Funny kids...and latest art...

Kids are funny.  And maybe every mom feels the same way, but mine are very funny.

Lately, I've been feeling like my main purpose in life is to load and unload the dishwasher.  It wasn't so long ago that I didn't HAVE a dishwasher, so I'm grateful to have one...and I'd get my kids to do it but I'm quite particular about where things go!

The comic relief for the dishwasher-loading drudgery is out there just waiting for me to listen.  In between loads I listen closely to strange and amazing conversations, and what a loss to not write them all down!  But I thought I'd share a few good ones I've enjoyed lately.  (It also reminds me to not take every word they say to heart, because often they're just playing with their words!)

During prayers a few nights back, Miso says..."Thank you Jesus for all the blooming opossums".
(I'm not even sure where that came from, sounds like a cut and paste idea from a few books we'd read...and it's hard to stifle laughter during prayers!)

And this was an honest one, Bashi was under the table and I see him crouched down pointing into a bright beam of sunlight, and he just says..."Mommy look! Dust...."  (Yes, thanks for reminding me.)

Earlier he'd really packed away some dinner and as he sat holding his belly he said, "Mom...I ate too many rice..." (I know what it's like...)

But the funniest one lately was just yesterday while driving to Trader Joe's, darling daughter began a verbal salad bar of strangeness, she started with...."Texas is a stinky place, I haven't smelled it but I smelled the juice that was there." (Juice?  What?!!)  When I started laughing, she told me that I should NOT laugh at her because it might hurt her feelings.  Then I asked more about Texas, and she said that Texas and also Oklahoma, both stink, and something about alcohol ...and then she said, "But I'm not telling you about Texas!"  (I apologize to everyone from Texas and Oklahoma and I assure you that her sentiments did not come from me.  I can think of many other states that DO stink, but I will not point them out here!)

Ah, never a dull moment.  Actually...some dull moments would be kinda nice now and then, but I'm sure I'd find some way to spice them up.  I like to fill blank spots with creativity...

Recently in the studio, I've been working with rusted fabric, jump rings and stitches to make some new jewelry.

This necklace combines rust with the ruster...tough with delicate.

I've also been toying with leather...a new medium for me.  I made leather "coozies" for ball jars as a St. Valentine's day gift to protect the hands from hot bulletproof coffee.  Unbeknownst to me, my darling bought a 5 lb bag of Bulletproof coffee at the same time...a perfect match.

I've been "juicing up" some old National Geographics with Citrasolv cleaner.   That's all I've ever used it for in the past, and I've learned that it's actually a great...cleaner!  It removes labels from glass jars, wipes out grease on the stove, and smells like a fresh peeled orange.  Anyway, dousing NG's with Citrasolv is such a pleasing activity because you never know what kind of lovely ink pattern you'll get.  I've started sewing the pages together and making them into books...why?  I don't know! 

And lastly, I've got a little "family art" going on.  This is just a slice...when I get it finished, I'll post more pics.

Au revoir!

Happy St. Valentines Day...

Blooming Friday...

Remember the little orchid that was just starting to push up a wee sprout?  Here it is beginning to bloom.  We've been watching it grow, the pods get larger every day...so big in fact that I thought they might break off! 

We had two dead orchids, one was super duper dead!  We couldn't recall which one was replanted.  Looks like white with violet speckles. What a fun surprise for St. Valentines day tomorrow!

Oh, honey bayuhhh....

Ahhhh...I've just tucked a pot of boeuf bourguignon into my oven for the 2-3 hour simmer and I'm still finishing the glass of wine.  I'm sure it said to drink a glass of wine while you cook, or was it two glasses?  Must have been on one of the 4 pages of the recipe, I'm sure of it!

Nevertheless, dinner is cooking and I'm now relaxing and fielding questions.  "NO, you can't have any chocolate...NO, you can't jump off the stairs onto the old couch cushion, NO, there's not a raccoon living in our house."  Wait, what?

You can't write off every odd toddler question...there IS a raccoon that lives in the abandoned house next door, and with all the food that hits our floor, it could be only a matter of time!  I have been wanting to get the kids a pet...?

Lately, I've been working daily art time back into my life.  I've got many projects going at once, as usual, and I'm about to start the yearly Easter candle too.  I'm trying to finish up some half baked projects like the Hail Mary piece above that I started about 4 years ago, and secret St. Valentine's Day gifts as well...and in the midst of this I clean, organize and purge.

Organization...my quest for lent.  I don't bother with new year's resolutions, lent keeps me much more accountable!  I'm pondering a schedule (yikes!) and even though they seem limiting and scary and suffocating...I believe it will be just the opposite.  I've never lived by a schedule other than my own whim, and now with kindergarten looming in the fall, I feel I must embrace a routine.  *sigh*...yes, it's time.  And I plan to be scheduling in art time too, so then I MUST go do it!  ;)

Some days I only get little shreds of time for art here and there, like the morning "honey request".  Every morning I draw a little picture with the honey bear onto the kids' kefir...sometimes it's a star, or a heart, or a train...but this morning the actual honey bear was requested.  I did the best I could with what I had to work with!  The raspy dialogue from Bashi went like this as he stared at the honey bear:

"Oh honey bay-uhh (bear in Bostonian), you have honey in your boddyyyy....I squeeze your bellyyyy....you bend ovahh (over) and put honey in my bowl..."

These things happen every day...how did I get so blessed?

And this sunshine...love it, and I mistrust it.  We've been enjoying getting the extra vitamin D and all, but I have a feeling that March is going to dump an epic snowstorm onto us.  I hope so...there's nothing better than being snowed in and having enough cocoa for everyone!  Especially now that I've realized that homemade marshmallows made with beef gelatin and honey will not only melt in your cocoa, but they will also turn brown and toasty when hit with a torch! (Sorry I don't have a picture of that...how about some cute toes instead?!)