This is the best video I could come up with on my own, while battling children, please excuse the top of my head, just pretend it's not there.

Before anyone dies of the suspense...




...another puppet.

Yesterday I decided to clean the library/homeschool room/office/art/sewing room and before I got more than a few things put away, I realized that if I finished this project, I could put all the supplies away and be done with it, so I got to work and I still haven't cleaned anything up yet.

If you haven't visited my house and seen the big mess I've been keeping on my kitchen table, in hope that I can finish this project, then you can guess what this is a picture of. If you guess correctly I'll give you the first strawberry out of my garden this year, even if it's half eaten by sal bugs and earwigs.

I tentatively declared Fridays around here Art Day. We shorten our other homeschooling studies to short and fun things, and then we do something artsy. I am longing for some creative time for myself and figured I could eek it in if my son was also doing his own creative things. Friday is also the day I try to clean things up around here a bit more than normal. This morning was our first trial run. We played a matching game for math where the cards had equations and answers to be matched together, and we did a little reading, then I suggested some chalk on wet paper drawings. My son immediately said, "No, I want to make a stuffed animal." Hmmf, I thought, I don't want to. But not wanting to stomp upon his creativity, I said okay. I had him sketch the animal he had in mind...



It's a dragon. He drew pattern pieces, and I cut it out of the fabric then sewed it. He got the jobs of stuffer and face painter. It was a project that required more of my involvement than his, which isn't what I have in mind for Art Day, but the kid is very pleased with it.



It turns out that the baby doesn't like Art Day, she cried most of the morning. My other daughter took the lack of attention to be her cue to use the potty, no less than 20 times, and then run around the house naked refusing to get dressed. I also haven't had the chance to get anything but the mornings mess cleaned up and it's time to think about dinner. Who says art is supposed to be fun?

This is what went on a card for my Uncle Max because his birthday is coming up. We have always associated him with cows and sent him cow themed things on his birthday, probably because he is a rancher. I'll bet the cow thing is getting pretty old, but that's okay because he is getting old too. (I should have used that as a catchy phrase on the card. Oh well, too late.)

I am a puppet.

If you can guess what this is (or going to be), I'll mail you a dollar.

Before:



When I sat the baby down on the box my son exclaimed "It's her first time on cardboard!" And so I had to take a picture, when she is 16 and her first date comes by to take her out, we won't let them leave until we've shown him all her pictures. "Here she is climbing Mt. Everest, here she is winning first prize in the science fair, here she is with her team at the World Hockey Championships, here she is with her blue ribbon pig at the state fair....oh and here is our favorite, her first time ever on cardboard!"


After:




It was our goal to completely waterproof this box with crayon drawings, but we ran out of steam, and I am tired of it taking up the entire living room, so I think we'll call it quits. We have had fun while it lasted. It all started out innocently with a few items you might find in a spaceship being drawn, such as computer screens, steering wheels, and buttons for Chinese food. We ended up with everything but the kitchen sink, but if you need the kitchen sink while you're in space we did draw a few crayons that you can use to draw yourself one.