Do you ever just decide not to do your "TO DO's?"

And instead stay in bed allllll day with your daughter who just had surgery and not leave her side? Me either but I did today. Part of me feels guilty because I know I have a million other things to do. The other part of me says, hey Niki, practice what you preach. Take time to STOP and ENJOY those moments before they pass you by. Besides...she is in a ton of pain and if I am not in here with her, I will miss the moments when she tears up at the drop of a hat because it hurts to EAT, it hurts to COUGH, and it hurts to SWALLOW. I will miss those moments when she endlessly crawls onto my lap for some cuddles with her tiny little self.

Sure I should be planting my vegetable garden but that can wait. I got my flowers done. So, I chose to be lazy with her and get some much needed clutter cleared from my head and my heart. I did some planning, writing, and dreaming. Then, we got bored. She wanted to do something but needs to stay down for two weeks of little to no activity. Thus we got out the artist palette of colored pencils, drawing paper, and oil pastel colors and we let the creating begin. WOW! She is really good. I mean good. Perhaps I am quite biased. She just went to town and ended up with some pretty incredible artwork which I must say is very worthy of framing. WHY? Because she CREATED it.

Then there is me, I do not hardly ever draw. It is definitely a weakness but I am always up for a good challenge and I always remember loving it when I was a little girl.

I was inspired myself by some drawings I saw in a blogging magazine and found one in particular that reminded me of Mother's Day morning when I walked into a wall and broke my nose. DON'T ASK! It was so fun to do something different...something that is definitely not my STRONG SUIT...something that did not entail manual labor and working outside when that has pretty much been all I have done in recent weeks with the little bit of FREE TIME I do get.

Thanks for looking at our creations. No need for Critique. They are ours and we are proud of them. Plain and Simple. We were inspired and it was a GOOD THING! It was COOL to think out of the BOX and do something I never do and it was cool watching her do it so effortlessly. Hopefully she will be recovered and back to herself very very soon. Until then, I will give her all the drawing paper and oil pastels that she needs.

~Niki

Here is mine. As I said very much inspired from a blogging magazine and the artist was Diane Duda. I just love what I interpreted to be a band aide for a nose.

Comments

[Sandra Satkowiak]

Nichol,
Rick said Addy looks saddy :-( Hope she recovers quickly. The "To Do's" will wait for you, but opportunities with your children have to be taken at the moment they present themselves. Good job.

[Ashley Cappaert]

This is great.... Thanks for reminding me what life is really all about!

[Keith Krupp]

Nik-
I agree with you, the garden can wait. Some of the best days with the kids are spontaneous, clear your schedule, forget the To Do list sort of days. Thanks for making Addy your top priority this week.
I love you!
Keith

[Daniel Dimitroff]

Great stuff! I agree 100% with your "priorities"....

Thanks for taking the time to "shoot" us earlier this week away from your daughter. Your "to dos" entry has inspired me to be the best dad that I can possibly be. The "to dos" will get done. Life is about enjoyment - each and every day.

Dan Dimitroff

[Julie]

What an awesome post! I totally agree with you, and I am myself very guilty about getting bogged down in the "to-do list". What a wonderful memory you guys created!