hip chick + hunky handyman

A minor (but packs a big punch) home improvement project happened here over the weekend. Put an ambitious-creative-visionary-super-hip-chick together with a hunky-handyman/home-improvement-for-a-living-very-talented husband (quick plug) and you get spectacular results!

This room next to the kitchen and back door houses the washer, dryer, and wash basin on one wall (backed up against the kitchen) and the facing wall that you see is our pantry, storage, and utilities. We spent $60 for white shelving, (we had extra plywood in the garage and leftover paint from the baby's room), and we went from chaos, Ugh! This is embarrassing to even show you ... but with five people in an 1100 something sq. ft. house ... it can be unavoidable.

To order!! Shazam! It's just so fabulous I can't even take it. It feels like we gained a whole room. I'm so proud of this space.

There is a fifth cubbie next to Kiana's that is mine. So now we each have a place for jackets/bags/backpacks and we each have a little green basket (Dollar Store!) for the little things like hats/mittens/cell phones/trinkets. I hope this will put an end to the jackets draped over chairs, hooks overflowing by the door, and purses and trinkets floating around the counter tops. Instead of the shoe cubbies by the back door, each kid now has a little green basket in their room where their shoes go.

This is so fulfilling. The key to this remaining organized is to purge the unnessary. (How many jackets does a child ... or mom ... need?). I'm a big purger. It's just stuff. This little house can't handle the stuff. If we're not using it, it gets given away.

Next I have to devise a system to bring order to all the paper and information that comes home from school ... I have a couple of months to dream up that solution. Any ideas? Please share!

art camp - week two

Week two - all six were here this week! We have every age group represented from Kindergarten through 5th grade, one in each grade. More friends want to join us ... looks like we're either going to overflow into the living room on the hot and rainy days or be outside for the remaining four weeks.

I found the most amazing book, Drawing with Children, at the library last week. The woman who started this style of teaching drawing (The Monart Method) has the exact same "rules" in her classes that I introduced in our first art camp class! Coincidence? I don't believe in coincidence. Divine appointment ... yes.

So I used the book as a resource. After doing some drawing exercises using the 5 elements of shape taught in the book we all drew a bird drawing using verbal instructions. The idea is to give structured instructions on how to draw the bird, but give them creative license in how the bird looks. This gives each child the freedom to draw in their own style and whatever comes from their creative spirit. That's why all their drawings look different (in addition to different age levels of ability).

My hope is that this summer is something they remember as having been an encouragement to them; that nurturing their artistic side is important, and that being proud of their own work is important.

I drew mine along with them but finished the coloring in later in the evening.

Loving encouraging these kids! I also realized how much I enjoy the break from Kiana for an hour and a half!! I have a lovely friend who needs a baby fix every so often - lucky me. :o)

love summer

love the beach
love my kids
love my life

A last minute decision to go to the beach was the best decision of the day. At the beach ... the world seems so much more simple and grand at the same time. Gillson Beach is a gem and Lake Michigan looks like the ocean to the little ones (sort of to me too).

I think yesterday was one of our best days of summer yet.

gremlin

That's the word a friend used to describe my daughter yesterday. I love it ... it's so fitting as shown in this series of events ...

Where did my last flower go??

Oh! There it is!!
Trying to make things right ...
Couldn't get it back in ... it was a sad day for this little bloom. Mom tried to plant it anyway ...
Life just wouldn't be the same without this little gremlin keeping things exciting. At least she didn't eat the flower.

beautiful baby

Imagine that ... my Kiana isn't the only beautiful baby in the world. It's okay. I'm coming to terms with it. :o)

What a treat to take some pictures of my girlfriend's little princess, Autumn.

What an angel.

camping again ...

... this time it was our annual camping trip with my family - parents, siblings, nephew, everyone! This time we were at Kettle Moraine State Park (Southern Unit) in WI. Beautiful. After Friday night's pouring rain all night long ... it was a beautiful God given weekend.

There were never-ending "ice age" trails to explore. Lots of zipping back and forth on the hilly road at our campsite. Several rounds of "Risk" to be played (Hunter actually beat his Uncle Matt in one round!! Sorry Matt ...)
Music to be enjoyed by my dreadlock, guitar strummin' brother, Eric. I loved watching my same said brother lovin' on his only niece.And my genius little sister and her hubby brought this fenced in play area set up for the littlest campers - beautiful!
And bubbles for the middle aged campers (and foam airplanes, and stuff you throw in the fire to make the flames turn different colors). Did I mention ... they're amazing with kids?
Not quite getting the bubbles ...Will (my 8 month old nephew) having a major giggle fest watching his older cousins act like dorks. Lots of chillin' and story tellin' and general conversation that eventually led to laughin' till our sides ached. I would share some of the silliness, but it's one of those things where you had to be there. Oh my goodness, I'm still laughing. Even though I spent the weekend chasing my daughter and otherwise managing her many "moments" I felt so relaxed and actually felt like I had a chance to put my feet up. In nature. Away from home. Gorgeous.
It was great to be with you, family, love you and love how we're all growing and changing!! We have so many great years ahead of us!

God's creativity ...

... is breathtaking. We had a storm here this week that left the most beautiful rainbow. I can't remember the last time I saw a real live rainbow in all it's glory. Only God could create something so beautiful and allow His children to catch a glimpse of His glory in the rainbow.

What a wonderful reminder of His loving and gentle character.

diaper houdini

I've never recieved a gift like this from my first two children. This child ... what a treasure. Quite regularly, if I wait just a little too long to get her from her crib after a nap ... she greets me with this gift - what you see in her hand was on her body when I put her down. This outfit even had snaps between the legs.

Once, she was still fully clothed and half of the diaper was hanging out of the leg of her shorts! And yes, we've had some not nearly as cute as this if you know what I mean. Ugh. I have to check on her when I go to bed to be sure her diaper is still secured (which it often is still on her body, thanks to pants or pj bottoms, but neither tab is attached at the side).

This one needs to be potty trained at a very young age because apparently she does not like diapers.

the fiesta

What a fiesta we had on Sunday. A double celebration of our fabulous Dad's and our annual family birthday party for the kids. It's like Christmas in June I tell you. I'm so glad they have people in their life to spoil them. Since a parent can't (or shouldn't) I love that their grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc love to spoil. Because they can. I hope I can do that for my grand kids someday. They are blessed kids. Very blessed. Here's the final result of our pinata building sessions ... he's hilarious. Hunter drew the details to include a curly mustache.

He looks like he's running away from Aidan. And I love that you can see Kenny's shadow holding string ... that was totally unplanned.
She thought she was on clean up duty.

Whew! Fun party. On to the next event ... I feel like I'm always coordinating/planning/preparing for something ... even if it's a week away ... or a fun summer day tomorrow. Does mom get to rest and do nothing? Ever? I'm not complaining - I love the planning, but would equally love to sit in the sun and VEG.

summer art camp

Given my passion for art and the desire to encourage others in their gifts, I've decided to host a little art camp here about twice a month this summer! In conversation with some of my neighborhood friends there are several little artists who need a creative outlet and perhaps some little pointers on drawing and technique. I have six kids total including my two boys. It's very informal because of summer vacations and such so I most likely will have 4 or 5 in any given week. It's a very manageable group. My desire is to have a little lesson each time we meet and then give them time to create freely whatever they want to. They each bring a sketchbook/journal and I've told them I have only three rules.

1) they are not to tear out any pages (I want to have a little art show at the end of the summer where they have their journals on display so visitors can flip through them to see the work they've done this summer.)

2) there are no such things as mistakes - if something is frustrating them or they feel like they made a mistake, come back to it later - they can always turn it into something else - that's a big part of the creative process.

3) they are not to compare their work with anyone else. They each have their own style and it's unfair for them to think it should look like anyone else's. I told them God made each of them unique and that why their drawings are going to look different. I also encouraged them to work in their journals in between classes. I can't wait to see what they bring back in two weeks!


My 30 second demo for our first lesson on shading. I had intended to take a picture of the four of them and their lesson ... they are so cute. I found that their attention spans are quite short though, they would rather do their own thing and have creative freedom. That's what this camp is more about. I want to give them some techniques that they can apply to their pictures in the future but it's more about giving them an outlet to express their blossoming creative gift.



I had the kids personalize the cover of their journals with paint, stamps, their name, drawing or whatever so after the house was quiet later that afternoon I was inspired to do my own!

Can't wait to see what they come up with over the course of the summer. I'm loving encouraging them. Pure joy.

mission accomplished

It's done! It looks just like I imagined. Grass is even growing and the seedlings are planted. Hunter even asked which one's were weeds that he could pull in "his" garden. Yeah! One out of three "gets" it. The bonus is that 80% of this was done with repurposed materials. A very budget friendly project - how fulfilling. I wonder when the novelty will wear off and I'll be pulling all the weeds.

Party time!!

Getting ready for this Sunday ... It's a Fiesta! Complete with a homemade pinata! We have everything on hand (except the treats on the inside) so it doesn't cost me a dime! (So I spent the $10 on a Spanish guitar CD for background music instead ... so much for saving $$).

We're going to make this into a "guy" of some sort. The boys will paint it and attach arms and legs and hair with what I don't know yet, but these things always seem to come together.

I was on my hands and knees washing the floors today and Hunter asks, "Why are you cleaning? ... for the party?"

Um ... telling question. I'd much rather be doing anything than washing the floors ... or cleaning in general.

little artists ...

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows
up. ~Pablo Picasso

I believe it.

Family portrait in the hallway. Illustrated by Hunter with permission. Inspired by Megan. Wish I could get a better angle. My musician.
Artists come in all sizes.
I hope to encourage these guys and any other little person to remain an artist to some degree ... in whatever way "artist" looks like to them as a unique individual ... once he or she grows up.

Art Show!

What a fun night! The Galaxie is a great venue! Here are the pictures from our first art show experience. Hunter and I came with a friend of mine, Sarah, and her family. Aidan couldn't part with his potty ... poor little guy. That was disappointing. I was looking forward to having Kenny there too. Another time ... another show .... maybe ... perhaps...

Me with my three canvases!

Sarah's brother was also an exhibiting artist in the show. He's an artist who exhibits all year at shows and is often the featured artist at some shows. He told me that I needed to create more and that it would show well! He said he would email a list of shows coming up in the area and if I had the time I should enter them! How cool is that?! I asked Sarah if he was just tooting my horn ... I was assured that he would not joke about that. That is my confidence builder for the evening. That excites me. Maybe I'll enter another show before the year is through. My mommy and business duties require too much time to commit to more than that. But knowing the opportunities are out there and a seasoned artist believes I could do it given the time ... that is very very cool indeed. Encouragement from another artist is priceless. Actually encouragement from anyone is priceless. :o)

Shots from the show ...

Mom and her canvas ... I'm so proud of her!
Mom had someone tell her that she loves all things cowboy and wanted to buy her piece!!! I'm so pleased about that for my mom. Total confidence builder. That's what this show has been all about. She's better than she thinks.

These were Hunter's favorite picks. There were all kinds of styles here ...

Sarah brought two of her boys to the show as well. Between our
three boys ... the butt crack got a lot of attention. Hilarious. (I think Hunter was intending to just point at the painting ... he is not seriously doing something inappropriate ...) The painting was actually quite good!

If you look behind Hunter, you'll notice that two children entered the show too ... isn't that cute? Hunter wants to enter next year. I would love that. This was such great exposure for the kids. To be in this kind of venue. In spite of the butt crack.