CHRISTmas time

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones.  

WE SURE DID, although we are not done yet.  

We have another celebration tomorrow.  

Since I am a procrastinator we headed to town to pick up a few things for tomorrow.
The girls insisted I pull over and take their annual picture by the display at the town square!  
I love this tradition and I love that they look forward to it going up every year!!!!  

Before we left the littlest cowgirl had to clean the snow off of baby Jesus! 

Tonight I took the cowgirls sledding.  

I didn't get any photos tho!  

I chose to not take my phone (I didn't want the distraction!)

The Hubs and S worked over at the new house all day.

I hope to check in next week and do an update on the blog with the house progress!!! 

So come back next week and check it out!!!!

Merry Christmas

~ Suzi

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas

~Suzi

Teaching art IS my passion!!!

Today I was at a workshop and it has me reflecting back on one of my all time favorite teaching posts......

I LOVE MY JOB!!!!!  I honestly do.  Being an art teacher is exactly what I am meant to do.  I LOVE coming to work every day!!!!  That being said I look forward to every weekend, snow day, late start, break, and vacation. 

Here are a few of my random {art teacher} thoughts…..

I don’t just teach art.

I also teach history, vocabulary, manors, discipline, integrity, work ethic, respect, compassion, responsibly {and the list goes on and on}.

I haven’t made art since I became a teacher.

How’s this possible with all this art being created around me daily?  Well I just never have enough time to think of an idea, and execute it.  Unless you count the 3 minute Jellyfish I made yesterday when showing water color techniques?!?!

I spend a lot of my own money. A lot.

I don’t think a week goes by when I’m not at a store picking something up for my classroom. I don’t think a week goes by when I’m not scrounging through my personal supplies for materials to use in my classroom.  

I hate the question, “What are we doing today?”

It honestly makes me cringe.  Please don’t ask it because I have yet to forget to tell you what we are doing when you to came class. 

I love the naughty kids!

Yes they cause problems, act up, distract others, and say things that shouldn't be said; but they are also the ones who bring a lot of joy to my job. I love a kid with spunk!!! 

I have a name!

Please don’t call me “Teacher”.  I don’t call you “Student”.

I like a clean classroom!!!!

Pick up after yourself.  I know you know where the glue gun goes; you just got it out 40 minutes ago.  

I don’t like teaching every medium.

I have my favorites and I focus on what I like best.  Sorry all art teachers do it….Okay, maybe it has a little to do with the mess some mediums make.  

Sometimes I wish I taught a different subject area. 

It sure would be nice to have a set lesson plan and book to follow.  Then reality hits and I remember who I am and realize I would go crazy on a set schedule like that (but it is appealing some days).

I hate to grade!

I put it off as long as I can.  So my grade book is always behind.  I get not satisfaction out of grading work.  I wish I could have a TA do it but that’s not really an option in art.  

Art is not an easy A.

Please don’t take Art for an easy A.  Take art because you want to be creative, try hard, and do something different from your other academic areas.  Try and I promise you WILL pass….but I wont promise an A.

I show up for the students.

I’m not in it for the fame and fortune (because we all know that’s never going to happen).  I show up for the elementary students who hug me. I show up for the students who tell me they love art class. I show up for the students who express excitement and pride.  I show up for the High School students who use the art room as their safe place.  And yeah, I show up for the students who can’t sit still in their seats, can’t refrain from blurting out, don’t like art, ignore me, and who would rather be anywhere else but art class. I show up for the students.  All of them.

~Suzi

We did it!!!

WE DID IT!!!!!

My friend Sarah and I hosted a painting class at Kinkaider Brewing Company in Broken Bow. 

Spirits and Showpieces.

It went great!!!!  We had 33 ladies show up!

Sarah and I split up duties.
She made 36 easels!!!! Yes she MADE 36!  

They were awesome! 

She also bought and washed 36 aprons.

She did the whole business portion (books, schedule, money, etc.)

I bought the paint, brushes and taught the class. 

Sarah helped out by refilling paint and assisting people throughout the whole class!

I honestly could not have done it without her. 

I have no idea how one person could have done it (or at least do it well)!

We are both artists and agreed we wanted to break it down to a step by step instruction but yet we didn’t want to make it to crafty and generic. 

We gave a lot of variations, options and artistic freedom. 

I gave 3 back ground options (Turquoise, light neutrals, and Dark Blue) and then they could chose to do white or orange pumpkins.

We had a WIDE variety of pumpkins!!!!  I LOVED THAT! 

They all worked so hard and I loved just watching them work. 

I really did not want them to all look like mine 

{the art teacher in me would have cried}.

They look awesome huh? 

{This is the demo I did during the class.}

Have a great week!
~Suzi

Spirits and Showpieces

My incredibly talented friend and I are hosting our first ever Spirits and Showpieces class.  

I am so excited.  I think it will be a blast!!!!  

Check out the fabulous logo she made!  

I told you she was talented!

She is the owner of Sarah Russell Design.

It is this Thursday in Broken Bow at Kinkaider,  the local brewery.  

Tap into your inner artist.  We are doing a fun Fall painting on canvas.  

It is $35 which includes all supplies.

To reserve a spot call Jenny at 308-870-0685.

Swimsuit season

Since swim suit season is {finally} in the full swing in Nebraska...

Have a great holiday weekend!!!!

~Suzi

Juice Plus+

I’ve wanted to share this post for quite some time! But as usual I just never had enough time to do it justice.  Well the truth is I still don’t but I just have to share!!!!

A few months ago I was asked by a coworker to try Juice Plus.  I agreed.  I had no idea what I was so I googled it and tried to find out that it did not work, was just another fad, etc.  I COULD NOT FIND THAT INFO!  What I did find was SOOOO MUCH RESEARCH!!!  It is backed by a ton of doctors and it shows so many health benefits.  The benefits are far ranging with positive effects on internal organs, skin, eyes, gums, nails, etc. 

What is juice plus???  Well it is all the fruits and vegetables you need in a day (that most of us are not getting) in either a capsule or chewable form. It is all natural!!!!!  I had no idea most vitamins have no research behind them so you really have no idea if those “vitamins” are even effective!  Juice Plus also has shakes and bars too. 

One of the reasons I was willing to try this out was because of the “Children’s Health Study”.  Each adult is able to sponsor a child for FREE for 4 years!!!!!  This just means that if you order the vitamins for yourself you can get one of your child’s vitamins for FREE!  AND MY PICKY KIDS LOOOOVE THEM!  If you know my kids you would know what a huge deal this is.  My kids DO NOT eat a well rounded diet and knowing they get a day’s worth of fruits and vegetables in YUMMY gummies really gives me peace of mind!!!!

I feel like I am not doing it justice because it truly is amazing!  But I will give you few examples of why I love Juice Plus so much!

• My girl’s nails are amazing now.  They always had peeling nails.
• Our hair is growing faster!
• My skin looks great!  (this is a big deal for me I normally have horrible skin with a ton of breakouts.)
• My girls HARDLY GET SICK! (if they do they kick it QUICK)
• I FEEL GREAT!!!!

It is not a weight loss pill!  BUT it does help get you healthier and a side effect of good heath is a healthy weight.  Honestly I would love to be smoking hot but more than anything want to be healthy and live a long active life with my family!!!!

Last week I signed up as a distributor!!!!!  I am not selling this to get rich but I do want to help spread the word about Juice Plus and all it has to offer.  With that being said I would love to get you more information if you are at all interested!!!  Like I said I am not trying to get rich so if you know someone else who sells it and hearing how amazing I think it is helps talk you into purchasing from them I succeeded.  I really just want to spread the word about Juice Plus and overall health. 

http://suzicampbell.juiceplus.com

Have a great week!

Suzi

Negativity and the power of positive thinking

I had to share this video with you today.  I LOVE IT!!!!  

Why do 'negatives' weigh so much more then 'positives'?

A message from my heart today. For those of you feeling down...listen up.
Posted by Chad Prather on Wednesday, June 10, 2015

I was once told that 1 negative weighs as much as 3 positive.

I try to always remember that in school.  

If I give a negative comment to a student I follow up with 3 positive.  

I also try remember this with my children. 

I never want to leave anyone feeling defeated!

I am not trying to sound like I am perfect (because I am FAR FROM IT!!!), but I was lucky enough to have some pretty amazing people around me who taught me some important lessons.

My challenge to you is to BE POSITIVE, 

control you negative thoughts and actions and see how it effects others around you. 

Negativity is contagious….BUT SO IS POSITIVITY!!!!

GOD BLESS

~ Suzi

end of year teacher gift

Today was my daughters last day of Kindergarten.  

She had a fabulous teacher and about a week ago she came home requesting to make her teacher a gift for the end of the year.  Well LAST NIGHT we finally did it. {I am the worlds worst procrastinator!}  Last year we made a sign for her preschool teacher’s lake house so this year she wanted to make another sign.  In pink of course because that is her teachers favorite color!!!! 

I just cut up a piece of wood flooring to size and let her paint it {pink}. Of course the little one wanted to make a sign too.  So she made one for her daycare lady {in red}.  I was shocked at how well Rae{3 year old} painted.  I love letting the girls actually do the projects.  I can clean them up later if needed but they love to do them and they are so proud to give a gift they made themselves.

Since I am an art teacher people ask me often if my girls are talented artists.  I am always honest and say, “They do well, BUT most of it is due to exposure not natural talent at this age”.   Here is a short video where you can see my 3 year old and 6 year old paint names on the boards. 

We finished them with some dots, a light sanding with my radial sander, and I cut up a bandanna to tie it up with.

The girls were super excited to deliver them this morning.

Thank you to all  teachers out there and have a great summer!!!

WE ARE BUILDING!!!

Follow along on Instagram to see progress!

@chores_chandeliers

#Campbellsarebuilding 

I'll be posing some info on my blog but I don't want it to take over my blog so but if you want to follow along with the progress be sure to follow along on Instagram!  Here are some of the photos I've posted so far....

SHE picked it all out!  She has great taste!

Main living space wall colors

Dirt work is starting

I've already began buying pillows!

Our view from the front porch.