Posts tagged ‘art’
on the mend
After three weeks of being under-the-weather and a long, flopsy-sick weekend, I really believe Wren is officially on the mend. She’s back to her charming self, exclaiming this morning in reference to her chapped lips, “it’s pothole season on my lips!” A little while later she blew her nose really hard and some blood came out on the tissue. “Mama, this is SO cool! I got to see blood come out of my body!” Yup, she’s ba-ack!
If you haven’t seen it yet, Wren and her Easter crafting were featured over on one of my favorite sites for art/craft inspiration: The Artful Parent! Click on over to see it. Hippity hoppity, Easter’s on its way!
in like a lion
Why hello there, March. And hello there, lovely readers. Thanks for clicking in! Although I’m not usually into apologizing for not writing about my cutest-kids-in-the-world and what-amazing-things-we’ve-been-doing-in-the-most-beautiful-place-in-America, snicker snicker, I am here anyway to say “sorry about all the crickets, lately, lovelies!”
It’s been busy on the work front and a bit messy meets crazy on the home front mixed with lots of snow days, a couple sick days and a couple getaway days thrown in too. And sometimes when I’m clicking away with work on my computer for my clients, one of the last things I want to do is hop back on when I have a few minutes of time. But then time and development keep racing on and I stop and think, I need to capture this, savor this, post this. And yes, I realize that savoring doesn’t equate to taking pictures and posting about it, but sometimes, well, it does for me. In a 2013 kind of way I suppose.
So enough musing, here are a few shots of our February life. Enjoy!
It’s been very wintery at 605. I love our nest blanketed in some fresh snow. And the birdies have been enjoying the snow, although Phoebe hates her boots so she doesn’t last long out in the snow.
We’ve been skiing, but not enough given how wintery it’s been. Thankful for the times we’ve been able to get out.
We enjoyed the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail near Glen Haven. I love seeing the same trail at different times of year, don’t you?
We’ve had (more than) our fair share of cocoa…
Ahh, fresh snow.
And the biggest highlight was the Winter Fest in downtown Traverse City. An ice rink! A tubing run! A ferris wheel! All right downtown. Sorry, cars.
The biggest birdie got to try out ice skating for the first time. Ahh, the firsts!
And also her first ice cream eating contest. She didn’t care that her competitors included a very big twelve year old. Because, um, hello, free ice cream.
And lots of warm baths to warm after all this chilly winter fun.
So the sweet and lovely Phoebe Jane is climbing. Can we say “heart attack,” anyone? Or maybe “spring fever!” ? I turn around and she’s scaled something, or balanced something on top of something else to get UP. Up up up. It’s hard to get much done when there’s this kind of craziness in your midst. Aahhhh!
And how was your February? Are you ready for March?!
stick a heart on it
Don’t mind the dirty windows… yes, that’s the sun shining through. Finally! We’ve started our Valentine’s Day crafting. I think it’s one of my favorite kinds of preschool crafting. Hearts don’t get old, do they? Pink! Glitter! Hearts! Yes, Wren is loving it.
I’m pretty sure I’m still finding glitter from our last Valentine’s Day crafting sessions… why not make more messes? The cleaning lady’s coming soon, right?! ha ha ha ha ha ha. Boo hiss.
art for her sister
All by herself (remember “do it SELF!!!”) Wren made a picture for Phoebe “of Phoebe in the sandbox.” I didn’t even know she was doing it until it had already been completed and Wren was giving it to Phoebe. Such a sweet moment. Every day there’s some sweetness. Tempered with Wren screaming at Phoebe, “stop following me!” or “stop looking at me!” or getting really angry because Phoebe’s into all of her stuff. It’s hard living with babies in your stuff! I know.
last day of vacation
We are having a lazy, pajama-clad, art-filled last day of vacation. Monday it’s back to school time again! I think we’re all ready for a little bit more structure… Looking forward to taking down the Christmas decorations and getting things organized around here. How are things in your nest? Are you back to school already?
a little joy for you
This picture Wren made yesterday brought me so much joy. I wanted to share it with you too! May you find some peace and joy in the hustle and bustle of the holidays.
a date
I had the best afternoon in a LONG time yesterday when Wren and I had a very rare date, just the two of us. After church we had brunch at one of our favorite cafes in town. We got to have escargot (!) and Wren was incredible company: funny, open, interested, polite, charming, a great conversationalist. We wondered about snail hunters and their techniques, we whispered about how some people don’t have hair, we giggled while we played hide-and-seek with a tiny blue ball. I took my camera, but we were so immersed in our brunch together that I didn’t stop to snap any shots. I looked around and many of the other tables had families, but there were so many SCREENS. And I was just so grateful that we didn’t have screens to captivate us instead of each other.
After brunch we headed off to The Nutcracker. It was a beautiful performance and we were inspired and uplifted. And a bit wiggly and sleepy. Wiggly and sleepy, what a funny combination that seems to belong only to children. I do not get wiggly when tired, do you? I may have teared up a few times while snuggling Wren tight on my lap, so full of gratitude for her presence and our special time together.
When we left The Nutcracker we stumbled upon this misty sculpture garden, wet and a tad mucky with the remains of late autumn in northern Michigan. How could I have never seen this before?
We played for a while and Wren got some wiggles out in the mud. When we left I asked Wren what her favorite part of The Nutcracker was. “Playing in the mud!” Aha. That’s my girl.
scenes from the nest: circles
One thing that’s fun about having a little person around is that it makes you look at the world through new eyes. It’s refreshing to try to simplify the world’s visual beauty and chaos into the basic building blocks: colors and shapes. Did you also see the series on stripes that I posted the other day? Enjoy!
This last photo was taken last weekend on our trip to the Iris Farm. Wren and I thought these geese were very funny. And spoiled with so many pools. I dare say that the little birdie might have been jealous of her feathered-friends…
water painting
One of Wren’s favorite activities is painting. She loves to paint when she’s at school and in the basement of our nest too. She refers to the entire basement experience as “weasel!” because of her easel. I don’t dare correct her because it makes me laugh every time she stands at the top of the stairs and yells, “weasel!”
But when we’re upstairs, away from the bottles and tubes of color, she loves to paint with water. My brother and his family gave this Japanese water painting set to the little birdie for Christmas and it’s proven to be quite a hit. It’s quite popular with this Mama too because all you need is water. Easy clean-up!
So how does it work? It’s simple. Just dip the brush into a small amount of water and paint a stroke on the “magical” surface. The brush strokes become black and then disappear within a few minutes, leaving the canvas clear for a new painting. Voila!
P.S. I’m amazed at the little birdie’s fine motor skills: the way she holds the brush? Wow. We have Montessori to thank for this.
