taking time to play

gets a little tough some days.


we had a lot of fun one day shopping at a nearby art store. the kids were THRILLED to get to play with rainbow pencils and colour a picture while i shopped.


mmmmm....MESSY!!!


both of the kids had a spot in their rooms that needed something. i could have picked up some cute artwork. OR they could create their own works of art.


i have made some bad choices with the kids during this selling process. stress tends to do that. we'll survive. but this choice was a WINNER!



we set up outside. because i wanted to have a special piece of work, i purchased some stretched canvas...saves money on the framing because this look is so trendy these days.

i got a kit that included watercolor pencils and acrylic paints....lots of colours!

i spent $10 on a decent quality set of paintbrushes.

pieces of styrofoam, aluminum foil, cardboard and hands added to the fun.



i wish we could do stuff like this EVERYDAY!

Aidan told me that it was the most fun he had painting.

i love that they have something special to enjoy in their rooms right now. so many of their belongings have been packed away and their comforts have been shaken.

the next day at playschool, Aidan painted a cool picture. he told me that it was "for the house".



what kinds of activities do your kids enjoy on busy days?

painting

some days are scary at our house. especially if we are tired! that would make this week. and add in some sickness. again. thankfully it was just Kiara that needed meds, and she is already feeling much better. Aidan and i have both been bothered with a mild cold. but both of us are feeling more energetic today. we can only hope that this will be the end of it.

tonight i cooked a beef roast in our slowcooker. with home made barbeque sauce. so domestic of me! lol!! not really. when the supper hour rolled around, we decided to try slicing the meat and making tortillas. i added guacamole...but just me, because i'm the only one that likes it...{secret wahoo, means more for me!} we also added cheddar and lettuce. yup, the dark stuff!! wow. oh. wow. everyone loved it. no complaints. very nice to have everyone happy.

another day it was painting that got a few of us in happy and relaxed moods...

i LOVE the proud look Kiara has on her face!!

we all enjoyed listening to soft music...letting the brush move the paint over the paper...waiting to see how the colours would combine... such a 'creative family' moment!!

i was using watercolours. i think it may have been an inspiration to Aidan? this work of art was a little different than his previous ones...

AND

on advice from soulemama, i bought special drawing books for the kids and myself.

this weekend, i showed the kids these special books and explained what they were for.

it was fun to show Aidan how to change a circle into a ball. {yes it is possible. you need your imagination. and some shading with your pencil!} i will have to share some of his art. i was impressed to see him do some drawing of his own ideas. he also drew and coloured a rocket ship from his imagination. then he used one of his hot wheels cars to draw a race car. so amazing to see him at work....

Kiara was happy for a few minutes, but i think just wasn't able to focus while she wasn't feeling so well. she asked if she could paint instead. so she did. and she was happy. until Aidan joined her! apparently she just needed some creative time by herself...too bad we were around to ruin it for her!!

sooo....more pleasant weather happening tomorrow. praying that we will all be healthy to enjoy it....

what made you happy this week?

{i love hearing you share!!}

oh happy day

was it just less than a week ago that i was having one of those "terrible, no good, very bad..." days? and as the book says...."some days are like that."


AND....check out my comments from yesterday too. notice who wrote a comment?! wahooo!!!! thanks Sally!!! {{hug}}

here are some pics from yesterday....

i got these great paints that are non-toxic. they can fingerpaint or brush paint. or both!

Kiara took the painting quite seriously this time.

both of the kids painted three pictures each. our dining room wall is now more bright and cheery!

Kiara is still experimenting with brush strokes and such. Aidan is just starting to make recognizable pictures. so neat to see them develop artistically.

and then we headed outside with our sidewalk chalk....

i cannot believe that I took this photo!

we did silhouettes of each of them. and an extra one for Aidan that looked like he was jumping. it was at this point that we noticed our garage package being delivered.

way in the distance.....you can see Aidan watching every move of the delivery vehicles. and right here?! another thrilling photo for me. caught her in the act of jumping!

yes...he is watching the delivery. an exciting day for Aidan.

and that is our garage. sitting in our driveway.

and to toot my own horn....as soon as i saw the two windows on the top of the pallet...i knew that it was just a matter of time before the glass would get stepped on by someone "perusing" the alley. and then i noticed the boxes of nails on the other pallet. Kristian was away in Calgary at a meeting and i knew it would be late before he was back. and not to tempt fate.....i moved everything off of those two pallets except for a package of shingles and the door!! a little tricky since the trusses and concrete blocks took up the entire driveway! i got one scratch. had one "incident". but it was a successful move.

don't tell Kristian....but i had moved the windows over to the trusses while i moved to the other side. i was nearly done moving the first window when i heard a bang. a wind gust had come up and caught the last window on the truss....and it fell. i am still amazed that nothing broke. and thank goodness it didn't! i was much more cautious of my moving process after that. nothing was more breakable than glass....but picking up thousands of nails didn't seem like much fun.