I think...

that a "good day" should really include a little of this:

The painters' workshop

 We bought The Children's Book of Art and The Usborne Art Treasury. I'm embarrassed to say how long it's been since we've opened either one. The Art Treasury book has actual projects in it--so you read about an artist and then do a project in the same style. I know I've looked at it a few times, but I've never actually done one. I know, I know.

But that all changed today. The kids actually stayed in different rooms for quiet time (only coming out six or seven times), Emma took a good nap, and the stars all aligned so that I could paint with the older ones. We read the quick biographies about Vincent Van Gogh, looked at the project, and...actually did it!

Here are the results:

Harry's before he painted the blue sky in.

Sam's. The red thing in the middle is a bird.

Mine. I know, I'm shameless.

Annika's. The large pink thing in the middle? A tree.

Emma's. She woke up as we were finishing and decided to paint too.

So, I don't know that we can do this weekly. But I will definitely try harder, it was a lot of fun. It's kind of nice now that most of the kids are past the "let's dump paint everywhere just to see what will happen" stage.

And I liked hearing that I'm the "greatest artist in the world." All the incentive I need!