A House to Paint In

While in bluegrass country last week, we spent some time at the parentals' cabin.  Hiking, taking family rides on the pontoon boat, grilling on the deck, wading in the water, paddle-boating, and taking walks with Papaw in search of the "tricky fox".  The highlight though was the newly constructed art house overlooking the lake. 

Just a few steps from the water's edge,

Dad built a small, open air building. 

With granddaughters in mind,  

it consists of a little table and a set of chairs. 

What might one do in such a wondrous house? 

Well, art of course. 

So we painted. 

Every piece of paper that could be found and every rock became art.  Some foreheads, arms and fingers too.

And after each art session,

our masterpieces were left to dry 

while we dipped our toes in the water. 

Thanks, Papaw, for the way you love our girls. 

"I found I could say things with color and shapes
that I couldn't say any other way -
things I had no words for."

 ~Georgia O'Keeffe

What's a Girl to Do?

What is a girl to do when you are home bound for a whole week?  There are only so many times you can check on Frosty and our bird feeders.  Well, yesterday was day three, so it was time to get a bit creative.  For the most part, we like to give the girls wide open time to play and use their imaginations.  They have the most fun when they are playing "Mary and Joseph" (Yes, STILL!) or "Rapunzel".  Sometimes though, when you only get out of the house to play for an hour a day, you must pull some tricks out of your parent bag. 

Last night, I didn't have it in me to re-bundle the kids for the second time of the day, so we brought the snow inside!  These two little snow lovers squealed with delight over this tub of frosty stuff. 

We are also lucky enough to have this little gem of a picture book checked out from the library.  We have read it 657 times.

Seeing little Peter wake up to snow gets me every time. 

And his snow angels?  Some serious cuteness.

We also got our Montessori on and did a little water transfer while momma cleaned out all the kitchen cabinets.

Finally, we glued up these little cuties.  In case you were wondering, an equal amount of marshmallows were consumed and glued. 

Now, what will we do on day four?

Gratitudes 361-370: Art Edition

 361.  moving the art easel into the kitchen 362.  art supplies received for Christmas
(Thanks, Aunt Jen, Uncle Mike, Mimi and Papa!)

363.  releasing control and allowing the littles to drip with paint

364.  sisters bonding over watercolors

365.  two paint colors squishing together to make something new and beautiful (Kind of like our little family, huh?)

366.  looking at things from new perspectives

367. paint squishing through our fingers

368.  remembering that doing something creative with my girls doesn't require planning or prep

369.  the excitement of showing daddy when he gets home

370.  creativity

Our Very Hungry TWO Year Old!

In honor of our girl's second birthday, we had some pals over to celebrate...Hungry Caterpillar style. It was a joy to see her have so much fun.

Sophia smiled from the time she got up until the time she went to bed.
We sampled the Hungry Caterpillar's favorite foods.

The girlies got crafty and made butterflies and apples for the Hungry Caterpillar to munch on.

Most of the time, the girls just giggled, chased and piled on each other!

Mark led the girlies in an impromptu round of "Ring Around the Rosie".

Thank you to our friends and family that brought and mailed blessings and wishes for Sophia. These were a highlight of her party, and will go in her memory box. Thanks also to those who donated books to charity in her name. We can't wait to share with our girl that kids in need got books for her 2nd birthday!

It is hard to believe that our little peanut is two. Her party was much of what we hope for her: close friends (from all over the world: India, China, USA and Ethiopia), fun, faith, dancing, creativity, family, singing, service and silliness.

We love you, Peanut. We are grateful for the gift of you. You, sweet girl, make us better every single day.

The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

~Zephaniah 3:17

Crafty Fun

We are still having fun doing crafts and art. It is a fun creative outlet for all of us. I love finding ideas and dreaming up art projects. Marko loves to help and gush over finished masterpieces, and Picasso Jr. loves it all.

We made this cute stoplight several weeks ago (from No Time for Flash Cards), as a result of an obsession with them while we were driving!

Fun apple prints Although we love crafts, mostly we want our little artist to do open ended art. She does tons of painting, gluing and coloring!
Saw this cute apple craft on a blog, but can't remember which one to give credit to!

Bringing shells home from the beach was a big hit. We have done lots of fun things with them, including make a thank you card to the grandparents that we visited.

One of our favorite things to do is to paint with other tools.
The tiny paint roller is a favorite.

Art is not a thing; it is a way. ~Elbert Hubbard

Letting Those Creative Juices Roll

We were back at the fun art projects this week. I am posting them to pass along the fun ideas (that I got from others) and to keep a record of art fun.

For this paint in a bag activity, I bought some cheap sponges, dipped them in paint, and put them in a bag with a sheet of paper. To finish it up, you put on some fun dance tunes, and shake it!

Painting is always fun, especially when there are colors to mix in bowls.
We got this fun book at the library this week, and just love to point out colors and shapes. I couldn't resist trying to copy the super easy animal faces. S. thinks it is halirious to see them in two places.

We have also been making some thank you cards lately. Last week we thanked the librarian that does storytime. This week, we are thanking our Sunday school teachers. I just printed off some pretty Celtic crosses and let S. color away.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced." — Vincent Van Gogh

A Felt Hungry Caterpillar

We love us some Eric Carle at our house. His books are simple and joyful with lovely illustrations. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a favorite. This is the first book that our little lady memorized, so it is a super special one. She likes to "read" it aloud all the time by reciting some of the words from each page. This was another idea inspired by this blog. We didn't have pom poms, but we did have a giant stack of felt. I think we'll be felting some companions for this little guy. Afterall, we don't want him to be hungry AND lonely.

Crafty Tub Toy Learning

Are these cool, or what? After seeing the idea here, we went a bit crazy with the craft foam.

Our little sponge is soaking up knowledge as fast as she can right now, and we are just trying to keep up! When Sophia was into naming shapes, we made shapes. She now is starting to point out numbers, so these make that fun. All you do is cut craft foam into whatever shape you like. When wet, they stick to the sides of the tub. Pink and Green Mama made rainbow people, which we'll be making next! We may even go crazy and try some animals, cars, houses, flowers, food....

Creative Inspiration

This has been a summer of inspiration. We've been inspired to spend more time outdoors, get closer to God, eat healthier, to be more thoughtful in parenting our toddler and to be more creative. I've decided to start blogging a bit more about those things.

When someone suggested The Creative Family to me, I instantly knew it was a book that I could connect with. The description is "How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections". Use words like that, and you are speaking to my heart!

"Given the creative nature of children, it is no coincidence that so many of us are led to seek a more creative life in the presence."

~Amanda Blake Soule


I really connected with this. Something about being a mother has truly re-awakened a sense of gratitude, wonder and creativity in me. I have huge lists filled with crafts, projects and outdoor activities that I want us to do.

I find myself following blogs like SouleMama, The Artful Parent and No Time for Flash Cards. I am not a TV fan (other than Top Chef, Next Food Network Star, Grey's Anatomy and 24...OK, maybe I am a fan.), so I spend time reading and following crafty, loving, momma blogs! I am inspired to try new things, to be a better parent, and to be grateful for the beauty of the simple aspects of family life.

As a result, I am going to start posting some of what we are learning and more about the little VERY SIMPLE projects we do. For us, blogging is a way to connect and a way to share. I am inspired by other bloggers, and I'd love to pass any of that along to anyone interested. I am not sure why I love to blog so much, other than it is another creative outlet for us....even if nobody is reading except our parents!

Sidewalk Paint

We finally tried the sidewalk paint that we have seen on multiple blogs lately (not sure who gets credit). The recipe is just one part corn starch to one part water with food coloring added. It made easy and fun paint.

Our little artist didn't spend too much time on this. She was too distracted by the swing, but her mama painted for a long time! It dried really brightly, and rinsed away easily. We'll do this again soon. We'll make lots more in many different colors.

Creativity

Our little lady has been VERY into coloring, so lately we've been branching out a bit.
Thanks to Angela, we have this cute new craft apron.

We've been stamping. (Mark got a lovely handcrafted gift bag for Father's Day.)

We even got a little patriotic and tried this craft that we found here.

These little hands like to soak up lots of color.

We've been painting, and have found out that paintbrushes are very cool.

"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

~Pablo Picasso