simple moments

hey guys, i have a simple moments post for you {again} :) i really love those. i was supposed to photograph things that are found alone.
andrew has been at vbs in the mornings all this week. i think it's sorta upsetting for jonah because he has asked every morning to go into his class and it breaks my heart that he's too young for vbs right now.
but no worries because jonah doesn't get phased by disappointments. he just forgets about it, shows no emotion and moves onto the next thing {it's a trait he inherited from his daddy, which is somewhat infuriating and amazing at the same time}
it's been just me and jojo. i have a feeling we will be best friends by the time christmas rolls around...just me and him, spending countless hours together. and i love that {i think}.
so, tuesday we watched movies. yesterday, we went swimming. today, we did chalk art and rode bikes.
i made that chalk paint recipe again but this time with more colors and less people--we both enjoyed it.

he has such an abstract style. i tried replicating it, but i just couldn't get it quite jonah-esque. i love it so much, he just dips his paintbrush in every single color and swishes it here and splashes it there. it amazes me. 

and next up, bike riding! 

that little boy is as happy as he can be on that bike. 

simple moments is about finding the small things that make up our everyday, things we want to remember and be thankful for. it's the little bits of our lives that might not be remembered when we are gray and old. so we document it, on paper, with a photo, in a journal, through a blog.

Brooke's Simple Moments

ps. it's almost the weekend and almost andrew's birthday and almost time to visit home! so excited for these next few days! yay!

just because...

Thanksgiving craft

Well, Holidays are fast approaching and this week has been full of crafts around here.

Currently I'm working on 3 other crafts for the holidays and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. But what I'm most excited about is this week is Thanksgiving! To me it means good food, family, and games!!! 

Unfortunately, half of our family will not be coming because they're in different states/countries and I thought it'd be a great way to set up a "photo booth" for the ones who are missing out. 

I am a Pinner. An addicted one. And I got the idea from there ;)

Sorta like this:

Source

And wouldn't you know it, a little boy wanted to paint too. So we painted while Jonah was sleeping. 

It was really fun for both of us. 

Some poster-board, paints, brushes and some imagination!!!

 Add some skewers with some hot glue and they look like this:

Fun for the kids, for sure!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Andrew's Artwork

Coming from an artistic background, I always make sure Andrew gets involved with anything artsy. 

My brother, Carl, has just left to minister to the people of Brazil. Manaus to be exact. 

He's learning Portuguese and enjoying his time in the Amazon.

When we couldn't go see him before he left for his 3 month 'mission', I  made sure that we gave him something heartfelt:

I lined Carl's name in green and told Andrew to follow the lines. He did such an amazing job, it really impressed me. For not ever writing letters before, this was a total achievement for the little man. 

Other times, when I'm at my art desk, Andrew begs and begs to sit at the stool and paint with me. 

I always make sure to have watercolors and sketch paper handy--all we have to do is get a little water for the paints. 

He decided to switch mediums too, pencil. 

Yes, I helped him a little bit here--it's easy to get inspired by him.

For some reason this type of paper that I purchased, make the watercolors come out chalky. It was a neat effect but it didn't look anything like this when Andrew was painting it.

Below is the first thing Andrew ever brought home from school: a flower. 

One weekend we decided to get dirty with paints...

I wanted to use butcher paper and paints and spoons to create texture--all he wanted was to not get paint on his hands. 

Needless to say, we created a huge mess and won't be doing that any time soon--BUT we had fun and that's the point.

My little artiste.

a green artistic thumb

I've never had a green thumb.
When I was in middle school, my sister and I grew some kind of seeds in a little cup. Mine never grew, but to say it did, I switched cups with my sisters so that I could tell her mine had sprouted and hers had not.
I also have parents who LOVE plants and have all kinds of greenery around.
While I may like looking at it, and for sure wouldn't mind having some, I've always had a fear of killing the poor things so I never exercise my right to plant plants.
But this summer, a new neighbor moved into our duplex. And she brought a shitload of plants onto our front porch.
And yeah, they're pretty. Yes, it made me jealous.
For a while, I've had an empty flower pot that was hand-made in Mexico. All alone--waiting to be filled with dirt and something. Why don't I have plants? What's the matter with me?
So I went out to get some plants.
Not flowers. I don't like flowers when they wilt and die. It breaks my heart. 
And then I realized they wouldn't all fit into my 6" flower pot all together {this is how inexperienced I am folks...} So I had to go get some more pots.
Anyone that knows me, knows I'm a big cheap-o. But when I was pot-shopping, I found these beautifully Italian made pots for just $2. {By the way, I've no idea what these things are technically called, so just bare with me}
And I thought that it'd be a great project to hand paint and give them a little color.
So, like always, I got my paints out from my neatly organized art desk {that's right hubs--neatly organized!} and I got to painting. Carefully imitating my ancestral artistic native people...or just plain talavera look-alike-ness.



And like a good artist, I only managed to finish 1 before I got bored and had to tend to the boys...

Finally yesterday, I kicked laziness in the butt and grabbed Sunday by the horns...

And this is what Andrew helped me with.
He LOVES painting/crafting/drawing/etc. with me when I'm at my {neatly organized} desk.

Pretty gorgeous, huh? ;)

I enjoy the time Andrew and I paint together. While he may not know exactly what he's doing, he enjoys it and it helps me develop my abstract skills even more. 

So here's my collection of beautiful plants in beautiful pots. Enjoy!

I have them by my kitchen sink and it makes me feel good just to see them.

To know that they're not dead.

To know that they're good for me and my family and my small duplex.

And while I may not have a green thumb, I am thankful for my creativity and the time I spent with Andrew. 

Linking up to:

and

and

TATERTOTS & JELLO Weekend Wrap Up Party

and

Someday Crafts

family reunion{s} comin' up!

I have taken the task of painting a finger print family tree for an upcoming reunion. 

We all know I'm a pretty good artist so I was excited to do it. :P

I looked up examples and liked this one a lot because it was drawn in pen, but I also wanted it to look like one here because it was colorful!

So I did a version of both...

Started with a quick sketch.

sorry for the crappy picture :(

Mixed my paints, and got to paintin'....

And finally, I did a pen outline which gave it more texture and depth.

I haven't finished it but it's gonna look amazing with all the fingerprints and framed once we get the reunion done with!!!

If you don't really know what this is, more examples here

UPDATE:

And here's the final product!!

It came out pretty, huh? :)