We've begun the week getting our hands dirty, which is always a good beginning to anything I think. Isia's been asking for glitter a lot these days.  So I am trying- despite visions of glitter-covered floors and walls and children- to incorporate it into our creating more. As I shared here, I'm always looking for new ways to contain glitter in this container or that- but I never thought of containing it within paint. I was pleasantly surprised by how non-messy this activity really was! For glitter that is. (wink)

We began with puddles of finger paint on finger paint paper* (Melissa & Doug 4106 Finger Paint Paper Pad- 12 in.x18 in. (Google Affiliate Ad)). Then we added glitter to the puddles...

...and more glitter. The paint captured the glitter really well, and together they created a great texture to work with. As Isia kept painting with it, some of the glitter moved below the painting surface and took on the color of the paint. It was a beautiful experiment!

And the nicest surprise was, as it dried, the glitter stayed put in the paint. Very minimal flaking- even when we cut through the painted area. And just a little sweeping took care of the extra glitter. Of course there has been a stray piece here or there, but isn't sparkly art worth it? A happy little girl certainly is!

Our dear friends Patty and Jason asked me to come out and take picture of their family. We compared our calendars, picked a Saturday afternoon and we were all set- until Billy came down with the tummy flu that morning. Then we picked another Saturday afternoon and we were all set again- until Cory's car broke down on me and caught on fire under the hood a couple miles from their house. I wasn't hurt and, while the car is totaled, nothing else was damaged. So we tried, fingers crossed, for one more Saturday. And sometimes three time's a charm...

This time Jason wasn't able to be with us, but I was able to capture the rest of the family!

I aim for twenty to thirty keepers after a photo shoot. After this one, between us, I ended up editing over a hundred! I just had the hardest time cutting any of them out. 

Especially the ones of their dogs, who are so sweet and very loved. How can you ever have enough pictures of animals or children? And when they're together... it's impossible to just pick one or two. 

And it was so hard to not include all of them to show you here! But here are the highlights. Seriously, children and animals... they get me every time. 

Wishing you a wonderful rest of your weekend!

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember." 

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(Sweet friends from a recent photo shoot. I'll share more favorites from it tomorrow!)

We've been enjoying a warm spell this week with a resulting flurry of zoo trips, picnics and everything else that we won't be able to do for much longer. I used to have a hard time with Fall. While I loved the Fall foliage, but I dreaded the cold feet that lay ahead. I feel better about the changing weather this year. Already our home has begun to beat in the rhythm of colder days. More baking, more layers, and less transitions since we don't need to be anywhere except where we are. And as for those cold feet, that's why knitting was created- right? (wink) As our days turn colder I look forward to even more table time with Isia, who's been practicing her letters in a number of ways these days. 

We've been dotting them with our bingo markers. There are printables online for dot-a-dot sheets, but I just create my own by drawing circles for the letter on copy paper. They're faster, less ink, and don't require so much time to plan ahead! 

I also create my own tracing sheets too with stamping markers. You can use these with a dry erase marker (like our dry erase books, here) for multiple uses or a single time. Ours usually start out in our dry erase book, then Isia gets to trace them with a marker "one last time" at the end of the week. 

(before)

(in progress, light grey over dark green)

(after)

Today I'm...

...writing this at 5 in the morning.

...wishing I had a less active mind and a more sleepy body. 

...enjoying my pot of tea and homemade pumpkin muffin.

...happy that I doubled the recipe. (Hooray for freezer muffins!)

...anticipating a furniture delivery for the room I've been re-doing.

...thrilled that I was able to order it from IKEA and didn't need to talk my husband into a three hour round trip just to buy a TV cabinet.

...thinking the three hour round trip to IKEA would be worth it anyways (wink).

...reveling in the new light grey and all the extra light it attracts to the room. 

...looking forward to touching up the ceiling once more before I begin sewing cushions. 

...wondering if I should start getting up early more often? Is 5am too early to start sewing? Hmm...

Wishing you a great start to your day!

Do you own a set of scarves yet? I contemplated them for a few months before buying them. I would stalk them on Etsy, comparing prices and always talking myself out of them. "Surely I can just make them," I kept thinking. But then I considered all the different colors of dye I'd have to purchase in order to make just one rainbow set. And I cast a few weary glances at my "in progress" pile on my desk- and the even larger list in the back of my mind. Finally I decided it would be worth it just support an artisan and buy them, especially if I wanted the kiddos to have them within the next 2...5...10 years (wink). And I'm happy I did because we play with them all the time. This is Billy's favorite way to play with them right now...

Now he has a wipes container that he's allowed to empty "all by himself". And I have one entertained baby who's having fun while continuing to develop all those wonderful gross motor skills.