Happy 2013!!

Beautiful Mess by LD. Mixed media. 2012.

It wasn't until naptime that I realized LD's "beautiful mess" was so much more than crayons. It's an art installation. A three-part commentary on the existential plight of man.

The piece in its entirety:

Part One: Pain. Foam roller, free app card for a web clipper, Belle, black play-doh, cat toy, yellow cardstock, crayons, a black race car.

Part Two: The Mystery. Gordon and his tender, a single tricolor candy cane of pipe cleaners, crayons, yellow cardstock. (I'm not sure, but I think this part is unfinished.)

Part the Third: Chaos. Gavin's sock, a pad of mini-sticky notes, a police car, red and green card stock, one green clog, knitting stitch markers (mini hair elastics), a plastic Thomas ring, crayons, many pipe cleaner candy canes in a seemingly random (or is it?) pattern.

Liamism

After dumping his crayons all over the floor:

"Mama! I made a beautiful mess!"

"These Are a Few of (Liam's) Favorite Things"

Alternate Title: "Is My Child a Hoarder?"

I was sent on a mission to find the toys that Liam NEEEEEEEDS before naptime and found this tableau, carefully staged on an overturned brown storage crate.

I spy with my little eye ...
... A bunch of engines (of course): 2 Thomases (Thomasi?), Gordon, Belle, Percy bath toy, a boxcar, and a coal tender of unknown provenance.
... A lobster purchased at the Providence airport known around here (and everywhere else since it goes everywhere Liam goes) as "Tigey."
... A tennis ball
... A snowglobe
... A fun-size Kit-Kat (left from Halloween)
... A yellow foam die that I use with my library classes
... A teething toy
... A tiny garbage can that goes with his green garbage truck
... A scoop for laundry soap
... An elastic band for my physical therapy

And Now This ...

I blinked, and suddenly this was going on. Gav is sitting up and munching on Cheerios.