For Such a Time as This: 10/19/08

When I taught kindergarten, my favorite thing to do with my kids in the fall was to PAINT PUMPKINS! Not actual pumpkins, but pictures of pumpkins. It was SOOOO much fun, and then we would put them up on the bulletin board for everyone to see. I LOVED it!

"what a great idea!" I thought this morning, at the idea of painting pumpkins with my own children. I went on the search for supplies right away. I of course, found that I was out of orange paint, so the day started with me mixing red and yellow paint together. "No, that's too red", "No, Mommy it needs a little more yellow" Ruthie would say until we finally had the Perfect shade of orange for our pumpkins.

I stripped the girls down, because, let's face it-we're talking about RUTHIE. And then, we were ready. Why we didn't do this project OUTSIDE, I have NO idea, but at the kitchen table we sat. Our pumpkin papers, our paint, and two excited little girls...

The Beginning

It was so nice...we were talking about fall, the girls were painting their pumpkins with their "two finger" paint brushes, just how Mommy taught them...

Show Mommy your orange hands!!

The Mess

Ruthie soon realized how "cool" the orange paint looked when you made it cover your whole hand (as opposed to the "two finger" paint brush).

Sophie was really struggling with the whole mess thing...she kept wiping her hands and just couldn't get them clean enough...She did not get that from her sister!

The Disaster

(you knew it was coming!)

I was helping Sophie when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ruthie....what was she

doing?? Is she painting her stomach??

"Ruthie!" I say, in my firmest Mommy voice, as I take Sophie's pumpkin over to the counter to dry, "do not get the paint on your stomach."

When it took her too long to answer me, I turn around to see...

"It's just a little, Mommy...I didn't mean to!" She says, and I'm believing her until, suddenly I notice...

HER BACK!!!

"Ruthie!" I say again, pulling out my Mommy tone, "This is NOT funny....but stay right there and let me get a picture!!" Needless to say, it's hard to convince a four year old that you are serious about it not being funny when you are snapping pictures like a mad woman....

"It is funny, Mommy! You're laughing!! She says, "It is funny to paint on you!"

I turn, to get a picture of Sophie, still trying to clean her hands, by the way....

And when I turn back around....

The Clean-up (if you can call it that!!)

Ruthie washing her hands in the bathroom...and the front of the cabinet when she was done washing her hands!!...can we actually call this cleaning up??