Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Michelangelo, Van Gogh...

I couldn't help myself... one last post before vacation... then I'm done... for a little while.

I'm sure those famous artists and sculptors weren't followers or imitators. They had innovative ideas, new concepts, able imaginations-and ran wild with them!

My kids...
Color outside the lines, push the limits, find new adventures, explore, create, imagine the possibilities, and look past the edges.

My Kids...
...may or may not become one of the most talented artists to go down in art history but using their imagination to create art unique to it's one-of-a-kind creator, is a marvelous dawning activity for their growing jovial minds. No plans, rules or blueprints-scolding, impatience or eye-rolling. Just a child's hand, free to move about, a vision, permitted to be made into reality by being united with chosen malleable materials-It's a beautiful thing.

"Another name for creativity is courage." -George Prince

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun."

-Mary Lou Cook

The freedom to create opens up a young one's mind to ALL of the diverse possibilities afforded him/her and gives them courageous confidence in their abilities for a life time. I truly believe that to grow mentally and overcome fear of failure you must be free to let your creativity flourish uniquely and evolve at it's own pace.

"It is better to create than to be learned, creating is the true essence of life."

-Barthold Georg Niebuhr

So let your little ones loose, just a little bit, to lead the way, glue those sticks, build that shoe box fort, paint those papers, assemble that list, cut up those egg cartons, sew those buttons, write those mis-spelled stories, construct that blanket tent, twist those pipe cleaners, play their own songs, pile that dirt, act out their own puppet shows, start a new club, bead their own necklaces, pick their own mis-matched outfits, bake that concoction, organize their own room, visit that retired neighbor, and sort those leaves. Let them find, create and make plans of their own as you supply, enable, supervise from a distance and encourage creativity and artistry to the best of your ability!

It's amazing the wonderful things that transpire from simply putting paper, scissors, glue and coloring crayons in front of a child and setting them free to CREATE!

A family outing

Those pictures of a recent family outing were serenaded by a song that my husband wrote and we recorded together 9 years ago!

And speaking blogging of family outings; my family and I will be embarking on a much anticipated, much needed vacation!
We are hitting the road Memorial Day, 5 kids, 2 adults and a whole lot of stuff, and will be gone for 1 1/2 weeks driving, exploring, visiting, sightseeing, playing and just purely enjoying each other!

I am so excited friends. Really really excited. After long over due visits with our family out west, we are heading to the coast and renting out a condo right on the BEACH! That's right, the sand will be our front steps and the ocean will be our playground. FOR 5 NIGHTS AND 6 DAYS! I'm so excited I can hardly do anything else. Okay, not true. I have SO much to do to get us packed, organized and ready for our little jaunt to blissful paradise.

This trip is surprisingly because my husband and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary, June 3rd of this year, and we couldn't think of anything we'd rather do than a road trip with our beautiful children! Yes, we were married in the year 2000. Makes for easy calculation and minor mathematical skills needed in the remembrance department.
So, I will be happily taking a break from blogging until we return.
Happy Summer, my friends!

Random Thoughts Thursday

What's up with legalism? What is it really? In my humble opinion, conviction and legalism are cognitively intertwined, hard to separate and distinguish between and both stem from strong ideals and passions. Conviction is a personal pull, opinion or calling to do or be something specific. As Christians, the Holy Spirit can impress those things on our hearts and change us personally. And if we are called to do something in God's Word, or we are blatantly sinning, then yes, we should ALL be convicted if we have strayed. When that conviction becomes legalism, I think, is when you push and require others to believe and embrace the same conviction you have. If that conviction isn't necessarily a sin against God, but is just a personal ideal and rule for life, when is it right to force it on another human being? A person becoming the Holy Spirit in another's life-I don't think I'm a strong supporter of or believer in that. The 'my way or the highway' attitude doesn't stem from love and grace. Only God has the right to be that way, friends!

Beside from being believers in Jesus, we don't have to be completely the same to live together in unity and acceptance of each other. In fact, I've been married to a man completely different than myself for 10 awesome years next week, and let me tell you, it's been the best learning experience, and the most exciting of adventures of a life-time! With opposition, comes much deep rooted growth and purification.

and I wouldn't change one thing about it! And I've learned from experience that trying to change someone else, to strive to make them, or force them to be more like yourself-only crushes their spirit, personality and who they uniquely are in Christ.
~
(on a lighter note)

~

I absolutely LOVE this creamer!

It's made up of minimal amounts of mostly organic ingredients, no hydrogenated oils and is delicious! Full of healthy fats, natural sugars and yummy flavor!! Mixed with a little bit of organic heavy whipping cream, and you have a delicious mug of coffee in your hands!

So many people are obsessed with cutting back on sugar and fat... if you have diabetes than that is a good thing! But for the rest of us, that isn't necessary! In fact natural sugars and healthy fats will make you a healthier person.
Of course if we want to lose weight, we must ALL live by the golden rule"Eat less calories than you burn." And don't forget about the important "Everything in moderation" rule.
Keep healthy fats, sugars and treats around to munch on like: Nuts, organic fruits, veggies, olives, coconut oils, peanut butter, 60%(at least) cocoa dark chocolates, air popped popcorn, dried fruits, organic milks, yogurts and cheeses, whole grain baked goodies, fresh fruit smoothies, agave syrup, whole grains, organic coconut milk ice cream, honey, oatmeal and teas. You won't feel so guilty about indulging on them if they are natural foods. Over the past couple of years, I've changed my family's eating habits by always attempting to eat things that look the same way they did when they came from the earth and with the least amount of additives as possible. Eating healthy stuff, when you are hungry is never going to cause a completely normal person to gain weight. Yes, you still need to limit yourself at times for caloric intake's sake, but remember it's never about having the perfect shape(who the heck determines that anyway), but much more importantly, it's about being overall a healthy individual; active, eating well and spiritually healthy.

~

Okay, enough writing, I'm going to make myself a rich cup of healthy coconut milk coffee, right now!

Cranberry Apple

Mhhhmmmm, Cranberry Apple Tart Pie.

I cut and pasted from about 3 different recipes along with adding my own secret special ingredients to create this scrumptious one-of-a-kind pie.

Whole wheat crust, brown sugar oat crumble topping, coconut oil and inside-delicious fresh apples and cranberries!

It is so delish!

Crust:

1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour

2 t organic sugar

1 t salt

1/4 cup organic coconut oil-melted

1/4 cup organic canola oil

2 T organic warm milk

(mix milk and oils together before mixing into dry ingredients)

Mix together well in small bowl. Press into pie pan.

Filling:

6 cups tart apples-peeled, cored and sliced

1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries-thawed if frozen

2 T organic coconut oil-butter may be used if desired

1/2 cup organic sugar

1/4 cup organic white flour

1 T cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

1/4 t ginger

1/4 t cloves

1 lemon-both juice and zest*

Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl.

Topping:

1/2 cup organic white flour

1 1/2 cups organic rolled oats

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup organic coconut oil-melted

Mix together well and crumble evenly on top of pie.

~

Bake @ 350 degrees for approx. 1 - 1 1/2 hrs. or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Cover entire pie loosely with a flat piece of tin foil (don't wrap the edges around pie) for first hour, then remove foil for the remainder of baking time.

Let cool slightly once taken out of oven, then slice and enjoy!!

* The most Special-ish-ist of my own added ingredients.

Exploration-kind of stage

She's reached that stage.

Of exploration.

Of heart warming exasperation and well,

you mommies (and daddies) know-

The messy eating, dirty diapering, dirt-eating, Italian dressing pouring, bloody nos(ing), re-arranging, blurping and toothpaste slurping-

Constant babbling, dropping, crawling, grabbing, turning, searching, pulling and sucking-

Unfortunate tumbling, bumping, tripping, slamming, dragging, falling, rolling and flipping-


Endless sorting, laughing, standing, digging, squeezing, touching, sliding and testing-



Silly teasing, eye-rolling, waving, nodding, tickling, nervous laughing, peek-a-boo loving, patty-cake enjoying-



Excessive drooling, biting, gumming, slobbering, eating, patting, book reading and smiling-


Heartbreaking bruising, scraping, crying, callousing, sad tearing, scolding, tripping and tipping-

Adorable hugging, giggling, kissing, cuddling, splashing, loving, talking and enjoying-

Predictable toddling, fussing, cooing, independent embarking, seeking, curious, conversating and engaging-

Harrowing impatient, mind boggling, disappearing, whining, uncomfortable, teething, back arching and crying-

-kind of stage.

"Yep, caught you in the act, girlie.

Love ALL of you."
-Mommy

There is nothing better than being witness to some of the simple joys of childhood on this warm spring day in May.

Sewing projects

I am certainly not a learned sewer! Beyond sewing on buttons, I have never had a formal class or lesson. I have never read a book, pamphlet or a how-to. I've never used a pattern, guide or straight edge. I've never owned a sewing machine, thimble or a bobbin.

I've made do with sewing on buttons and patches by hand along with torn seams when needed.

I do have creativity in droves, though. Make that a lot of gumption and determination as well! As "un"smart as some people may think diving into a project without possessing all of the needed skills may be, I tend to enjoy the excitement and satisfaction that comes from doing them on my own. I enjoy the anticipation and challenge of figuring things out, making things work, designing and learning new things along the way.


I have been working on some gifts for a couple of my precious friends. Cloth napkins. Simple squares and rectangles, with 3 beads to dress one corner of each. I enjoyed cutting these napkins out of old clothing from the thrift store. I will be satisfied if they last through one meal. Just one. I will. They will. The napkins may not be perfect... but I'm so over perfection anyway. I do my best, and call it good enough.

My dear mother-in-law has lent me her sewing machine for this little endeavor. I am enjoying having it available for other mending projects as well! I may just have to go out and by me one of these handy dandy machines someday.

Ahh, all finished.

No book, guide or pattern needed here... well, after I read the manual to see how to turn the sewing machine on that is...