Friday, April 22, 2016

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day my dear friends. 
This is my favorite day of the entire year. Yes. I love it more then Christmas. 
Waking up, breathing in and being reminded that today is a day for drinking in beauty, for creating, for learning, for protecting ...should happen everyday. 
Earth day though - was designed for that purpose alone.  It's a simple day - not a lot of fuss, just a slow fulfilling beauty. I hope it was for you too. 
Here is what we have done so far ...

~ My two middle littles created friendship necklaces for each other, no help from me. They sat down with bowls of beads and each of them put the letters for the other's name on the string - and then... the most precious part ... they added a word. 
Trinity gave Tristan one that said "Tristan Kind."
Tristan gave one to Trinity that said "Trinity Love."
My heart melted just a bit. By the time these kids are grown, either my heart will be completely evaporated into the atmosphere or it'll be so big I'll have to tote it behind me in a buggy of sorts.



“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” —John Muir


~ We took a little walk and discovered dandelions ... we ate one. We had just been learning about all of the wonderful healing properties of the dandelion so I told the kids maybe tomorrow they could run out and harvest some, and I would wash them and throw a few flowers in their smoothies. Drinking flowers sounds like heaven to me. 
(I would never refer to these golden sunshine beauties as weeds.)


~ We've been eating a LOT of fruit and greens. I bought my first big box of bananas last week and am still waiting on most of them to get spotty. I kind of felt like the "real deal" walking out of Whole Foods with my 41 pounds of bananas. This morning we found some lovely organic pears on sale and also some avacado. There is something about fruit that makes me feel very very fulfilled. I'm not sure if it's the texture, the color, the variety ... or just the loads of natural sweetness I'm putting into my body - but it's a good thing. I know I've said this all before...


~ So I've been painting a bit - just playing around. I really know nothing about painting. I've never taken a class, looked at a color wheel...I use the cheapest products ... but I'm learning. I think more importantly ...I'm relaxing. I spent tons of time one day trying to follow along an online lesson and my work, well...it looked nothing like it was suppose to look. It was stressful. 
Stress is the opposite of creativity.
 Realizing this, I told myself  "self, why not just paint over it and start putting color down?It's your canvas - it will never go on display. It's not suppose to be perfect, it's suppose to be art." 
 Music was playing, the kids were in bed ... and when I finally looked at the clock I had been having fun for over three hours. It's still not finished but I enjoyed painting this little number probably the most out of anything I've done so far. I made it about me. It may be a little cheesy, or trippy...but I'm kind of both those things. 
If the painting fits and all...own it. 


~ I'm really enjoying "dot work"
~ Someday, maybe...I will stop painting trees. But for now, it's what I do.


~ We ate lunch outside today ... with the birds and the bees and the deer. I had these delicious grape tomatoes - aren't they pretty? Little antioxidant rubies ... i could string you on a necklace. 


~ Brady Bunches has been kind of in his own world the last couple of days but he did enjoy eating on the deck with me and he was the one to spot the deer. 


“The good man is the friend of all living things.” ~ Gandhi


~ We spent quite a while on the deck soaking in the rays (and yes, those are my legs, unfiltered. They don't get any darker then that.)
~ The breeze was amazing. 
~ We picked out a new nail polish color at Whole Foods (I care nothing for nail polish but my little kids love it ) so that we could paint our toenails the color of the Earth. 


~ Bug let me paint his this time and kept saying over and over "oh wow, this is really dry now. Wow, this is really blue fo eart day." He blesses my soul. There is nothing sweeter in the world then little feet. Finn's feet are the littlest around here and growing fast - I don't know what I'm going to do when I can't kiss their little toes anymore. 


"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature."
~ Anne Frank




"When I see birches bend to left and right...
I like to think some boy's been swinging them."
~ Robert Frost


~ The kids found this little ladybug climbing up their slide and from the commotion they were making, you would have thought they found gold. I wonder if this little miss felt like she had discovered the sun? 


~ Tristan found an ant friend and let him crawl all over his body for much longer then I would have comfortable with. Koala just loves the way they tickle him, as if it's their private game. 
Then, as if we weren't blessed enough .... the littles and I looked up and just in front of us, a dainty orange butterfly went floating by - first spotting of the season.
I tell my kids whenever they see a butterfly to remember that God is sending a message of love to them. I felt a huge heap of gratitude. 


~ We found eyes in the trees. 


The kids have been asking me for quite awhile if they could paint. The carefree mother would say "absolutely, let's all do that right now." I'm not this person. I wish I could be. I'm not. 
But I did give them a day that we would, went to the store and bought supplies....and then today, when I handed each of them a canvas and said "let's paint" ... I handed them the world. 
Anticipation can be a pretty helpful character builder. 


~ We painted outside beneath the trees, our feet deep in grass ... each kid picked what they wanted to paint.  Brady didn't join us but that was okay. I don't believe in pushing creativity - and the truth is, Little Love is very creative in his own way with movie making and right now, drawing jerseys with fabric markers and t shirts. I do miss his participation, but I also know that him being alone and processing is a big part of his life that doesn't need to be interrupted. 


~ Finn wanted to paint flowers and a bumble bee. He did all the blue background,  the orange flowers and stems  and the "bumble bee" (left)  all by himself. This was his first time painting and I'm pretty certain by his facial expression ...not the last.


~ Tristan did a great job on his Earth ... he is my galaxy boy through and through. He loves stars and moons and planets. He loves animals and plants and bugs. He loves apples - lots and lots of apples. He is compassion to the greatest degree. 


~ Trinity made a picture of a heart growing and blooming toward heaven ...
reminds me of her spirit. Just like my painting I could call "self portrait" , this little painting could be Trin's. She is love, always growing, always experimenting, her emotions swaying and changing like the colors on her canvas. In the end, standing tall, reaching for Light, and no matter what - letting love shine through. 

“One of my students told me that every time she learns the name of a plant, she feels as if she is meeting someone new. Giving a name to something is a way of knowing it.” 
― Richard LouvLast Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder




“Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually.” 

Blessings, 
Alyssa Spring

3 comments:

  1. What a beautiful post. Happy Earth Day!!!!

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  2. Your painting is beautiful! the kids and I have been having family drawing time lately, and I participate too-- it has been fun to let my creativity come through (even though I am not so good at drawing!)

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  3. Wonderful Earth Day celebration!! I love the paintings. Your children are quite talented!! Your painting and all of its colorful dots is wonderful!! Have a beautiful week!! xo

    ~ Wendy
    http://Crickleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

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