friday nights are for family

I don't know about you guys, but by the time Friday night rolls around, we are all pretty tuckered out from the busy week. I love to have lazy and low-key Friday nights. If the kids want to do sleepovers-- we save it for Saturday. If they want to have a friend over to hang out-- we save it for Saturday. We save it all for Saturday! Friday nights are about our family of four!

This week we especially needed this down-time as we were all recovering from 2 out of 2 of our children being sick! Yes, it was one of THOSE weeks. Everyone is feeling much better now. Thank goodness.

What do you do on a snowy, icy, cold January Friday night? Last night we made Chicago style hotdogs and mac n cheese. We stoked the fire as the snow kept falling! There wasn't really anything on TV, so Chris decided it was time to get creative.

We recently set up a corner of our basement with an art/drafting desk, two easels, and plenty of supplies that the artistic mind needs to get creative!

Last night became "Art time with Daddy" night! Chris started the first painting he has worked on in over 2 years! It has been way too long. His artwork had been his life and passion for most of his life. Life circumstances over the last 2 years have forced him to put it on the back burner, so it made me very happy to see him back in front of the canvas.

Karsen was so excited to have her own easel set up for her to create. You can see the subject matter that she chose to paint in the background. A pretty blue butterfly, of course. 

Halfway through the process she allowed me to take this picture (after she adorned her "smock shirt"), but she did not want me to take anymore pictures until she was done with the painting. She looks serious, just like her Daddy does when he paints.

Dylan hunkered down on his futon on the other side of the basement and decided to go with a pencil sketch. Wanna guess what he drew?  He started a scene of comic characters that look like the cast of Napoleon Dynamite (LOL one of his fave movies),  but then he decided to draw.....

 Davey Jones! From Pirates of the Carribean. I don't know about you, but I love this! I think it is great, and my favorite part has to be the key on the end of one of his many tentacles.  I can see he got some of his father's artistic talent. 

 Davey Jones (google image)

I think Dylan captured the original character.

As for what I was doing while the kids and Chris were working hard on their art in the basement? I was sitting 10 feet from the fireplace watching HGTV and the snow fall in the backyard.  It was a good night all around!