What's for Dinner?

Anyone gotten as burned out by this question as I have?

Don't get me wrong - I actually love to cook. I just don't love planning the menu all the time. And, although everyone has their two cents to put in once dinner is on the table, I can't seem to get their input when I'm in the menu planning stage. UGH! Every week it's the same!

So, I decided I needed to somehow put a creative spin on the process.

This past spring I took a mini-course in chalkboard art. I made this cute sign for my son's high school graduation party,

and this one for our church youth mission team send-off party,

and this one for when my two young missionaries came back to the nest.

When I came across a cute framed chalkboard for my kitchen, I knew I had the answer for both kicking my menu planning boredom AND getting my kids to stop asking me that dreaded question every night.

Love it! And, best of all, it works!!

I'm being outgrown ...

When my kids were small, they loved blankets. The softer, the better. The bigger, the better. They loved to wrap themselves up in them like little caterpillars in cocoons. They wanted to take them wherever they went too. They'd drag them up and down stairs and all through the house and beg to take them with us in the car. 

Often their favorites were the ones they'd started using as infants in their cribs. 
At one time, their tiny baby body was just a bitty bump under the enormous blanket. Gradually they grew into it, though, taking up more space beneath it. Gradually they realized that staying wrapped up in a blanket grew hot and restrictive and kept you from going outside too. Gradually they realized that carrying around a blanket (that was usually pretty tattered and torn by years of use) wasn't the coolest look either. So the blankets got less and less use over time.

I've been feeling pretty much like those blankets lately.

I've been a stay-at-home-mom to four kids for 24 years and still counting. 
My youngest will become a teenager next year, the next is nearly half-way through high school, the next just started college this year, and the oldest is out of college making a life on his own out of state. I feel privileged to have stayed home with them all these years. I feel blessed to have witnessed so many wonderful moments with each of them. I feel very grateful to my husband whose career and work ethic made it all possible for us. When I was in the midst of the busy childcare days of diapers and tantrums, snack time and nap time, play dates and preschool, soccer practice and dance lessons, I knew my job description and performed it well (most days). I never thought much about it coming to an end or even changing to a lesser role. 

Now, however, I'm starting to see it.

The fact is my kids need me less often and in a different capacity than when they were small. They need less of my time and more of my heart. They need me to be less visible but always available. They've outgrown me just as they outgrew those blankets. I surrounded them just like a blanket with comfort and security and love when they were small. The bigger they grew -- no matter how hard either of us tried to stretch it -- the blanket only covered so much. The more independent they now become, the less my help and guidance can be stretched to meet all their needs. At some point, they each have to break free of the blankets wrapped around them and go out in the world to play.

So, am I sad about this transition? Sometimes, but not always. Those blankets now outgrown are cherished treasures! And ... just as even a small blanket can be pulled out now and then for warmth and comfort, so can a mom -- no matter how big the child gets.

Such is the saga of the career stay-at-home-mom.

If you do it right, eventually you work your way out of the job.



Perfectionism - the little demon!

I've been talking myself out of MANY things lately by claiming that I can't do X until all of this Y is in perfect order. I really want to do X and will do X as soon as I'm caught up on Y. If only I didn't always have so much Y to do, I'd be able to have time for X.

What is my X? In general, ART.

What is my Y? Oh, so many mindless things ...

All the household junk that needs to be done but really doesn't need to

consume my days the way I allow it to sometimes. It's the busy work I make for myself continually making 'to do' lists instead of just buckling down and 'doing.'

It's the quick errands run that turns into a day of leisure shopping because I don't want to go home and do the items on my 'to do' list.

It's too much and too often unnecessary computer time.

Even when I commit to art I hold myself back.

I want to make a project but need certain supplies.

I take time to gather/buy all the supplies but need to learn the techniques.

I take an online class to learn the techniques but don't want to 'waste' the supplies by using them on something unworthy of keeping so I don't try anything at all.

I take in all this knowledge through the course but don't allow myself the slightest

learning curve necessary to get started actually applying it.

It's time to stop this madness!

Perfectionism needs to be kicked to the curb!

It's time to gently allow myself to be imperfect, inexperienced, and

awkward at something new instead of expecting to ace it the first time through.
A book I'm currently reading, The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown,
is reinforcing this big time -- and boy, do I need to hear it regularly!

I'm imperfect and I'm enough!

It's time to allow myself to make mistakes and create ugly art
but learn through the process instead of expecting to create a masterpiece
every time I sit before a blank canvas.

It's time to start showing up to practice art instead of always having a plan to make

specific art. Really, no art created is unworthy when the

process of creating brings joy and satisfaction.

It's time to just show up -- imperfections welcome!

Change is a-coming!!

So ... a little art in every day ... not so much lately.

I'm dusting off my studio table after several months of inactivity. I let so many things keep me

from creating in the studio this year. Some have been very good things - family things that were wonderful to be present for. Some were necessary household things that we all have to make time for. Some were actually creative things that I was involved in outside my little home studio (which I may post on in the future?).

Mostly, however, I've stopped being accountable to myself about the importance to me

of a little art in every day.

 

But it's time for that to change.

When I was a young girl, growing up in a large household on the farm, every Saturday was house cleaning day. My sisters and I would have to get up early (often being awakened before 8am to the sound of the vacuum cleaner - my mother's not-so-subtle hint at what day of the week it was!) and help my mom thoroughly clean house. No Saturday morning cartoons, no games, no play, no arts and crafts, no going outside until the cleaning jobs were all finished. We were usually able to work together well enough to finish by early afternoon and were then free to choose our amusements until chore and dinner prep.

I used to look forward to baking and creating art on those afternoons.

I'd pour through the cookbooks for new recipes to try. (I baked my first loaf of braided Challah bread when I was about 13.) I'd also spend hours in my room coloring or cutting up construction paper and

glueing together collages, dioramas, and any other 3D art.

Both are still great pleasures for me. Both are creative things I still look forward to doing

'once my real work is finished'.

On the farm -- with its never-ending list of chores to accomplish 24/7, and in the household I began when I married my sweetheart -- when we were busily having and raising our four children, this order of priorities was quite necessary. Increasingly though, with the independence of my children,

I think that order of priorities is a bit backwards for me.

The 'real work' I'd like to be doing is the creative work.

 

What would happen if I flipped my priorities around?

What would happen if I treated my creative skills with respect and allowed them to fill more hours of my day than ... say, laundry?

What would happen if I allowed myself to learn more and dive a little deeper into art?

For the longest time I've been placing my art at the bottom of the To Do list. I've only allowed myself time for it if and when all other tasks are finished. I now realize this is a mistake.

I need art in my every day routine. It energizes me, uplifts me, calms me, strengthens me to

do the unpleasant and mundane things I have to do.

I should be doing more of it.

I will do more of it.
 

Change is coming!

A watercolor vintage Valentine project

I didn't really set out to make a Valentine project this year, it just sort of happened.

I was surfing through the Live with Prima online video classes and came across this one and simply had to try it out. I had been hoarding  selectively reserving Prima's watercolor papers for a very special purpose and now it was time to bring them out to PLAY.

Using the watercolor papers (which start off totally black on white), some Distress Ink, Distress Stains, Glimmer Glaze, watercolor crayons, watercolor pens, watercolor pencils, and Glimmer Mist, this was what my pages looked like. I loved them too much not to make a book out of them.

What better to share on Valentine's Day than the love verse from I Corinthians.

I mounted the pages on black cardstock, then on an old acrylic book I'd also been saving for too long. The book hangs from my 7Gypsies display stand.

Such a cool project to work on.

I did lose a pair of my favorite jeans in the process though. NOTE: Glimmer Glaze doesn't do well on favorite jeans or on carpet. Oops!

Thanks for looking.

Jill

FINALLY, right?

Since life seems to be traveling at light speed for me, it's no wonder I haven't blogged since ... what? November!! Wow. Sorry. Been a little busy.

In a nutshell there were ...

the holidays,

the interim term and final semester of college for our oldest son,

the many phone calls of encouragement to said college son,

the frequent travels of my DH (LOTS of this),

the trip to California I took to visit old friends and my favorite beach (Laguna),

the online art classes I enjoyed (but have yet to do most of the work for),

the homework (and extra projects - GRRR!) help for our 3 kids still home,

the many chorus and band concerts (we enjoyed but often came 3 a week),

the spring break trip to Utah skiing (that was great!),

the Easter weekend trip to Michigan to visit my mom on the farm,

the middle school musical, Cinderella, in which my daughter was "the studious sister"

the set for said musical, which I got to create! (So much FUN!)

the church dinner theater, Family Camp,

in which my son was the camp's nature guide and my daughter a Bonnie Bell scout,

the set for said dinner theater,

where this time I got to put up wallpaper for a faux log cabin and rock fireplace,

the weekend trip to Massachusetts my DH and I took to see our son's senior art exhibit,

the vertigo and subsequent ER visit for me on said Massachusetts trip (So. Not. Fun.),

the gardening (herbs, flowers, tomato and pepper plants),

the end-of-school-year wrap up events that make you beg for summer break,

the usual May and June events -

Mother's Day, my birthday, my in-laws birthdays, our anniversary, Father's Day,

and my husband's birthday (whew! those two are killer months!)

the graduation party and art exhibit we held for our college son -

Yay! He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree!

and, now that summer break is upon us ...

the summer band and chorus weeks,

the swimming lessons,

the endless requests for play dates, pool dates, sleepovers, and outings with friends,

the family game nights (YES!),

the later bedtimes,

the sleeping in (AHHH!),

the endless trips to the grocery store (man, these kids can eat!),

the picnics on the lawn and dinners on the patio,

the baby bunnies in the herb garden (second year! SO love those little cuties!)

the prep for our beach vacation for July 4th week (Yikes! that's soon!)

and the rest of the summer calendar is just as full.

So ... now that you've read my excuses (if you're still reading!), I will fill in the gaps with pics and details as I get them posted. I have managed a few art projects amidst all this BUSYness and would love to share.

What's keeping you busy these days?

Happy Summer!

Thanks for checking in,

Jill

Soaking up more ...

When my kids were in Montessori preschool, the director likened their little minds to sponges soaking up everything possible for them to learn.

Well, I guess I feel that way too about art. So ... I'm taking yet another class to learn, grow, experiment, and just PLAY!

Fellow Brave Girl, Jeanne Oliver, creates gorgeous vintage art.

Just look at all this artsy goodness ...

Online class begins in January but registration is open now.

To join me, go to www.jeanneoliverdesigns.com

Jill