Art Their Way

All three of my children love Table Time.

Table Time is what I call the time that we all crowd around and pull out the art supplies.

Like any creative family, we have a lot of art supplies.

I love how each of my kids has their own preference and style.

Charlie is my maker and my giver.

When he sits down with his things, it is always with purpose.

He never just sits down and pulls things out to "see what will happen."

When Charlie is done, rest assured he will have a gift for at least one person.

Like this day, when he made me a "Force Field Day" card.

(This happened a few days before his school's Field Day and he was a little confused about the concept.)

Macie ended up loving the picture, so then I heard:

"Mom, I know this says 'Mom' on it, but what I meant to write was 'Macie'."

No problem, Charlie.

Then there's my Remy.

Remy is all about scissors, glue and tape.

In fact, I have a bin of supplies called "Scissors and Adhesives".

It should be called "Remy's Bin".

He just loves sticky things.

When he sits down, he never has a plan.

He just starts ripping and cutting,

Pulling out short and long strips of tape with glee,

And squeezing glue from the bottle or rubbing it onto paper from sticks.

And he is always delighted with his end creation.

It's usually for him.

And he keeps it at his place on the table for the whole day.

Until Daddy comes home.

Then he gives it to Daddy and asks him to take it to work.

(Andy has a lot of the kids' art at work!)

Remy is also always surrounded with a big pile of scrap,

Pieces of tape scattered everywhere,

And sticky glue remnants on the table and chair.

Macie's foray into the world of art is relatively new.

At least it was new in May, when these pictures were taken.

She loves to color like none other.

She will fist crayons in both hands and scribble circles and lines all over a paper.

She intently watches me shade a picture in with crayons.

And then tries to do it herself.

This usually ends in frustration, but at least she tries.

I think we have another drawer coming up.

But we'll have to wait and see.

I don't have a painter just yet... maybe that's her spot to take.

Art is the best because it is whatever the artist wants it to be.

My job is just to supply opportunity and tools.

To me, this is one of the best parts of motherhood.