Creativity Abounds

I was at the sink. The boys were at the table doing homework. Isaiah whispered to Elijah.
I told them to stop talking to Elijah so he could finish.
Isaiah said, "Mommy, how did you hear that. I was so quiet."
Me: "I have super sonic Mommy ears. Its my super power."
Isaiah: Mommy could hear an ant screaming for help.
Then he imitates an ant screaming, opening his mouth wide, teeny high pitch sound coming out just barely, then giggles contagiously.
Elijah chimes in: Mommy could hear the trees blowing in Africa.
Isaiah giggles some more.
What about Micah? Between his sore throat (he was home from school that day) and his usual focused, stoic attitude toward homework, he merely frowned at his brothers in protest of their frivolity. :) I love these boys.
My heart is full!

Bricks, rocks and boards? or boat?

Uncle Garth and Dillan, these pictures are for you. Does this look at all familiar? It should. How many hours of our childhoods were spent building things out of the scraps in the brick yard and the shop? The boys found a bunch of scrap wood and bricks behind our shed and have been busily building on what used to be our lawn for several days. The grass was dead long before they started, but I think it's lost all hope for recovery at this point. They reminded me of us.
This is Isaiah contemplating mass destruction while his brothers are gone. When it was finished Elijah insisted that it was a boat complete with motor, sail and seats.

Sunday Afternoon Fun

Just thought I'd share our little Sunday afternoon creativity this week. It continues to amaze me how their personalities shine through so vividly when we sit down to create something.

Elijah can't wait to start painting. He requests specific colors, paper, and paintbrushes, but once he gets all of the materials in front of him, he freezes. "Mommy, what should I make?" "Whatever you want buddy. It's your chance to just create something you like."

He decides on a thin red line of paint, looks at it with disappointment, and asks, "Mommy, can I have your paintbrush instead?" Apparently after looking at my painting he thinks that he can be more effective if he uses my brush.

"Sure, we can trade, " I say. He tries again. This time he makes some dots then sits back, again discouraged by the fact that his picture just won't mirror the complexities of his vivid imagination.

After painting contentedly for 5 more minutes or so, he makes up a story about his series of dots and lines and proudly announces that it is finished. I of course enthusiastically affirm his efforts and proudly hang his art on the fridge.

Isaiah comes in next. He prefers to sit on my lap while he paints and chooses a brush and color indiscriminately. Being 2, I think he really just prefers the textures and motions of painting. He loves to squish his chubby fingers into the splotches of paint on his paper, swirling them around. He too ends up with a series of swirls and lines and stays engaged about as long as Elijah did.

Micah joins the painting party last, but when it comes to art, the boy has stamina. Elijah and Isaiah had gone outside to play, so Micah sat alone at the table. I was unable to participate as fully WITH Micah as I did with Elijah and Isaiah since I was starting to make dinner, but he almost seemed to prefer it that way. I'd stop by the table between potato peeling and mixing to affirm his efforts and he barely acknowledged me prefering instead to focus on filling every square millimeter of the top of his page. He painted contentedly for as long as the other two boys combined.

Here is a picture of all three pieces of artwork on our fridge. See if you can guess who made what?