French Toast Girl

Please, try a pee

As I had been steadily losing my voice* for the past few weeks due to the constant repetition of key phrases and the high volume in which I have to yell to make myself heard, Paul has made me a couple of handy recordings. This is my favorite one. (The other so far is "Please clear the table." I'm also hoping for the combo "Go try a pee and put on your pajamas".) Please feel free to download it and use it in your house. The secret is to loop it so that they HAVE to go try a pee to so that you will make it stop.

Enjoy!

PleaseTryAPee.mp3

*voice is getting better, thanks

Labels: creativity, family, kids, motherhood

french toast girl

A question from Sophie (and other Friday diversions)

Quick Friday thoughts as I make this cake for the twins' birthday party tomorrow:

♥ Sophie wants to know, "Is a toilet a machine?" I say yes. What do you think?

♥ We have been singing this song non-stop at our house and if you play this, I bet you will too: The Bellybutton Song. We have learned not to let the kids see this before they go to bed, because they were singing, "Belly button! Uh-UH!" back and forth between their rooms for a FULL HOUR after they were supposed to be asleep. (Our babysitter made us play it twice and then bought it on iTunes.)

♥ And YAY! Loobylu is back!

Labels: diversions, family, kids

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Go ahead, make a fairy!

Angela checks out some fairies having some downtime at Sophie's birthday party.

I haven't had a chance to write about the birthdays (Sophie's, and Peter and Angela's), the RAINBOW birthday party with giggly 5-year-olds, or the twins' birthday party coming up. So here's a start: the craft we did at Sophie's birthday. We made clothespin fairies! Totally fun, doesn't have to make a mess, and easy for little hands to make. And after you've made your fairy, you can go have an adventure together!

You need:
* wooden clothespins (not the kind with the spring!)
* pipe cleaners
* crepe paper (we used streamers, they're the perfect size for dresses)
* waxed paper to cut out for wings
* markers/crayons/paints
* yarn or a toothpick for a wand
* any other fun details - sequins, glitter, flowers

Here are the instructions - and note - Petey's fairy had no dress, and a wand that shot flames! This does not have to be a girly craft, and naturally you can adopt this to make anything your kids want. Print this out and send it with extra supplies to a friend who's home sick from school or lives far away. So go! Have fun! And please, if you make fairies, send me the pictures or post a link to them, we want to see them!

*Note: I have to confess, we had another round of fairy-making this afternoon, and I started two (uh, for me!) with glitter-watercolours. When they're finished we'll take all of them in the backyard and have a photo shoot!

Labels: crafts, fairies, family, kids

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valentines

I've been pretty sick this past week (unfinished paintings languishing on my art table) but nothing was going to keep me from doing our yearly valentine. Check out the cuties from years past:

(2007)

(2006)

(2005)

And have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Labels: family, kids

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flower girl

I did this one with the kids sitting at the dining room table after school one day. Sophie had a hard day and I wanted to cheer her up, so I sat her down and sketched her sweet face. The kids told me I should make her a fairy, what color to paint the petals, and when I said I wanted to try tea instead of coffee this time, they cheered me on. The bizarre part is that the tea went on pink (Red Zinger), dried a gorgeous slate-greyish-green, and has now over time settled into a more warmish grey. Again... the scan doesn't do it justice, but the detail helps a bit.

Labels: art, creativity, fairies, family

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the night tree

Inspired by a new favorite Christmas book, The Night Tree, and Soulemama's solstice tree, we set out on New Year's to make our own tree for our little friends. In the book, you think the family's out searching for a Christmas tree, but they're really going into the woods to decorate a special tree for all the animals in the woods.

We made popcorn-and-pomegranate chains, chains of cheerios, orange slices, and the ever-popular pinecones with peanut butter and birdseed. Was it messy? Absolutely. But lots of fun. Sophie finished her string first, so she read us The Night Tree while the rest of us finished up.

Peter and Sophie join hands in front of the two arbor vitae we decorated. As we don't have the woods in our backyard, we thought we'd put the goodies somewhere near a window so the kids could watch the birds.

In the story, after the tree is decorated, the family sings a carol (I think we sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", and we did it ala A Charlie Brown Christmas with our heads thrown back and noses in the air) and then drinks cocoa. As my kids don't really eat sugar, this suggestion was met with much excitement.

Angela is making the most of her hot chocolate experience.

The view out our window, which now boasts a proper birdfeeder as the kids wanted to feed the birds all year long. The lumpy thing in the corner is a canvas-wrapped amaryllis, which we planted while the girls sang "The Garden Song." You don't know how badly I wished I'd filmed it.

Labels: creativity, family, inspirations

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the week of magical thinking, continued.

I made a conscious decision recently to do another week of magical thinking: to spend a week making the most magical, alive, succulent choices possible.

Here are stories about two things that happened just this week.

The Loveseat.
I have to start off this story by telling that ever since we found the black leather recliner on junk day this summer (which had not a scratch on it and was perfectly fine) and took it home, Paul has been looking for a matching loveseat. Not a couch, because it would be too large for the space he has in his studio. So we looked at sales circulars, checked the internet. Paul even had tried this past week to get one listed on Craigslist, but we didn't get it. Friday morning, he tells me also that the office chair in the other studio is broken and he'll have to go order a replacement from Staples.

Normally, as soon as I'm done work on Friday I go run a ton of errands so I don't have to do them on the weekend, but this week was a little off. So I went out Saturday morning instead, and on my way home from food shopping, I see, sitting by the end of someone's driveway: a black leather loveseat, and an office chair. Needless to say I rushed home, we unloaded fast, and Paul ran out with all his bungee cords to see if we could fit them on the van, and we did! $400+ saved, and got Paul's office all spiffed up for the new semester. :)

The Shirt.
I've been saying for a while that my wardrobe has become really plain; lots of solid colors, Mom-shirts, that kind of thing. Not really me. So I've been on the hunt for more colorful clothing.

Last Wednesday night, my parents came over, and my Mom pulls out this gorgeous watermelon-colored, silver-and-gold-embroidered Indian top. She said that a co-worker had brought it back from India for her but it didn't fit and did I want it. Of course I did! And I'm wearing it today, when the temperatures for January are going to be in the upper 60s.

And of course the shirt fits! Never doubted it for a second. Listen, God does not listen to your wishes, place a beautiful shirt in your hands, get you some unseasonable weather, only to have the shirt be too small! That's not how God works. (Not mine, anyhow.)

I firmly believe that magical things happen when you are open to them. What's happened to you lately that's magical?

Labels: faith, family, inspirations, synchronicity

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Illustration Friday: Soar

(Watercolour, pencil, and coffee)

Unlike previous years, when I've done a "Big" list on my birthday, I had no "Big 36" list this year. I've found that making a laundry list on one day of the year makes me feel obligated and doesn't take into account the fact that I change, darnit. But I do like to have a goal and a purpose and a reason to things. In 2007 I tried a lot of things, and some worked, and some didn't. What I want to do this year is to let my focus go to what is most important to me: my family, my artwork, my self. Once I have down a clear set of priorities I can figure out if other things serve my purpose or just distract me from them. For instance, after the craft fair and NaNoBloPoMo, I realized that more than a month had gone by without painting. And for me, painting is a necessity; I was shocked that I had let so many days and nights go by without it. Sure, I spent time on my site, and on scanning in and making prints, and framing things, but not painting. And that's where my heart lies.

I'm working now through this list: the Simple Living Manifesto. I really think it's going to help me focus and get back to basics. Paul's trying to do it as well, including naming Sunday nights Art Night for him as well (although in his case, it'll be Piano Night.) But I love the idea of the two of us filling the house with creative energy from top (me in the Tower) to bottom (his studio is on the first floor) at the same time, while the kids are asleep. We will also be making some plans on what the focus is for our family, as well as planning some regular date nights.

So here's to a new year. And to letting your imagination soar.

Labels: art, creativity, family, illustration friday, inspirations

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Only one more sleep 'till Christmas

Wishing you and those you love a blessed Christmas and a joyous New Year! (left to right: Angela in her gorgeous pink glasses, Sophie the wondergirl, and my boy Petey Pop.)

Labels: faith, family, kids

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Sophie had an invisible lamb*

Sophie came home from school today, eager for me to look in her backpack. "I did a picture of an invisible lamb! I did a picture of an invisible lamb! Let me show you!" She gets the zipper open and hands me a blank piece of paper.

Where do they get this stuff? She must have her teachers in stitches.

*It also greatly resembles a picture of a cow eating grass.

Labels: family

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Illustration Friday: (I believe in) Little Things

Faithful readers will know how much I adore the song "Little Things" from Sesame Street. While I have always appreciated the little things in my life, the more Mama-years I have under my belt, the more deeply I realize it. This song has always touched me.

Go listen to the song (and watch the video) here.

Labels: art, family, illustration friday

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in my heart

One of the last things we do in our yoga class comes at the very end of our meditation. The teacher asks us to open our heart, put three things we want to keep safely inside it, and then close it up tight. Then, when we're having a rough day or feeling ungrateful, we can take them out to remind ourselves what's most important and wonderful to us.

Inside my heart at this moment is:

1. My family. 2. My art. 3. My imagination.

What's inside your heart right now?

Labels: art, faith, family

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Sophie. Peter. Angela.

Little sketches of my kids...

Did you ever hear the story about how having kids is like having your heart walk around outside your body? That's what I think of when I look at Sophia. She's 4-and-three-quarters. She stuns me, almost every day, with something new that she comes up with. Sophie has this long long brown curly hair that she can sit on when it's wet. She's bright, inquisitive, and everything she feels shows on her face immediately. She's like a little elf, some bit of magic that I can't believe came from me because she's so totally her own quirky little self. We haven't had her tested, but we already know from others that she is Off The Charts. A typical dinner conversation with Sophie contains references to animals, her artwork, which numbers are odd and which are even, Spanish vocabulary, the 8 times table, and the workings of the central nervous system. She has begun to play the piano and have lessons from Daddy, and now plays "Jolly Old St. Nicholas", with two hands, actually reading the sheet music, with great seriousness. Then she flings herself off the bench to do the most dramatic bow ever. She tells me, "The ponytail has to flip over my head for it to be right." I could go on and on about how smart she is, how talented she is, and none of it would be good enough to explain the beautiful spark of life that she has in her heart.

The twins are 3-and-three-quarters. Peter is just such a hoot. I've read things I've written about Peter last year, and he is still so solidly Peter - so many things are the same. Peter is passionate about cooking; he wants to know everything there is to know about it. He pretends he's cooking, he takes cookbooks to bed with him, he loves nothing more than to help stir, mix, set the table... and he will gladly tell you what he likes to eat, which is pretty much everything, but tortellini is his favorite, followed very very closely by pierogies. His latest thing is for us to watch cooking how-to videos on youtube, especially the ones about how to make sushi. Not that he's ever had it, but he is completely fascinated by it. Petey is the only one in our family with blond hair, and he has these absolutely gorgeous hazel eyes (like Daddy!). He's totally going to have our phone ringing off the hook when he gets older. One of the greatest things about Peter is that he has the most awesome laugh ever - it's completely infectious. He laughs this deep deep belly laugh that sounds like it's coming from an old man, and you can't help but laugh with him, which only makes him laugh harder... He's bright, he's very very silly, and it's easy to forget sometimes that he loves to snuggle just as much as he loves to run and jump around. Here's a perfect Petey snapshot: when he has ants in his pants, he will run over to me and ask me to put on "Shake Your Tailfeather" so that he can dance it all out. (His other faves are "I Feel Good" and Rockappella's "Falling' Over You".) While I love dancing up a storm with him, I love his hugs and smooches even more.

Angela is so completely her own person. She has this gorgeous cloud of dark curly hair that she pulls on because she wants it to be longer (like Mama, like Sophie). She got glasses this year, and on Sophie they would make her look owlish, but on Angela they're pure glamour. Angela, while sweet, adorable, girly, and having a huggability rating off the charts, has a streak of pure willfulness that's making me very afraid for her teen years. One morning at the breakfast table she wanted something, like a pear, but we didn't have any and told her so. She got really angry and yelled, "But I WANT A PEAR!" Again, we said we couldn't give her something we didn't have, and how about an apple? She slumped way down in her chair and gave us the nastiest evil glare ever. Paul and I laughed so hard we almost fell under the table! It was a total fast-forward to Angela at 13, when I tell her she can't wear that skirt. I've written before about Angela and being strong-willed, so I don't want to write more about it because she really is a sweetheart. She has a great imagination and loves to play creative games; I can totally see her being an actress some day. Angela snapshot: the other morning I asked her "And how are you today?" and she said, in all seriousness, "Gorgeous." She loves to draw, and she can write all the letters of her name, although not necessarily always in order. Angela is frequently the first one up and about in the morning, and she will come into our room with her arms up in the air, huge smile on her face, singing, "Good morning! Time to get up!" And then she comes over to my side and says, "Good morning, sweet bunny!" How could you possibly ever get up and have a grumpy day after that kind of love?

When the three of them were all tiny (and they were quite tiny), everyone would tell me how blessed I was, but I was kind of too shell-shocked to agree. But now I know it, truly and fully. And I am so, so thankful for them.

Labels: family, kids, NaBloPoMo

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Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Dinner was quite dramatic tonight as we witnessed my sister's ENGAGEMENT! The proposal was met with much crying (my sis, my mom) and screaming and jumping up and down (by me, natch!) When everyone had calmed down, my sister tried calling friends and only got answering machines. So she took a photo of her hand with her camera phone and sent it around and waited for the calls to roll in. (Ah, technology... )

Congratulations, Mary and Jeff! Woo hoo!

Labels: family, NaBloPoMo

french toast girl

Grace

This one's for sharing: print this out and bring it to your table tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Labels: art, faith, family, NaBloPoMo

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Why my hubby ROCKS!

Last weekend, after the craft fair, I asked Paul to take photos of each of my framed prints so that I could add them to my store. I knew if I did it, everything would have a glare on it and be blurry, and he's so much better at it. So first thing Monday morning, while he was watching the kids, he took lovely photos like this (more after the pics):

and then made sure they were all in iPhoto so I could access them right away.

Then he started setting up a mini-art show in the entryway of his studio, with a price list, a sign about me, and a set of my business cards. (I didn't even want him to put the artwork out because I was afraid it would be obnoxious! ) But this week, because they were right in front of people, I sold two of my largest pieces. I heard him telling a parent who walked in and asked about them, "Oh, didn't you know my wife is an artist? She just had an art show and these are a few pieces she didn't sell, so you have a chance to buy them here if you want." Can I tell you what I would have said? "Oh, the craft fair was so hard, and I have all these pieces left over, and maybe you might know someone who wants one... um, and I could give you a huge discount, I guess." Arrrrrgh! I am SO not great at selling myself! I should totally just walk around with Paul and let him talk for me, all the time, and then I could just paint.

He has also:
- weighed my paintings and calculated all the postage for me
- hand-painted some of the frames (along with my awesome Dad)
- never, ever said that we are spending too much money on artwork, and in fact encouraged me to think about printing NEW all-occasion cards
- got me a newer computer on eBay, souped it up, and had it switched with my old one (the screen was turning green!) within a week, and with me losing NO work time at all
- watched the kids more times than I can count so I can paint

Is it any wonder I love this man? His support, and the support and love of my family is what keeps me going every day.

Labels: art, family, NaBloPoMo

french toast girl

the craft show is tomorrow

...and I have been running running running around like crazy today trying to get everything ready. At one point I had the kids working for me: one counting out cards, one doing envelopes, and the third dropping in a business card and sticking a french toast girl label on the bag to seal it. I'm cranking out the last of the prints now and a price list; Paul is packing my bags and stocking them with the essentials (change, calculator, tape, phone, directions, etc.) Then it's heavy duty sleep time (I didn't sleep at all last night, I kept sitting up and saying things like "I forgot the magnets!") and hopefully tomorrow I will actually relax and enjoy it all.

Wish me luck!

Labels: art, family, NaBloPoMo

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Happy birthday to yooooooooooouuuuuuu

Happy birthday to my favorite brother (who is extremely talented) and my favorite brother-in-law (also extremely talented)!

♥ This weekend is THE CRAFT SHOW! I know I promised I would blog more about the details and the preparations, and I'm hoping to have pics off the camera and up on the site tomorrow. Someone wrote and asked what prints look well matted, and even though I can say, "all of them!" (hee hee) you'll see lots of things in frames. And gosh, they're pretty.

Labels: family, NaBloPoMo

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Just one person

Last night we settled in for our usual Sunday night viewing of the Muppet Show. When this song came on, I warned everyone I was going to cry, and I didn't disappoint. In school I was in a production of a combination of "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Snoopy!" (take a wild guess who I played) and sang this every night (and cried then, too.)

(First part is from the Muppet Show, second part is from "A Tribute to Jim Henson" which I bawled through from beginning to end when it was on TV originally.)

So here I am, weepy, and the kids are looking at me funny, but I am saved because immediately following this number, they show this and I wind up laughing my pants off instead. Perfect timing!

Labels: family, muppets, NaBloPoMo

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Because I asked.

Readers of yesterday's note will see that Saturday mornings are Pancake Days. This is how great the weekend is: Friday nights, I help get the kids ready for bed, and go to yoga. And Paul puts them to bed all by himself, and by the time I get home, all peaceful and relaxed, they're asleep. Know why Paul does this? Because I asked.

Saturday mornings I get to sleep in; the kids all get dressed without me. Paul herds them all downstairs, has them help set the table, and makes a double-batch of pancakes. When the smell begins to waft up the stairs to the bedroom, the kids run in to tell me breakfast is ready. Why does this happen? Because I asked.

Sunday nights are the sacred Art Night - once all the kids are in bed, Paul takes their monitors and I barricade myself in my studio (we've nicknamed it the Tower because it's the attic). Cries for water, a flashlight battery that needs to be changed, getting up for one last pee - not my problem. I get an evening of uninterrupted painting. And why has this been a tradition since Sophie was born? Because I asked.

Life is too short not to ask for the things you need. Nobody's a mind-reader. We've learned that with three kids 4 and under, and with free time at a minimum, we ask for the things we really need - time to paint. A little rest. A yoga class. And then we make them happen, together.

Labels: family, NaBloPoMo

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dear pancakes

Tell me you wouldn't love to be me this morning. ♥ (Pretty good for 4.5 years old, huh?)

Labels: family, food, kids, NaBloPoMo

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Mew, and boo.

Even though I said back in the day I was never going to do this, here are the three little kittens, who actually DID lose their mittens before we went out, and had to share. They were down to one mitten when Angela forgot all about our warnings that the neighbors had just painted their railings... let's just say they're gonna need to repaint the ones near their door. After they pull the pink fuzz off of it first.

Note baby mummy pumpkin wrapped in cheesecloth to the left. Ca-UTEness!

Labels: family, NaBloPoMo

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Me and Petey

This morning I decided I needed to exert the extra effort and make it to mass. I crept into the kids' bedrooms and whispered to each of them that it was time to get up, and that I was going to church and who wanted to come with? Petey jumped right out of bed and got dressed. With three kids almost exactly the same age, special one-on-one time is hard to come by.

We go to church every week, but he's never been on a weekday morning. He kept tugging my hand, asking me where the music was, why was it so dark, why didn't I bring the bag with his books in it? And after a while, he quieted down and just looked around with his big hazel eyes. I was glad he had the chance to see the church at a quiet time - not full of his friends, music, and lots of distractions, but stripped down to the essentials. We held hands a lot and just let the peacefulness seep in. And then on the way home, I sang him "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" and "The Prayer of Saint Francis" in honor of All Saint's Day.

We painted together this afternoon; this is Petey as he sat across from me creating his beautiful watermelon-y washes.

Labels: art, family, NaBloPoMo

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meditate on this

Before the kiddos came along, I used to go to yoga classes weekly. Once I was more homebound, I had my favorite DVD and would do it only every few months or so, and then when I did, it was with kids screaming for attention in the background (so restful!) or doing what I call "combat yoga" - where I do a pose (bridge, or downward-facing dog) and the kids would scramble to get underneath me as fast as they could. ALL of them. I was so afraid I would squash them! I kept asking myself why I didn't do yoga more often when I loved it so much.

Last week, right before I fell asleep, it came to me: we have to start doing yoga again. So now Paul and I have been getting up early; we let the kids know that we're doing yoga and that they may join us when they're ready (ready means: did a pee, washed their hands, gotten dressed, straightened their bed, put their pjs under their pillow and undies in the laundry). So far it's worked so well I'm afraid to talk about it, lest I jinx it. We're downstairs in Paul's studio, starting our day peacefully, while whatever squabbling over the bathroom and who has what underwear is all taking place far above us (did I mention the studio's soundproofed?). Angela likes to get done as fast as possible and wiggles herself inbetween us, and if I'm not careful, she steals my mat. Petey likes to sleep in, but when he comes down he sits on the sofa quietly with a book. With Sophie, it's 50-50. But so far, we've been stretching and they've been quiet, so I'm pretty happy about it.

I also got to join a yoga group at my friend's church. We practice in the entryway (it's huge) and afterwards, anyone who wants to, gets up, goes into the main part of the church, and we pray/meditate in front of the blessed sacrament. It was very very interesting not only to do yoga again somewhere other than my living room, but energizing to practice it amidst another group of Catholics - nothing much was said out loud, but we knew we were all focusing on the same Spirit.

I'm also going to start downloading episodes from Yoga Today so we have a little more variety; much as I like Rodney Yee, I can almost recite his routine from memory. Do you have a favorite DVD to recommend? Anything with "stress relief" in it is great, not looking for "power" or anything where they say "leap to warrior pose!"

Labels: faith, family

french toast girl

a moment, please

Screen cap of test for 2 scans of the unicorn painting that usually hangs in my kitchen.

Spent this weekend on a trip to IKEA for some Christmas shopping, but mostly FRAMES! Mom came, and her help was invaluable, to say the least. She has such a great eye and is incredibly artistic herself, and is one of my biggest cheerleaders. Whenever I would suggest something, she would go one better; I looked at unfinished frames that came in packs but said I wasn't sure to get them, she grabbed them and said, "Tell Daddy what color you want them, he'll paint them for you." (Dad didn't mind being volunteered at all.) When I picked up a frame with a mat cut for three pictures in it and said I could see putting three unicorn or fairy pictures in it, she reached over and got three more. I said, "Do you really think I would sell them?" She said emphatically, "Oh, definitely. Perfect for a little girl's room." Did I add that Mom's manning the table with me? Nobody is going to be able to resist her!

So as I saw the cart full of frames of varying sizes, I started to have a Moment-with -a-capital-M - I rarely see my art framed, hung up, or anything, other than in my own house. Many times I paint, and the artwork just stays in the closet or never makes it out of my sketchbook. The idea of a whole table full of my artwork for people to take home just kind of overwhelmed me for a moment. And then I looked over at my mom, and I knew I was totally taking a step in the right direction.

Labels: art, creativity, family

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I can't make this stuff up

The other day, I was talking on the phone, when Peter starts yelling from the dining room, "Mama! Come here, look! I made a pee! I made a pee! "

I run over, and I'm starting to ream him out for peeing on the floor when he knows better, and it's hardwood, no less, and why didn't he get up and make it to the bathroom if he knew it was coming, etc. As I get to him, he has a very confused look on his face, and he hands me a piece of paper.

That he has drawn the letter P on.

Labels: family, kids

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Definitely silly

A pic from yesterday's Hoboken gig. That's supastar Sophie onstage with me, holding my hand and shaking her little maraca. By the end of the second set, the stage was full of kids playing percussion instruments, air guitarists each trying to outdo each other, and a group of giggly preteen girls I was trying to organize into backup dancers. It was so much fun! (Now, if only it hadn't taken us 1.5 hours to find a parking space...)

Labels: family

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All my silly friends

I will be one of the Silly Friends singing backup for Marc this weekend at the Hoboken Art and Music Festival. If you're in the area, bring the kids and come boogie down!

Labels: diversions, family, kids

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It could be worse

There's a story that goes like this: a man's house was so full of people that he had no room to move or do anything. So he went to a wisewoman, who told him, "Take all your goats, and bring them into the house." He went back to her a few days later and she told him, "Take all your chickens, and bring them into the house." He eventually is told to bring ALL his farm animals into the house, so he does.

Now he not only has crying babies and demanding relatives, but also dogs and pigs and ducks underfoot. The noise is horrible, the smell is worse. He can't understand why the advice isn't helping. So he goes back to the wise woman. She tells him, "Now take all your chickens, and bring them OUT of the house." He does. Eventually, all the animals are out of the house, and he's left with his relatives. They're noisy, he has no privacy and no room, but at least his house isn't full of animals. He realizes that what he had to begin with wasn't so bad after all. Because it could always be worse.

Things are kind of crazy right now at my house. Make that insane. So my mantra is: It could be worse. I'm not going to go into my list, because it's whiny and kind of morbid to write out what could be worse, but let's just say, I'm trying hard to be thankful for the blessings that I have.

I was going to ask people to write their "Could be worse" list, but instead, could you leave me a note about something you personally feel blessed about? It would help. ♥

Labels: faith, family, kids

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Illustration Friday: Momentum

A body in motion stays in motion. In this house, you don't stop, ever. And you keep lots of lists.

Labels: art, family, illustration friday

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My red crayon

We went to the Crayola factory this week, and darned if not too much has changed since this awesome Sesame Street clip from the 80s. I have wanted to visit the factory since then.

When they were making the crayons, the demonstrator let all the kids come up and put the wrappers on, and then asked if any parents wanted to do it. Of course I jumped right up! I said, “I thought you’d never ask!”

In my eagerness, I put my wrapper on backwards, so that you can see the stripes, but no name. The guy asked us if anyone did that, and to hold them up – I thought he was going to make us give them back! He said, "Now it’s your crayon! Name it whatever you want!" so the kids were all impressed with me that I beat the system.

♥ Squid squid squid squid squid: Season 38 of Sesame Street started last week; this bit of hilarity is from the season opener. The second I watched this, I knew it was going to be all over the internet. I just love the way Brian Williams relishes the word "squid." What a ham!

Labels: art, family, inspirations, kids, muppets

french toast girl

Ten

This week, Paul and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. We had our first big party EVER since the kids were born, because we had more things to celebrate than we could count. My cousin Dean, who's a deacon and officiated at our wedding, gave us a special blessing - with the two of us surrounded by those who love us best. We are so blessed I don't even have words for it.

Labels: family

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The week of magical thinking

Me and Sophie in PJs, in the backyard.

This past week I started an experiment that's been so successful I'm doing it for another week (and another, and another.... ). It's rather simple: whenever I have a choice, I ask myself what the most succulent option is. Every time I can, I try to make something everyday, more magical, more artistic, more creative. I found I was getting into a bit of a rut and this has helped lots.

So, for example....

♥ Flowery sundresses win out every time over jeans shorts and a tank top.

♥ I wore my "good" jewelry even though nobody was going to see it except us.

♥ I spent a few extra minutes to do something with my hair that did not involve me pulling it quickly out of my face into a ponytail. Braids, jewelled barettes, you name it.

♥ Meals, with a little planning, have been more exciting ... penne with broccoli rabe and soy sausage; tortellini with homemade spinach pesto, black olives, and salmon; tofu, grilled veggies, and couscous. I baked two loaves of bread and the house smelled wonderful. And I had wine with dinner! We've always eaten healthy, but this week we ate dinners with more creative flair. I even packed myself nice lunches so that I could look forward to it the next day (instead of my usual scrounge around the fridge).

♥ "The fairies" left another note in the backyard for the kids.

♥ I cleaned like mad, did some redecorating, bought lots of frames and took care of some paintings that have been waiting to be hung up for years. I also got into a very "zen" mindset about mat-cutting (usually stresses the heck out of me) and cut beautiful, stress-free mats instead!

♥ I found old paintings and gave them new life - one painting that originally had two birds in a tree, got 25 more brightly-colored friends. :)

I had a few other simple guidelines:

♥ I would paint every day.
♥ I would spend some time, by myself, in nature every day.
♥ I would write in my journal, every day.

And PJs in the backyard? Always a succulent choice.

Labels: art, creativity, family, inspirations

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at the lake

The kids went to Pennsylvania this weekend to visit their cousins (2+ hours, we're going to take it in stages next time), SLEPT OVER in Jude's bed (and didn't wet anything!), went on a boat, made s'mores, ate lots of pancakes, played with lots and lots of matchbox cars, had a singalong and got a preview of songs from Uncle Marc's new-CD-in-progress, and saw waterfalls. I have high hopes that this is going to help pave the way for more traveling.

♥ Our photos here
♥ Their cousins' pics here

Labels: family, kids

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by george, I think we've done it!

Remember this and this?

I'm proud to say... the kids are actually toilet-trained. Those of you who think this is no big deal have no idea what it's like to train three kids, all at the same time. It's freaking amazing.

No more diapers.
No more training pants, not even at night.
No more potties (they have to use the regular toilet because I refuse to clean them anymore). We tried to sell them off at our garage sale.

My advice for anyone embarking on this adventure...

Be really consistent; they're pretty confused about the whole thing so doing everything the same way, every time, helps get it through their heads.

Don't be afraid to put your foot down. I just said one day, "Oh, we don't wear diapers in the house during the day anymore." And they said, "Oh, okay!" and it wasn't an issue. Same as, "We're not wearing diapers at school now," and the ever-popular, "When this package of training pants* is gone, we will not buy any more. So if you don't want pee in your bed, you'll get out of it and go to the bathroom. And we'll help you."

Get a potty that is all in one piece. The ones that come apart so you can clean them? Not good. Because that means pee can get into the cracks, leak out, whatever. In addition to the FIVE potty seats we had around the house, we still have two seats that fit over the seat of the toilet (because my kids are on the small side and are still convinced they will fall in). One is one solid piece of plastic. I love it. The other has a puffy seat, handles, comes apart. It almost always has pee between the layers and I'm always cleaning it so the bathroom doesn't smell like a hamster cage; one day when Paul had the power washer out I made him hose it down because I couldn't stand it. Do yourself a favor and don't buy this.

And finally...

Be patient, and pray a lot. It is one full year since we started training with the kids; I pray it doesn't take that long for anyone else. But be patient with them, and especially boys, biologically their bladder is not as developed as girls their same age, so they may not know when it's full (which was the case in our house). Try to praise them as much as you can when they do something right, and try not to make a big deal out of the accidents. In our house, treating nighttime pees and changes of bedding like it's no big deal has really helped the kids be less tense about the whole thing.

And yes, I still want to have a Potty Party for them to celebrate.

* I know I said we wouldn't use training pants; we used them very sparingly, like at night when we were teaching them to get up and use the toilet, because they couldn't handle taking on and off diapers by themselves. I didn't like using them. :)

Labels: family, kids

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The Strong-Willed Child

I have been trying to put into practice two tenets of "The Strong-Willed Child" (which mostly applies to Miss Angela). One is that I pray for the strength to be able to SHAPE her will, and not BREAK it. God gave her this amazing spirit, and entrusted me to be her mama. I want her to be the unique person she is meant to be, but not at the expense of everyone's else's sanity. I'm in charge, not a three-year-old, and she knows it, but she's the one when everyone else is playing nicely, will look around and decide things aren't quite exciting for her and need a little stirring up. (I have seen her say, sweetly, "Oh, Peter?" and when he turned to look at her, smiled while she punched him in the face.) Not that Angela is a bully, far from it. Most of the time she's quite sweet and kind-hearted. But when there's trouble, she usually is the one stirring it up, and then is difficult to stop.

While the book recommends spanking the child with a paddle, and then putting it up on display so that they will be reminded of this and that You Are Boss, I just can't do that. I am not a wuss - in fact, we are quite strict with our kids - I just grew up without being spanked and I think that's the way to go. So the other concept I've taken from this book is: I need to find some immediate consequence that bothers Angela enough to deter her from bad behavior. For Sophie, giving her a look and saying sternly, "Do you want to sit in the corner?" is enough to make her stop whatever she's doing; actually going in the corner has her in tears because she wants so badly to make us happy (this is the kind of kid I was, btw). Angela could care less! One time I completely lost it and was screaming myself red in the face at her, and she laughed. Sophie would have been sobbing. That's another point in this book I appreciated; it's not that we're bad parents, or lazy, or whatever. It's that Angela's completely different in her behavior than the other two. And we need other tactics. She's not fond of time-outs, and we do those, but we're still thinking up something else we can use as a deterrent, especially at bedtime.

As for me growing up, we had The Wooden Spoon, which Mom would sort of swat at you with but it didn't hurt because you could always run faster than she did. I remember one day rolling my eyes at her and saying, "It doesn't hurt, Mom," like, come on, you have to do better than that! And she explained about our friend's house, where the kids wait till their Dad gets home from work and he takes off his belt and whacks them with it if their Mom reports they've done something wrong. Would we rather do it that way instead? Because Mom could talk to Daddy about it and work something out if we'd prefer that. No, no, that was quite okay, we reassured her. The Spoon was just fine, and hey, did she need us to set the table or take out the garbage or something? And by the way, Mom, you're looking lovely today.

Labels: family, kids

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Happy earth day to you!

We take Earth Day seriously around our house. Here are some things we do to try to save energy and help the earth:

Skip the drying cycle in the dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry

Use cloth bags at the supermarket. I love these. People stop me all the time and ask where I got them, to the point where the cashier wanted me to go show them to the manager at our ShopRite and tell them to stock them!

Plant something green: Paul planted 12 arbor vitae in our yard Sunday.

Go organic when you can. Read here for list of food that has the highest level of pesticides, so you can make your choices. We always go for organic milk as well, because our kids drink so much of it.

No pullups or disposable diapers. So far, two out of three kiddos are staying dry at night. So far, we haven't gone back to diapers yet! Keep your fingers crossed.

Turn off the lights. I turn off everything, whenever we leave the room. It's a good habit to get into.

Give back. We'll be helping do a park clean-up this weekend. Paul bring his students to help. I'll be leading the little kids to do some chalking.

Teach your children well. Our kids are learning to respect the earth, share their resources, and learn more about the world around them.

What's your favorite earth-friendly tip?

Labels: art, family

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How we do it

The following is from a note I wrote to my Walking In This World group, which has a few mamas in it who are trying to make more time for their art in a schedule that's already jam-packed. I figured I would share what we do in the hopes that it helps someone out. Feel free to add your own advice in the comments. :)

..................

LOTS OF UNSOLICITED ADVICE TO FOLLOW - FEEL FREE TO PICK/CHOOSE/IGNORE ;)

Have you considered hiring a sitter for Sunday afternoons? We have sitters (High school girls) come in for 2 hours every night just to help me feed the kids and get them off to bed, b/c my husband teaches music classes every night until 10ish.(I can do it by myself, but it's difficult with the three under 4 and trying to be supermom has gotten me sick many times from exhaustion.)

Anyway, so my kids are familiar with the girls (not to mention Grandma!), so sometimes we have one of them come on a weekend afternoon for a few hours to play with the kiddos while we get our own work done without them around. I have painted, written letters, and just napped while they've come over. And then I'm refreshed when it's time to make dinner and see everyone again. Or sometimes, we just order a pizza so I don't have to cook. Or we have pancakes for dinner. :) We pay $8 an hour for the girls to be there for 3 small kids, and we're right there in the house in case they need us for any reason. This seems to work out well for everyone.

I also think that you need to make sure that your husband understands how important your art, and time to yourself, is. You can ALWAYS say, "His work is important!" but so are you. My husband was incredibly supportive while I was doing The Artist's Way (still is), but I still have to point out to him that we almost always get a sitter so he can work, not the other way around. :)

Not sure if financially this is possible, but since you are working, you might want to look into hiring cleaning help. I know this sounds extreme - it did to me when my husband suggested it, I thought, good lord! I can clean my own house! We don't have funds for that! But we wound up spending at least one day every weekend doing nothing but cleaning the house. And that just sucked. (Keep in mind also that my husband's studio is part of the house, and we have 75 people coming and going and using our bathroom each week. :) So we have a super-nice lady come every other week to clean the house and it is SO WORTH IT TO ME to not have to spend all my time scrubbing the stove top or cleaning the toilets and whatnot. Anyway, you might want to look into it - figure what your time is worth, what your sanity is worth, and see if this could possibly be an option for you.

Regarding bedtimes - this is the thing that saves me - we are incredibly regimented with our bedtime procedure. I have had other moms tell me, "My guys will never do that." Ours do becuase we MAKE them do it. And don't take no for an answer. I am so fiercely protective of my evening time (for my sanity) that bedtimes are strictly enforced. :) They also know the routine so well that I don't dare skip a step or do it out of order, or they call me on it.

My three all go to bed by 7:30, 8 at the very latest. By 6:30, I mention that we all need to start cleaning up. They all have to help put away their toys themselves, because I can't possibly do it all myself (the sitter helps too, but we mainly want the kids to do it themselves.) Then they have to try the potty, and everyone gets into diapers/pullups and into their PJs. Everyone should be dressed and everything put away by 7ish. Then they each get to choose a picture book and we all snuggle on the couch and we read to them, or what happens when a sitter is there is that she reads and I run upstairs and make sure everything's ready - make the bed that Peter's flung blankets all around the room, or fill their humidifiers, etc. Weekend nights when Daddy is there we get the laptop and watch 1/2 hour of something - the Muppet Show, vintage Sesame Street clips from YouTube, Classical Baby, Schoolhouse Rock.

By the time the books are read, we all go upstairs. They know they all have to walk up - not get carried - or they go straight to bed. We brush teeth, go into Peter and Angela's room and say (or sing) our prayers, and then do our "thank you God"s where they tell us things they're happy about, and we ask God to watch over our family members/friends who are sick. Everyone smooches each other, it's 7:30 and time for the sitter to go home. The twins hop in bed with threats from me of what will happen if they get out, :) and I close the door.

Sophie tries a last pee, then she hops in bed and tells me Three Nice Things about her day, which is kind of a gratitude list. We read one more story - very very short, like a poem or something, switch off her flashlight, smooch, and she's done. If she's not sleepy, she reads in bed - she has a flashlight that's easy for her to turn on and off. By then, it's 7:40. They mostly stay down for the evening, and I have until 10:30 when Paul is finished to do my own work. They also know that after they go to bed, Mama is painting. And they're interested in that too, especially if they know that they get to see it the next day.

Anyway, don't beat yourself up, and don't give up either - you're doing great things for yourself just by trying to work through the book and by trying to learn more about yourself and your art.

Hang in there!

love, Elena

Labels: art, family, kids, motherhood

french toast girl

ART, iNSPiRATiON, AND WHY LiFE iS LiKE FRENCH TOAST.