Sometimes "Life" Comes Before Art

I've been a little quiet out here in Blogland.  I haven't been spending much time on art-making--not even pages in my art journal.  But my life and mind have been busy nonetheless.

I am reading my nature books, and spending a lot more energy noticing the beauty of the natural world...even in the midst of the barrenness of wintertime.

I have also started a new project with my daughters:  Each day, we read a Bible story from their Read and Learn Bible and do a craft or activity along with it.  I am not making the activities up from scratch; I have some great resources to draw from, including Cindy Jackson's Bible Activities, and Kathryn Nider Wolf's Bible Arts & Crafts. 

We had such a neat time with this today.  We tied together two little plastic bowls with yarn, and tucked in a napkin and a toy:  baby Moses in his river basket! 

I laid down blue painter's tape on the rug to create the Nile River, and the girls continued to act out the story long after I had put their Bible away. 

When else would you hear your little girls running around the family room, saying, "You're Jochabed, and I'm Miriam...here, let's go play in the Nile River in Egypt!"  That alone showed me they had learned a lot today.

Here, I asked them to show off the rainbows they made from paper plates (along with cotton ball clouds) the other day after we read about God's promise after the floods receded and Noah's Ark returned to dry land:

It is so gratifying to hear the girls ask for their Bible story and activity every day, and to talk about some aspect of the story over the course of the day.  It is a fun and natural way to build some Biblical literacy and help us to talk about our religious beliefs daily. 

How else have I spent my time that could possibly take me away from my "arting"?  My siblings-in-law have been here visiting from California, so we have spent time together at Longwood Garden and enjoying meals and visits together.  I've joined a health club, and had my first meeting with a personal trainer to feel less intimidated by all those fitness machines (though all I really want to do is run around the track a couple times a week).  I've gone to my Bible study, as well as a Girls' Night Out with some other moms.  I took Katy to an audiologist to determine if she has any hearing problems (which she doesn't; just learning to tune out her mom well before the teenage years...lol!). 

So that accounts for the past five days, which have been busy, fun, and interesting, but sadly "art-free."  I haven't been feeling guilty though, because it has been time so well-spent. 

I'm just now getting that "need to get back in the game" feeling, though, so I think I'll be headed toward my art supplies very soon.  I'll let you know how it goes!