Book Review: The Sandal Artist

Roberto is a poor artist who wants to become famous.  Roberto believes he will become famous by painting grand masterpieces of what he believes is beautiful.  People from his village encourage him to paint them. He doesn't because he fails to see their beauty. 

When Roberto needs his shoes fixed, he is loaned a pair of worn sandals by a cobbler.  The sandals come with a warning, that those who wear the shoes of another will see the world through his eyes. While wearing these shoes, Roberto sees true beauty. He begs to know who the sandals belonged to.

The Sandal Artist by Kathleen T. Pelley is a sweet story with a great message. The full page illustrations add to the depth of the story. I really enjoyed reading it. In fact, I just had to read it with my oldest son.  This would be a great edition to a family library or to use in a church or school classroom.

I received a free copy of this book from a Curious City giveaway. 

Back to school

My first grader....

My fifth grader....

The beginning of my 13th year of teaching.

I don't look 48 do I?  One of my students asked me if I was 48.  Not a good way to start the new school year!

Before we get too busy....

Just a little update on what we've been up to....

Colin decided he wanted to eat out at Casa Grande for his 10th birthday.  The next night he celebrated with his best buddies by going to the movies and having a sleep over.  Because we were at a loss as to what to get him for a birthday present, we allowed him to pick out his own gift.  After narrowing it down between Legos or a new bike, guess what he picked....A NOOK! 

None of my kiddos are playing soccer this year. Carson was totally not interested. We did sign Colin up, but when he found out the age group was changed to include 13 and 14 year olds, he asked not to play.  I don't encourage my kids to be quitters, but I had to agree with him.  I was not comfortable with that decision to change the age group. Colin loves to play, but he felt like it was not a good thing to do at this point.  Needless to say when Hilarie took her kiddos to practice, I was very thankful we didn't have to go.

I think having a break from sports will be a good thing.  School is starting back shortly and Jeff has some upcoming trips.  All in all I think we will be very thankful not to have anything extra for a while.  I do hope that Colin will want to do Super Saturdays at WKU this fall. That is always fun.  He is already asking about playing Upward basketball again.

A couple of weeks ago we held a competition called Are You Smarter than a Preacher? at our church.  On Wednesday evenings, the older elementary kids attend Bible Skills, Drills, and Thrills.  To test their knowledge, they came up with this "game show." Our 3 pastors (Dr. Copass, Jeff, and Steve Newman) were used as cheats.  However, they had to know the same material the kids had been working on.  I have to say, I was impressed by these boys and girls.  Josiah was the overall winner and received a trophy.  All the participants received medals for their hard work.  It was a super fun night, and I am so appreciate of Leslie for doing this program with our kids.  I am going to make more of an effort to study with Colin this sesson so I can learn the skills as well.

Last night we went to Carson's Open House for first grade!  YES, FIRST GRADE.  He has a wonderful teacher whom I've actually had the pleasure in working with when she taught 5th grade.  Tonight, Colin and I have our Open House.  Jeff will take him to meet his teacher (whom he is looping with, she's pretty awesome too - Love ya Baxter aka Aunt Kelly) and I get to meet my students.  Then, summer vacation will come to an end as we head back to school on Wednesday. Plans for tomorrow, our last day together for summer vacation....NOTHING!