here is a blog from a few months ago. i thought i'd add it here since it was pretty fun:


I have never been a very artistic person. I hated art in high school because everything i did came up substandard. i've always proclaimed that i'm not a very creative person. but, i loove anything to do with the arts. i love going to museums and art galleries. i love going to plays and concerts. if you've ever seen Celtic Women on t.v., jimmy and i got to see them perform in Pasadena and it was beautiful. I'm still trying to get into the Getty Museum. i want to go to the Getty Villa in Malibu where everything showcased is on Ancient Greece and Rome. if it were my choice we'd do "artsy" stuff all the time. But when it comes down to actually being artsy....well that's just not me. or so i thought.

Someone had given the kids some bottles of crayola washable paint a couple of years ago. my first thought, obviously, was "this isn't happening" and stuck them on the top of the shelf and never thought of it again. well a few weeks ago, for some odd reason, i decided that it would be fun to let the kids paint. i pulled out some large construction paper, grabbed 1/2 dozen paint brushes, some stencils and we were set to go. oh, i know what it was, i wanted to eden learn her colors. i realized that she could count to 14, but didn't have a clue what her colors were besides pink and purple, lol. anyway, we had 6 basic colors of paint: blue, yellow, red, purple, green, & orange. (by the way, it did the trick she knew them all by the next day.) we had such a great time coming up with different things to paint and using all the colors.
i must include a note here: i am not usually the type of person to be able to do this. i'm a perfectionist, i have to tell them what to do and how to do it. and i get totally stressed out if they do it "wrong" or if they make a mess. (thank goodness for crayola washables!) but, i've really been trying to change. i don't want to be that type of mother. i want to just let them go, to watch and see where they're own imaginations take them. i want them to feel free. and i want to feel free of having to control everything.

so anyway, as i was painting i noticed how the different brushes made different types of paint strokes. i was intrigued and started playing around with that. before i knew it i had all sorts of things: flowers and trees, sun & clouds, fish and inchworms (lol, i don't know, so don't ask). just whatever came across my mind. and i had the biggest sense of peace during and after. i realized, that i looove to paint. i'm not necessarily any good, but that's not what matters. and so you know, it takes a lot for my perfectionist little self to say this. it doesn't matter what it looks like, but how it makes me feel. i went to Michaels yesterday and bought more acrylic paints and canvas and stamps. i have this idea i want to do and i'm super excited about it. if it turns out well, i'll take a picture of it and post it soon.

so, that's my story. that's how i found something that really makes me feel quiet and peaceful, content and comforted. i'm so happy because i've never really made time to do things on a regular basis for myself. that just comes with the territory of being a mother of 4, i guess. and what's great, is that my kids enjoy doing this with me!