girls, girls, girls,

this past weekend I had the privilege and thrill of taking care of my two nieces for the whole weekend.  unfortunately the weekend began with my mom being very sick and barely able to communicate, but I juggled it all this weekend!

after checking on mom friday afternoon we began our adventure with the girls.  the first task at hand was to create a sleeping sanctuary.  we needed blankets, clips, safety pins, fabric strips and a whole lot of imagination.

before (in our eating area)

and after with the tent top

we created a doorway with a mop handle across two chairs and fabric strips for the curtain

 and voila!  heaven!

 we worked on canvasses where I had them go wild with paint

and their finished pieces...

 with the leftover paint we created pages which were then made into books

we had one more canvas and decided to do a collaboration of fingerprints

 we had a break and sang "oh canada" with our fingers

 we made portrait pillows.

my oldest niece filled the back of her pillow with words.  awesome!

I had to run off as they sent mom to the hospital and while I was gone the girls went for a walk with their uncle.  I asked them to pick up some interesting items for another art project.  we used black and white paints and only the items they collected to make some marks.  it was a beautiful day and so we set up our studio on the porch.

 although the weekend was difficult because my mind was on my mom.  she is very, very sick.  she was not communicating and very dehydrated.  they ended up admitting her into the hospital and with medical intervention she has improved slightly, but is still struggling.  I have so many decisions to make regarding her care and feel very lost and helpless at times.  having the girls here this weekend was good therapy for me.  we created many art projects which is always healthy for me.  they made me laugh when I asked them to tell me stories about their twig and grass head.  I had a wonderful conversation with the oldest with regards to being a girl and how important it is to surround yourself with people who lift you up.  they are the brightest, most talented girls with so much love and patience.

this is the piece I made on the weekend.  a reminder for me that although times are rougher than rough I can still find moments filled with joy.