Gallery

Eliza made this for Ani. There is a lot of love going 'round.
(see the fish leaves? my favorite part)

I thought I would really confuse things and bounce around in time again. A little here, a little there, and maybe I'll get caught up!  I figured it has been a while - maybe years? - since my last "gallery" post, which would maybe imply that there is no art going on around here, which would be just silly. And wrong. Along with a long dive into the fantastic coloring books that are available these days, there has been making of every kind...writing, drawing, sewing, crocheting, sculpting, collage. I've decided that the way we're going to make it through February is to set Fridays aside for a full day of meandery making. Doesn't that sound like the best plan?? I think it will be soul-saving for me, and that can't be bad for any of us...

mesmerizing

E's sketchbook, above and below

Eliza flew to NYC with Dan in January, and her last-minute got to get this done!!! project was embroidering these jeans so she could wear them.

Ani's art making often centers around play. She made these fine ladies for herself; I am quite taken with their hair...

The mesmerizing spirals are a tool we've all been using for some meditative time, while listening to music or a story.

Ani's spirals

The girls made signs for their rooms out of el wire. Eliza's says "wander" and Ani's "imagine".

My own making has been more of the postcard variety. My commitment to be more involved in knowing what is happening in our government goes hand in hand with learning to have a voice, and I'm playing a little trick on myself to keep interested: I'm making awesome postcards that - I KNOW, I know, will get lost at the bottom of a pile, but...they make me happy to make and to write and to clip to the mailbox to wait for pickup, so this intersection of art and activism is likely to become a familiar one around here.

My most recent piece of making is thanks to our friend Ari Beloved Jones, who taunted me with several precious octopuses, crocheted within snatching distance of my grabby little hands, before kindly and patiently teaching me to make one of my own. So dang cute.

summah

Oh, Summer. You are so juicy. And hot. Really really really hot. It finally rained today, enough rain to cool things down by a few degrees and revive all living things.  Our walks have been relegated to dusk this past week, and Dan and I were treated to a mink sighting and some screech owl whinnies a couple of nights ago...everyone is glad for a bit of cool.

We don't formally school in the summer (when do we "formally" anything?!) - which is to say that we don't stick to a routine, which has its pros (more sleep for the teen) and cons (a bit of crazy for mom). I anticipated more routine to July, but with my grampa's funeral service we have only a couple of weeks, some of them with Dan gone, and so...Life. We embark on another trip north in a week, so we are mostly just enjoying our days as they are, which is probably just as it should be. It's working.

Here is essentially a slide show of the other things we've been up to this summer:

Eliza participated in two summer intensives with other high schoolers (gasp!) and college students: mask work and stage combat. She loved both of them.

She is so capable and game.  What a joy to experience as her mama.

*photo by J. Evans

With Dan's new job, we've been spending time up in Dublin and Columbus this summer, and we managed to be there for their Pride Parade. Yes!! It was such a great community event, and Eliza walked with the theater company who were promoting their next show, Tammy Faye's Final Audition. This was her crowd. It was hot, so sunny, but Ani and I were happy to watch for hours.

There was The Birthday - and bowling - and a visit from grandparents...

I just don't even know.  And yes, she approves the sharing of all the photos of her;)

catapult and felt balls

There's been so much reading - Dashner's Maze Runner series for Eliza, and The Sisters Grimm, whichever Harry Potter is in nearest reach, and Nancy Drew for Ani.  There's been some art-making, like these collage cairns.

And what is summer without bubbles? There are bunches of DIY bubble solution and wands on the interwebs, and we used this one which seems to work pretty well, though the bubbles couldn't get super big with just the Dawn soap we used. Well enough for an evening of merry-making! 

I love that these photos show the girls for the goofballs that they are.  How I love them so...So much time together, and we still really like each other. Feeling very very grateful!