coloring with joy

Now that Asher is a full-fledged toddler we have been having more fun with art projects!  He is starting to love coloring with crayons.

At first I gave him some old crayons I had around the house to draw with, but they were the traditional skinny kind and he just couldn't get the color dark enough with his light touch.  He got frustrated by the lack of color and didn't find the whole process very satisfying - can't say that I blame him.

Saddened by the thought of a little guy who doesn't like to color, I splurged at Target and got him a brand spankin' new 8 pack of LARGE crayons for little hands.  Perfecto!

Now he loves coloring!

We often draw in the afternoons and/or as a distraction while Mom gets lunch ready.

The project that we made was inspired by one of my favorite tv families - the Duggars!  Do you know the Duggars?  They're the family with 19 kids who have a reality show on TLC.  They definitely have some philosophies about life that don't jive with me {no birth control? um, no thanks!}  However, if you can look past some of those things I find a few of their parenting ideologies to be really inspiring.

One thing I've heard them say is that they try to encourage their children 10x more often than they correct them.  That's really hard to do!  I've tried to do this with Asher and it's amazing to see how much he lights up when I get excited about something good that he does.  Praise is so powerful!  It's even more powerful when you can do it in front of others.  Children soak up their parent's love and praise - let's shower them with it!

Another saying the Duggars repeat often is about keeping JOY as their family priority.

Drew and I would love for our family to embrace this idea!  All too often we're selfish people, only thinking of ourselves.  By keeping Jesus first, then thinking about others needs before we do what we want, we can love each other better.

Sure, we won't always do this perfectly, but I'm hoping that by having a reminder right there on the fridge our chances might be a little better.  We'll see!

One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:  “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’     Matthew 22:35-39