IMMORTAL

What do you do with your kids' "art"? I have never been of the opinion that it's worth saving. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and I don't want to lose all memories of their small selves as they grow up. Still, I don't get the point. What is an adult Jack going to do with piles and piles of papers with nearly recognizable super heroes drawn on them? In the meantime, I have boxes of drawings to lug around each time we move? Don't even get me started on refrigerator art. Pretty cluttery for my taste. So, I was thrilled when I saw this art project on a blog I can't remember (sorry, whoever you are):

The unnamed lady from the blog did it with a school class for some community project, but it seemed simple enough, so I decided to do it with the boys. I had bought these frames (actually, they're display frames) when a local department store went out of business. They were $3 each! They had been sitting in my coat closet for months, so I was thrilled to use them up! Anyway, the project is easy. Here's a little how-to:

1. buy foam paper ($5.00 for a 50 pack at WalMart)

2. Cut the paper into various sizes of squares and rectangles (The lady in the example was far more particular about straight lines. Mine are done pretty sloppily, really)

3. Have your kids draw pictures on each square.

4. Trace over the picture nice and hard to create a kind of stamp out of the foam paper.

5. Paint over it. Be careful to cover the paper, but you may have to go over the form again if paint gets down in the cracks.

6. Press the paper onto a textured paper. I bought an acrylic pad at WalMart for $5.

7. Cut the form out and glue all the finished shapes onto a piece of white posterboard.

VOILA! Immortal Art! No more boxes of drawings!

Jack LOVES it!

Sisters and Slim Shady

Merrody insisted I take a few pics of her and her sister. Who am I to say no? (even if I did have to use Matt's crappy point-and-shoot). Anyway, there are far too few pictures of Norah on this blog...

P.S. That last pic...all the other Slim Shadys are just immitating.

Simple Pleasures

Matt had to work on Saturday. I was totally bummed. I know that sounds whiny. Lots of guys have to work on Saturdays. And, considering how little work Matt has had lately, I should be doing backflips. Still, right or wrong, I was bummed. And so the day dragged on...Make breakfast. Clean breakfast up. Take a shower. Pay the bills. Make lunch. Clean lunch up. and so on. Until about 4pm. I was sitting there on the couch with my three bored kids listening to the baby cry in the distance (something about not wanting to take a nap). Suddenly, I decided we should do something. We decided to plan a surprise party for Daddy. Nothing too extravagant--just homemade nachos and a carton of ice cream. Maybe a movie from RedBox. The kids were so excited! We jumped in the car and ran to the store to pick up what few things we didn't already have. By the time we got home, Merrody and Joel had cooked up a plan to make a banner and some cards. Matt arrived just as the nachos were coming out of the oven. It warmed my heart to see the pride in the kids' eyes as they yelled "Surprise!" and presented their Daddy with little notes. And Matt was excited, too! He hadn't expected anything to be waiting for him when he got home and it was fun for him to have something planned just for him. It cost next to nothing and took almost no effort. I think I forgot about that kind of fun!