summer or bust!!

School's out ... it's official. Hunter had one hour of school this morning to pick up his report card and say goodbye to his teacher. Silly to go for one hour but it's a state funding thing from what I understand ... whatever. Summer's Here!! (Car advertising inspired by my friend Laura who did this last year and I thought it was so fabulous and fun! Doing it every year I remember to!!) However ... sadly ... today's more of a bust for us. Aidan's home with the stomach flu which shelves most of the fun special things we were going to do to celebrate - considering they involve food and leaving the house - oh well, just postponed until everyone can enjoy the celebrations!

Aidan's preschool graduation was actually two weeks ago ... here he is with his celebration sundae. He was so funny about what he wanted to wear to graduation. We were discussing how special the event would be and he suddenly said, "Oh! I have to get my dress clothes!!" He has polo's and khaki's - that's how dressed up we ever get. Little did I know that he would actually dig out the suit that we have crumpled up in the dress up bin (left over from the one time my older son wore it for my sister's wedding two years ago!) Cute. I let him wear it - looked so sharp - overdressed maybe but he was so proud. The funny thing is that it didn't even need to be ironed - this is one time I was happy for 100% polyester. Ha! :o)

This is Hunter's summer attitude coming home from school today ... I asked him what the hand signs meant ... he didn't know ... I thought "Rock on!" perhaps?? He decided it meant that.

I wanted to show off our teacher gift idea in case it was something any of my mom readers want to stuff in their idea folder for next year. I read that teachers love gifts that their students make for them. I'm stumped for some reason. So I'm walking around Walmart at the last minute trying to come up with something meaningful but simple and affordable. Yes!! I saw these white bowls ($1). I've done this for grandparent Christmas gifts in the past but had not thought of it for teacher gifts until 8pm last night! Most creative supply stores sell porcelain paint pens ($4 each) that allow you to write on glass and bake it in the oven for 30 minutes making the decoration permanent. Dishwasher safe even! Every bit of this is Hunter's sentiments to his teacher - misspellings, phonetically sounded out words, scratch out mistakes, hearts, stars, everything. So cute. What a treasure.

Summer will still be here in full force once Aidan can separate himself from the bucket and the toilet. So ... here we come! Summer or Bust!

you're invited ...

This is the promo piece they are handing out at the Galaxie for this Saturday.

It's so cool to see my name in print!!This may be the only art show I ever enter ... or maybe not ... but it's been a fun ride. If you're in the area, come by! I don't know how long I'll hang around because my family will be with me ... you never know how long they will last. :o) I'm looking forward to seeing all the different artsy personalities there, the different styles represented in their art too - the art community seems to draw all kinds of people. I love it. It's so diverse. I'm bringing my camera!

the sandy dunes

I think camping is my number one favorite thing about summer. We just returned from a weekend in the Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan. The boys call it "The Sandy Dunes." We love it here.

Hunter was trying to teach Kiana how to blow on the flower seeds and watch the wind take them away. This is what happens when you get a little too close.

The princess in her princess chair, thank you Spencer's!

This was our only real challenge ... Kiana figured out how to climb out of her pack and play ... at bed time ... I took this through the screen at one end of the camper. Caught!!

This is my second favorite thing about summer ... the Beach!!!

And of course ... you can't go to the dunes without climbing them ... this was taken about half way up a "small" one. The boys beat me by a mile...

Proof that we did it! When we came a few years ago with the boys, we climbed this dune and when Hunter got to the top he said, "Mom! You can see the whole world!" He beat me then too.

After hanging out for a while, playing with action shots ... going back down is the best part ... next to the view at the top ...

And then there's smores .... always ...

Ahhhh ... what a fabulous weekend.

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.