Kids, Paint, and Some Fun!!!

We wanted to have a fun say as a family today and I pulled out one of my books on fun activities to do with kids. We were going to use tempra paint that had been watered down and put it in spray bottles and spray paint an old sheet. There were technical difficulties...read on to see what happened next!!! We had a BLAST and made memories that will never fade today! 

Before the fun began!

We started off with the canvas hanging up but the wind began to blow.

Lauren doesn't like for things to be uneven, so for her to paint one foot she had to paint the other one so that things are symmetrical!

Double-dippin'...that's my boy!

Lily wanted to make sure that the paint on her hands was just right before she left her handprints!

Our Mann's Chinese Theater on a sheet!

They smiled the entire time we had the painting fun. My heart was so joyful and filled with love.

Lauren getting colored up to leave her handprints!

Here she goes!!!!

Leaving her handprints and her mark!

TADA!!

Easton paints his feet to leave his footprint!

Painting her name...

Lily loves to paint, she was in heaven! We painted flowers near her name.

The final masterpiece...one of a kind!

We even let the kids paint our doggies. Summer was the prettiest because of her white fur!

Interview with Lily

Lily is 5 years old...here is my interview with my little princess!
Favorite Food: hamburgers
Favorite Holiday: Thanksgiving because of the turkey and everyone comes and we sing songs! (She is referring to our mission family Thanksgiving gatherings!)
Favorite thing to do: swing and play with the doggies
In the house: Daddy hides and we try to find him, but before we can find him he comes out and scares us.
Favorite clothes: my Minnie Mouse shirt and my light blue jeans
When I grow up: I want to be a big girl and get my own breakfast when I wake up.
Favorite weather: sunny days
Favorite thing about living in Zambia: seeing people and they come to our house and we get to talk to them.
Favorite book: Anna Hibiscus (a book about a little girl who grew up in Africa)
Favorite Movie: Up
**After Lily said this Easton chimed in and said, "my favorite movie is Down!" HA! We laughed so hard!**
Color: pink
Best friends: Anna, Abigail, Isabel, and Lacie
What are you looking forward to about America? Seeing my grandparents
Least Favorite Food: noodles
Bible Story I love: Moses- he found a bush on fire but the bush wasn't on fire it was God talking to him in the bush.
I love being a big sister because: climbing trees with Lauren and Easton, playing games with them and the clothes they wear!
I love being a missionary kid because: everyone know we are missionaries..it is good because they know that we love Jesus and we don't do mean things to people.
If you could write a book what would it be about: our family in the forest
What kind of job do you want to have when you get older? Work in an ice cream factory because I love chocolate ice cream, I would give ice cream to people.
My favorite animals are: giraffes because I could feed him leaves and dolphins because they splash in the water.

Interview with Easton

In the past week, I have just really had a deeper desire to know my precious kids more. I know what they like and their personalities but I just want to hear what they have to say. So, last night the electricity was off so I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to begin the interviews. Easton was first. Here was the scene...electricity was off, he and I sat on my bed under the mosquito net using the light of my headlamp to light my paper. And here is how it went...

Easton how old are you?  "Free" (three)
Favorite color: "wed" (red)
Favorite food: "smashed shatatos" (mashed potatos)
Day of the Week: "wake time" (time to get up)
TV Show: "Schpiderman"  (Spiderman)
Favorite Superhero: "Schpiderman and Shuperman"  (Spiderman and Superman)
**Now the girls have joined us for the interview.**
Rainy or Sunny Day: "sunny"
Noodles or Rice: "nuudles"
When is your birthday?  "next time!"
What do you want to be when you grow up? "strong!"
Where do you want to go on vacation? "in the tar to McDonald's and wide in BIG whitening MTween Tar!" (in the car to McDonald's and ride in a BIG Lightining McQueen Car!"
Favorite Animal: "Zeebwa"
If you could be an animal what would you want to be and why? "wike a zeebwa betaus I want to be in the woad...walk in the woad." (like a zebra because I want to be in the road...walk in the road!)
Favorite place to go and why? "Wusaka betaus my fwiends are in it" (Lusaka because my friends are in it!)
Favorite Holiday: "Tismas, betaus the twee and pwesents!" (Christmas, because the tree and presents!)
Bible Story: "Jesus and Moses betaus he got blood on himself betaus he felled in the wivah." (Jesus and Moses because he got blood on himself because he fell in the river.) He was mixing the stories of the plague of blood and parting of the Red Sea.
What are you looking forward to about America? "aiwpwane and the seats in the aiwpwane" (airplane and the seats)
**Then he decided that he wanted me to draw a circle...now a smiley face..see below what came about!**

I had such a fun time with Easton. He is so precious and I want to cherish each moment with my kids and I hope that this is one way that I can preserve these days with them.

Unleashing Creativity

As a mother, I have found that I can be quite legalistic when it comes to certain things. In the past several days, the Lord has really begun to work on me about this. My test was the day after I began to realize this about myself. Lily and Easton had a brilliant idea! They wanted to paint Easton’s trucks all different colors, kind of like “Pimp My Ride”! I said no and stuck to my guns. I pulled out the old, “go ask your Daddy”, so they did. They did and his answer was the polar opposite of mine. They proceeded to get the Tempra paint cakes, water, paint brushes, and the trucks that needed a makeover!

I was dreading to look at the table and the floor after this activity had ceased. I told Kendall that I could not look, I was afraid of how bad it was. When I walked over, I found that the floor was clean and that the mess was pretty minor compared to my mental images of a paint shop exploding in my dining room. 

The trucks were pretty, Easton was too! I learned a lesson again as a mother, choose my battles wisely. I didn’t want them to have fun because I was afraid of the mess, I didn’t want them to paint because I didn’t want to have to say “no”, “don’t do that” and “stop” 500 times in 30 minutes. I didn’t say any of those things, I just let them be and they had a great time. I had a great time once I chilled out and realized the fun that they had and the joy that I had in seeing the creativity that Lily and Easton had.