Safe From the Fire

A couple of weeks ago I decided to make a creative gift suggestion to my sister. As always, my suggestions become my projects; this was no different! My sister is dating a wonderful man, and wanted to surprise him with a picture (taken by her) of her two children for his birthday. I thought it'd be much more personal if she had a custom, homespun frame to go along with her beautiful picture. Ha!

The project became a group ordeal. My kids got thrown into the mix, and benefited too! What kind of mom comes up with these crazy ideas, anyway?!?

Everything started off well. Greenware was chosen by all without too many tears; paints were selected, and with brushes in hand, we - I mean, they - were ready to begin!

I was amazed to see the maturity that has come with a couple years of growth. All four children were so focused on their projects. Each one took such pride in their project, and they were able to slow down and take their time painting; no more racing to the finish line -- looking for something else to do!

Finlay-Rose and Zeph (my sister's two) were so patient with me. They allowed me to borrow their sweet little fingers. Each one chose a different fingerprint creature, and left their stamp of life on "Mr. Jeff's" picture frame. They were so adorable and full of excitement, as they knew this was going to be a special gift!

The kids finished their individual critters within the one hour time slot, and we managed to escape paint flinging, water spills, broken pieces, and most of all... fights! We accomplished a peaceful group outing!! Our afternoon at the pottery studio couldn't have been more fun!

As we left the studio we were told that our pottery was going to take two weeks for the firing process. Apparently one of the two kilns had broken down, and they were running behind in firing. No problem! We weren't in a hurry!

One week later:

I was standing in our afternoon carpool when one of my friends came over to me. She asked if I'd "heard about the fire at Dish It Out?". What?!?!?!? The studio caught on fire! It just so happened that I'd been there the afternoon before the fire. Our pieces were ready ahead of schedule, so I went in and picked up the ones that my boys had done. I also just so happened to take a picture of the frame (for my blog, of course!)! My sister was planning on going in the same evening to pick up her kids' things -- along with the frame, but never made it into the studio! Now, what??

Well, the end of the story goes something like this:

My sister is one very blessed girl! The frame was not damaged by the (second!) fire. It was spared. My sister's children's critters survived too. Although the frame's delivery timing was delayed - due to unforeseen circumstances, it will still become a treasure to Jeff; a belated birthday present with quite a story behind it's creation!

http://www.dishitout.net/