artist at work ...

It's so fulfilling to complete a commission. I'm always surprised when I decide a portrait is done ... just a couple of hours earlier it feels like I have days of work ahead of me and then all of a sudden, it looks complete! It's so funny, it's just one of those things ... here are a couple of pictures ... one of a work in progress and one of the finished piece!!



Edit: You can see other examples of my portrait work on my flickr site . You can also see a few of them in my etsy shop. Let me know if I can do one for you!

snow day and thankfulness ...

A view from Kiana's perspective ...

I'm ready to quit being mommy today. It's not so much that all three kids are home for the whole day - I enjoy having the all home ... in the summer time ... when they can be rowdy outside rather than in the living room. Actually ... the boys are doing great. We have a system that started yesterday (no school yesterday due to voting at the school). Our system is they earn one penny everytime I catch them making a good choice. That could include kindness, thoughtfulness, cheerful attitude, etc. They get three pennies if they obey mom the first time and they get three pennies for accepting my first answer when they ask for something like candy, or another cookie, or whatever. So rather than listening to "please mom oh please! why can't i have another one. But I waaaannnt one!" Ugh. They get pennies. I pay up at the end of the day or they can choose to roll their pennies over the next day. Yesterday ... they didn't get it. They ended the day with 3 pennies each ... and decided to roll them over into today to try for something silver ... like a dime or perhaps even a quarter! today, by noon, they're up to 14 and 15 pennies. It's beautiful - they get so excited about earning a penny and have resorted to informing me of their good choice if i didn't catch it. It's working and there is peace in the home ... except for child #3. How do you motivate a toddler?

This one makes me want to quit today ... just for one day ... I think she saw me through the crack in the door because she got even more mad after the picture ... oops.

I told the boys they could have a star wars movie marathon today. Unfortunately they only lasted through 1 1/2 movies. I never let them watch more than one movie in a day. I just think they can be more creative with their time. Hunter couldn't believe it. It's called mommy survival.

They get to play lego starwars II on the playstaition for longer than their 30 minute limit instead ... wow ... I'm sounding strict! I have boundaries, but at least I'm flexible under extreme circumstances ... ha. We made pumpkin muffins, yum right out of the oven, maybe I'll let them have three in one sitting ... why not, all the other boundaries are thrown out the window today!

I wanted to share one other thing that struck me yesterday. I was driving home from the pediatric neurologist (long story - everything is fine) and was thinking about one of the questions he was asking about my daughter.

"Can she grab things and hold onto them?"

"Yes"

"Can she release them?"

"Yes, sadly ... but I guess in your profession that's a good thing right?"

"Yes, the ability to release an object is a very very very good thing."

I was suddenly struck at how for granted I take the fact that my daughter can throw things from her highchair or drop the very item she's asking me to pick up for her over and over and over again. It's a great game to her, an annoyance to me, but a very significant "good" sign of a healthy child to a pediatric neurologist. I drove home feeling so grateful that she can drop toys or take everything out of her bed and drop them on the floor and then cry because she can no longer reach her blankie. And I felt a little guilty for taking it for granted. There were several parents in that waiting room whom I imagine wish they could answer "yes" to the question ... "can she release the object?" I'm grateful for the blessing of a healthy child with whom I only have to deal with some food allergies and the planning and watchfulness that goes along with that.

I guess I don't want to quit being mommy today after all ...

art journal - "daughter"

The word prompt from the art journal challenge this week is whatever we want ... so naturally - since the week and weekend has been filled with everything "Kiana" due to her birthday, and I'm dealing with the normal every-single-second-of-the-day demands of an infant-turning-toddler, who also happens to be getting both one-year-molars, AND wants to be held every waking moment for the last three weeks ... I chose the word daughter. The journaling is much of what I did for her little tribute in her birthday post. No time to be super creative and think outside the box!! I think I'll do a page for each of my kids right around their birthdays' regardless of the word prompt for that week. I do enjoy my boys too - I realize there are a lot of pictures of Kiana lately. Boy pics to come too! :o) She's always right here, discovering everything for the first time ... I don't want her to be the third child with no pictures documenting her babyhood. I don't think we have a problem there ... Anyway, here's this week's journal page. Did you know you can scratch designs into a photo if you wet the photo first and then use a sharp object (ball point pen) to scratch or write a design directly on the photo? Cool!

birthday party pics ...

So the party for the birthday girl was last night. 21 family members came out to help her celebrate. Thank the Lord my parents offered to have the party at their house! What a special girl. Just thought I'd share a couple of traditional birthday pictures of a one year old party girl! Due to Kiana's dairy allergy I found a recipe for dairy free chocolate cake with fluffy white frosting also dairy free! It was a hit! Kiana's first piece of cake ever!!

Before ...

During ...

After ...

Nice party ... she's so cute.

one year old ... where did it go??

It was a snow day today ... really really beautiful. The boys were home from school so we thought we would try to document some of Kiana's birthday ... originally Hunter was going to bring Kiana to school for show and tell ... because it was her birthday (and because he simply adores her and needed a good excuse to show her off!) So the day was pretty uneventful ... but documented nonetheless ...

Good morning!! It's my birthday!!

First to the bank and a couple of groceries ... especially bananas we go through bananas like water ...

Oh no!! Mom please not the craft store!! Oh pleeeeaaase!! We're going to die!!!! Yes, my toes are bare, shoes and socks stay on for about 1 second. I hate them.

This was one of my first birthday presents from my friends, I love these! ... Please oh please will someone help me open my graham crackers? I'll eat through the wrapper if it have to ... I've tried it before ...

Practicing walking ... I'm getting so good at it and I like it! But crawling is so much easier.

Oh my goodness. I can't believe it! Kiana is one year old today! She is so turning into a little toddler with so much personality and little quirks that are just hers. There are so many things I love about her.

She has introduced pink into our home, I used to avoid pink but now I can't get enough of it. She brings tights, dresses, barretts, mary janes, ruffles, patent leather, cap sleeves, did I mention pink? to our home. When I give her a kiss, she almost always leans in to get more. I love her warm breath on my cheek when she rests her head on my shoulder at bed time. I love whispering truths into her ear just before I lay her down, that's she's beautiful on the inside and the outside, that she's loved and loveable, that Jesus loves her and that I love her. I love that she dances when she hears music, anytime, anywhere. I love her smile with all the little spaces between her 8 teeth, her little nose all crunched up, and her eyes get all squinty. I love that her eyelashes are so long they practically touch her eyebrows. She delights in fitting into small spaces like baskets, boxes, drawers, and nooks between the couch and wall causing me to freak out because she was there when I left the room and somehow disappeared when I returned. She gives these adorable wet open mouth kisses. I love how excited she gets when you present her with a graham cracker. I love how independant she is, fearless to climb a chair that has rungs like a ladder, loves to explore even if she knows you're not following her. She knows what she wants, I love that. Her blue eyes sparkle. Her world is filled with people who really love her. She's such a blessed little girl. And we are so blessed to have her in our lives. I know God has a great plan for her - she's a gift to our family, straight from heaven. I can't wait to see what her passions are, what interests she gravitates to. I believe strongly that the desires of a child's heart that consistently crop up or are articulated as "when I grow up ... " are a window into the purposes God has for them as an adult. It's a reflection of how they're wired and created deep down inside. I'm looking forward to watching Kiana blossom into what God created her to be in the coming years. Life is rich. Happy 1st Birthday little Kiana!!!