Why I Don't Blog

I love blogging, I really do. So what keeps me from posting on a regular basis? This does:

This is, for me, a raw and honest self portrait that I drew yesterday. I wish it were a sketch of me playing with my kids, reading a good book, working on one of my bazillion craft projects, decorating my home, laughing, walking outside, out on a date with my husband, or anything besides ignoring the world around me (including myself) as I stare blankly into my computer monitor. Oh, sure, I do most of these things every now and then, but statistically you are more likely to come over and see me doing this than anything else at any given moment. And this is why I don't blog most days. I have nothing to blog about.

I want to change. I want to change my self portrait. So I'm going to try and do a self portrait every week. They will be honest, and hopefully I can get them to start showing the me I want to be.

What would your self portrait look like?

Funny Photo Boards

I'm so glad I set this goal to paint and get a head start on this project. It was fun, productive, got my kids excited, and made me happy.

. Monster Man is making gorilla noises while Sweet Terror is screaming, "Aaaaa, don't eat me!"
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This gorilla just needs a second coat of paint on his fur and this one will be finished. I'm painting these with basic craft paint on Elmers display boards that I bought for a buck a piece at Micheal's craft store.

.The next one I'm working on here is the mermaids. Sweet Terror is so excited about this one but she goes ballistic anytime I have one of the boys, or even Mr. Hotness, pose behind it. Apparently boys are NOT allowed to be mermaids.

Once I get the background painted and lighten up the rock I can add all the fun stuff like jewelry and all sorts of fishy friends and whatnot.

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I want to paint two more scenes but am having a hard time deciding what to paint. What do you recommend?

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Now for this next week's goal. I've been thinking about this a lot. It is going to be very weird. My husband may not speak to me all week if I do this. I'm sure the kids will get in all sorts of trouble and it will be my fault. But if the all-knowing Dwight says it's a good thing then how can I NOT do it? So, for one week, starting tomorrow and ending after I write next Saturday's post, when at home I will only sit on the floor or... ON MY EXERCISE BALL. Yup, I will sit on it at the dinner table, while on the computer, and... oh, wait, I need to change this goal. When at home I will only sit on the floor, MY EXERCISE BALL, or the toilet. This is going to be a veeeeery interesting week. I'm thinking this goal is going to encourage me to get out of the house more often. =)

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What craaaaazy things are you going to try doing this week? Remember, no matter how hard it seems, it's For Just One Week so you can do it! If you write a post about your For Just One Week goal share it here.

It's All About the Little Details

Can you guess what this is? You only get three guesses, answer found at the end of this post. I have to warn you, though, it isn't what you think.

A few days ago the kids were all sitting at the table arting and each child created a masterpiece. As they brought each picture to me we discussed all the little details in each picture, because art is really about details, isn't it?

Here is one of Pablo's classic battle scenes. This one is bad robots vs. the good space fighter guys. I hope the space fighter guys win, I think they are cute.
Here is my favorite space fighter guy. He is a space surfer with arm sheilds. He is thinking, "Uh Oh," as two evil robots come after him. Get 'em space fighter guy!!!

Cookie created this lovely color piece that I'm going to stare at on rainy days. I love it!

She was quick to assure me that there was no need to worry because the snake on this rock is not poisonous and will not hurt the bunny. Whew! If only all snakes were so harmless... and cute.

Then there is Sweet Terror's lovely piece. The detail on this is the medium she used. This is permanent marker on our lovely whiteboard.

So are you all dying to know what that first picture was? Do you think you know what it is? Maybe it would help you to see the whole picture. I know Halloween is over, but Monster Man just had to draw one more scary scene.

My favorite is this monster and the hand coming out of the grave.

And here we have the mystery object. Any one care to share their guess? A sun? Nope, not even close. Spider? No. Come on, people, you have to think scarier than that. Give up? Well, according to Monster Man it is a screaming bloody head coming out of the chimney. See it now?
Yeah, I think it is time we move on to handprint turkeys too.

Almost There...

Way back in May I was picked for a bloggy pay-it-forward. Way back in August I finally picked my own pay-it-forward people. Way back in September I finally figured out what to make them. Way back to last night I finally finished what I was making them. At this rate I might actually get these delivered by next year. Does anyone know how best to mail jewelry and where to find the materials to ship them in? I would greatly appreciate the info as I have never mailed jewelry before. Thanks. Jewelry making is fun, but it makes my back hurt, bending over those tiny beads. All of these contain repurposed beads or buttons in their making, you know, 'cause I'm green and recycle, and am going to heaven for it.

Fallfleur, these are for you.

Becky, I know you like red, I just hope you don't hate turquoise.



Michal, I gave up some of my preciously hoarded buttons for this.
Hope you like it.

P.S. Photographing jewelry is HARD. I had to take like 20 pics before I got these, and they still aren't that great. But see how professional I was laying them on props with the pretty fabric background?

Magic Pictures

Poor white crayon. You never did anything to deserve your bad reputation. It isn't your fault you "don't work" and thereby cause many kids to angrily toss you to the floor in sad disgust. So, there you sit in your box, barely used, wondering what your purpose in life could be...

Well, wait no longer, Mr. White. We need you! We will use all of you up making our MAGIC PICTURES.

Have you ever used the white crayon to draw pictures on your hard boiled Easter egg? It's cool because the dye won't stick to the greasy surface so you are left with a clear white drawing on your colored egg. Well, the same technique works with paper and water colors. You have to press down rather hard with the crayon, and I've found this works best on cardstock, but the kids love it. I will draw the younger kids a picture and then they just slop the water color on however they want to find the picture. My older kids love using this technique to write secret messages to their friends. Here is a secret message that we will be sending next week:

At first glance it only looks like a blank piece of paper (we will have a note on it that says: "We were really busy. Please paint your own Father's Day card. Thank you.")

But what is this? There seems to be a message showing through.

TA DA!

P.S. Some daddy's might not have very much patience for water coloring. If so, make sure to use a large paintbrush, like the one I show here, so that the painting can go quickly. =)

Paint, Paint Every Where, Even In My Hair

This is what I was busy doing all day yesterday (Well, after having my regular pack of amazingly energetic boys over for preK/K class, that is.):

The lighthouse was the last one and I just barely finished it at 11:45pm. Notice my quick finish with the yellow paper? (and before any of you say I'm amazing or any such wonderful niceness, I should say that my house is completely trashed right now. It is 12:16am and I'm doing laundry so I will have something to wear tomorrow. And my kids have been pretty much ignored all day.) I painted these wall murals on strips of butcher paper taped together for an activity we are having at church today. In our church there is a program for girls (and boys too, but separately) ages 8-12 called The Faith In God Award. And there is a group called Activity Days where the girls get together and work on their Faith In God Award requirements together as a group. Cookie has been in this group for almost 2 years now and has loved every minute of it. Last night and all day today they are having Activity Days Girl camp, where groups from all over the area are coming together to participate in workshops and activities to pass off even more goals. This year the primary presidency (3 people who run the children's program at our church), of which I am the secretary, has been asked to teach one of the workshops. The camp's theme is something about boats and our workshop is called "Staying Afloat" and focuses on teaching the girls how to overcome emergency or tough situations that will tempt them even after they have decided to choose the right. So, I painted a lighthouse that shows our desired destination (to return to our Father in Heaven), a life saver (we are going to talk about setting up support lines that can help get us out of tricky situations), and a tempting Peer Pressure Island (It looks fun but it is a small island and will get you nowhere. Better to stay on the boat and continue on your journey.). The other things that will be in our room are oars (the goals and actions we make to propel us forward), life jackets (our testimony which can save us if we fall off the boat ), and a picture of Christ (our captain).

I'm excited to see how this all turns out. Luckily all I had to do was paint, and that was fun. It is up to the other gals in the presidency to get the point across.

Hope you are all enjoying a warm, sunny, fun weekend. See you back here on Monday.

Crazy Noodle Fun

Tomorrow is the deadline for entering the Dirty Chocolate Giveaway. Write or dig up an old post about one of your favorite food experiences and enter it. If you think you've entered but I haven't left a comment on your entry post that means I haven't recieved it yet.


Looking for something to do? Here is my silly idea and you can find many more fun ideas over at Scribbit's Winter Bazaar.

Last night we had spaghetti for dinner. This morning, as I cleaned up leftover little bits of dinner mess, I noticed some noodles hanging over the cross beam under our dining table (I'm guessing this was the work of Sweet Terror). I picked the noodles up and noticed how they kept their shape now that they were dry, and I had an idea. (Pardon the bad pictures. Tin foil doesn't make the best backdrop for pictures that need a flash. If only the sun would come out I wouldn't need the flash.)

I quickly boiled up some more noodles, drained them, separated into bowls, stirred in some food coloring, called up some kids, and we went to work. If your fingers start sticking too much to the noodles just get them wet or spray them with cooking oil.

It took me a few tries before I figured out how to twist some clovers (my first attempts were much to complicated). I am going to save these and use them as festive garnish on our St. Patrick's day dinner plates.

That big ball of noodles to the left there is going to be a Leprechaun home. We draped noodles over an inverted glass so it will be hollow inside. Cookie wants to fill it will gold wrapped chocolates and use it for a St. Patty's Day centerpiece.

Oh, and if you have any leftover noodles you can reheat them in the microwave with butter and salt and serve as rainbow noodles for lunch or a snack =)

Bought a Magazine

I have a love hate relationship with all things Martha Stewarty.

I hate that I will never be that perfect.
I hate that I can't even find it in me to WANT to be that perfect.
I hate that even her recycling junk ideas seem to cost way too much money to create.
I hate that she has scores of paid people to help her maintain her perfection.


I love that she has made crafting and domesticity a cool, fashionable thing to do.
I love that she makes me want to be creative.
I love that, every now and then, she has a project that is affordable, doable in a day, realistic, actually practical, and doesn't make me gag.


That said, I will almost always choose to watch Marthsa Stewart on T.V. rather than pay good money for one of her magazines. Maybe this is because I have yet to make that fancy hot glue gun and sea shell magazine holder that uses recycled 19th century french staircase bannisters. BUT today is different. Today I am holding a Marth Stewart magazine in my hand, for which I paid FULL price at the grocery checkout last night. I read it while waiting in line and once I found more than 10 projects that were new, doable, practical, and cool I decided to buy it. And I haven't regretted it. The kids are already finding the projects they want to do and gathering 90% of the needed supplies from our recycle bin (and no, I don't recycle french woodwork). I'm excited to try this fun idea.


If you can't get to the grocery checkout line, or you don't like funding the Stewart Empire, no need to fret. Just go HERE and find all these fun ideas for free (Why didn't I think of that sooner?)


For other great FREE ideas, go check out the wonderfully creative minds at Scribbit's Winter Bazaar.


Happy creating!

The Birth Of A Painting

Now that I'm not spending all my time staring at the computer screen I finally found time to finish the boys' painting. It all started with these little guys and blank canvas. While roaming around Michael's craft store I happened upon a SUPER SALE of stretched canvas (only $3 each, and now I'm kicking myself for not buying more) and these cut little painted wooden embellishments for only 33 cents each. Well at that price I'm willing to risk total failure so I bought them.
I had the hardest time getting the right color of blue for the sky. It always seemed too dark and, because it is winter in the Pacific Northwest and I'm sick of dark skies, so I ended up putting on several coats of lighter blues before I was willing to accept it.

This next part was the hardest for me. I don't know if I have ADD or anything but I really get bored with monotony. Painting the brown logs for the railroad had me going batty fairly early, but I hung in there long enough to get them all on.

And here it is, folks, finally finished. The only big mishap (besides the color of the sky) happened just 5 minutes before completion. I had just finished painting the yellow stripes down the middle of the road, had laid the wooden pieces next to it and ran to get my camera. In the 1 minute that I was gone Monster Man decided to take the motor cycle for a test drive along the road, smearing yellow all over the place. I'll admit, I freaked out for a spilt second... but I quickly gathered my wits, hugged the very repentant little guy, fixed it up lickety-split, glued the wooden pieces on, and hung it before anything else could happen. Now it is up in their room and I gotta say it looks pretty cool in there.

VOILA!

Look What I Did

See those colorful pictures on the wall? That used to be empty space. About, oh... 3 years ago I bought the frames at a dollar store. They were an ugly burnt orange color but I knew I could paint them. It took me 2 1/2 years to finally paint them. Then it took me another 6 months to finally get them put on the wall. Last Saturday I finally just found what ever pics I could of the kids and printed them out. Luckily I only had to redo 2 of the pictures twice before they were all hanging nice and even (didn't even use a level, thank you very much). I love the way they make the bathroom look now. It went from looking shabby to oh-so-cute in just a matter of minutes, or should I say years? Here is a close up of the frames but I have to warn you that the lighting is bad and makes Cookie's picture look very orangish. Really her frame is sunny and light yellow and her picture is in red and pink tones.

Good Morning Sunshine

I am off and literally running to my co-op class this morning. Until I can get back and blog about some cool homeschooling things I thought I would leave you with this lovely painting by Michael Sanders. This goes with my whole Sunrise theme. I love this painting because of the way he shows sunlight. I would swear that if I were to touch the wall of that building I would feel the warmth of the sun on it. I also love the stark contrast made by the shadow of an unseen banner or hanging sign and the arch of the doorway. It is amazing how instantly dark things become when they are denied the light of the sun.