DIORAMA

AJ's been so busy this school year with tons of projects. He's done an excellent job on each of them and this is his latest creation for a book that his class read titled: Mrs. Frisby and The Rats of Nimh . His project was to build a scene from the book by creating a diorama. How FUN is that word to say! Okay I know I'm a geeky English/Journalism major but there are just some words that are so fun! Seriously, just try this one on for size. Go ahead, say it out loud. You know ya wanna.  I'll say it with you...diorama...now say it slower this time. di.o.ram.a.  Okay now really put your best SNL Will Ferrelesque spin on it. Trust me. It will be fun. Here we go: diiiiii - oooo - raaam - aaaa!  Pretty sweet word. Right. Told ya. Nice one!

Okay...so where was I? Oh ya, AJ's diorama (caught ya! you can't NOT say it without the spin now, can ya! ahaha!) was on the chapter called The Owl. He had the idea to put the owl in a hole in a tree. He thought up using the empty toilet paper roll as the base of the tree, and I said something about using green Legos to build a tree or using green construction paper and then he thought up using the green tissue paper and poofing it out of the top. Really ingenious and PLUS it looks like a really tree!

Then he needed a raven. We didn't have any of those just lying around here, so he thought he could use a pigeon from his Playmobil castle set. Only problem: the pigeon was blue. So, he decided we could just spray paint the bird black so it looked like a raven. Wow! he was on a roll!

Now, the only thing missing was the owl. Tough one. Didn't have an owl and really didn't feel like heading out to the stores to try and dig through a pile of who-knows-if-they'll-even-have-one plastic animal bin. So, we thought and thought and then...YES! we do have an owl! Mom came through in the waning moments of the evening with a solid contribution. The owl from the Snorta Game (just an aside but if you haven't played this game, it is hilarious and the kids LOVE it)!

Having located the owl, we managed to fix him in the tree. Put a rat, also from the Playmobil stuff, and the "raven" on a twig we found in the backyard and stuck the twig into the "tree".  AJ then went outside and plucked a spot of our yard completely bald by gathering grass to put on the floor of his diorama (hee). He didn't need a two inch thick layer, but he thought it gave it that something extra. And, it did make the whole thing come together and just said...woodsy. He was rewarded for his ingenuity and creativity with an A+! Way to go son!

So there it is. Yet another reason why Moms are so wonderful. :)  Helping our children complete school projects the night before they are due by finding the much needed supplies simply through the knowledge of where every single thing in this house is stored. Yes, that is my knowledge. Be amazed my friends. And if there were ever to be given a Guinness Book of World's Record for the most amount of useless knowledge compiled in one's memory...that would easily go to myself. How do I know where everything is you might ask? It's a gift. What can I say? Apparently, I also know where everything is in the garage as well, oh, the basement too. If you ask a certain someone who shall not be named, to go and retrieve thus and so, well, you might as well just go and retrieve the thus and so yourself because by the time the one who shall not be named has looked and looked (according to, ahem, them) you will have wasted precious time because without fail the same will come back empty handed with a sheepish grin and with all politeness plead for help while implying they have given the effort much due diligence, but have regretfully come to ascertain that thus and so is no longer retrievable, i.e. see-able, and possibly is not in the location given. To which my World Record would uphold great prestige, as I proceed to locate thus and so in no less than .2 seconds while the one who shall not be named stands 6'2" and completely dumbfounded, agape with the look of utter bewilderment. Yes my friends, it is a gift. And I suspect, if you are a mom, you have been given the same powers. Huzzah!