Skip to main content

art funk.

i’m ashamed to admit it. i’m in a major art funk. i’m having major trouble coming up with art for the kids to do.

no. strike that.

i’m having major trouble coming up with the motivation for the kids to do art.

it’s not that there are no ideas.

ugh.

i don’t know why i hate doing art at home so much with my own kids. when i was teaching, this was my favorite part of the day. my favorite thing to plan. the ONE thing i would never let my assistant help with because i wanted to be the one to watch all the fun.

but at home? not so much.

maybe it’s fact that i’m pulling out a bunch of stuff for only 3 kids (assuming micah is able and/or shane is willing) to use. maybe it’s the fact that i don’t have an assistant to clean up for me when we’re done. (i can’t possibly describe how much i HATE washing out paint cups and brushes. YUCK!) maybe it’s the fact that i don’t have a preschool art cupboard to raid full of all sorts of fun supplies. maybe it’s the fact that any time i DO plan something, layla is never willing to do what i have in mind. it seems like any time i attempt to plan some sort of art activity (not a ‘craft’, mind you. not one of those ‘we’re going to make a _________’ activities – i mean some sort of free-ish, open-ended art activity) she doesn’t want to do it. my free-spirited child has her own ideas, which are invariably a lot more messy and/or involved than i want them to be in my own house.

ugh.

oh well, i have no REAL excuses. especially since my mom just bought layla a box of 10 bottles of paint. that should hold us for a week or two. geez.

this is not to say that ‘NO’ art has been going on here… with layla, it’s kind of a way of life.

005 007

yes, that’s a paper dress. she’s been making dresses for paper dolls for awhile now. this time she wanted to make one to fit herself. she stuck it on with masking tape. ;-)

oh, that girl!

Comments

Post a Comment

all comments are moderated. unkind comments will be deleted.

you may like...

someone googled this stuff and found me!

these are as is... spelling errors and all. how to use a bathroom scale seriously? how hard is it? if you want step by step instructions, read this . washing machine doesn't empty bummer dude rachel's restroom i seem to remember someone predicting, when i was in high school, that i would go into the portable restroom business some day... "locks of love" site:blogspot.com because i'm totally the authority on that sort of thing. my hair is still in a ziplock bag waiting to be mailed. http://rambling-rachel.blogspot.com/ i think you typed this in the wrong place does 2 year old talk with imagination is there any other option? SLUDGE IN WORM BIN yummy. diapers to bed well, considering the other option... yes, please! imagination and 2 years old once again. 2 year olds do like to use their imaginations. loose change in my washing machine what priceless wisdom are you looking for here? how to get some? where did it come from? what to do with it? duh! rachel joe
4 comments
read more »

beef stew recipe

another taken from the betty crocker cookbook, but i mess with this one so refer to the disclaimer … 1 tbsp olive oil 1 clove of garlic, pressed (or some good shakes of garlic powder) 1 lb. stew beef 3 cups of hot water (I probably use closer to 3.5 or 4) 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 3 medium carrots, cut in thick coins 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1-2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces 1 small onion, chopped 1/4 tsp salt 1 bay leaf *optional: 1/2 bell pepper of your choice; 1 turnip; 1/2 tsp browning sauce (whatever that is) 1/2 cup cold water 2 tbsp all-purpose flour heat oil in large pot. cook beef and garlic in oil about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown. add hot water, 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper. heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. cover and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beef is almost tender. stir in remaining ingredients except cold water and flour. cover and simmer
Post a Comment
read more »

thanksgiving trip to CA

we decided to take a QUICK trip to EG over thanksgiving weekend. we weren’t so much going FOR thanksgiving, as we were taking advantage of the long weekend. thanksgiving was just an added bonus. the real reason we were going was to get to meet amy’s new baby finnigan (who BARELY complied, making his arrival just the day before). BUT, we got an extra BONUS baby, too! dave got a text early thanksgiving morning, as we were just driving into california, that anthony and chalane’s baby, abigail, had decided to show up a month early. we appreciated her courtesy! ;) micah and layla were tired after our all-night drive, and passed out together mid-afternoon, waiting for dinner. we brought mario kart with us… so there was much of this: the day after thanksgiving, gramma and papa treated us to a ride on ‘the polar express’ (which, I bet you didn’t know, runs out of sacramento)! it was loads of fun. everyone was supposed to wear pajamas, but the only one of our group who complied was micah.
Post a Comment
read more »

tater tot casserole recipe

i realized i forgot to post this last week when we had it.  i actually like it a little better than the hash brown one, but both are good.  it’s VERY similar. once again, this is something i’ve made so many times that i just kind of wing it now, although i do have the recipe that kate sent to me after she made it for my family when micah was born. i like to keep the recipe because it has some little ‘britishisms’ throughout, just like kate! ;-) who, by the way, rocks, having called to check up on me the other evening when she saw that the power in our area was out AGAIN!  thanks kate, smooch smooch! but now i’m getting distracted… big surprise. here goes. you will need: 1 lb or so ground beef (or ground turkey) 1 chopped onion a bunch of veggies (kate’s recipe calls for a ‘tin’ of mixed veggies, but i use fresh carrots & celery if i’ve got’em, frozen beans, peas, corn, whatever).  maybe 2-3 cups. 1 can (or tin) of cream of something soup (i use celery usually
2 comments
read more »

“you should have your head examined!”

… i just did! yup, yesterday i had the thrilling experience of sitting in a hospital waiting room for 2 hours, followed by another in a trauma room.  no, i don’t think i had suffered any sort of major trauma – i think that’s just what room they had left to stick me in.  i mused about where we would go if they had to kick us out because a ‘real’ trauma situation arose.  thankfully, we didn’t have to learn the answer to that.  i guess i was a traumatic as it got during that window of time. backing up, i wound up in the hospital yesterday because micah threw some clothes on the ground.  the night before i had been folding laundry in the living room.  i had a couple of stacks of ‘hang up’ clothes that were draped over the baby gate in front of the fireplace.                         yes, it’s a christmas picture, but i knew i had it in my stash.  at any rate, there’s the ugly baby gate that the clothes were hanging on.  also notice the wood mantle above it that the nativity set is on. 
2 comments
read more »