Artsy children

There are a lot of things I really miss about my kids when they were younger. Being able to cuddle them in my arms. Them believing every tall tale I make up. Having a conversation with someone who can't say their Rs or Ls. Chocolate faces after chocolate ice cream.

Of course, there are some things I don't miss. Like being awakened every night at some ungodly hour for 9 months straight...or more.

There are some real advantages to having teen and pre-teen daughters. Laughing, a LOT, at the dinner table. Prevention, forceful vocal prevention, of me leaving the house dressed in any sort of fashion "don't." Insightful conversations about books and movies. The ability to leave at any time for a date with my sexy wife and not arrange baby sitting. (I really love that one.)

And, most recently brought to my attention: our girls can gather the supplies for, create on their own, and clean up the remnants of, their own arts and crafts projects.

Recently, whilst their mother and I were engaged in a room makeover for Emily, our three progeny took it upon themselves to pull out an unused art project they'd been meaning to do.They gathered the paints and brushes.They spread out the cheap vinyl table cloth to prevent messes from migrating to unintentional areas.They chose their color scheme and began to create.And, unknown to us, they created some colorful, festive snowflakes,took pictures of it all to prove it, and cleaned it all up before we even knew it had begun.

I'm loving this.

And, Karen and I got some uninterrupted home improvement project work time.

By the way, here's the end product of Emily's room makeover, including my first ever chair rail installation.We still need to put up some window treatment, but it's close.

While I do miss those wee little ones we had back in the 90s, I'm really grateful for the ones they grew into.They're all pretty fantastic.