Wondering what's on her mind???

Miriam loves art.  More specifically she loves to draw.  Daily she makes a new creation with a piece of paper and a pencil.  Well, her masterpieces are not limited to paper and pencil.  Over the years I have found her art work on various surfaces about the house: on the bottom of the shopping list, on a sweet little note tucked under my pillow, on the white board, my jewelry box, on the pages of my Bible, her wall, the dresser... (we won't talk about the consequence for some of these drawings ;)  Her drawings have gotten more detailed as she has gotten older and I love to look at her drawings and see what is going on that little mind of hers.

Here is a collection of some of her work over the past year.  I love what it tells me about her.

Miriam drew this family portrait before Jedidiah was born.  She is holding hands with Chris (far left), CJ and Eliza are holding hands, Eliza (curly hair) is pushing a baby in a stroller, and I'm on the far right (notice the bun in my hair).  I love the anticipation of her baby brother's birth that this displays.

Miriam is very orderly... her stuffed animals used to be on her bed in order- from large to small.  She no longer had room to sleep in her bed so the ever growing collection was moved.  

Here is her drawing of the above mentioned stuffed animals.  I was shocked by the detail.  Even before she told me about the picture I knew exactly what it was.  From Spring 2011.

The below picture was probably one of my favorites just because of the story that went behind it.  One Sunday I noticed Miriam looking a little suspicious when at a friends house for our weekly church time (we worship with other foreigners in each other's homes.)  I thought she was trying to hide something and, sure enough, she had some unwanted snack stuffed in her pockets- she was picking out what she wanted from a trail mix and was planning to throw the remaining unwanted items away.  Later that day when I was home with her I wanted to talk a bit about the "sneakiness" that I saw in her eyes and countenance when at our friends house.  We talked a bit and I brought up the fact that even in the Bible there is a story about that same time of sneaky behavior.  Now, keep in mind that I didn't plan this conversation- I was just chatting with her and brought it up without planning the whole conversation out...  She inquires about the "sneaky" story in the Bible and the first thing that I could think of was Cain and Abel.  I told her, "In the Bible there is a story of a man who killed his brother and thought that by being sneaky he could hide it from God."  As soon as the words came out of my mouth I wished I could have taken them back.  I knew that Miriam is so detail oriented (imagining things in her head with such detail) that this might very possibly lead to some nightmares.  I was trying desperately to cram the toothpaste back into the tube.  "I mean, remember the story of Adam and Eve?  The ate the forbidden fruit and tried to hide it from God."  Her reply, "Mom, let's get the Bible out and look up that story about the man killing his brother."  I tried to ignore her request and talk more about Adam and Eve.  She wouldn't have anything to do with it.  Somehow I distracted her and we got off the subject... but later that day this (below) is the picture that I saw on the white board in our living room.  

Miriam's drawing of Cain and Abel... Cain with a very angry face and a very large Ninja knife in his hand.  Abel- headless , tongue hanging out and blood dropping.  UGH!! 

So, if you ever wonder what's on Miriam's mind- pick up her sketch pad and take a peek into her world.  (By the way- most of her sketches have lots of hearts and family scenarios in them- this is the first thing I've seen like it- quite shocking.   I say this all in case you were doubting what type of parents we were... hee hee :)