Inner artist.

Anna’s favorite activity these days is coloring and painting.  Joe and I enjoy watching her creative side come out, and it makes us happy to see her so proud of her work.  She loves it when we scan in her artwork and “show it to our friends” (aka post it on Facebook) – it makes her feel special. 

I’m sure no one else really cares, but it makes her happy, and I’m a proud mama, so why not?

Here are her latest accomplishments.  The child colors better than me!  And yes, we do have more than one color for her, but her color of choice today was orange. Oh, and she also just learned how to write out her name. 



I picked up some water colors for her to use, and she created this beautiful piece.  I think this is frame worthy!


My plan is to scan in each piece of art and eventually print them all out on a canvas to hang.  I’ve seen it done on Pinterest, but I’m too lazy to post a link to it right now.  Just use your imagination. 

Do you do something similar with your children’s artwork?  How do you keep it all organized? 

It’s the devil.

Below is a short list of some of the people, places and things I often equate to the devil. 

• Anna when she’s teething.

• My cat Chloe when she’s puking on my carpet.

• The IRS.

• People who kick puppies.

• Target.

Most of these make sense to the average Joe.  Teething children, puking cats, the IRS, puppy kickers – well, we all know how devilish they can be.  We weep and gnash our teeth and pray that the Lord God Almighty will rescue us from these abominations.  So, where does Target come into play here?  Keep reading.

I’ll be completely candid and say that I hate shopping.  I hate crowds, I hate digging through endless racks of over-priced clothing, I hate spending money I don’t have on clothes I don’t need, and I hate the intense buyer’s remorse I have after I leave.  So, then will someone please explain to me why I can go into Target for a tube of toothpaste and walk out $100 poorer with bags full of scented candles and scrapbook paper and Scene It DVD games and throw pillows for a bed I don’t make and clothes for a child who could wear something new everyday and not wear the same thing? 

This is why I think Target is the devil.  They trick you with their bright lights and colorful displays.  The aisles and aisles of “must have”  items that entice you with their sheen.  The sales displays at the end of each aisle that make you scratch your head and ask yourself, “Self, is $4.99 REALLY a good deal for this lemon zester?”  Heck yes it is – throw it in the cart even though you have four at home already.  I lose all self-control.  I become a slave to Target.  I’m their pawn, they’ve hooked me, now I am theirs for eternity.  Target, I can’t quit you.

Random.

Joe is a child at heart. He truly is. For anyone who knows him, they will agree with me here. With that in mind, you should know that my dear husband has a new "get rich quick" scheme every week.

This week's money maker? Spice. Yes, spice.

He calls me a while ago and asks if I can make a website. After I told him no, he said he and his friend Shawn (if you remember, he was part of the duo known as Shish in my "more meat ma'am" blog) decided that they could start up a website that sells New Orleans spices all over the world. They both think they could earn a substantial amount of income from this idea. They probably could have if they'd been the first to think of it, but Tony Chacheres and Tobasco already have their own sites, so why would anyone go to joeandshawnspice.com when they can go straight to the manufacturer?

Get rich quick scheme #2...
A few months ago Joe wanted to invent a portable A/C that keeps your car cool all day. It would run off of solar power and essentially cool your car while it's parked in the sun. Great idea, just a little too late. After Joe told me about it, I saw an infomercial for that very thing.

Get rich quick scheme #3...
Before that, Joe and Shawn wanted to invent a coffee cup that had a temperature guage. So, if you know you like your coffee at a certain temperature, you didn't have to test it and either scald your tongue or freak out b/c it's too cold. This one has yet to make it off the drawing board.
If it's not about ways to make money, it's about ways to spend money. Joe watched an episode of Everest and decided he wanted to summit Mount Everest. Of course he'd need the $3,000 - $4,000 worth of gear to accomplish that.

A few weeks before that he wanted to be a super mountain biker. So, he goes out and spends an arm and a leg on a mountain bike and all of the gear that goes along with it, and what happens next? It ends up collecting dust and cobwebs in our messy garage (another project he started and never finished).

Now he wants to be a scuba diver. He and Shawn are planning on diving this summer, so Joe is about to get his license or whatever the hell he needs to dive (Shawn is already registered). So, there's another $$$ down the drain.

Shawn is so darn nice, and his wife is great, too. I always feel like I'm the spoil sport. I guess there has to be someone like that in a relationship otherwise we'd have massive amounts of debt and unused sports equipment for every known sport under the sun taking up huge amounts of space in our little garage.

So, for all the women out there who married men with the heart of a child, I feel your pain. Perhaps we should start some sort of support group or something. What do you think?