Talk to the Hands (the painting ones at least....)

My kid is all about feeling things, texture and all, it doesn't matter if its food, paint, mud, whatever. I thought, "yes, let's paint today WITH her..."

Um, well. She had a blast. Then I was the mean mommy with a dastardly plan! Lil'Bug gets to clean up the mess she made! Herself! Ha ha ha!

This plan totally backfired. While I stepped into the dining room to check on an email thread, she managed to "snail trail" very sudsy soap all over the kitchen floor (I had to clean water rinse 3 times to get the soap residue up- my fault, I added too much dish soap to her bucket). I then spent 36.2 minutes mopping up her cleaning attempt. I got no pictures of this because I stripped her paint clothes off of her and I will never post naked baby pictures here or anywhere, cute as I think she is. I wish I had left her clothed though, because her evil grin after the 2 minute rampage of soap bubbles certainly screamed, "I win!" Gaaaah. These pictures at least show the creative process.....
Oh, and when asked what her picture is of...
"Hands. Mama, what did you think I was painting?"

The Finger Paint of Inspiration

I used to paint. A while has passed and I've spent many years channeling all my creative energy into house and house thesis writing. All else fell wayside. An Internet blogger who is beginning her journey has inspired me to pick up my brush and begin teaching myself again. I am posting a picture of the last painting I did before moving to the "house"....it's a finger painting of an iris that I did for the little girls I nannied to show them that finger painting is fun and not babyish.

I took an art class (as in one, ever) in high school my senior year, an AP class. It was the only session that fit my schedule and the teacher took a liking to my weird, disparate (not desperate) persona. Her words. She was the only teacher who ever hugged me. I really needed hugs that year. Also, she was the teacher that I encountered 5 years post high school who encouraged me to pursue teaching as a career......that led me to add two other disciplines to my MA and apply at the local community college to teach. I digress, what I learned from her was that art comes from practice and experience AND passion. Only so much of it is fine motor skills and the rest is chemistry and poetry. So, since I have both of the later right now I am picking up the "brush" again, dipping my fingers into the ink well of creativity.

August Clean Up

I get the itch to clean and rearrange in the fall instead of the Spring. With Finals grading so intense last week, I fell behind keeping up with the kid mess which was amplified by having a Mother's Helper helping Lil'Bug make messes + canning of garden harvests beginning + bathroom/laundry room project wrapping up (read: lots of cardboard boxes and styrofoam bits for Lil'Bug to build with and crumble all over the house....).

Lil"Bug decided to help today. Then she played doctor with the cat. Yes, her shirt really says, "I'm in charge here, the parents are just for show."

We've been planning for fall too.

I finally have the field trips figured out and we are attending a monthly Science/Nature field trip. I'm actually using that program to build on something else with Lil'Bug. We attend the class and then go back out and repeat the activity 2-3 times during the month. She loves it. The hot weather is putting a lot of our outside plans on hold until it cools off. Our camping to see meteor showers was nixed due to the heat and the nighttime thunderstorms. That happens every year darn it.

Tea and flash cards

I'm about to sit down and start reading a book that claims it can explain why Americans cannot make a decent cup of tea. Really? I'd like to know what's holding me back from great tea making: The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams.

I'm also reading a book called Einstein Never Used Flash Cards. It's full of things I already know, but someone did very expensive studies at very prestigious universities to write them up. That sounds snotty and I'm sorry. It really is a good book that is full of useful things and ideas for creative play with Lil'Bug.

So...does anyone else wants to read and discuss?