The Children's Department at our library has had a large Lego castle on display for about a month. For the first three weeks or so they asked kids to submit ideas to name the castle. We happened to be there the night before the drawing and both boys submitted names. Lo and behold, when they drew a suggestion from the jar, Edward's idea "The Fire Temple" was the winner. This was cause for great excitement!

We stopped by Friday evening for a visit on our way to a community art show featuring work from students at all the local elementary schools. This is work students are supposed to complete outside of art class and submit to the art teacher for inclusion. Our boys  used one of their two-hour delay mornings in January to work on their projects in water color. This year I confirmed what I've long suspected--anyone who turns in work is featured in the display and invited to the artists' reception. That matters not at all, as it is a fun event for the kids and a total "see and be seen" event.

We got a note home about Edward's piece being included, but did not receive one for Daniel so we weren't sure if his piece would be on display. It took us a while to find it (even though the pieces are arranged by school--we simply overlooked it in all its abstract glory.) He gave quite a long artist statement, the gist of which was that it is a pond and the black section is a monster truck with orange pollution escaping into the pond.

Edward was more literal in his work: a castle (mixed media: water color, crayon, colored pencil.)