chalk&slate

I look at artwork that I did even just a few months ago and I think of all the things that I would do differently.

Well, here's a medium I don't usually use. It is admittedly a departure.

What better way to draw attention to a poster displayed at an event booth than to include original artwork?

Constant entertainment is a disservice to our children. Teaching a child to be still, even for a short while, is a great gift.

I use the smaller card format for collages. It lends well to organizing themes, and sure does make it easier if I spill paint on one.

It is difficult to keep in mind, or sometimes to even believe, that art expression is more about the process than the product.

To no longer be awakened at the crack of dawn on Easter morning by two exuberant little children is both a good thing and a bad thing.

My son's basketball team is quickly proving themselves to be the worst in the league.

My future daughter-in-law is one lucky girl.

This day has finally come. My daughter has finally started school. The little voice in my head keeps saying, "You failed."

I have always been fascinated with how the mind works. I have also been curious about the concept of trauma stored at the cellular level.

My ten-year-old comes into the room and plunks on the bed. After a heavy sigh, he says, "My insides feel lonely."

As he often does, my ten-year-old son asked that I leave his light on low as he climbed into bed.

I sit and write this letter to my beautiful daughter on her last official day of homeschooling.

Dear Abby, Why do I spend time with people I hardly know, and let time pass without hailing those I love the most? Stymied in the Southwest

I remember asking my mother a question when I was still in awe of my new baby daughter, "Mom, did you love me as much as I love my baby?"

Every time my husband goes on work travel, he packs the kitchen elves. I keep telling him to leave them here when he travels.

There was a time when my children provided me with all sorts of humorous fodder to fold into a story that grandparents would find amusing.

I feel like a mother approaching Kindergarten with her firstborn. Only this time we stare down the barrel of junior high.