Week 49: Time Flies

Emily's Challenge for week 49 was "Time Flies" and boy does it ever. Time has flown from when my girls were babies and I would sing to them at night. (Okay so we still do that, but they aren't babies anymore.) :) Time has flown from when Seth and I got married 8 1/2 years ago. Time has flown from when we were dating and in college.

I remember taking a trip in college and visiting my friend Katie's house and listening to her dad (David Golden) play the guitar for hours while we sung along. This is the way she grew up and I knew that was the way I wanted to raise my kids too. So I decided to learn the guitar. I practiced a few chords and the next trip we took he taught us a very special song he wrote the music and set to that old dutch lullaby/poem "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" by Eugene Field. (My absolute favorite) It's so beautiful and magical and I knew I wanted to learn his version the best I could. I learned it from him when I barely knew anything on the guitar so please don't judge the song by how I play and sing. If only you could hear him. He's an amazing musician and such an incredible person as well. I was so blessed to spend time in their wonderful, loving home. I hope he doesn't mind me sharing the song here. Any credit should be given to him, except for much more because he'd play it much better for you than me. :)

I play this song for my girls all the time. They know the words even though in the video Kendyl is more interested in showing her gum to the camera than singing every word, but she's such a cutie, what can you do? We're mostly just messing around in the video, but you get the idea. It's nice to me though because it's just how it sounds in our home instead of being professional. Might remind some of you of another video Kendyl and I made singing together almost two years ago...

I made plans 10 years ago to make a painting for this poem and made sketches etc., but didn't feel confident enough to complete anything. It was so special to me I was worried about making a painting that couldn't show how much I love this poem. Well, with this challenge I wanted to try and I think it's safe to say I spent the most time on this painting than I have on any of them in this challenge. I'm happy with how it turned out so all the time put into it was worth it. I'm so thankful I can express myself with art and music. It makes me happy and it's wonderful that I don't have to be the best artist or musician to find joy in it.

Something so interesting about planning out my painting was looking through my notes and my sketches. Back in college I had known I wanted Wynken to be the oldest with long brown hair that would have a caring personality sitting back amazed at all she was seeing and be holding a baby. I knew I wanted Blynken to be more of a curious nature with shorter blondish hair and holding a lantern that she had stuffed a star into that was lighting their way. Blynken had the personality of touching everything around her to experience it all whereas Wynken was happiest seeing it all play before her. The baby Nod I knew I wanted to be a little boy in green in his big sister's arms and feeling safe and close to her. I spent hours thinking about this in college and felt like I really knew these little characters. I have pages and pages of notes and sketches, so much that I had to put them all in a folder. Now as I looked over these 10 years later I realize that Wynken looks and is so much like Makenzie, Blynken is Kendyl, and Makenzie is holding a baby Nod...... no we aren't pregnant. :) Did I get you? :) I'm just pretending we are for the painting. hehehe But maybe we have a little Nod waiting. :) That's what our joke is anyway. (btw- the blue polka-dot fabric around it was Makenzie's idea and a nice touch too- thanks kiddo) :)

So here we are... a blink later, when actually it's been 10 years, with a painting finally done and two kids that sing along with us at night. Time sure flies....