A Day in the Life of My Little Brood: Nature Art Exploration

We are officially coming up on the end of summer weather here, with chilly rainy days in the forecast for the next couple of days to come. Part of me is really excited but another part is sad to be saying goodbye to the fun we've been having outside. There will be plenty to do in the cooler weather of course, but there is a lot to be said for bare feet and spontaneous messes easily cleaned up with a hose. So, we are living it up and making the most of it while it's still here...

When I was pregnant with Zoe, a work friend gave me three sterling silver acorns for luck (one for me, one for Nathan and one for Zoe). I'd never heard that acorns are supposed to bring luck and I was really touched by her thoughtfulness. I brought them to the hospital with me when I went into labor and Zoe's is in her baby book so she can hang onto it when she is older. When I was pregnant and just about due to have Owen, the memory came back to me as I noticed the lawn around our playground covered with acorns. I told Zoe that acorns are supposed to bring good luck, so we spent the weeks leading up to Owen's birth collecting, painting and admiring them around our house. We did the same thing last year of course and planned to do it again this year. So, the kids and I headed out the door with buckets in hand this morning to do so, and were a little disappointed to discover that most of the acorns have dried up or have been eaten by squirrels already. So, we ended up collecting whatever we thought looked interesting (a few broken acorns, rocks, sticks, leaves and pine cones) and brought our collection back to the house. I got out the paints and watched their imaginations run wild. They both came up with some really creative, new ideas and I was able to sit down and paint a little myself. It was a great morning...although I do feel a little unsettled that we didn't find any lucky acorns.....

The Hunt