Natalie might just be addicted to paper. She draws, paints, doodles and colors ALL DAY LONG. The paper use is really the only drawback of her artistic passions. We go through a tremendous amount of paper in this house. Her canvases can be anything that will absorb ink so she's often content with store receipts, magazine subscription postcards, and the occasional used post-it note. But she prefers a nice, large, fresh piece of paper if given the choice.
There's yet another paper activity she adores...cutting. She calls it "scissoring". She draws some really incredible stuff and if Corey and I don't act fast to put it in the "we-have-to-save-it-although-we-have-no-idea-what-we're-actually-going-to-do-with-it" pile that is growing rapidly on my closet shelf, she cuts her creations up into tiny, confetti-like pieces.
In an effort to get a 3 year old to think globally, Corey tried to reason with her the other day and explain that it takes trees to make paper...and that the tree has to die in the process.
This puzzled her for a minute.
He went on to explain that for the sake of the trees (Natalie is a big tree lover...we thought) maybe she should cut down (no pun intended) on her paper usage a little bit.
She disagreed.
He decided to make it personal. He asked her if she would be willing to cut down one of our very own backyard trees to make paper.
She paused briefly... and then enthusiastically said, "let's do it, Daddy!"
His jaw dropped. My jaw dropped.
He said, "Are you serious?"
She smiled and nodded.
"Which tree would you cut?"
She thought about it for a second and then replied, "The biskeet (mesquite)...we have two of them."
The kid knows her trees.
He, of course, had to see how far this would actually go so he grabbed a mini handsaw, led her to the backyard and handed it to the little lumberjack.
There's yet another paper activity she adores...cutting. She calls it "scissoring". She draws some really incredible stuff and if Corey and I don't act fast to put it in the "we-have-to-save-it-although-we-have-no-idea-what-we're-actually-going-to-do-with-it" pile that is growing rapidly on my closet shelf, she cuts her creations up into tiny, confetti-like pieces.
In an effort to get a 3 year old to think globally, Corey tried to reason with her the other day and explain that it takes trees to make paper...and that the tree has to die in the process.
This puzzled her for a minute.
He went on to explain that for the sake of the trees (Natalie is a big tree lover...we thought) maybe she should cut down (no pun intended) on her paper usage a little bit.
She disagreed.
He decided to make it personal. He asked her if she would be willing to cut down one of our very own backyard trees to make paper.
She paused briefly... and then enthusiastically said, "let's do it, Daddy!"
His jaw dropped. My jaw dropped.
He said, "Are you serious?"
She smiled and nodded.
"Which tree would you cut?"
She thought about it for a second and then replied, "The biskeet (mesquite)...we have two of them."
The kid knows her trees.
He, of course, had to see how far this would actually go so he grabbed a mini handsaw, led her to the backyard and handed it to the little lumberjack.
She actually started cutting...the bamboo stake, thank goodness...but, nonetheless, she touched blade to wood without hesitation before Corey grabbed the mini-saw in disbelief and ended this apparently useless lesson.
The tree let out a big sigh of relief and Corey took in a deep breath.
A sweet picture of our family ...we taped it to her door before she cut our heads to pieces. Natalie is in black on top and the rest of us are in red. Audrey's hair is totally perfect!
The arteest!
The paper, the projects...it's never ending.
