Halloween Recap . . .

He was a great Harry Potter with Ron Weasley colored hair.

He played the sympathy card at the town parade by saying, “Candy for a boy who’s lost his parents?”

He  felt like the king for the night because he and his Dad Trick–or–Treated a much larger territory than last year while his older siblings sat at home.

He sorted all his candy by type and put all the Tootsie Rolls back in our ‘to hand out’ basket because it’s “like fake chocolate”. I’ve taught him well.

  

He was a dino like his brothers before him because the costume is warm and darn cute too!

He spent the night singing the following song to a tune he made up: “I a Dino! I a Dino!”

He stared with eyes wide as every single fire engine and emergency vehicle passed by in the parade with lights flashing.

He Trick-or-Treated eight houses on our street, finally catching on after the third house that the game was about candy.  At that point he started saying “Nother house?”

He came home and delighted over “chocwit” and “canny”. Then he cried when it was time to go to bed.

The end.

Recently Thrifted: Milk Glass

I wish I had great Halloween photos to share with you.  We have a family costume.  But we have no pictures of it since our big Halloween party was cancelled this weekend due to SNOW.  Yes, SNOW.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll do a post-Halloween post. I don’t have a lot of Halloween mojo this year for some reason. Hmmm…

Instead I’ll share a little goody I found reversed scallop milk glass bowls.  They were 50 cents a piece and are the perfect size for a bowl of cereal or ice cream {take your pick}.  I love the reverse scallop detail around the lip of the bowl.  Such a simple detail makes me smile.

This morning my kids enjoyed a bowl of Count Chocula and Boo Berry cereal in these bowls. I only bought it because it was on clearance at Target.  You’d think they won lottery. Sheesh! What’s wrong with Honey Nut Cheerios and Shredded Wheat?

If you think I’m a cereal Nazi, just wait till the smack goes down on the Halloween candy.  I am the meanest mom on the planet.  And I reign supreme. 

Happy Halloween!

Little Superman . . .

This freckled fella may not have x-ray vision, but he sure can see right into my heart.

A few weeks ago an eye doctor visit revealed that RedDog wasn’t seeing so well.  A mild prescription was drawn up and glasses were ordered.

My boy really, really, REALLY wanted the glasses that looked like Harry Potter’s.  I had to gently steer him in a different direction so that his glasses would grow with him as he possibly outgrew his love of the lightning scarred boy wonder.

Waiting for the glasses to arrive was painful.  Every day he’d wake up and ask me “Are they coming today?”  Every day he’d run off the bus and ask me “Did they come today?”  This went on for two weeks.

When they did finally come, I just laid them on the counter amidst the paperwork and calendars and said nothing for the first half hour after school. Then I nonchalantly mentioned that there was something on the counter for him.

He was so excited to have his new glasses!  He went next door to show the neighbors.  He slept with them on his bedside table.  He polished them up and gently placed them in their case to take to school.  He’s been pretty much smitten with them ever since. I feel pretty confident in saying that never before has a boy loved his glasses as much as my RedDog.

I think he looks super cute in them.  Like a mini-Clark Kent. I suggested he be Clark Kent for Halloween and wear a dress shirt over a Superman t-shirt.  He chose to be Harry Potter instead.  So, in the end, he got himself the glasses he wanted, albeit from Party City at $4.99.  Sneaky kid.

Reality Check: Cupcake v. Life . . .

Recently I shot a picture of a delicious pumpkin cupcake.  It was a glorious photo with shiny frosting, perfectly placed toffee crumbles and just the right amount of focus versus blur.  I wanted to lick my computer screen.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I thought I’d share what the rest of the kitchen was doing while this photo was being taken:

Do you see the lone cupcake sitting by the natural light of the window amidst all the dirty dishes, baking supplies and dishrags strewn about. Yep. That’s how I roll. 

In order to get the great shot I had to move all of my random utensils (blocking the light) then take the dirty dishes which I hadn’t done out of the sink (kept sneaking into the shot) and wipe up the crumbs of the cupcake I’d eaten and the frosting I’d spilled so the counter would look clean in the photo.

Man, it’s a lot of work making a cupcake look good. Never mind what it takes to have a clean kitchen.

This photo shoot is an analogy for my house.  When people come to the door they see the first two rooms – our piano room and dining room, sparkling clean, dusted, every item in its proper place looking so lovely. These rooms are the cupcake alone in the photo.

But if they were to step into the back rooms {kitchen, family room} or go upstairs {bedrooms} or heaven forbid, head downstairs {playroom, craftroom and teenager room} they would see that my house is quite lived in and very untidy much of the time, not unlike my kitchen during the cupcake photo.

The cupcakes were delicious. So is my life. But the reality is that a lot of life is messy, gooey, crumbly and so, so yummy. And I’m totally okay with that.

An Eastern Autumn…

This was the view out my back door three mornings ago: sun rising slightly above our roofline, illuminating the leaves on the trees that have suddenly gone from green to golden overnight. It took my breath away and I had to grab my camera while still in my PJs.  Autumn is here and in the East it is stunning.

A few things I am adoring about an Eastern Autumn:

• Soup. We’ve had it three times in the last week and will be having a ham and bean soup and chili before this week is over. Soup is at the top of my favorite food genre list right now.
• Long sleeves and layers.  I like feeling cool enough to need to be cozy. A shirt and a cardi for me please.  Not sweaty. Not freezing. Just right.
• Flannel sheets. I’m always happy to put them on for the first time in Fall and always sad when it’s time to put them away in the Spring. It’s like getting a hug from my bed.
• Baking.  Yep, I’m baking again. I’ve decided I don’t bake in the summer because it’s too hot. Now I’ve got cupcakes, cookies, breads and more on the mind. Sadly, it means I will also have them on the thighs.
• Boots. Hooray for boot weather!  I’ve already worn my Wellies twice and my leather boots are standing at attention in the closet as if to say, “Pick me! Pick me!” No worry friends, you will be worn and worn much.
• Being outside with Ollie. He’s really turned into a sponge just soaking in all the changes in the environment. I love seeing Fall through his eyes.
• Snuggling my Hubby.  Don’t need to say any more about that. It just rocks.

How about you?  What are you loving about Autumn?

You’ve Probably Seen This Before . . .

But Vaseline Head is always fun to see again. Especially if it’s Vaseline Head on someone else’s kid!

Our Owlie took a different approach than his siblings did in their toddlerhood. They all sought out the vat of Vaseline from a bathroom cupboard.  Not Owlie, he snuck off with a small tube of lip balm from the recesses of my purse and proceeded to squirt it, in its entirety, onto his hands to put on his cheeks and in his hair.

Only when the entire tube was gone did he come find me to say, “Look momma, I wips!” (Translation: I put on “lips”.)

His cheeks are now very, very soft.

And his hair, well, it’s very fashion forward.  If you go for the Bozo the Clown look.

Man, I love this kid. Why does he have to grow up?

Discovering Talent . . .

Okay, I can’t stand not writing. So I’m digging deep in the archives and using pictures from six months ago.  Hopefully the computer problems will get fixed this week.

On Friday Big C participated in an optional Five Mile Run at his Middle School. He came home and told me he felt like he did pretty good, even though he felt like throwing up when it was over. But he did not throw up, although three girls did and another passed out. This is the kind of information that makes Middle School interesting.

When I questioned him further about his run, he mentioned that he might have actually come in first.  I assumed he meant first in his PE class, but in fact he meant first out of the ninety Eighth Graders who did the run! And he did it in 30 minutes! What the what?

I can’t get over the shock of it! See, I loathe running more than just about any form of exercise.  I am simply awful at it. I will avoid it at all cost. And I’ve always thought Big C was a bit mediocre at running since Hannie B. can beat him in a foot race nine times out of ten.  It turns out that sprinting is not his forte, but distance running is quite ideal for him.

Here’s the thing:  I’ve been thinking about this all weekend, almost with a sense of guilt.  Am I, as a mother, doing all that I can to help my children find their talents?  Am I fostering an environment where they can understand what they are good at  and develop those things? I had no idea that Big C. had a runner inside of him.  What other hidden gifts are inside my children, waiting to be discovered?

I’ve always believed that one way we help our children to have positive self esteem is to help them find one thing they are exceptional at and then to help them develop that talent.

Seeing the excitement and joy Big C. had after finishing the run in top form was a great reminder to me that I need to continue to help my children discover and improve their talents.

How about you? How are you fostering your children’s talents?

Zippo. Nada. Nothing.

I am at a standstill. I’ve reached an impasse. I am stuck. Up a creek without a paddle. In a jam. Between a rock and a hard place. Do you get my drift?

I’ve got 250 photos just sitting on my camera.  I want to write about them.  But I can’t until I get my computer fixed.  Or my camera fixed. Or my brain fixed to be able to understand technology better. 

It is, in a word, frustrating.

So I’m on hiatus. Will spend time blogging in my brain with the hope that it translates to the screen sometime very soon.  In the mean time, could someone send me an IT guy as mine is in Vegas?

Thanks.

Need to Laugh?

When I need to laugh (like I do today because my computer is STILL having serious issues and I cannot download ANY photos from my camera) I just look at these pictures of Owlie with my Dad. 

In the first photo, I made the mistake of saying “Smile!” My dad did as he was told.  Owlie boy?  He thinks he’s smiling.  But really he’s just squinting.

The second picture is what happens when I tell Owlie to look at his papa. That look just tickles my funny bone all over.  You can’t tell it by the photo, but he adores his Papa so much.  He begs to go see his grandies all the time.  Yesterday morning {very early} in the middle of scripture study he declared that we “Call Gamma on da pone.”

I’m so lucky to have my parents close by. They are so helpful with my children, often babysitting or going to a game so I can put the littles to bed on time.  Thanks Queen and Kernal.  You rock, despite what the look on his face says! We sure love you.

I Can’t Fbeel My Fbace . . .

I was at the dentist at 7:00 AM.  Now I am numb from my eye down to my chin on the right side. I had to ask the dentist to tell me if my nose was running since I couldn’t feel it.  And then there’s the question of what to do with one’s tongue.  It just flops around in there like a fish out of water getting in the way of drills and suctions and entire hands in the mouth.

Sitting in the dentist’s chair totally ranks up there on my list of awkward situations. How do you feel about the dentist?

Here, I watched this when I got home and almost peed my pants laughing, still after all these years. This man knows the dentist.

Honoring A Hero . . .

Recently I was fortunate enough to attend the funeral of a high school friend’s father. While normally I wouldn’t post pictures from a funeral, the beauty and splendor of a military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors is worth sharing.

General John Shalikashvili was an inherently inspiring man. A Polish immigrant who rose to the top ranks of our counrty’s military, he was known as fierce patriot, genuine leader, devoted friend, husband and father. I could write an entire post just about General Shali.  Instead, I’ll share a few photos from a day spent paying tribute to him.

Every branch of the military was represented at General Shali’s funeral with soldiers in full dress uniforms, brass shining, shoulders squared, each march in step.  Full marching band, cannon and rifle salutes, former presidents and dignitaries speaking in tribute. No detail was missed.The caisson carried his flag draped casket followed by a single riderless horse with boots reversed in the stirrups. 

This particular honor is reserved for an officer above the rank of Colonel and represents a fallen leader looking back on his troops for the last time. It certainly makes an impression.

The officer at the head of the combined Honor Guard for the General Shali’s funeral just happened to be a very close friend of my family’s.  Job well done Michael.

One of the most somber {and yet my favorite} parts of a military funeral is when the flag draping the casket is carefully folded and presented to the family of the fallen soldier with the ‘thanks of a grateful nation’.

To Mrs. Shalikashvili and my friend Brant, I also say thank you. Their dad and husband was a man to be admired.  His funeral was a moving and fitting tribute to his life and work. Godspeed General Shali.

{I’m sure if I have any of my information incorrect my dad will set me straight.}

If Ever I Loved A Cupcake . . .

I might have a little Autumn affair with this one because it is crazy good. The recipe is Barefoot Contessa and it came to me by way of my cooking genius friend, Jennie Doezie, who has yet to give me a dud recipe.

How about a little Pumpkin Cupcake w/ Maple Cream Cheese Frosting and crushed Heath bar sprinkled on top?  What? What’s that? I’m sorry, you have a little drool - just there on your chin.

Before I give you the recipe, I have to ask:  Are you an over-froster?  When I frost cupcakes, I like a little of the cake to be showing around the edges.  I don’t want so much frosting that it overpowers the cake.  I want the two to be in perfect harmony, so I dollop on the frosting but never all the way to the edges.  Am I weird? I don’t really care.

There is so much that is good about this cupcake for Fall.  It’s a perfect excuse for using pumpkin – I’ve decided it’s the hip sibling of pumpkin bread and bars.  The colors are so Fall too – every shade of brown.  And it’s got spices that speak of Fall to me – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger.  Yahoo!

Here’s the recipe. You really should make it.  And then thank me later.

Barefoot Contessa’s Pumpkin Cupcakes W/ Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 12 cupcakes

1 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 extra large eggs at room temperature

1 C canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)

1/2 C granulated sugar

1/2 C light brown sugar

1/2 C vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350. Spray the top of a 12 muffin pan w/ vegetable oil then line them w/ paper liners.

In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and all spices. In a larger bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, two sugars and vegetable oil. Add flour mixture and stir until combined.

Divide batter among prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

Spread maple frosting on cupakes and sprinkle with chopped toffee bits.

Maple Frosting

6 oz cream cheese at room temperature {I used 1/3 less fat and it was still delicious}

3 T butter at room temperature

1/2 tsp maple flavoring

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 C sifted confectioners sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and cream cheese on low until smooth.  Stir in maple flavoring and vanilla. With mixer still on low, slowly add the confectioner’s sugar and mix until smooth.

{I made a double batch of the cupcakes and this made enough frosting to frost them all in my sparse style with some frosting left over.}

Chalkboard on a Budget: A Tutorial . . .

It was this picture on Miss Mustard Seed’s blog that started my obsession with having a gilded chalkboard in the house.  I already had some of the elements to pull it together.  Here’s what I did to finish the job:

First, I hit the home depot for quart of chalkboard paint. They had some premixed in black or green.  I went with black because I knew that after conditioning it, it would be a nice worn grey color.

 

I also picked up a thin sheet of MDF.  It cost me a whoppping $5 and they were willing to cut it to size for me. I used a small foam roller for ‘extremely smooth surfaces’ to roll the paint onto the MDF and let it dry before doing one more coat.

Next I headed over to The Queen’s house to use her framer’s gun to permanently affix the MDF to an empty frame I happened to already have in the house.

The framer’s gun is a cool little tool that shoot’s sharp glazier’s points into the wood of the frame to secure your artwork or in my case, pressed wood.

With the MDF in place, I had myself a chalkboard! Now all I had to do was attach some picture hanging wire, condition the board by going over the whole thing with the side of a piece of chalk and then erasing it, and find the right place to hang it in the house.

Here’s my new chalkboard prominently hung in our family room for all to see.  We’re using it to post a scripture we’re going to memorize each week and for special congratulations and mentions.  I’m also using the bottom portion to list my kids jobs for the day so they don’t have to ask me a million times and I don’t have to use up thousands of sticky notes. Such a rewarding project for this momma!

For reference, the actual size of the chalkboard is 3 feet by 4 feet.

How To: Gussy Up A Door . . .

After seeing this image {via Pinterest}, I want to paint all of the doors inside my house a soothing grey color.  But I’m pretty sure the hubby wouldn’t go for it.  And I’m pretty sure I don’t really want to do the hard painting work on seventeen doors!

Instead, I decided I’d gussy my doors up another way. Using some small gilded letters I found at Hobby Lobby, I adhered them to the bedroom doors with 3M velcro strips. Do you know about 3M strips? I lurve them.  Now our bedroom is indicated by an M for mom and a D for dad.  And the kids have their first initial on their doors as well.

It’s a fun, quick fix and I’m loving our “fancy doors” {Hannie B’s description.}  Are you daring enough to paint your interior doors?

Doing Good For Others . . .

Every six months our church holds a general conference where the members receive spiritual instruction, admonition and very timely advice from the leaders of our church.  It is a worldwide event broadcast to millions.  And it fills my well which always seems a little dry.

Last April Henry B. Eyring, an apostle, gave a talk entitled “Opportunities To Do Good (click here to read it)”. In it he invited the membership of the church to participate in a day of service during the coming year – something that would benefit our communities and touch not only the receivers of the service, but those doing the serving.

The governor or the state of Virginia heard about Elder Eyring’s invitation and decided to support the idea by declaring September 24th to be “Virginia Statewide Day of Service”.

On the 24th our entire family {right down to the little Owlie} joined with about 100 members of our church congregation to work on a very special project.  There is a divine little boy in our congregation who is wheelchair bound. His name is Bridger – not by accident, I’m sure – because he builds bridges between us and Heaven.  He and many of the other special needs children in our school district go to a new elementary school that has no playground to meet their needs.  His mother is valiantly raising funds for a barrier free playground and our job on this day was to put up the retaining wall around the play area.

It was physical work.  It was a hot day.  But not one minute of it felt tough or was done begrudgingly.  And there were teenagers present!  Everyone wanted to do the job and do it right.  We had Bridger and his friends on our minds.

Big C. worked pretty hard that day.  He was there at 7:30 AM. When his baseball game got cancelled, he immediately asked if we could go back and work some more on the playground.  I drove quickly while thanking God for a son with a heart to serve.

He ended up on the front page of our local newspaper as part of the coverage of the day of service:

As we drove home from our day of service, there was peace in the car – a VERY UNUSUAL FEAT for us. The kids were talking about everything we’d accomplished together.  It really drove home this specific point from Elder Eyring’s conference talk:

Draw your family into the work with you so that they can learn to care for each other as they care for others. Your sons and daughters who work with you to serve others in need will be more likely to help each other when they are in need.

Two of our greatest desires for our children are that they learn to work hard and learn to love serving other people.  This day made me and The Hubby feel like we might be doing alright with these offspring of ours.

Look who else worked hard:

Photo by Cindy Larson

The lesson we learned from our Day of service? That doing good for others just feels good.

When The Cupboards Are Bare . . .

Lately around these parts there is no food.  I blame it on a couple of things:  First, I have children who are growing and eating way too much. Second, I have no motivation to go to the grocery store or cook because we are never together for dinner due to our busy schedules.  I’m grumpy about it, can you tell?  Third, we had a crazy ant problem for a while there and I figured if there was no food in the house maybe they’d go away.

So the other night dinner rolled around and due to rain and practice cancellations, we were all here together. But I had no food. Ugg.

I had been roasting some cherry tomatoes for a good portion of the afternoon. When I said I had no food, I should have clarified. I had a Costco sized tub of cherry tomatoes. Unfortunately,if cherry tomatoes were the only food in the house, five of us would starve and only RedDog would survive.

I dug up the rest of the makeshift dinner from the freezer and darkest corners of the fridge – the last of my pine nut stash (toasted, natch) a half a jar of pesto, the last of the cream (heaven help my thighs), a tablespoon of buttah and a sorry little quarter wedge of parmesan cheese. A box of penne and two cloves of garlic finished my happy accident off.

I sauteed the garlic with the tomatoes in some olive oil for a bit.  Then I combined the cream, pesto and butter together into a nice sauce. Once that had thickened I added all of the parmesan.  I dumped the cooked pasta, the sauteed garlic and tomatoes and the pine nuts into a bowl.  Then I poured on the sauce.

The point of this rambling post?  My dinner made from nothing when the cupboards were bare ended up being so delicious! Owlie ate two huge bowls full. We fought over who would get the leftovers for lunch the next day. Hannie B. licked the bowl clean!

I will definitely be adding this made up recipe to my pasta arsenal.  It was so good to be together for dinner.  I’ve repented of my bare cupboard ways and now must get off the computer and go grocery shopping.

Happy Monday!

ps.  Sad photographs, I know.  There is no such thing as a good photo in my kitchen at night after dark.

A Perfect Fall Friday . . .

Image via

It’s Friday.  And a three day weekend to boot.

We’ve got all sorts of Autumn goodness happening here.  There are volleyball games and baseball games, a night at the corn maze with 500 teenagers, a morning of serious garage sale shopping.

I’m thinking about Halloween. And decorating for Halloween.  I’m also thinking about Hannie B.’s approaching birthday and what we’re going to do for Thanksgiving.

I think I can finally say that I’ve bid a final adieu to summer and I’m moving on. Now I’m going to go make some pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting.  I think that will be the icing on the cake! {Pun intended.}

Have a great weekend!

Captured: A Blessing Day . . .

In August while we were in Utah for the wedding my sister-in-law Heidi’s baby was given a name and a blessing.  It was a sweet moment shared by our close family at my in-law’s home.

I was lucky enough to have my camera handy to capture a few photos of beautiful Lucy in her blessing dress so that her parents could remember the special day. 

A completely cooperative pink baby girl in a perfect white dress just might be one of my favorite photo moments ever. Just look at the rolls on her arms.  Oh lovey love!

I had to get a shot of some of the intricate detailing on the hem of her dress – so pretty!

I loved catching her mid-yawn in this shot.  How could she not be tired?  That bed is just begging for a nap with all of it’s lovely linen pillows.

And her tiny toes wiggling amongst all that fabric were so delish.  How could I resist?

So glad I was there with Lucy on her special day.  Thanks for letting me take your pictures, tiny girl. You are amazing!

Mr. Fix-It . . .

My Owlie can often be found wistfully staring out the glass door into the back yard, hoping someone might let him out in to the great big world.

On this particular day, I found him with his gaze intently fixed on the back door neighbor’s house. He was hypnotized by something he saw and heard there.

When I finally joined him at the door, I could see what was fascinating him.  The neighbor’s roof was covered in construction men ripping off cedar shingles to prepare for a new tin roof. 

They were yelling jovially to one another as they hammered and nail-gunned all while tied to the roof with ropes like adventurous rappelers.  It was a sight to see! 

Ever since this day, Owlie has been Mr. Fix-It.  He has gathered up all of the play tools from the basement and crates them around the house daily trying to “fic” things.  He asks me twenty times a day, “Momma, I fic it?”  I always tell him, “Sure thing, buddy” and then he works his magic on my computer, my kitchen, my blow-dryer, my knee, whatever he deems fixable.

It’s darn cute.  I just have to be very careful he doesn’t find the real tools, because he would use them on any and everything. And then I’d need a real Mr. Fic-It.

Random Thoughts: Fall Favorites Edition . . .

• My Owlie is totally digging fort building right now.  So we build, destroy and rebuild one multiple times a day.  It makes us both laugh. When I try to fit my big body into his little fort, it makes him laugh a lot more.
• It’s cold enough for soup.  Have I mentioned that I love soup? And that I recently braved making my own noodles for chicken noodle? Um, it’s heavenly, doughy goodness and I love it so much I want to cry.
• My daughter begged me to let her shave her legs. I consented.  Mostly because this is how old I was when I started shaving mine.  But also because her legs were DANG HAIRY!
• The ants are no longer invading my home thanks to a very heroic effort by a man from my church congregation.  I want to kiss him – but not in an inappropriate way.  More in a “Thank you for ending my insanity because I could not wake up one more morning to find hundreds of ants crawling on my kitchen counter” kind of way.  Instead of kissing him, I think I will bake him banana bread.
• My first born is taking the PSAT on Saturday.  He is going to be in for a big surprise.  The dude is in 8th grade and has no idea what he’s getting into.  Gotta love him for it.
• I only have to make two Halloween costumes this year. Why? Because I’m the meanest mom ever and don’t allow my Middle Schoolers to trick or treat. You thought you were mean, and now you realize you are not. You’re welcome.
• General Conference rocked my world this weekend.  I need to use my time more wisely. My husband is showing my daughter how much he loves her by the way he loves me. He loves her A LOT.  And oh yeah, The Book of Mormon is true and will change your life.  You should read it.
• I’m having some computer trouble.  I have a good IT guy on it though. He just happens to live in Maryland and can’t work on my problem again until next week, so photos on the blog might be sketchy ‘til then. Please bear with me.
• Candy corn pumpkins.  My personal temptation come Autumn.  Help me.  I’m going to wind up in a sugar coma.  That is all.

B Is For Beautiful & Books . . .

I think I’ve mentioned here before that I’m a sucker for a good book. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned, however, that I’m also a sucker for a good musuem.  So I was doubly delighted while we were in Utah last month that we got to take our kids to spend a little time in the BYU Museum of Art where they had a fantastic exhibit about using the written word as art.

My favorite piece was a large scale work that involved a towering squarish stack of books .  It was so colorful and had amazing texture.  Up close it seemed like the books were placed at random in the structure. But upon further inspection I could tell there must have been specific deliberation  in order to get such straight edges.

 

Then I started to see specific groupings of color, like this gorgeous section with gilded pages.  Up close it doesn’t seem to make a big impact.

But stepping back I could appreciate the shine that little section gave the overall piece.

You can’t really appreciate the scale of the piece until you see someone standing near it.  Here’s Hannie B. mouth slack, neck cocked, eyes gazing at the sheer size of it.  We must have spent 20 minutes just enjoying this particular piece. It was amazing!

How do you help your children appreciate art? 

PS. All pictures were taken without flash.  It was only AFTER I’d snapped these photos that a security guard came and informed me no photographing was allowed.  Oops. :)