Such Treasures

The kids and I painted this afternoon. This is the first time that I've left them to just paint away while I worked on my own projects. I probably should have supervised Mikah a little more, but for awhile, he did really well. Then he got bored and started making soup out of the paints. I knew it was time for him to go ride his bike!

We worked outside on the front patio where we have two long tables. We don't mind them getting gently used during our projects. I gave each child a paper plate full of acrylic paints, a cup of water, paper towels for blotting brushes and wiping hands, lots of paper, and oodles of brushes and sponges.

Haniya first painted pictures for Gramma Judy and Auntie Jenny, which she will give them when they visit us in the beginning of June. Then she painted for herself. She's always thinking of blessing others before herself.

In this picture, Mikah has painted a lion's den. He also painted a really realistic landscape with a house and dirt and grass. I was impressed. This was before he started making soup.

Naomi was my little helper, always wiping up Mikah's messes and keeping things clean. I appreciate her work ethic very much, as well as her beautiful pictures.

For my projects, I set out to paint our new mailbox and two birdhouses. I wasn't really in the mood to do any complex decorative painting because I wanted to finish it all this afternoon. So I stuck to daisies and violets, which are really simple to paint. I'm not totally in love with our mailbox, but I'm hoping it will grow on me. If it doesn't, I'll probably redo it. I haven't varnished anything yet, so it isn't too late.

I painted our new mailbox which turned out okay. What I'm worried about is if I'm going to like it for the years and years that I'm stuck with it? The hardware isn't on it yet, which is why you see holes on the top and the front flap.

I painted these two birdhouses. I got them at Wal-Mart a few months ago for $3.83 each. The white one was already base coated in white, which is really convenient because then it is ready to embellish without any prep work. The brown birdhouse is totally cute because it is the shape of a barn — I love that. I am going to give the colorful birdhouse to a young girl in our church who is recovering from knee surgery. I will send the birdhouse with white daisies to my dear friend who gave me the new "Pride & Prejudice" DVD. I hope she likes it.

Side Note: While I'm on the subject, I will mention that my dear mother-in-love also sent me a couple of Jane Austen movies for Mother's Day. She sent the A & E version of "Emma" starring Kate Beckinsale as Emma, and ironically, she also sent the new "Pride & Prejudice" which I had received from my friend. I am exchanging that for the newer version of "Emma" starring Gwyneth Paltrow. I really was very blessed for Mother's Day! Jeff is just as touched as I am, because he's happy for me that my Jane Austen collection is growing. Besides craft supplies :), that is my only collection and it was pretty sparse until recently.