I had Danielle, who snapped the fabulous photos of our girls, go outside of her normal repertoire and capture Eric and I for our 10 years together in February. We took these in the Boonies on a rather chilly Saturday afternoon in May.

It was a chance for us to remember that long before marriage and houses and babies, there was just us. And always will be.

Thanks, Danielle. Visit her at 40piggies Photography.

Lucy is a craft-a-holic, created that way by her daycare provider’s love of art and my and my Mom’s creative sides.

This morning she wanted to do “a Dora craft” (when asked for elaboration, she replied, “pink and purple.” Thanks for clarifying that, you middle manager you), so we hopped on the computer for ideas.

And we found colouring pages! Tons of free, printable ones! And had to share our favourites:

• Dora colouring activites (here’s an Easter one)
• Yo Gabba Gabba (I *heart* DJ Lance, and am sad there isn’t one of him to colour and thumbtack to my bedroom wall)
• Funky Easter drawings (Lucy and I fell in love with the bunny)
• Strawberry Shortcake (my childhood hero)
• Rainbow Brite and My Little Pony

Punch any favourite cartoon into google with “colouring pages” and see what you can find. I feel like I’ve discovered a neverending world of fun…for Lucy, of course.

“I have a confession to make,” I told my friend Kelly the other week.

“Ooohhh, what?” she asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

“You know those Colour Wonder books? With the mess-free markers?”

“Yep, with the Dora and Tinker Bell and Disney Princess and Cars books?”

I eye Kelly suspiciously. Her mouth is twitching.

“Do you…?”

“Colour in them after your kid has gone to bed?”

“Gahhhh! You do it, too!”

There is something soothing about colouring, isn’t there? I find it incredibly therapeutic. I don’t know why we stop colouring as we get older.

The ol’ box of crayons and thick line-drawn books — while still entertaining — are things of the past in the colouring world, though. Now we have Colour Wonders.

Jen O. first introduced me Lucy to them in the summer. The markers show up only on the special Crayola paper. Remember those books we had as kids, where that clear marker would reveal hidden pictures and words on special paper? Like that, only colouring book-based, with over-commercialized characters kids love.

Lucy calls this book “Sleeping Julie.”

They have been a lifesaver for me while nursing, because Lucy can colour freely without any worry of marking up the floor or walls. She loves flipping from page to page and revealing little sections at a time. Then going back and filling in more white spots. I love the pages that have hidden drawings underneath (you can see some in the photos here).

On more than one occasion I have picked up a marker and coloured a page when Lucy’s having bath with Eric, or has gone to bed and I’m cleaning up. As a surprise for her, of course. I do a lot of the backgrounds. I’ve even caught Eric intently working on an octopus while Lucy was trying to turn the page (“Just wait, Honey, I’m not done!”).

We’ve now gone through two books — Dora Saves the Mermaids and Sleeping Beauty — and every inch is covered in both. New books are very high on Lucy’s birthday wish list.

Two downfalls, though: Although they’re available online, I can’t find just the colouring books in stores — they always come with a set of markers. We only have the two books, and already have duplicate colours. Seems wasteful to me.

Because I can only find sets, they’re expensive — usually $8-$10 for a book and set of six markers. I did find a blank pad of Colour Wonder paper, but it doesn’t hold Lucy’s interest the way the books do.

Overall, definitely a favourite activity at Chez McDougall-Foster!

You’re all starting to think Christmas, right? Local artist/art therapist/creative guru/friend, Susanne of Art and Soul Express, recently sent us some of her unique and custom creations, which I think are perfect for one-of-a-kind gift ideas.

Lucy is drowning us in art. Perfectly wonderful, creative, show-worthy art, but a lot of it. I know many of you have the same problem. While I contain much of it in a binder, on our fridge and in Lucy’s room, as wrapping paper and cards and gifts for proud family members, it’s still everywhere. And so hard to decide what to keep and what to throw away.

Behold Riff Raff Giraffe. Send Sus your child’s art (either via mail, or a high-quality digital image), and she transforms it into magnets! Perfect for gifts, perfect to preserve kids’ art without, well, preserving the art itself. We had a bunch of Lucy’s stuff done, and she’s just tickled to see it permanently displayed. RRG’s tagline — We make memories stick! — is exactly right.

You can also get funky magnetic letters to spell a name or saying, or the entire alphabet in a cool stainless steel tin that sticks right on the fridge.

Sus does a ton of other stuff: Beautiful prints — like this pregnancy one, right — cool t-shirts via Get Real Designs (you can make custom onesies at a baby shower!), Christmas ornaments, pregnancy belly casts, and workshops at her studio in Courtice (there are upcoming, all-day ones in December just for Moms). She also runs Wee Piggies and Paws, creating custom-framed shadow boxes and casts of little hands and feet.

Check out all her ventures on her website, and email or call (905-440-4351) for workshop and other details.

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