If I was a psychologist, I am sure I would sit and stare at the canvases for hours, unlocking the mysteries of each child's personality. As it is, last night while I was watching some pictures of the kids upload to the computer, I said to Josh, "Wouldn't you just love to live in each one of their heads for just a day?"
Do you think I might be a little too involved? Nah, me neither. You know you would love to be a fly on the wall of your kids' heads too. You don't have to admit it. I admit it freely and so does my good friend Miriam - and we're not embarrassed to say it outloud.
What to do with one canvas? They couldn't share it. And then wait, they could!
We picked a sunny day so we could do our project outside. We headed to the backyard with our canvas, paints, some brushes and a Sharpie marker. And snacks. Always snacks.
Once we had eight little hands cleaned off and dried, one of the boys painted a flower pot on the bottom of the canvas and the other little boy used the Sharpie marker to draw stems for the flowers and write each kid's name next to their flower hands. Use the Sharpie to date the project and you're done.
The canvas dried so nicely and it's, I think, a really sweet way, years from now, to remember how little their hands were. And the kids love looking at the picture. They take such pride in their work, which is so refreshing in itself. Adults just don't do that. Every time we walk by the picture, my two year old turns to me, smiles, and says, "We made that'. I love it.
Our happy little canvas has been sitting on the landing of the upstairs steps for a couple of weeks now, right under the spot where it will eventually hang. It's slated to be hung up in the next wave of hammer wielding and nail banging. Whenever that is.