The key to my sanity is a little "me" time in the form of doing something creative. Art journaling, scrapbooking, crafting, painting ... all make me happy. Today, I worked on creating glitter covered Christmas trees. I think it was the slow, repetitive processes of spraying the Styrofoam trees with glue, covering them with glitter, waiting for them to drive and then repeating the process again (and again) that brought me peace.

Yesterday I slipped away to work on my art journal and was interrupted by Cooper, my inquisitive little 2-year-old. When he saw what I was doing, he asked "I do art?" Admittedly, I'm a little uptight about letting my kids "do art" with me. I'm quite particular (read: uptight) and sometimes the chaos of crafting with kids can push me over the edge. I'm also a bit stingy with my "good" art supplies, and don't like to share them. I wish I was more patient in this regard, but I'm not. Yet, for some reason, last night I told Coop he could join in. We painted together. I let him drip (expensive) ink all over my art journal. I encouraged him to play with the paints and even rub them on his belly. We had such a great time. We laughed and I actually relaxed. I guess I shouldn't be so stingy with my supplies and my "art" time.