these creative girls

The other day, I handed L. a packet of craft sticks and then I went to take a nap.  There was a zoo of popsicle-creatures hanging on the livingroom walls when A. and I woke up an hour later.

this is a tiger, by A.

On another day, we found this book at the library:

and she is wasting no time.  She will learn to draw a dragon, dangit.

I feel like it's always art time at our house.  If they are not at school or in the bathtub, there is almost never a moment when at least one of the kids isn't creating some masterpiece.  As long as there are markers and paper available, they provide the inspiration, and we have to forcibly separate them from their crayons and coloring books at mealtimes.

Sometimes the kids take breaks from crafts and do experiments or a baking project.  They like to pick up books, too, and I get a run-down on the most recently fascinating facts about birds or planets (or whatever) that they have gleaned from reading the Children's Encyclopedia.  (They usually like to recite their report over breakfast or while I'm brushing my teeth after stumbling out of bed.  Like I said: time=not wasted.)

But then, back to crafting and coloring.  here are the sewn books from about a month ago (photos by A.):

A combination of printouts, bits of lace and some paper folded in half, held together with a few stitches, and...voila!

(the Great American Novel, ok ladies?  I expect nothing less.)

she's getting good, right?

And then there was the traumatic day when L. realized she did not have all the supplies on-hand for her project of choice.  But after scavenging around the house and brainstorming for ideas in a panic (for oh, three harrowing minutes), she came up with a plan.  She held up paints, scissors and an empty milk jug and announced that it would be Frankenstein.  I didn't really catch the vision until I beheld the final result:

not bad, eh?

Last Saturday, L. woke up early.  By 6:30am she was working on her entry into the pumpkin competition:

she reasoned that since she is an animal lover, there was no point in NOT decorating the pumpkin with animals.  Here we have a couple of birds, a shark, a dragon and a snake wrapped around them all.

When they are not doing schoolwork, the kids will either quiz (then grade) each other, or find some other paper-and-pen project to do.

These photos were taken about 10 minutes after getting home from school:

Sometimes, it all makes me just want to go curl up and take a nap.  I just can't keep up with it all. Thankfully, I have at least one child after my own lazy heart.  A. keeps me company during naptime and she'll even crawl under the covers with me, mid-afternoon, just to exchange back or head rubs.  I couldn't possibly keep up with L. without those little breathers.

But don't get me wrong, A. has plenty of creative motivation herself.  It's just that she is also fine with her world just the way it is.  This evening she came to me with an announcement: "There are three things that rock: Kindergarten, kids and parents."  Yup, that's A. allright. 

Meanwhile, I look forward to L.'s future creations.  Who knows, with her love of snow, it could be the next snow dragon sculpture sensation!