A Few of My Favorite Things

 I did this painting over the last couple days.  There wasn't any "story" behind it; I just chose a few images I liked and went from there.  As I was working, I kept thinking of the song, "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things" from "The Sound of Music" (one of my favorite movies, by the way!), thus the title of this post.

 I tried out some fluorescent pink paint to add a pop of color.  I think I like it!

 The little word in the middle is "echoes".  We often call Avery a little echo, because she mimics everything the boys say.  And I guess I'd like her to be a little echo of me as well, and like these same things that I like!

 However, our little echo isn't feeling so well these days.  She is spending the day cuddled in front of "My Little Pony" and "Dora" while she finishes up a cold...

It also explains why I was able to work on a painting.  Kimla asked me in the comments last week how I find time to do artwork, so I thought I'd take a minute and answer here, since other mommies out there may be wondering, too.

Over the years, my schedule has changed around, depending on what age my kids are.  In the past, when they were all preschool-aged and younger, I was very strict about naptime/quiet-time.  They were all required to take a nap in the afternoon, and even if they didn't actually nap, they still needed to stay in their rooms and play or read quietly.  During that time, I considered it "me" time.  I didn't clean or do chores- I did what I wanted to do.  Honestly, most days it meant catching up on reality TV on my DVR (shhh, don't tell anyone!), but some days I would do art.

Now that Riley is in kindergarten, my schedule has changed.  I pick Noah up from school at 1:00 and Riley at 3:00.  Both boys really are too old for naps now, and I feel bad making them go in their rooms when they are gone for most of the day as it is.  So my "me" time has changed to Tuesday and Thursday mornings, when Avery goes to preschool.  Sometimes I choose to go thrifting on those days, and sometimes I choose to do art on those days.  Yesterday (Tuesday), Avery stayed home sick, but as you see above, she really just wanted to rest and watch TV, so I let her do that while I painted in the next room.

So, as you can see, I always make sure I've got some "me" time worked into my schedule.  As a rule, I tend to do things like cleaning while I'm taking care of the kids.  They don't need my undivided attention while we're home, so I'd rather do cleaning while they're around vs. do it during my free time.  I'm actually a pretty selfish person (ha ha!), so I'm very protective of anything eating into that time!!

I hope that helps, Kimla, or anyone else who wondered the same thing!