Spring Birdhouses

For Christmas our neighbor gave the boys these fabulous wooden birdhouses to paint. On one of my more bold Mommy mornings I decided it was time to decorate that plain wood so we could hang them outside. 

I'm trying to be more brave and embrace a more varied array of art projects and activities despite any possible mess. Since having three children, I've realized I limited crafts to a few crayons and a coloring sheet. I finally decided that that was a very dull childhood and that boys were meant to be messy. Art supplies were meant to be used, as are my cleaning rags. 

I want my boys to be imaginative creators, freely designing and drawing without worry that I'm going to be breathing down their necks when they splash a drop of paint or spill a cup of sequins. And so we painted birdhouses.

I only have one smock, so Cason got a bib, and upon looking at these photos I don't know why I didn't just give him the smock and let Cannon go shirtless. Cannon didn't get a drop of paint on himself and Cason, well, I'm pretty sure by the end of the activity Cason was painting his body instead of the birdhouse.