More Art

We’ve been trying to make good use of the window of time when the girls get home, but Max is still at school. Some days, it’s as simple as playing outside, but other days, I plan a little thing together.

And as much as I appreciate and value all the learning they do at school, having things they learn at home feels essential. Art is something that I feel gets a bit “boxed” with everyone doing the same project, or getting graded on specific aspects. I totally understand the need to go that route, but I want them to remember to embrace creating for the sake of creating! To enjoy art, not for the finished product, but for the process. My adult-self is learning how calming, mindful and a bit therapeutic it is! I remember reading “The Gifts of Imperfection” by Brene Brown and really connecting with the need to give ourselves permission to create. It’s actually what started up the practice of handlettering for me, and I’m continually learning how much beauty there is in creativity! Here’s a couple of our recent art projects:

For this art project, we had fun with paint sticks! We read a classic, and then painted whatever came to mind from the story. "Wilma" is the crossing guard that has become a sweet friend to the girls, and they were so excited to make her some little notes.




And this one was pastel chalks. The focus was CONNECTION (our one word theme for the year). I love what they came up with. And yep, I'm choosing to create right alongside them. While there are always a bazillion things I could be catching up on, letting go of what I “could do” and mindfully choosing to focus on BEing there is something I strive to be aware of. Because these seemingly small and simple moments truly are great.

She’s off!

She’s off! Seeing those kiddos take off for the first time beings such a rush of joy and excitement. I can’t stop smiling watching her. We’re big believers in the balance bikes (we used it for all four kiddos) and they were all riding by 3. 

This gal took her first “pedal bike ride” to the school and back to pick up her sisters. And her  crossing guard friend was so exited to see her go. It was so fun listening to her engage with Abby, and Abby was just beaming.

As a side note - I’d originally set a personal “Mom goal” that she’d be on pedals by the end of the school year, and then changed it to “after spring break.” I set little goals like that to give myself permission to be deliberate and to just practice a little with her every day. Not to pressure her into a deadline, but just to be mindful of using our time and what we are progressing toward. And here she is - off and riding a week before the start of spring break. Once again showing her personal determination, capacity and grit.

And we are loving watching her go!

Monkey Bars

Ever spend way too long on a simple house project? Yeah, me neither.

I’ve been making an effort to tackle these odd projects, and today was a wall-hanging. 

One hole, lots of peeled paint, and more-marks-than-I-can-count later, I decided this would be a great opportunity to put the wall-hanging project to rest...in the garbage can. And the new wall damage would be a great opportunity to bump up the “paint girls bedroom” project.

And there we were - four kiddos ready for dinner, nothing prepped, project remnants all over the floor, crazy seasonal allergies from yours truly, and a hubby traveling for work.

And I gave myself permission to let go of the routine for one night. We loaded into the car, headed to Chick-fil-a drive-thru and googled a new park. 

Which leads me to the monkey bars. Probably one of our greatest little joys as parents is when we practice and see each kiddo try, fail, try and eventually learn to swing on those bars. Tayler learned this new skill earlier this year, and loves every opportunity to try it out. 

So there we were. Laughing that Max is tall enough to “walk” the bars, soaking in the sounds of the birds, climbing the trees, playing basketball and simply connecting as a family. It may not be grand, but it feels extraordinary.