons, sort by size, add, subtract, make even groups for multiplication, etc.

6. Read the book “Apples” by Ken Robbins. Retell to a grownup.
–>Any non-fiction book about apples will work. This one fit well into the box I had. I selected a non-fiction book to add in a science aspect to the box, but you could easily do a fiction book. In my apple center last year, we had Ten Apples Up On Top and did a block activity with it. You could easily have your child use the buttons to put ten apples on top of the book characters, or some such. Use what you have, and you know your child – if your child won’t be “into” a non-fiction text, use what they will love!

7. Build the fall words on your magnet tray!
–>This activity is totally a repeat from last year’s apple center, because it’s just so fun and it’s always great to practice spelling! I didn’t want to buy a bunch of magnetic letters, so I just wrote the words on index cards, cut out the letters, and put magnet tape on the back! Super simple and cheap! And obviously, you can save them from year to year to use again! You’ll also need some sort of magnetic tray – I got this pizza pan from Dollar Tree and she uses it for all of her magnetic activities, including building sandcastles, which she loves.

8. How many cups of apple “tea” mix? Find and bury treasure!
–>Again a repeated material from last year’s apple center, I simply took a bag of green decorative fish tank rocks from Dollar Tree and added some Black Apple Tea leaves to it to make it smell like apples. We didn’t know that she has Anosmia back then… (Anosmia = no sense of smell.) To extend this activity this year, I took the rock/tea mix and put into a small container and provided her with measuring cups to measure with, and a couple of fall shaped mini cookie cutters to bury and then dig around for. She loves digging in the rocks, and will bury and find and rebury and find the cookie cutters over and over again.

This apple activity box has already brought us HOURS of fun, and I just created it this week. It’s sure to be a hit well into early October, when I plan to take them out and convert the box to a pumpkin activity for Halloween/Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy the ideas… I’d love to know how you put them to use with your kids! Please share! If you’re not following my Facebook page, please be sure to click over and “like” the page and then share your photos and ideas anytime! 🙂

The Farmer’s Market – 2 More Ways To Play

You might be wondering what on Earth I’m doing talking about our Farmer’s Market set again (for the millionth time between the blog and my FB page), and what on Earth does it have to do with SPD… maybe I just mis-categorized it, right? WRONG! Check this out, ya’ll.

Becca is constantly playing with our Farmer’s Market Set (affiliate link, thank you!), and Grayson is too. But today on her own she said she wanted to do something different. This first game was totally her idea. She got one of her brother’s baby food spoons and carefully practiced picking up each fruit/veggie with the spoon and carrying it to the correct color bucket before dropping it in! She was so serious and concentrated the whole time! I was really impressed!

Then, when she got tired of that, she threw the fruits and veggies EVERYWHERE. Ugh. So I made a game out of cleaning up, and she actually played it about 4 times! We’d throw all the fruits and veggies out all over the foyer/dining room. Then I’d hand her a random color bucket, she would read me the color name, and then I’d start counting down from 10 to 0. She was racing around like a cute lil chicken with it’s head cut off! Going nuts! She was soo excited! HA!

We had so much fun with these two simple made up games, that I knew I had to share them with you. They were perfect to get her calm and centered, and then to let her run around and bend over and back up over and over in a quick period of time. Her need for proprioceptive input is so great, and often leads her her getting in “trouble” because she just can’t control her body’s need for activity. So racing around to pick up all of one color was an awesome input for her, and her brain had to really stop and think about what color she was picking up. She forgot a couple of times and had to look down and read the bucket again.

So, if you’re looking for a way to occupy kids on a rainy day, or simply a way to keep your “seeker” fully engaged, these are a couple of really fun activities. Truly, this set should be on every toddler/preschooler/early elementary schooler’s list for Christmas!!

Let me know if you have any questions – I’m happy to help! 🙂

How It All Began…

From the Heart title Because I keep sharing this story over and over with individuals, I decided I should just write it once and send out the link. So here goes.

It all began on a summer day in June, of 2012. When baby girl Hinnant entered the world. We instantly fell in love with our miracle. Fast forward a few weeks, and we were desperately trying the 5 S’s to get her to sleep and still struggling. Enter the Graco Sweet Slumber Sound Machine (yes, that’s an affiliate link, and yes, if you have a baby and/or a child with sensory needs, you NEED one of these!!!). Amazingly, we started getting her to sleep… and sleep all night. Life was good.

I honestly don’t remember exactly the moment when I realized she was gifted… and I don’t remember exactly the moment I realized she had Sensory Processing Disorder. It sort of was a coming to be… a realization that happened over time. Maybe it was speaking complete, comprehensible sentences at 13 months old. Maybe it was recognizing her colors at a year. Maybe it was her ability to sort and pattern objects before her second Christmas. Maybe it was her insatiable love of numbers and grouping them. Maybe it was her ability to work puzzles that said “2+ or 3+” at 18 months. But when she started adding numbers and then the next day subtracting them at 23 months, I knew something was definitely different. When she wanted to learn about fractions two weeks later, and then was comparing to see which fraction was bigger a couple weeks after that, I was positive.

The teacher in me knew these things were amazing. When she taught herself to read at just over 2 1/2, I knew we were in for some stunning stuff. But before that she already had all the planets memorized in order, could fight for the reason why Pluto should be considered a planet, and was determined to be the first female to plant a Texas flag on the moon. This is truly not “normal.”

The SPD was a bit harder to discern at first. It seemed like crazy behavior. Like what sort of evil is in this child? And then I started really looking deep into her eyes and seeing not hatred or anger, but pain. Legitimate pain. I started researching and had a friend send me a survey to take that would pinpoint what areas she struggles with most. When I completed that survey, I knew it was true.

So does putting a face on the “gifted” monster help? Does putting a face on the “SPD” monster help? YOU BET. Does it change how I parent? Not really. But in some ways it keeps me on my toes. I would still do fun enrichment activities with my kids and take them places and teach them how to cook and work puzzles with them and read them books. But realizing that she is gifted and realizing that she is learning at such a rapid rate – and much faster than normal, allows me to be willing to let her set the pace. To buy her a 100 piece floor puzzle and then work with her to put it together when she reaches frustration because her attention span isn’t quite as advanced as her brain.

It has made me do more research about asynchronous development. Because I see it everyday. It’s very frustrating to be her parent. Because she can tell me how a shirt is made, but she can’t put one on or take one off by herself. She can sing me every song about the potty she has ever heard, but rarely can recognize her need to use it. She wants to learn how to tell time, and can count many different ways, but counting by 5s still evades her. I have learned to allow her a variety of sensory inputs, and to find ways to let her be who she is – in a safe and family/furniture-friendly way.

Is it easy to be her parents? No. We often sit up at night and chat about her. We watch her on her video monitor, as she sleeps in her room with the light on and her bed full of stuffed animals and chews on her chew bracelets… and we listen for her cries over the sound of her sound machine, which she can’t live without. Truly, she can not sleep without it. Her crickets are vital in her life. They aren’t some passing fancy. Her brain truly can not shut down without hearing them.

There’s so much more I could say here. But to any parent who has a young child and you’re wondering if they are gifted, ask yourself these questions:1) Does my child think inside a box, or is the universe not big enough for the ideas inside his/her head? (gifted kids don’t have a box… but they might want to know how one is made!)
2) Do I see asynchrony in mental capacity vs. physical ability? (gifted kids are VERY asynchronous in their development.)
3) Are the activities my child is doing all age appropriate? (With the asynchrony, you’ll see a child who is doing activities well beyond their age, and then some that are way below their age. If your child is falling right at all normal age standards, then congratulations – you’ve probably got a high achiever who loves to show off their skills!)

Rather than go on and on with these questions, please click over to my friend Colleen Kessler’s blog to these posts about the various types of gifted learners. I’m including links at the bottom of this page. Reading her posts helped me pinpoint exactly where Becca is in the gifted world, and they will help you, too!

What does it change if your child is gifted? Hopefully you’re providing enough enrichment activities like museums, landmark visits, etc, that you won’t have to change anything. Because ALL kids deserve enriching activities, and ALL kids learn from them. However, it WILL help you better understand your child… and sadly, will help you learn what NOT to talk about in public. The criticism is real. Someone will criticize this blog post. (Though I won’t allow it to go public, someone will write something and I’ll read it, and it will still hurt.) There is a difference between THINKING your child is a genius, and really having a child who IS a brilliant mind. It’s frustrating, and it’s scary. But I feel so blessed to have found a group of parents on Facebook who are really supportive and are going through the same things we’re going through! It’s fabulous!!!! (And they are the reason why I wrote this post! Thanks for the inspiration!)

So if you are looking for support, look no further. I’ll hook you up. If you aren’t sure if your child is gifted, or what activities to do at home with your little one who is… go through my archives. Make sensory boxes and do lots of hands on activities. Make habitats come alive for them. Bring art alive by taking fun everyday objects and running them through paint. Not sure what you are looking for? Send me an email. I have a list of about 25 blog post topics I’m hoping to get time to type soon. So if you’ve got something pressing that I haven’t written about, I’ll push it to the top of the list! 🙂

Check out Colleen’s blog for gifted learner information here:

Her definitions of a gifted learner.
What Does a Gifted Child Look Like?
Understanding the Cognitively Gifted Child
Understanding the Academically Gifted Child
Understanding the Creatively Gifted Child

Plus just be sure to check out her entire blog for lots more fascinating articles about gifted/intense/2E kids!

TP Roll Painting

Toilet Paper Roll Painting ideas are all over the internet. They’re honestly a dime a dozen. This is NOT a new idea, by any means. I’m sure every mom out there who has been collecting TP rolls has thought of this one. But what makes it fun and special is that this was the first time we did it… and the first time that I let Grayson truly paint. To say he had a blast is an understatement. Honestly, I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. Have you tried this with your kids? It’s SO fun. You gotta give it a whirl.