Can the next day begin at 11:37pm?

Mine did.

Lena arrived early - it's typically after 3am when she makes her way to cuddle in the comfort of Daddy's arms (mine are not made for comfort in the middle of the night).

She is still fighting a nasty sore throat &  some unknown virus which led to repeated requests for water every 15 minutes last night.  On Monday, we rushed to the doctor when a fever teamed up with her sore throat.  With six days until Christmas, I didn't want to be caught in a web of closed doctor's offices and late night trips to CVS to fill presciptions.  But, no strep...so we pressed on with our trusty friend - Advil.

After a night of broken sleep and a little girl still not feeling up to speed, we trudged downstairs for breakfast.  But, before we got there a watery mess of throw up hit my kitchen counter - thank goodness it was just water!

Poor Lena responded, "Oh no!  Why did I do that?"  I assumed it was just a hard cough that triggered her reflex to vomit and Lena bounced back asking for cereal.

Twenty minutes later...another cough, more watery stuff and another bounce back!  Hoping this is just the end of a nasty cold virus?!

Thank God for movies and couches!

With the girls each half dressed - Lena in her cardigan and pj pants and Lucy in her jeans and a princess dress...mid-day arrives and we are in the clear!  The grandparents are joining us a for festive feast tonight to celebrate family & Christmas.  So, I am where I love to be - in the kitchen.

Christmas Art Gallery

Feeling like the score on my Christmas to do list is about even, so the girls and I spent some time today making Christmas footprint art just for us...or so Lena decided!  My original plan was to have Lena decide who we could give each piece to, but she decisively declared that we would keep them for ourselves.  And I am selfishly glad she did, I just finished hanging them in the basement in a blank space I planned on filling with their artwork.  Now, I may do a seasonal rotation of new projects there - just add it to the list!


So, found the original ideas on pinterest.com


Here - Tree Footprints
AND
Here - Reindeer Footprints


AND...here are ours!

Mom's Craft Closet - Silhouette Paintings

I pulled this idea out of a Lowe's magazine - the ones mailed with project ideas (aka - reasons to go buy supplies at Lowe's).  This work of art is so simple and right up my alley for some basement wall art.  I finally captured some decent profile pics of the girls last month (after many failed attempts).  
The steps are basic...once you get a decent profile pic - which in my case proved the most difficult task.  I was painting the canvases today and explained to Lena that it would be a painting of her & Lucianna when I was done.  She was very excited about it and watched for a bit.  When I was finished and showed her the final product for her inspection, she was not so sure..."Mom, where are my eyes?"  hehehe!!  I had to explain the silhouette concept again. 


Final Note:  The competed silhouette of Lena looks exactly like my mother!  So crazy how much a minimalist profile painting can resemble her grandmother so much.  I can unabashedly say...Beautiful!

Step - by - Step

1.  Take a profile picture

2.  Print it out ( I just did mine on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, but you could have them enlarged for larger paintings)

3.  Cut out the profile

4.  Trace the profile (Lowe's suggested plywood but I picked up two cheap framed canvases at the craft store)

5.  Paint the outside black (I used acrylic paint and it turned out beautifully)

6.  Let dry & admire your work as an ar-teest.

So far behind....

Okay, I have been out of my blogging routine for quite some time now...so, to alleviate the guilty little space on my to do list - I am posting an update and calling it a day!  In the last few months, we finished our basement - part of which has become a craft and school area for the girls and myself.  But, in this transition, I lost time to prep for school, so our routine has been haphazard and nonexistent on some days.  But, Lena still requests school time almost every day!  Here are the highlights of the past month: