This has been the second hottest summer in recorded history. I find myself ready for some relief from the heat, looking forward to autumn in Michigan. I find myself even thinking about being cozy inside with a winter storm or two. Winter is a wonderful time to spend quality time with your children. The following is what I wrote about a day that I was snowed in. When I think about it, there have been so many hot days where we've also been more inclined to stay inside, it actually applies to any time of year.

It's a snowy, beautiful day in Michigan. My plans have had to change today and I've had to "re-frame" my day. Looking out into the beautiful fields is inspirational, even though I'm an abstract painter. It takes me back to memories at my Grandmother's house in northern Michigan. She was a simple farm woman, and yet there was something resident in her that called her to buy oil paints and paint (in between her chores) on extra boards that were available. I doubt she was even aware of "art lessons". My first art memories were that of collages at her farm. She would mix water and flour together which sufficed as our glue. She would hand us the J C Penney catalog and off my sister and I would go making our creations.

"A Collage with Kyle" - Kyle is my Godson. When he was three, I went to his house. We created a rather large collage of a Zoo. We made a pathway that cars could drive to see the various sites. We found pictures of animals we wanted in our zoo and cars that would travel our path. We had my sophisticated mediums for glue and used a lot of paint. It was reminiscent of art at my Grandma's house. Better supplies, however, is not what made it so much fun. It was spending time with Kyle and watching him decide what he wanted to include in his zoo collage. It was that quality time with Kyle that makes the memory sweet today.

Snow Days - a great time to spend with your special kids, quality time together, making wonderful memories that last a lifetime. You don't have to have knowledge about art. Break out the newspapers and magazines. Most likely, you have glue of some kind. I encourage you today to abandon the "I'm not good at ....whatever" thoughts. It doesn't matter. It's the time and experience together that counts.

I think about all the beautiful playroom furniture for kids that is available for kids today. It's creative. It's fun to look at and great to own. It does provide an automatic space of their own to explore and discover. It is a place of destination, an invitation to come and enter the "Imagination Zone". It can inspire project ideas for quality time. That makes me think of a book called "Love Languages", a good topic for another day, another time. Spending quality time with your children is one way to express your love to them.