rainy day craftiness

We've been getting a lot of rain these days. A whole lot. And the boys and I have been house bound, which has resulted in me trying to clean, and the boys undoing my cleanliness, and me getting distracted in the middle of a cleaning/organizing project and leaving the house all the messier.

So, it was time for crafts.

I am a person who enjoys a good craft. As long as it doesn't involve raffia, overly cute drawings, or the Footprints poem, which is where I draw the line. But, I haven't done too many (read: ANY) crafts with the boys, because I was too scared. And, I think, justifiable so. The boys have a tendency to throw objects without warning, taste things to check if the taste like chocolate, and to run off, dragging their hands along the walls, to go and get one of their toys. Paint, glue, and glitter don't seem to mesh well with these behaviors.

And yet, in spite of this, I decided it was time to bite the bullet, temporarily forget about the several cleaning operations I had stopped around the house, and break out the paints. Mostly, because I want to be cool like my fellow mother's (here's lookin' at you Jodie).

So here goes. Operation SpyGlass has commenced!

Here's what we started with. The long tube is from the Ikea rug the boys got for Christmas. Of course I saved it. Sturdy tubes are hard to come by.

Sam, painting the inside of the tube. Ben, touching the sponge brush.

Shenanigans.

Ben's painty hands.

Sam: "Ah, yes. Genius! I can just roll the paint onto my tummy."

Ben: "I prefer the hand application myself. I think it keeps me in touch with my roots."

Sam, taking the spyglass for a test drive.

Sam: "HahaheeheehohoHahaheehahohee. I love life."

Around this point I decided that enough paint had been flung in the general direction of the tubes, and we headed to the tub.

After the bath we added stickers to our masterpieces.

And here are the finished pieces.

Lessons we can take away from this:

• Two sheets of newspaper? Are you serious?
  
• Sponge brushes and toddlers don't mix (*Reminder: Buy new sponge brush)
• Don't do your own project. And especially don't expect to do it well.
  
• Keep the water away from the toddlers.
• I mean, honestly! Two sheets?! What was I thinking?
• Turn on the music before you have paint on your hands.
• Make sure you have a brush for each member of the craft group.
  
• This may be a time to invest in some paper towels.
• Also, some cheap finger paints.
  
• Yes, they will need a bath. Definitely.