On the way home, I hit the craft store looking for some playdough for tonight’s birding. I wanted to make it an easy session because Boy2 ran a fever last night and spent the day sleeping and recovering. Boy2&I have a long history of playdough. When he was small, he would be so psyched when I’d bring home some fresh stuff to replenish the old air-dried multicolored mess of fun from before. We’d get out the pretzel barrel of playdough molds and presses and go to town. Tonight we went old school and worked quickly with our fingers while Daddy made us grilled cheese and cream of tomato soup, with chunks of tomatoes—like Momma likes.

It was a pleasant evening talking about what type of bird we were going to make and then talking about the day we had as we made them. Boy2 made the Angry Birds, which I thought was a wonderfully minimalist approach!

Boy2's Bird in the Dirt, drawn with his feet.

I know some of you all remember me blogging my initial project: 365 Crochet—which was great fun for 14 days and then the car broke down. Getting the car back up on its wheels stalled the daily crochet project indefinitely. 365 Crochet was a fun project, but a little lonely, since I was working by myself.

As fate would have it, I met up with Noah Scalin. At a recent workshop, he offered 365 Nerd Merit Badges to the first five who wanted them bad enough. I’m hyper-competitive and really coveted that badge. After nearly mowing Noah down and muttering his name over and over—still embarrassed about my behavior—Noah handed me a badge. All 5 of us pledged to live up to the 365 badge by creating something, everyday. As I promised, I had this decision flash to make this a joint project with Boy2. It would be great fun! Boy2 and I would make something together everyday for a year!

Boy2 was initially skeptical and not really a fan of the idea. “I only do crafts when I’m really, really bored, Mom.” Before we went to the vineyard this morning to gather & test the grapes, I showed him Noah’s book, Skulls, and talked about how we would choose a motif or theme and make one thing a day. As we picked grapes, we brainstormed motif options—the letter “B,” snakes, diamonds, peace signs and birds. We were stymied: diamonds or birds. Boy2 wanted diamonds. I wanted birds. I suggested we write our brainstorming on slips of paper and then randomly draw our theme for the year. Boy2 finished his row and disappeared for a bit. Ger finished up his rows and we made our way to the truck. Boy2 was in front of the tool shed and said, “I made our bird for today!” and pointed at the ground.

It was awesome. I especially like the bird’s wing, which Boy2 made with 3 footprints. 365Birds is launched!