I have a fishy feeling about you

I love Valentine's Day! Mainly because I love candy (I'm like Will Ferrell in Elf). I try to think of cute valentine's day card ideas that go along with the kind of candy that I most feel like eating at the grocery store. This year: swedish fish.

The kids covered some paper in watercolor, on which I then printed

"I have a fishy feeling about you."

(This is a good, non-committal valentine's day message, which is a definite requirement when a ten year old boy is in any way involved.)

Cut the paper into little card sizes, then the kids stuck them in envelopes

and filled them with candy.

Delicious.

Do you remember all of the things your parents put on your walls, growing up? I can remember pretty much exactly what was on our living room walls, in the kitchen, my room, and even in the study bathroom (an old print of Mary Cassatt's Girl in a Straw Hat, green frame). I really care about what I put on our home's walls, so that our kids are surrounded by thoughtful beauty and images of things that are meaningful to us as a family. As soon as we have downstairs walls again (eight weeks to go!) I'll hang this picture of the Oakland LDS Temple I recently painted, a building that has personal meaning for us as a symbol of our religion and of the good people we hope to become through it.

What are your favorite pictures in your houses now? What did you love on your walls when you were little (besides Scott Baio? :) )

War and Peace part 2

I must admit that War and Peace is not coming along as fast as I had hoped.

Part of this is due to the surprise remodeling event of our kitchen and dining room (which is going to take a really long time to fix, I have now accepted). But more of it is because I lost the book under the couch for awhile. It happens. Especially around here. A lot.

Anyway, I found it and I just have to say: (*spoiler alert, if you are not already past page 300) Pierre! Seriously? I mean, come on. You had to know that it was a really bad idea to marry a girl who you didn't even really propose to, who you knew was as dumb as a doornail, who you also kind of knew was getting it on with her brother. I thought it was funny when Pierre did the bear thing with the policeman, but now I am seriously wondering about this guy.

Prince Andrey: will you reconcile with your wife with her fuzzy lip?! Right now he is rushing into the house as she is in the throes of childbirth. I have a bad feeling about what is probably about to happen. But way to go Princess Marya, to not agree to marry the creepy brother. You could teach Pierre a thing or two (perhaps I have that to look forward to in the next 1000 pages? hopefully!). ...

Is anyone out there still reading? And what are you thinking?

Winter Landscapes

We don't get snow in our part of California, but I love looking at winter landscapes in January. Two favorites are Monet's Magpie, and John Henry Twachtman's american take, Winter Harmony (above). (Isn't this painting so peaceful? It totally reminds me of that muffled silence you feel walking in the woods in the snow. Beautiful.)

On this note we did a fun lesson in my son's class last Friday - the ubiquitous winter birch tree watercolor lesson. There are many variations of this concept online and I went with Patty's version (I think she is so creative, and her lessons always seem to work out really well).

Isn't this fourth grade landscape (below) spectacular? The second graders produced equally lovely paintings. Throwing salt on wet watercolor work was especially exciting for the kids (and me). This would be super easy for any parent to do at home, as well.

(By the way, I totally recommend using liquid watercolors rather than the cheap-o ones in the pan. The colors are so much more vivid and the kids' paintings come out beautifully every single time. It is well worth the trouble to track them down if you do any amount of art with your kids at all. Here's where we get ours, and keep in mind that a little goes a looong way. I use them pretty much weekly in classes of 30 kids and am only half way through each container of color. That's a lot of paintings! :) )

mom brain

I think I hear a comment almost daily from one of my playground mom friends about her frustration about forgetting things. Or it might be me making this comment. Sometimes I feel like my brain has become a slosh pit. I try to read, memorize new words, spend my few seconds of free time doing productive activities (like reading War and Peace; thank you Lynne for persuading me to take on this wordy hecatomb!) But to no avail, the slosh pit, gets sloshier, the details of yesterday fade and fade and fade until last week remains a blur. After watching this amazing 60 minutes episode I thought, something must be done. I cannot go on like this any longer. My brain needs help. Thus my new year's resolution to write in my little sketchbook/journal every day this year. One short little blurb or one little sketch to sum up each day. Hopefully this will help me give form to my days and nights, delineate details that might otherwise fade into oblivion.

...while I was reading last week

...we had a MAJOR water issue in our kitchen, which has translated into the tearing out of our hardwood floors and bookcase in the dining room, and who knows what to come in the next few days in our poor little kitchen. So this week amidst the chaos of industrial-strength fans, books on every spare surface, and the awful smell of mildew, I am dreaming of peaceful and uncluttered kitchens.

Sigh. This picture is so beautiful to me.

(I sadly have no idea where it is from, I just found it in a google kitchen photo gallery. I wish I could credit it appropriately.)

(these two pictures from Sunset magazine)

What elements do you think are most important in kitchens? I like open shelves where you can display your favorite dishes and pretty bottles, and farmhouse sinks. Floors are tricky, I think. I love wood, but especially after seeing what water in the wrong place can do, I wonder if that is still my kitchen dream. What do you think is beautiful and timeless (and not over the top expensive, like reclaimed brick?)

War and Peace part 1

(awesome photoshopping courtesy of Melissa)

How is your reading coming along, small faithful group of War and Peace readers? I have to say that I am (unexpectedly) thoroughly entertained so far. I only just finished part one, and my observation is that Tolstoy is a master of describing social awkwardness. As one who is prone to be occasionally socially awkward myself, I find these passages not only instructive but also funny.

Also, don't you love (SPOILER ALERT) how Pierre tied a bear to the back of a police officer and threw him in the river?! What's up with that? That seems like really an excessive degree of drunken revelry going on there. Good thing he's a count now, hopefully that will sober him up a little bit to his duties as a responsible citizen. I love Pierre.

Thoughts? Feelings? Criticism?

beautiful

Design Mom posted the most beautiful photographs by artist Don Freeman the other day, which led me to his site. These pictures make me feel collect-y. In a good way.

Blue Willow

"Blue Willow" is an animated short film made by New Zealand filmaker Veialu Aila-Unsworth, based on the old chinese fairy tale of Blue Willow. See the beautiful trailer here... and please tell me if you have any idea how I can see the whole film.

Doesn't it look lovely?

I found it when researching for an art lesson about blue willow ware, which was incidentally really fun to do in fourth grade last week. Go here for the original lesson, and if you'd like a link to the slideshow used to present the story to the kids, go here.

Read with me...January book

Happy New Year!

I love starting out fresh. Last January I decided not to make any resolutions but vaguely proclaimed my intent to be more wholesome in my lifestyle. This was a nice idea but the only concrete thing I had to show for it at the end of 2010 was the production/consumption of lots of loaves of homemade bread. Fragrant and delicious, yes, but this year I admit I want to achieve something more dramatic and less caloric. So I decided that each month I'm going to tackle a classic book that's always intimidated me. Want to join? How exciting would it be to look back this December and have read twelve amazing, hard books?! I think that would be something to write home about.

my January book is...

(see below. look, I even summarized for you the wikipedia article about it, if you are like me and knew NOTHING about this book. You might want to click on it to make it bigger if you want to read it)

(is there a good way to discuss a book in a blog? I would love to have some kind of discussion at the end of the month, if any one else out there wants to be moral support for me and participate. Ideas? I've never seen a book group on a blog before. I must investigate but if you know how to do it, please share)