Creative Explosion

The dad was on a little business trip not long ago, and while he was away
we jumped into hyperdrive and knocked out a few projects that have been
on my want-to-do list.

One of the projects I'd been dreaming up for the last year and a half, was putting
some kind of light-colored false wall in this cubby of our entertainment center.
Since it's not full of a big screen TV, it feels akin to a black hole and I'd really like to
see it become a reading nook of sorts when it grows up :-)

I picked up some cedar fence boards (because they're cheap) and my
two very capable boys cut and sanded them, and built a free-standing panel.

Wow.  You know, I am so amazed and blessed by these guys who are becoming so able!

Below is a picture of our trial fit.

Completing the panel, the boys measured for trim and holes for access to outlets.
Zachary did all my figures and cutting, and by golly!  He did a fantastic job!
I'm pretty sure there's no way I could have tackled this project alone, and I'm
certain my outlet holes would have been cut in the wrong places.

Thank you Zack!
And thank you Clay, for all that sanding you did.  Cedar fencing never looked
so beautiful!

The fellas let me help some, so I applied a whitewash to the wood to lighten it further.

Then too, Zack did such a great job cutting the trim to fit just so, but because of

my inexperienced false wall-applying abilities, there was a certain amount of 

shimming that had to be done in order to get it all tidy.

Just don't look too closely - any discord would be all my own responsibility.

And Ta-da!  

I should have taken a final picture with my laborers in it, shouldn't I? Oops.

Wonderful wonderful wonderful!  I'm so pleased.  Now to add a photo canvas 

and maybe a reading lamp?  Hmm... Creative juices still flowing on this one :-)

Meanwhile, there were other endeavors en process.

The big girls are each working on a mini quilt as a first go at piecing a quilt.

And they had had quite a lot of help as well  - the kind of help that makes you keep your

scissors off the ground and watch your cord! 

Miles is just big enough now that his little hands reach up to grip the table tops, and 

whatever happens to be near the edge is considered fair game haha!

Pretty stuff going on here.  Can't wait to produce pictures of the finished creations!

The other thing the boys did for me during the week, was to handle all the shop work
pertaining to a school assignment "station" where I wanted to hang clipboards permanently.

It takes a lot of extra effort for me (and use of a limited supply of brain cells) to figure
how to measure, cut, and hang things strait and evenly spaced. I've never been accused
of perfectionistic tendencies. Ha!
The boys were a lot of help where those things were concerned, and I wanted to do
it for the dad - if he (who notices such) was going to have to walk by it every day :-)

Bryce and Carolina and Aloria made stars with me while the boys were working
in the shop.  They then painted them, and we glittered them all!   Low and behold...
accent art to make the school assignments sparkle!

I love.

We are kind of getting a rainbow theme going in this house, aren't we!
And now, there is glitter everywhere and a few more stray stars to enjoy here and there as well.

Also, I made a first attempt at chalkboard art!  I just love hand lettering.
It's so therapeutic to be artistic on something that feels predictable like
a word or letter.
I definitely want to try my hand at it again before long.

Well friends, this is just the tip of the iceberg as regards the
sawdust and fabric scraps that are flying these days.

Isn't it a wonder that the Lord gives us the pleasure of creating, just as He
Himself delights in creating?  I sometimes marvel with the kids that while God
created everything out of nothing, we have to use the ingredients He has already
made when we get creative :-)

And because this post is a little short on baby faces (some of my favorite creations),
here are a couple to close on.

Love you all!