Why is the world so full of laundry?

DANE: Are you going to blog about why you haven’t blogged in a week?
ME: That would be a boring post. “Hi. I’m lame.” The end.
DANE: What about your birthday? Our anniversary? That’s not lame!
ME: They also didn’t keep me from blogging, but okay.
DANE: It’s called lying. No one will know.*

So. It was my birthday last week. Friday. I turned thirty. 30. Yes I did. (Like Diana says, I made very good use of my twenties.)

Dane took the day off work, which is always fun, and we… kind of did nothing. He suggested I disappear to the bookstore all day to drink coffee and read magazines (or whatever else it is that people do at bookstores when they’re not chasing toddlers and hunting for not-inappropriate chapter books).

I thought we might all go together to a farther-away bookstore instead, but by the time everyone was ready to go, Sadie had fallen asleep for a ridiculously-early nap (why do they do that?), so we stayed home and had quiet time before lunch.

In the afternoon we went to the nearby botanical gardens for, I don’t know, maybe an hour, until Sadie and Audrey both fell apart into little pieces all over the place and had to be carried back to the car. Yes, carried. Even though there was a stroller.

And lest you think we bored them to death looking at leaves, thus predictably eliciting the meltdowns: the botanical gardens have tons of kid-friendly stuff, including but not limited to a three-story treehouse, a garden full of musical instruments to play, and a running “stream” to splash in. Not boring. Tiring, maybe, but not boring.

Somehow we got them home, fed, in bed and asleep by 7:15—an entirely unexpected birthday present, resulting in much-happier toddlers the next morning.

Which was good, because the next morning was our tenth wedding anniversary. Yes it was. And we… kind of did nothing. But it was a relaxing long weekend of nothing. I’ll take that.

So what have you been up to?**

* Well, now you will.

** No, you don’t really have to say. I’ll just guess.

And now for something completely different: an interview with artist Ryleigh of Ryleigh’s Keys etsy shop. Ry, who also happens to be my sister, is giving away a set of two fairytale art prints (Rumplestiltskin and The Princess and the Pea)—scroll down to the bottom of the post for how to enter.

For the record: I myself have no artistic talent. Craftiness, sometimes. But talent for painting, sculpting, drawing, pot throwing—no. Absolutely none. (Also no particular ability to sing, dance, or act.) I do, however, have children who love to engage in all those activities, so I thought I’d pick Ryleigh’s brain a little.

What’s your creative process like?
RY: How I start each piece is always different. With illustration, sometimes I’ll just start mark making, and the pens pull themselves along until the paper is covered. But more often I start with thumbnail sketches, which look something like chaotic scribbles separated into little rectangles, until I decide where I want the characters and objects to sit on the page.

Then I start with character design. I don’t want any of my princesses to look like Disney cartoons, and I’ll draw a couple of pages of faces, clothing, positions, etc to work out the problems of the character, like how I want Rumpelstiltskin to look around the eyes, what kind of sleeves I want on the princess’s dress. I sketch the completed characters into the piece first, then fill in objects and environment, and very last add the textures, colors, and patterns.

Do you have any advice for those of us who want to be creative, but have limited time?
RY: Notebooks! Taking five minutes (or two!) to lay down a spur-of-the-moment idea, whether it’s an idea for a painting, a new way to arrange the furniture, a sewing project, or even a recipe is the best way to keep a flow of ideas going. Nothing scares me more than a big blank canvas, but a sketch or note book is a lot friendlier to ideas I don’t have time to implement right away.

I have four notebooks going right now, and I use them constantly. Keeping a notebook ensures that when you do have a chunk of time free, all your bits of brilliance will be in one place, easily referenced, and you don’t waste the opportunity trying to have a flash of inspiration before time runs out.

Any easy-on-the budget art projects or supplies to recommend?
RY: My favorite things to make crafts with are things people generally throw away–teabag paper, bottlecaps, fabric scraps, bent bobby pins, bits of thread, pieces of colored paper, also cheap materials like twine and clay, kids crayons and markers, or things I can gather from nature, like driftwood, leaves, seeds, flowers, seashells, and feathers. I reuse cans and jars for desk organizers, and glass bottles as my favorite decoration.

As for drawing materials, though, if you want good results you have to use good materials. Kids definitely can tell the difference! Soft kneaded erasers are a good investment for older kids, they never run out of erasing power and don’t leave little eraser bits everywhere, but younger kids may squish them into things better left un-erasered.

If you’d like to try charcoal, I’d recommend vine charcoal, as it is very powdery but completely non-permanent, washes out of clothing and off of skin much more easily than charcoal pencils, and can be erased from paper with a rag, like chalk on a chalkboard.

Warehouse-type art supply stores are much cheaper than small fancier places like Aaron Brothers or Michael’s, and usually have a larger selection and a more knowledgeable staff. Dick Blick is my go-to in San Diego, and they have an online store too if you don’t mind waiting a few days for shipping. (Ed. note: Hey, I just ordered school supplies from them! What a deal.)

What’s next for your etsy shop?
RY: I’m working on brilliant new ideas for more princess illustrations; Rapunzel will be next, and I’m deciding how I want the characters to look. Soon I also hope to start some gender-neutral story illustrations of classic children’s literature like Peter Pan, maybe with my own materials. I may start printing notecards with my princess illustrations on them too, depending on interest.

I’m certainly open to new ideas, so if there are any requests or ideas for specific stories, please share them!

ME AGAIN: Thanks, Ryleigh!

You can find the Rumplestiltskin print and the Princess and the Pea print at Ryleigh’s etsy shop.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS: Prints are 9″x12″, numbered and signed by the artist. To enter to win the set of two, please leave a comment on this post, telling us what your favorite folk or fairy tale is. I’ll close comments Wednesday, July 22, at midnight Pacific time, and choose a winner at random. Make sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you win!

ETA: Comments are now closed. The random number generator chose comment #4, MJ!

I’m feeling whiny about the weather this week. It’s finally summery around here, no more June gloom. And I kind of hate it.

It’s hot. It’s sticky. Our house has no ventilation, no breeze, certainly no air conditioning. Our backyard has no shade, which means not only is there no escape from the heat out there, but I can’t even send the kids out to play (both because I’m trying not to sunburn them, and because they won’t go anyway). Yes, it’s milder than the last couple of summers, but this knowledge somehow does not result in me feeling much less cranky.

The idea of taking four children (two of whom are toddlers!) to a body of water with just one responsible adult (me!), frankly, terrifies me, and I think it will not happen any time soon. Especially as I still do not own a bathing suit. Though I did find new flip flops, thank goodness.

Anyhow. Whine, whine. One fun thing about summer is that we usually order new homeschool supplies, and we’ve been working on that for the last several days. I love picking books and supplies, thinking about what we want our days to look like, deciding what we need to make our ideas happen. Good stuff.

I think we’ve got it pretty much figured out, though of course as soon as we settled on an order list, Owen began extolling the virtues of a microscope. The microscope was not on our list. The microscope is not an insignificant purchase. We are taking the microscope request under advisement, no guarantees.

Some other things we will not be getting this time: giant insects encased in acrylic. How cool and terrifying are those? Also: seed-pot maker. I love this idea, but since we have no talent for growing seeds, nor do we take a newspaper, I’m thinking it’s probably not for us. At least not for now. (And no, we’re really not a Montessori homeschool, though those things do happen to come from a Montessori-supply place. I don’t actually know much about the Montessori method. In case you were wondering. Which you were not.)

I think I need to build a tent in the backyard. We could sit in it. I could read. Maybe this would make me less whiny. Or maybe not, but at least it would be different and shady. I will have to give this some thought.

There is not much parenting gear that I think is useful. Diapers are good, clothes are nice to have, swaddling blankets are a must. Slings and wraps, I like. But really, the list of necessities is short.

Let me make it slightly longer. New parenting necessity: infrared goggles. So that when someone calls out in the night, I could see 1) who yelled; 2) where they are now; 3) whether they’re awake and need putting to sleep, or are just dream-yelling and need to be tucked back in; 4) where their lovey/blankey/pillow/pajama/etc has disappeared to; and 5) whether, by some chance, their bed is covered in any sort of anything I don’t want to mention (preferably identified before I sit in whatever it is, even if it turns out to just be spilled water and not any kind of sickness).

All that, without turning on the lights.

The only drawback would be that you’d have to sleep with the goggles on, because trying to find them in the dark in the middle of the night would negate the convenience factor.

Still, I’m considering it.

Dear Child:

If you wake up ever-so-early in the morning and ask me to brush your hair because “it’s all in [your] face” and also “it’s tangly in the back”? I will have to assume that you were bodysnatched by aliens in the middle of the night. Because you never let me brush your hair ever, not without serious discussion and negotiation.

However. I will brush your hair. In the semi-dark. With my eyes closed. Because I’m going to have to do it sometime, and this can’t be any harder than trying to convince you to let me do it when the sun comes up, whenever the heck that may be.

Even if you are an alien, you still need brushed hair.

Now can I go back to sleep?*

Love,
The Mama

* Letter mentally composed at o’dark thirty in the morning, but not typed up until the evening. Because once the aliens/children are awake, they don’t slow down until bedtime.