found a little bit of happy today

just had to share this...

in the midst of a crazy week of S starting preschool, 

chiseling through a long to-do list at work, 

cutting mid-day naps out S's schedule, 

dealing with summer heat (yuck yuck yuck),
and S coming down with a major cold...

for a tiny moment in time, i had a 

happy 

thursday!

hope you did too

xoxo

muraling for a good cause

so a while ago i was asked to paint some tiles for a garden project for rancho domicitas, an awesome local non-profit that provides housing for abused or abandoned children. i was more than happy to be a part of this "serenity garden" that would be a special place for the children. the tiles were sold at their fundraiser so people were able to write special notes as a special message or memorial. long story short, the tiles for a wall project ended up becoming a mural...and i had never painted anything that large before. i was a little nervous, but what can you say when this is something for abused and abandoned children? nothing. one just pushes forward! 

i began the mural with little to no knowledge on painting murals, so i used common sense as i went along. there are probably better and more official ways of doing things, but here's how my first one went...

maybe one of the hardest part of the project was coming up with a design. thankfully they were happy with the bird idea because i love doing birds and trees, and it worked well with being in a garden. so i taped the tiles together and free-handed the design first in pencil then sharpie. (if you've never worked with bisque, the pencil and sharpie both disappear in the kiln.) i needed the black marker lines to show through the background that i sponged. the aqua and blue spruce faded down into kiwi and chartreuse. after sponging, i stamped some swirls on the top and leaves on the bottom for texture. after that dried, i painted everything else and used black puff paint to outline the birds and their legs.

next i had to do all of the writing.

i was most nervous about writing "The Serenity Garden" in puff paint because, for me, it isn't the easiest thing to use. it is a thick combination of underglaze paint and a bit of clay, so it's difficult to do curves. after a few butterflies in my tummy, it came out okay...thank you powers above!

next was all of the personal messages that people had chosen to be on the tiles. i do have to say that this part was emotional for me. the words that people chose were so full of love...

next was the firing process.

after it came out of the kiln i was so relieved. nothing chipped, smeared or cracked! it was exciting to hand them over to the awesome people who built and volunteered so many hours to putting the garden together. 

when my son and i went to the dedication, there were so many tears of joy. being a visitor, i could just feel the care, concern and love these individuals have for these children. all i could do was cry along, feel happy and be so proud to be included.

the final product! another awesome individual mounted it on this display. i was also excited to share the moment with S...what a special memory i will cherish forever. to see life through his eyes is such a special treasure. 

this experience did cause me to stop for a moment in the midst of the hustle and bustle of life. to stop and be still and know that God is in control. that the problems in my life are insignificant in comparison, not only to the pain that some children suffer, but also to the pain and suffering of Christ. yes, there are bad people that do bad things in a world where awful things take place...but, there are also courageous people that fight against those things and bring hope and healing to those who need it.

push forward today and be brave.

painting with straws

S and i did some painting with straws. S loved it and can't wait to do it again. we used watered down acrylic craft paints on canvas, but i have also done a version with slightly watered down tempera paints and tagboard. plus, i have so many of those little craft paint bottles that are less than half full, so it's a good way to use them up. (i hate wasting paint or throwing it away, it makes my heart sad thinking of what could've been if it had been used.)

all of the materials we used for this project were things i already had around the house...

acrylic craft paint
straws
little cups
popsicle sticks
water
canvas

we did just black first, then i had him pick just 2 other colors. i think having the bold black on the stark white with the bright colors on top ended up having a fun effect. he ended up choosing red and green. he picked blue and yellow for me, even though he ended up using some yellow also. i purposely limited his color choices because as a three year old boy, he tends to go so crazy with every color under the sun until it turns to brown! narrowing down his choices to 2 seemed to do the trick.

squeeze a little bit of paint in the cup, and add some water using an approximate 1:1 ratio. i have to admit that i'm not sure exactly what ratio i used, it ended up being a little different for every color. mix with the popsicle stick. S wanted to mix his own colors, so he had fun doing that. i used the stick as a 'scoop' for the paint and dropped it onto the canvas.

when you get ready to blow air into the straw to move the paint around, it helps to blow in slow, steady breaths to get more of the stringy looking 'arms'. (now make sure to take breaks so you don't get light-headed.) S did a little bit more of the fast, bursts of air which worked out just fine as well, it simply creates a different look. when he wanted more arms, i ended up tilting the canvas up until the watery paint began to drip. and...our final masterpieces!

as an extra lesson, we mixed some of the watery paint together and watched as they turned into new colors...it was magic! other ways to explore would be to add more water which creates a more translucent color which also moves more since there's more water. have fun with longer arms and crazier designs. you can also do less splotches with longer arms to create an abstract design that looks like a monster or animal or other creature or thing. use your imaginations to 'see' something in the lines. fill in the spaces to fill in the lines of your creature and even glue on some googly eyes...everything is always better with googly eyes! another different approach could be a color study with paper, instead of canvases, so you can do more paintings. you could pair complementary colors from a color wheel or create fun and creative color combinations to see how colors can create moods. the possibilities are endless...

enjoy!

happy birthday, dr. seuss {updated}

so it has become a routine now to spend saturday mornings at our local lakeshore, and this weekend was no exception. the workers there have begun to recognize us, which is great because they now always make sure my son is taken care of : )  our mantle above the fire place is almost filled to capacity with random crafts and things! though i love seeing it with all my heart, i know that soon it will be necessary to give it a good cleaning, and i'm not sure how S is going to deal with it. oh well, i'm one to sometimes prolong agony, so i'm just not going to worry about that now. i did sort of recently redo the fireplace to be the one place to display all S's art, i will surely post about that soon just so i can brag about my son's amazing talent...maybe when we spring clean it...

anyhow, below is a post i wrote a while on my old blog back in february. it's funny. it's been about 6 months since i wrote this, and i'm still nervous when S isn't in a cart! oh, no...

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this morning we went to our local lakeshore for their dr. seuss birthday celebration. i was thinking it would be crowded…and i was right. though not too bad, S is getting old enough now to say as he is getting unbuckled from his car seat, “no cart!” more experienced moms i’m sure you know exactly what i mean, even if you weren’t/aren’t as freaked out as me. if S is in the shopping cart, then i know exactly where he is. if he isn’t, then he could get -gulp- lost! 

though S is old enough to know he wants some freedom, he has no clue what a stranger is and even less what it means to be lost! maybe watching too much crime-drama television, or the news for that matter, causes my brain to automatically go to the worst…buuuuut…it totally could happen to anyone! 

anxiety has always been a weakness of mine. the Lord has definitely been trying to teach me that i shouldn’t allow myself to get to that place, but i’m definitely still a pilgrim in training! anxiety is like a prison, i get trapped inside my brain. thoughts begin to overflow and create bars criss-crossing and overlapping until…until i just can’t focus on what it is that i need to see. Jesus. no matter what i think might or could happen, God is in control and that brings peace.

all that being said, S and i are both learning important life lessons everyday! he is learning to hold my hand, stay where i can see him, and not to wander. i tell him if he wants to check something out, to tell me and we will go together. i’m learning to be alert at all times, using those ‘mommy eyes’ that exist all around our heads, and to let go a little so S can grow and to trust the Lord with all my heart!

we had so much fun at lakeshore :) as we pulled up in the car, he shouted, “there’s the place!” all morning we talked about the exciting “cat in the hat birthday party” and he was ready to party!

first, we made a thing 1 thing 2 necklace…which of course mommy had to wear haha…(photo credit S)

next, we made thing 1 thing 2 hair hats. he even asked the lady to measure the hat to my head. i asked S to put it on at least just for a picture and at least he did me the favor.

the last activity was to make a crazy creature (aka a chicken). i love watching him pick out colors, materials, and then place them exactly where he wants to put them!! though it was the most crowded craft table, and i was sweating by the end, it was worth it to see this!

oh, and nana and papa met us at the store. SR said, “pleeeeease??” ever so sweetly when they were looking at the pretty awesome ZOOBMobile Car Designer Kit and papa said…well you know…

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

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i do have to say though that S now knows what a stranger is. and now that he is in tae kwon do, he is learning self-defense which i love. here's some of the other projects he has done since...

S is most proud i think of the olympic torch. he was so dedicated to watching the 2012 summer olympics! still, every time S sees michael phelps on tv or anything, he shouts his name and remembers "he swims really fast in the pool!" crafts are so much fun with a three year old, and as you can see, S loves the glue! since S isn't in preschool yet, what a great opportunity to learn and practice so many awesome things...self-control, staying focused, motor skills, colors, shapes, following directions, sharing with other children, taking turns, and being respectful to adults as well. S loves it and always learns something new, i love spending special time with my son, he finds joy and confidence when he comes home and shares his art with nana and papa...lakeshore offers the activity for free, but we walk away with an experience that is priceless.

visually counting to 10

my son S is three and can count past ten, but has no idea what the numbers are when he is looking at them. to help his number recognition, i'm always looking for things that will help. today i was about to throw away an old target ad when i had an idea. S loves target, scissors, and is obsessed with mod podge...so we grabbed those with some scratch paper and had an impromptu crafty math lesson!

we searched through the ad and he cut out the numbers, while i pointed out the ones he needed. after i helped him put them in order, he "glued it all by himself!" we got to count to ten at least five times and he loved every second. after he held the paper in front of the fan until the glue dried, he ran to his papa and nana to show them what he had made and then counted again...i loved hearing his little voice explain how he did each step :)

i think i will hang it on the wall and every time we see it, we can point to each number and count again...perfect...a project that keeps on teaching!

time, let's stroll instead of sprint

as i'm getting older, time seems to fly by faster than possible. days turn into weeks and it all seems to slip through my fingers in that kind of slow motion where we find our eyes wide and body frozen. don't get me wrong, every day my life has purpose...being a mother is the best calling in the universe. maybe i just feel like i need to reassess how the hours of my day are spent. as a single mom i'm 'learning as i go' when it comes to juggling everything without back up. and i know there isn't a ring to help me rule over it all. but there has to be a way to have...more...i don't know...fun?

today my son and i went to the new children's museum in san diego, our new favorite place. he wanted to take his nana and papa to "check it out!" if you've never been there before, it's a hands-on art museum for kids! yes! it's as awesome as it sounds. S has such a great time, dragging all three of us grown-ups to check out and try everything. i love his love for learning, experiences, art and adventure. when we got home i thought, "what a fun day!" and that is it. i mean, iced coffee from starbucks, family time, running around the museum doing every art project they had...it was just fun, and that was it.

i guess this is life. sometimes we have to work even when we don't want to. then sometimes we get to spend the day doing cool stuff with people we love. so maybe the whole juggling trick is doing both while accepting the fact that i have to do both. now if i can just figure out how to keep time from passing by way too fast...