Family fun at the DMA

Today was one of those days I hope my girls remember when they are grown. It was a fun day that we spent together as a family, doing stuff that each of us enjoyed. That doesn't happen often--that we ALL have fun doing the same thing.

We went to the Dallas Museum of Art. The girls were given paper and pencils to draw in the African gallery. As a family, we all did self-portraits. Actually, Brian and I drew each other instead of ourselves. It was fun to just sit and create--knowing that our sketches looked very little like each other. Caroline was entirely free with hers--no cares on what anyone thought. Hope was a bit more concerned about being perfect, but after she saw me and Brian's, she loosened up a bit. I still think my drawing of Brian looks like it should be on a Wanted poster (he just thinks I gave him too much hair).

After looking at some of the paintings, we went back to pick up our sketches and sat down at the "materials bar" where we grabbed random materials and created stuff. I loved that there were no scissors--we had to tear our paper and cardboard. There was also a place for them to do rubbings. There's something very freeing about rubbing crayons over different surfaces

All in all, it was a peaceful day. Don't get me wrong--we still had arguments over when to eat and what we were going to do next, but they didn't make up the majority of the day.

I always forget how much I enjoy creating. I don't allow myself to do much of that these days. There's already enough of a mess to clean up that I just don't want to drag out any more to do. Plus, I feel guilty when I'm doing stuff that looks silly when there are piles of dishes and laundry to be washed--not to mention sheets on the beds that have been there for almost 2 weeks.

What I was reminded of today was that art is good for the soul--whether creating it or just looking at it. It makes me reflect on the uniqueness of everything around me. The verse "Your works are wonderful. That I know full well." kept running through my head as I was sitting at the table doing a rubbing over a tile with nails on it. Pretty silly stuff, but it restored my spirit and gave me a bigger sense of who I am and how I was created.

Another thing it did for me, was to remind me of how creative my husband is. I often forget how good he is at making something out of nothing. In the busy-ness of life when we often don't look at each other but for a few seconds at a time, I miss the little things. I couldn't get Brian's eyes right when drawing them on my paper--they were so expressive--even when he was concentrating. There's nothing like staring at him for 30 minutes to remind me of how much I love those eyes and want to see them smile.

For my girls, I hope they remember the way their mom and dad laughed at each other's pictures and didn't get offended at how awful they were. I hope they remember the teamwork we had when someone needed help holding an item to be taped or tied or hole-punched. I hope they remember the joy of being together without just sitting. I hope they remember how awesome it felt to see a bunch of random materials and use their imaginations to create something from a pile of scraps. I hope they remember that they, themselves, are works of art.

We didn't have any great conversations today. We didn't have any A-ha moments. What we did have was a day of enjoying each other. But I believe that days like today will lead to the great conversations and the a-ha moments.