Mister Man Has a Message

Brand new giveaway for e.l.f. cosmetics here.

And I have a chance to win tickets to The Emperor's New Clothes from the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre here for my Chicago friends.

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Yesterday, Mister Man was playing very nicely in the foyer for a period of time. I assumed he was sketching his dinosaurs or reading, which is what he usually is doing. When he came into the kitchen where I was preparing dinner, he asked me to come see what he'd done.

Of course, I followed.

He led me to the front door and proudly showed of his creation:

Nope, not the weather wheel. That was Little Miss's (although if you recall, Mister Man made a weather wheel in preschool a few years ago, too). With his love of art and his interest in spelling, Mister Man wanted to be sure we had appropriate decorations in our house for the Fourth of July and created this completely unprompted.

He's a pretty cool kid, I think. I'm impressed that he even got almost all the stripes right - just short one - and I don't think he had a model when he made it.

Happy Fourth of July, from us to you!

It's Time to Redecorate

What's a mom to do when your children bring home artwork? It's cute, and you love it, especially when they're in preschool. For the first month. Then you start to realize that they bring home at least one new piece of artwork every single time they go to preschool.

If you're really lucky, your kids head to daycare after school and make more art there. Add in additional children, stir, let sit for five months and you have:

Actually, there's more than this even, but I can't figure out how to upload any more pics than this. I know I've seen picture slideshows before, but I have no clue how to do them ... yet (hint hint if anyone knows and can share insights!).


Every bit of art that comes home is hung up somewhere in the kitchen. Last year, I made it all the way through the school year before I had to take things down and keep just five in Mister Man's memory box. This year, well, two kids in preschool and daycare means that I've already gone through the clearance once. You can see on the stools that I'm a little desperate for space. And I don't remember what my cabinets look like without all that artwork.


So tonight. Or tomorrow. Or maybe the next day... it's time to redecorate. Out with the Nouveau Preschool look and back in with Standard American Kitchen. At least for a few weeks until the fingerpaint and chalk and markers start crawling up the walls of their own volition to again take over the cabinets. As best I can tell, they feed on wood and multiply rapidly.


And now that I look at those pictures again, I can see that it's time for me to also reclaim my island, otherwise known of the Land Of Things With Homes That They've Run Away From. This is a very invasive species, as well. Much like mold in the attic, you may think you've gotten rid of it, but then you turn around and it's back in full force.


Of course, neither issue has anything to do with Mister Man learning how to use tape or either Mister Man or Little Miss getting tall enough to reach the countertops themselves, right?