Today we were home sick from church – again.
My family has taken turns with a flu and a head cold + fever pretty much every single week of this new year.
Today it’s Stella’s turn.
She was in my bed all night fevering and sneezing, sneezing and fevering.
Grae was up only 6 or so times, so I got a great night’s rest as you can tell.
Because going back to bed is not an option, we decided to get our creative juices flowing this Sunday morning.
The girls wanted to make a little banner to hang in their bedroom with my silhouette machine.
I agreed and snuck in a little subliminal message. 😉

It has got me thinking about creating, though.  Being creative has become so important to me in the last few years.  It has been a true saving grace through some seasons of my life.  Whether it has been through photography, writing, my blog, or little projects around the house.  Creating beauty in all aspects of my life has been a life line sometimes.

I grew up with a dad who is a brilliant musician.  He has dedicated so much of his life to perfecting his craft – He can pick up every single instrument and play a little something on it.  I was played bedtime songs instead of bedtime stories.  Our family trips were to music festivals.  We were woken up by music playing from my dad’s vinyl collection – cat stevens, dan fogleberg, the who, joni mitchell…  Our life revolved around music – there was ALWAYS music playing.  I took this for granted as a kid because I just thought everyone’s dad was like mine (not even close).  A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to sit down at my dad’s dinner concert – an event that sold out weeks in advance.  It was such a special moment for me to hear my dad play in front of hundreds of people, the songs he had sat down on my bed and played to me and my sister each night.  His creative blood pulses somewhere in my veins.  I never connected well with an instrument, but when I picked up my DSLR for the first time and clicked that shutter – I was completely hooked.  I had found it.  My thing.

As my girls are growing up, it’s become important to me for them to see me create, and getting their little hands creating.  Life does get busy, but being an artist doesn’t click on and off when you are and aren’t getting paid to be one.  Being creative is a way of life, it inspires every single aspect.  For me, it is the choice to be happy – creating beauty all around.  Creating meals for my family, creating a happy little home, creating stories and words to share and express myself.  We really are creating a beautiful life, and I hope someday my girls will realize how special that is.

A sweet LDS conference talk on making a happy home here.