Internal Crisis.

Anyone who as ever had any sort of artistic inclination whether it be through music, visual arts, writing, etc. should watch this, found on Soule Mama. I'll be cheesy and say that the lyrics totally spoke to me (in a whimsical sort of way I guess) as I'm sort of in a quandary right now as to when, how, if, I should start seriously pursuing art. It's always been a part of my life, sometimes intensly and sometimes only in the form of something small, like arranging some flowers to set on the table. But now I really am starting to feel like I need to take that urge a little more seriously, I just don't know how, but I'm working on that. Another really cute video is this song, I love the little sock fish, found on Creature Comforts.

Some culture for the kids.

On Saturday the kids and I took advantage of a free day at the Fine Arts Center since we aren't members anymore. Amelia and I have been there before and of course she does great, but to be quite honest I was skeptical of how pleasant our visit would be with Milo. He was an absolute doll though, I couldn't have asked for more. He sat perfectly content in the sling for the 2+ hours we meandered through the exhibits, he watched people, pointed at and talked about a few pieces that caught his eye, and toward the end when he started to get bored he experimented with the acoustics in the rooms a bit. His favorite was a huge painting with a big dog. We walked by it a few times and he pointed to it and made his "woof woof" sound. Really cute.

I am not at a point in my life where I could give any sort of intelligent commentary on the art I saw... I can barely remember what I saw. The visit was mainly for the kids. I'll tell you what I do remember though: I remember Amelia had some pretty intelligent comments and some pretty strong opinions on some stuff. The way kids take things in sometimes surprises me.... we saw an installation piece that creeped me out a bit but didn't bother Amelia at all. (She's been having nightmares and I was a bit paranoid that hanging around this particular piece would create more, but she took it in completely innocently.) It was titled "The Discarded", set up in a corner, took up about a fourth of the whole room and included mainly old doll parts; heads, limbless bodies, etc. Oh, and plastic chili peppers among other things. Maybe Amelia was immune to the creepiness because of her own barbies that have been inadvertently decapitated, I don't know. But then on the flip-side, there were a couple rooms with what I thought of as your run-of-the-mill portrait paintings and landscapes, which she pretty much hated and even said "I don't like it in here I want to get out of this room right now." So we did. She asked a lot of good questions and got what I hope were satisfactory answers, laughed at some stuff, made some thoughtful remarks, and had an overall good time. We left in time to run around in the grass outside and take in a couple of the big outdoor sculptures before it got dark. I suppose that was actually Milo's favorite part.

This was Amelia's favorite, and the only thing I was brave enough to take a picture of. (I have no idea if photos are allowed or frowned upon or what. I saw other people doing it but it didn't feel right.) It's a collaborative piece by kids who take art classes at the center. Pretty cool.

Forever Ending Falls

It's been a while since we got out the water colors. So today, finally a snowy day, seemed like as good a time as any.

This is a map of where Sara lives. Complete with mud puddles because it's in Washington where it rains a lot, and the Forever Ending Falls, where you'll get lost if you go. But next to the Forever Ending Falls is a brown dot marking the place where the rescuer people stand to find you if you do go there. She's got all the bases covered.

It's toilet paper rolls for crying out loud!

These little fabulosities caught my attention today as I was interneting instead of packing.

Happy Independence Day!

And here's to getting back into the




of things. Blogging, that is.

(I'd love to gradually decorate my home with independent artists' work, like the print above from carambatack's etsy shop. So special to know a little bit about the peices hanging on the walls around you, even if it's only the person's name and the fact that it wasn't mass-produced.)

How very cool.

This is so much fun to browse through if you adore children's books as much as I do. Even before having kids I could sit in the children's section of a bookstore and drool over some of the books and their illustrations. This photostream has a lot of well-known illustrators and also some I haven't heard of before.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13921596@N08/


And recently there was this: Amelia burned the tip of her finger on the pizza pan thus of course rendering her entire right arm useless. While trying to eat dinner with one arm she said "It's horrifying to only have one hand!!!" And then there was me behind her rolling my eyes...

And yesterday...
Mama: "Well hello there, blueberry eyes!"
Amelia: (pauses only momentarily while studying my eyes) "Hello avocado seed eyes!"

Shiny Happy Things.

A cheer-thyself-up post, because spring is such a tease.

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.
-Helen Keller

Sunshine: The Peach's room. Lovely afternoon warmth and the "mobile" we made for her room, got the idea from one of the DIY posts on the always eye-candy Design Sponge.

And Sonshine: Happy little Butter Bean. He really is a happy baby, and such a joy. Always so quick to smile, and the cooing and laughing is to die for, so adorable! He's reaching for and grabbing at things, putting it all in his mouth of course, rolls over from belly to back, and is close to scooching on his belly it seems... pulling with his arms and pulling his legs under himself when he's on his belly. I can't believe it's been over three months already since his beautiful birth, and yet it seems like he's just always been here with us.

The End. Happy March.

Sew lovely.

Peach's first sewing project, a tiny bird called Little Charlie.

Here is Big Charlie in mid-flight:

Aha!

I love this idea! I have artwork by the peach coming out my ears and need a display method besides just hanging them boringly on the wall or storing them away. Will definitely try this out soon.