future artist

andrew's painting
grandpa's painting
last week, andrew was given carte blanche in nana day's art studio. he loved playing with the paints and loved the freedom from direction. he has art classes at school but, they are guided in order to teach them shapes and how by shape placement, you can draw anything. i thought his colors and brush strokes were beautiful. i love how free and wild everything turned out. this morning i walked down stairs and realized he may have been influenced by his grandpa's painting hanging in our living room. so with influences from both sides of his familly, i think andrew may have a budding artist in him after all.

genes

i often wonder where my kids come from, i wonder how they were put together, why andrew received one thing and georgia another. it's amazing to me how completely different they are, and yet they came from the same two people. i know, scientifically there is always an explanation but, there is still the missing explanation of exactly why.
i'm thinking about this today because i am surrounded by these small, strong personalities all day long. andrew is absent minded but dang smart. i feel he takes the repressed genes in both eric and i (i know of them through our siblings) and excels in science, math, and any type of learning, really. he is reading well passed a first grade level and he's only in preschool. granted, we have him in private school but, come on, you have it or you don't! he has always been so interested in learning, we would read books for hours when he was small and he always has a million questions about everything. he spoke in paragraphs shortly after he turned one and he hasn't stopped. he's usually one of the first in his class to pass off the milestones like recognizing the letters, blending sounds and reading the short books they provide and i have always been amazed by this. his teachers are always quick to comment on his love of science and math and what a bright student he is. his mind is like a locked box, once he sees or hears something, he doesn't forget. he remembers things that completely stump both eric and i. it's pretty funny, actually, because neither eric or i were strong students. we tend to think more abstractly and more visually.
this is where georgia comes in, her mind (so far) works so much more like mine. she loves to entertain herself whether it be by shoes or markers. she has been slower than andrew in using words, and walking and is pretty low key. (as long as it's her way) she is always rearranging everything and loves things that are pretty, colorful or that make music. although both of our children have shown great artistic talents, i feel georgia may embrace this more fully than andrew.
i love watching them grow into themselves. i love seeing andrew's quirky personality that is so much of his father's and i love seeing georgia opening up into a fun loving 19 th old.
so if you can explain to me why, i'd love to hear it, but i doubt i will be too satisfied. i am holding to the explanation of that's how our heavenly father made them.

signs of life

how do i know the marshall household is on the mend? well, this is what i witnessed last night as i was trying to get out the door to book club. she's baaaack!

what's your comfort?

mommy, i don't feel so good

georgia's favorite corner on her pink softandrew has loved his green blank so much it has holes even nana day can't fix!
the infamous paint, who is real, by the way, and has even been to hawaii

when i was younger i had a stuffed bunny rabbit i carried around everywhere. my "bunny" was my best friend, especially when i was sick. well, we've had a couple of very sick weeks. georgia had the flu and everything that comes with that title, and andrew had a cold, cough and fever. needless to say, it's been fun, staying at home, changing sheets in the wee hours of the morning, going on binki hunts at 3:30 am, and being sneezed on are all my most favorite things to do. did i happen to mention we've seen our dad for about 2 hours each day - at the most - this week? so, with all this sickness i noticed some similarities between myself and my children. i had "bunny" andrew has "paint" and "green blank," and georgia has "bink," and "pink soft." i get it. i understand completely, so, there has not been one trip out of the house without our comfort gear. i even tried to go to the grocery store but by the time i had made it the whole 5 minutes, my andrew was softly snoring in the back seat, head resting on "paint" and both covered by "green blank." it was so sweet i couldn't bear to wake him so, i backed out of the parking place and went home. dad brought the prescription home with him later that evening. there have been a few silver linings on this gray funk that has enveloped our home, knowing many friends have been at home with this same thing and they understand the plight i feel, having time to have a quick nap in the afternoon (fabulous, considering a full night's sleep is an enigma), and one thing i have really enjoyed this week, the fact that my georgia will let me cuddle and snuggle her. she is usually too busy to even let me hold her for a second, now she begs for me to hold her and rock her with her "bink" and "pink soft" in the white chair. i love cuddling with my babies, there's something so reassuring and fulfilling as a mom to be needed in a way that doesn't involve juice, food, diapers or toys being found. i think we all need our comforts from time to time, and even though my "bunny" still lives with me, i think my comfort is found with my babies! oh, the binki usually hides between the mattress and the wall, very tricky to find at 3:30 am.

ten little fingers, ten little toes

when my children came into this world i couldn't wait to count their fingers and their toes. the second i was able, i unwrapped them and counted, just to make sure everything was there. i know this is silly but some of my favorite parts on babies are little fingers and little toes. they come into this world innocent and fresh and pink and new and it has always amazed me at what trouble these little parts can get into when the owners learn how to use them. drawers are emptied, markers are found with lids off underneath amazing pieces of artwork, cupboards are ransacked, toys are scattered, bookshelves are emptied, closets are turned upside down, sisters are wrestled, purses are emptied, all within a time slot that it takes to pull together a haphazard dinner. so today, as i wade through a sea of toys, fill my drawers back up, try to make sense of the pile by my purse, pull brothers off of sisters, hide the markers and close my closet door, i am reminded of what a rich life i lead. and, how incredibly blessed i have been to have two sets of ten little fingers and ten little toes in my home.