Changing seasons here...

 

This summer was beautiful.  There was an endless supply of sunshine and outdoor activities for us all.

 We spent many summer afternoons meeting Gabe for lunch at this water fountain.  

 

We took the bike, our favorite form of transportation (we found this bike trailer on craigslist for $20 in June! best $20 spent this year, I think....I wish I knew how many miles we've put on it already.)  

It is just a few blocks to the little downtown area here where Gabe worked at the Boys and Girls club. We met him there as often as we could and would eat our packed lunch of whatever we brought....ranging from less-traditional picnic fare like soup, spaghetti or pad thai, to the more normal sandwiches or bread and cheese and fruit... 

Some weeks we would be there every day.

It was awesome, to say the least...

Now that there is snow everywhere, we stay inside a little more often.... but we still find things to keep us all entertained.

 

The boys invaded our recycling box so they could transform into robots...

 

and of course, plenty of cardboard box forts.

Since I have just started this blog, we'll probably be reminiscing our eventful summer a lot, but I'll try to throw in our current doings as well.

Everyone informs us that a Boise winter is far superior to those we've experienced in Rexburg... I guess we'll find out!

One Canvas

          So- just for your information, the picture I decided to use for the header of this blog is the latest version of our continually changing painting.  It's this canvas I've been carrying around with me all through college, waiting for some awesome idea of something to paint....
          We decided to paint on it with Elijah and Henry every so often. 
          Because my boys love painting and could fill up a billion canvases, papers, walls, clothes... or anything you let them paint on...
          And because I want to have a place to display their fun times and experiments with art besides on our fridge... it gets a little crowded and messy after so long. Papers full of crayon or paint rain down all over when all you wanted was to get the orange juice out of the freezer...
          Therefore, this painting has been living on our wall in its various forms, ever changing.  I thought I would start taking pictures so I can remember the changes it's gone through.
          These are just the past few-- there were many incarnations before I started taking pictures.  By the time my boys are old, the paint on this canvas will be quite thick I guess.

 

          So, our method is basically two boys without shirts, paint and paintbrushes all over the place (good thing we're just using a classy old card table here.) and I just have them go at it, while I throw on random whatever I feel like throwing on there too. It's a group effort. 

          Very fun and spontaneous. 

          And if you have trouble with change, this is good therapy to get used to it... There are a few versions of our little painting that I've gotten attached to before, and it's always a little hard to get it down when the boys want to paint again...

          But that's life I guess.  Any time you get used to the way things are, something happens and you're not always sure you're ready for the change.  Sometimes you just want to pack away the paints and brushes and keep things the way they are... Because things might not look as good if you change them.  It's risky. 

         But who knows what wonderful thing could be next? 

         I think we're painting again today. I'll let you know what it ends up looking like.