little red ...

That's what I call her.
These curls ... and these pigtails ... I can't get enough.

I'm so glad God gave me a little girl. Who will very likely be very tomboy. Which I love. This pretty little thing will not be messed with. I like a tough girl who can hold her own. But she'll always be a princess deep down. I think all little girls have a God placed tender spot in her spirit that wants to be the princess. No matter how tough they are.

Love the basketball in the buggy ... classic tomboy princess. (With this image .. I was playing with the antique feature in this new photoshop elements program I just received. I have no idea what I'm doing).

Little Red ... you're amazing.

the reveal ...

Oh how I wish these pictures did the canvases justice. A couple of my photos turned out blurry, I don't know why - and I don't have the time to make them perfect. So, if you want to see them in all their rich colorful glory you'll have to come to the opening reception on Saturday, June 7th at the Galaxie! I decided to do a series, partially because I didn't have the time to think up three totally original ideas and partially because I liked the idea of designing them to go together. So, here they are! (Edit: I wanted to mention too that I consider these mixed media. I used acrylics, collage, several of my own hand carved stamps, and my own doodle drawings in these. AND if you want to see the picture bigger, to see more detail, you can click on the image and it will open the bigger picture in a larger window.)

This is my personal favorite of the three. I used the words "Art Journey" because I feel like that's what I'm currently on. I wanted to express that life is a journey, that the time is now to address it, not waiting for the future when it's more convenient, or remaining paralyzed by the past, but living the journey now. I added the clock to represent time and the fact that the clock is ticking ... step into your journey now, do it with passion, and do what you love. I used the quote by Edward Hopper, "Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist." So true. There really is an inner life that can only be expressed by the artist through their chosen medium be it visual art, dance, music, acting, gardening, writing, whatever. It seems to me only those who use outside outlets for self expression really understand the depth of this quote. Perhaps everyone should find their personal outlet of self expression. I believe it lies in what you love to do, your gifts.

This one is a variation of my original thought when I first got started. The butterflies were all originally going to be the same with the exception of the last butterfly. However, I decided we all really aren't cookie cutters of each other ... we're all a little different. I wanted to make a statement with "Be yourself"and indicate somehow that when you choose to be yourself, you are naturally beautiful.

This one was my last to complete. Short on time, but needing to have a complete set of three. I used one of my favorite quotes, again speaking of a deeper place from which my thoughts and feelings and inspirations come from. This one is by H. Jackson Brown, "Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eyes." I love that. The words in the scrolls at the bottom all describe things that the heart perceives in greater depth than the physical eye can see.

All of these came out so rich and full of life. These things always look better in person. I'm so pleased with their outcome. We have the option of putting a price on our pieces in case someone is interested in purchasing them. I've decided not to. I want to keep these as a token of my very first art show ever. (Not to mention they look awesome at the end of my hallway!) This has been quite an experience. I can't wait to be a participant in this show and attend the reception as one of the artists! All because of a generous gift - thank you for this life experience my far away friend.

club house

Posting a little early, but I can't resist. I'm so excited about the progress my hubby made on our club house and garden spots this weekend. He worked so hard on it - with lots of "help" from the kids. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm more excited about this than anyone else though. I'm so happy.

So ... we went from this ...to this ...
to this ...

(daddy's smallest helper)
I think they're just beating on the wood here ...
A job well done!!My next step is to level the dirt a little more, place the retaining walls where I want them, and lay the flagstone path to the clubhouse. I'm going to use canvas for the roof and we're going to use lattice for the walls (so the club house isn't too private - it's a parent thing). We'll have grass in all the dirt areas between the garden spots and the flagstone path. Kenny can't get a lawn mower in there, but he can weed whack it! I'm soooooo happy.

My next post will reveal my canvases for the art show! I'm so happy with how they're turning out!

Memorial weekend ...

It feels good to be productive. Yesterday started with cleaning up the pop-up in preparation for the camping season. This will be our first full summer using it! We're so used to tent camping that this thing feels like a mansion! I'm so excited. It will make heading out for a weekend of camping so much easier. All these years I've hauled everything down and then back up into the attic for every trip. As we added kids, it meant more stuff. So, currently everything except the bedding, clothing, and food are housed in the camper. We just hook it up and drive away! I expect it to shorten the amount of prep time for these getaway weekends from two days to an afternoon. :o) That makes me very happy.

Got the boys some water guns and a bucket of water .. We (Kenny) made some serious progress on our garden project. See the before pictures in recent previous post. You'll notice that the chicken wire fence came down, Kenny removed the top 6x6 boards to make the garden level with the ground. I intended to use these 6x6 hunks of wood as the "walls" for the individual garden plots, but we found an even better use for them.They are now they are the foundation for our club house! I just love repurposing! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. We're going to use decking boards as the floor and some scrap 2x4s for the frame. It feels good to see a vision come to pass. I'm so grateful for a husband who is a good sport ... I realized this weekend I have a lot of new visions for our home ... and they all involve him. I'm the visionary, he's the executor. In other words, I create a lot of work for him. He's the best. Aidan put a flower in Kiana's hair - I thought that was so cute. He has a good sense of what is feminine. Not in a bad way, but he tells me he's glad I'm growing my hair longer, and he tells me he likes it best up in a barrette. He tells me to twirl if I'm wearing a dress or skirt. And he puts flowers in Kiana's hair. I love that. Lastly, this morning, my brother in law was ordained as a pastor. They layed hands on he and my sister and asked for a special anointing from the Holy Spirit as they move forward in serving in their call to the ministry. It was a big deal. What a privilege to be a part of this really important day for he and my sister. I wish I had more time to articulate the respect I have for the path they're taking. What a privilege.

As you enjoy your long weekend, remember those who have served and are currently serving on behalf of our country. Our freedoms have not come without a cost. Don't take them for granted. This is a picture of my husband when he served in the United States Marine Corps. He's so proud of his service. I'm so proud of him. He served during the Gulf war and Operation Just Cause.

I'm going to take a few days break from blogging - the deadline for my canvas project is this Friday, there are a gazillion things going on at school, etc etc etc, crazy week coming up. Mainly, I'm freaking out about these canvases. I'm going to stop caring about what they turn out to look like and just trust that my artist instinct is right on! :o) I'll show you the results that the end of the week! Stay tuned!!

before and after ...

These are funny pictures. I just had to share. Zoe got a haircut yesterday ...

Zoe before

Zoe after

Pets don't do much for me, but a fresh hair cut ... it's always good.

Side note: This post is very ironic ... Kiana just walked up to me with dog food ... in her mouth. Ugh. Between the dirt and the dog food you would think I never fed her!

summer's comin'!

School is almost out - tomorrow for one, two weeks for the other! We're itching for summer freedom.

It's time for thick green grass, hot pink toes and flip flops everyday ... It's time for annuals ... and perennials ...
It's time for outdoor antics ...
And sandbox shinannigans ...It's time for sunshine ...

And more climbing ... she goes the three rungs futher to the top ... this is what I consider too high and stand behind her.

The beach, the pool, family reunions, cookouts with friends, popsicles, and camping are not far behind!! I'm so excited. 2 weeks and we are free for the summer!! Whoo hoo!

a different kind of artist ...

... we have an escape artist in our home. Does it look like she's on the same side of the door as her mommy? This is a regular occurance. The door doesn't automatically latch every time the boys or anyone else pops in and out of the house ...


And ... she's a very silent escape artist.

"Who me?" ... Um, yes you've been caught ... again. So, here's my weekend in a nutshell. Our community has a village wide garage sale once a year in May. It's the best ... if you have cash to spend. Which I don't. However, I put my double stroller out (which has been in the garage for at least a year and a half) and it sold in a jiffy. Wallah! Instant cash! $20 in the pocket. So my mom and I pack up and decide to go for a drive around the neighborhood to see what's out there. One of the first houses we see has this hoop in the driveway. I think No way ... I've been considering something like this for the boys! I have to see what they're asking ... for sure like $75 or something. I find out they're asking $35 ... hmmm ... and they're willing to negotiate. "I have $20 in my pocket. That's all I've got." They took it!! God's provision ... without my even asking. So my boys got a new hoop. It's adjustable and everything. My handy husband whipped it up Friday night and ta-da! The boys are in heaven which means mom is too. That also brought a quick end the the garage saleing. No more cash -but well worth it.
We also did some weeding to clean out the never ending supply of weeds ... it rained since I last had a chance to get in there ... and more weeds have grown where I last weeded!!! Ugh!! It's almost as bad as laundry and dishes. She kept doing this ... so I took a picture. I told her and told her, "You're supposed to pull them, not eat them!" I'm hoping this will make her a very healthy child. I love chasing my 7 year old. His laugh is contagious ... and he loves the attention. This one was just because he didn't want his picture taken ... gotcha! And this one ... I don't even jump up and stand behind her anymore. I just watch her climb ... and sometimes fall ... as long as it's not from too high.
Oh my ... do you think my son needs new jeans? This is worse than I realized. They will be shorts tomorrow.

we have sprouts!

Garden planning, what fun. We have evidence of life from our seedlings! How exciting. It's been like waiting for a pot of water to boil ... every day we (I) check on the seeds to see if any little green things are poking their little heads out of the soil.

Hunter and I spent some time planning the layout of our new garden and clubhouse. I showed him how to measure the space that we had to work in and then count the little squares on graph paper to get our layout to scale. The original garden area measures (20'x15'). The big rectangle is going to be the clubhouse (6'x7'), the little squares (3'x3') are going to to each kid's own garden spot to plant whatever they want and take care of, and the two bigger rectangles are going to be cut flowers and veggies ... my garden! Much more manageable than taking care of that whole 20'x15' space all my myself. I'm so excited about the project and I'm excited that we're doing it as a family.

Pictures to come as we make progress!

art journal -"direction"

It's been awhile since I've posted a new page. Life is full right now. The word prompt was direction - interesting word to think about. How would I express direction in my life in pictures and words? My thoughts turned to the area in my life that I wrestle with most ... recently anyway. As much as I love my children and know in my heart of hearts that I am blessed beyond measure to have the privilege of being a mom - three times - and I have the added privilege of staying home with them. Motherhood has not come easily or naturally to me. I'm very task oriented, very driven, very people oriented. Being a mommy of young children has more often than not felt like a very tight box that gives me very little wiggle room. Being a mom is extremely rewarding, yes. There are very few things that melt my heart like my daughter's warm breath on my face when I'm rocking her at nap or bed time. The little fill in the blank book that Hunter made me for Mother's Day that said at the end, "My mom is .... the bomb!" The preschool songs that say:

I


LOVE


YOU All of these things and more make being a mom is a rich and growing experience. Yet, if I can be totally honest, it has been an area where I often feel tied down, isolated, and frustrated. If you know me at all, you know I do not like to be tied down. There is so much more to me than being a mom (which I believe is true of every mom). Though that is what demands most of my time. So my journal page reflects the tight box I have felt as a mommy, and the other box of being an artist - when I protect that part of me so closely, it has also felt limiting and isolated. As I thought about it, and brought it to prayer, I felt like God recently showed me ... these two parts of me don't have to be mututally exclusive! Ahh haa!! It sounds so simple, but to me it's quite an epiphany. When I combine the different parts of me; when I share my passions with my children rather than keep them a separate identity, the box can't help but to explode with possibilities. It can't be contained! I'm excited about this. It was an "ah ha" moment for me. I plan to live in it - in the freedom of being fully me as a mother - and not a separate me outside of mother.
I've shared my feelings about motherhood with moms who have no idea what I'm talking about; others of you will be able to relate completely. We are all wired differently - that's what makes this world so interesting! We need all kinds of moms - and we all want the same thing - to raise our children to be independant responsible adults and in my case, to love God with all their heart, mind, and strength. God bless all you moms. It is the hardest, most important job in the world ... in my humble opinion.

a little sprucing up

This picnic table was built by my talented husband several years ago for the boys - but it's always been sort of a boring piece to me. I've always thought it needed some pizazz ... but what?

Today ... I let the boys loose on it! I was so giddy as I got the paint together for them to do their thing.

They discovered the drizzle technique ...And the self-print technique ... lovely.
Of course there were many suggestions made by the boss. And many rejections of said suggestions by the other boss. The finished product. I LOVED watching them! This piece is so much more FUN now. This was my best Mother's Day gift.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there. Enjoy those who made you a mom this weekend!