D&W Do Pittsburgh

Sort of. I just attended the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) Annual Convention in Pittsburgh. After a full day of class on Tuesday and clinical on Wednesday, I booked it to the airport. I made it home in time to love on the kiddos on Tuesday night, which I usually miss bedtime completely, so that was nice. Dellaina got teary and expressed disappointment when I mentioned I would be flying, because she’s never been on a plane and wants to. So, it gave me an idea. Wednesday morning, before I left, I printed, cut out and glued a picture of each of them to a popsicle stick to let me take pictures of them around and send back to them. It was a success and they enjoyed getting the pictures from the plane and airport and fun places. I enjoyed the task as well, making sure I was taking in where I was and not just rushing, rushing.

I was pleasantly surprised by the city of Pittsburgh. I was expecting more of a dirty city feel, but it was rich with culture and architecture and I really enjoyed it. We were right on the river with beautiful bridges in view and the Pirates stadium. The Convention Center is a very large and gorgeous facility that is supposedly a very green building. I ran a 5K on Saturday morning right along the river. I went to some great sessions and the state of Georgia brought home 8 awards, which is quite a showing! Kennesaw State University even had one as well for a middle school project we did. It was very exciting.

		Pittsburgh VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Artful

Today I discovered several pictures of Dellaina in her after school art class on the Facebook page for the company that does it. I had looked through it a few times before, but I think the teacher from her school must have just recently gone back through and added pictures. We just signed her up for the last session of the year and she came home and asked me if I had to make sure (I’m guessing they said something at school that day during the class). She also said she wants to do it next year, too. I’m glad she’s still enjoying it.

Art Class VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Also, for Valentine’s Day, she insisted on drawing each one of her friends a picture. I thought it was cute (even the ones where she scratched out the names over and over and over again! egads! I wonder what some of the other moms thought when these came home! And she had wadded them all up to fit them inside the tissue box she’d decorated like a monster - thanks Pinterest – and even if you could tell the ones that she did in the beginning versus #’s 19 and 20! I tried to tape a piece of candy (shhh! don’t tell that it was left over Halloween candy from the kid’s bag, because they only get a piece or two at a time) to help. I liked how personal and creative she got with some of the ideas.

		Valentines VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

There was a contest at school where all of the kids had to submit one piece of artwork to be judged by the 5th graders. The winners would be framed and hung in the main hallway. This sounded very exciting, until the theme was given as Rock n’ Roll. Ugh. Not that I don’t appreciate Rock n’ Roll, I do. But, as a theme for Kindergartner’s to draw pictures?! But, Dellaina worked hard and I thought her concert (heads with people holding up flags, of course) was pretty good for someone who has never been to one before. She used metallic markers on black paper. She didn’t win the contest to have her picture hung in the main hallway at school, but she did get a sticker for Most Colorful in her class, which she said she was glad she got. It was good to get excited about and work towards and then still to discuss being happy for friends and other people that do well. There was one picture in her class that a boy had painted onto an actual canvas a deep blue rock guitar surrounded by bright red paint. It was very simple and dramatic and I thought for sure it would win. But, it didn’t place either.

 

I thought this owl was really cute. And “it’s a real stick!”