Fingerpainting

This article inspired me to do more art with Joel. Why Everybody Needs to Make Art Everyday...7 Keys to Creativity

"1. Quit trying to fit. Why try to squeeze all your extraordinary into ordinary?
2. God made woman to be a maker, to open her empty places and let life be knit from within her.
3. Creativity, it’s good theology; it’s what God did in the beginning.
4. When we stop fearing failure, we start being artists.
5. Don’t let the sun set till you’ve done one thing that sort of scares you. The only trees that ever grow tall keep relentlessly stretching into unknown territory.
6. Art, it’s the second person present indicative of the verb to be. Art is a way of being and when you make your life art — thou art.
7. Bury your fear in faith. Otherwise you bury your talents."

And how can I resist when I see the wonder in his face as he smears bright colors across the paper?

I know it's fingerpaints...but he needed to use the brush because of his fear of letting his fingers get sticky. haha!

"Cheese!!"

Wanting to know the names of each color

Very, very concerned about the paint that got on his fingers

Here I was telling him that it's ok to have paint on your fingers and that he was supposed to use his fingers some. He looks so confused.

"Can't you just get a wipe and clean them mom!!???"

"Here Lincoln...YOU clean my fingers cause mom won't."

Tentatively tests using a finger to paint

Decides it isn't so bad after all

Even uses his whole hand!

"He got red paint in my fur....what are you going to do about it??"

"Night night mom!"

Phone Pics

I decided it was about time I uploaded some of my phone pictures onto here. These are just a few selected ones over the past 6 months or so. I take pictures with my phone when I see a memory I want to keep but don't have my camera handy.

On the way to North Carolina last summer. Joel loves to think he's driving.

Taking Lincoln for a walk

Plane ride to Hawaii

He liked the music!

Rainbow into a canyon in Hawaii (could NOT believe I didn't have my real camera for this!)

Wearing Uncle Trent's shoes that he put on all by himself

Did I mention that he's obsessed with shoes? Any shoes work....

Waiting for eye surgery. Saying "hi" to all the nurses who pass by

Waking up from the anesthesia....Nate was tired too

First time through the car wash

He was not too sure about it

Letting us know he did NOT appreciate the noise

Deciding that maybe it was ok....

This is his fake smile....but he at least pretended to like it in the end.

Dunk!

Can you believe this is March 19?? It's 80 degrees out! Eating frozen gogurt.

Mmmmmm!

Spring, Spring, Spring!

We made play dough for the first time. I remember sitting on the counter watching my mom make play dough and impatiently waiting for it to cool enough to add the different colors (usually burning our fingers cause we couldn't wait!). Now I'm the mommy making play dough, and Joel is impatiently waiting for it to cool. Very. Weird. Feeling.

I used this recipe which I found on pinterest.com It was easy and hardly had any lumps.

New obsession: ladybugs!

Just making sure the crumb doesn't crawl away too

So exciting!

Thank you ladybugs for potentially giving up your lives to provide my 1yo with hours of entertainment.

He's very gentle with them.....but he's so big and they're so little. Haha. He gets so sad when he accidentally squishes one, and it doesn't move anymore. We have had a few ladybug funerals in the toilet.

"No, you can't have my Cheerios!"

"But you can have some Life."

We have had such nice weather the last few days.

"MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM!!!!!!"

Loved the "biiiig tuck vrroooom vrooom"

This is what I do these days....

....and this is what they do. I can't wait to be running around too!