the first snow fall

It started snowing today. 

It grows my heart to see my children excited by snowfall.  And even more so how thrilled they are to watch their littlest brother enthralled...he doesn't remember this from last year. 

I sewed some curtains this morning.

I conditioned the table.

I've been painting.  This is what my dining room looks like when I've been painting.  I have nowhere else to store the finished works, nor the works in progress.  So, until these make their way to completion and then to their next destination, we eat in a motel-art shrine.

On the docket for the day?  Finish up three of the above. 

And then some Christmas decorating.

It's a shame that we got rid of the artificial tree.

 

eight

My boy turned eight today. 

When he was born I felt a mix of overwhelming love and complete panic.  I grew up with sisters.  I had a daughter.  I understood girls.  And girl stuff.  Boy stuff?  A mystery.

But, oh the love a mother has for her son.  I would hold him and look into his beautiful blue eyes and wonder what kind of man he would one day become.  What would he be like?  What would he think about?  What would he do?

His first Christmas I heard a song about Mary and her baby Jesus and I wept with an understanding that I hadn't known before. 

This boy...

...this boy that on the day he learned to crawl, he crawled all the way to the top of the stairs.  Baby gates!  And when he learned to pull to a stand, he pulled to a stand on top of the sofa...



...I had turned my back for two seconds (which is the beginning of almost all the stories of his babyhood) and the above is what I found.  *It should be noted that the camera was RIGHT THERE, and I knew I needed evidence of this moment for posterity.  **Also, I removed him right afterwards. 

He has always been so curious.  He is so smart.  Like, this kid could be a rocket scientist.  Except for the fact that he's going to fly Blue Angels.

And the cliche about boys being so different from girls?  Is one of the truest.  Different - but not in a bad way.  In the most wonderful way. 

 

s is for sarah

four years ago

This little fellow was born. 

He is so delightful.

love abounds

And this is my prayer:
 that your love may abound
more and more
in the knowledge and depth of insight,
so that you may be able
 to discern what is best
and may be pure and blameless
 until the day of Christ  

 

Philippians 1:9-10

 

 

 

 

thirty-six

One time I was fifteen years old and this super hot guy asked me to go with him to the movies.

I said, "I'm sorry,  I can't date until I'm sixteen."


:)

(that's not what I said...once a liar...)

He turns thirty-six today. 

He's pretty great.

I'm pretty lucky.

seventeen

If at first you don't succeed, don't try skydiving

sixteen

Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

Pearl and Stanley

I tried to resist posing these two like a couple of old love birds...




He prefers reading the paper, and she likes to garden.

 

fifteen

When she told me I was average, she was just being mean.

fourteen

Did you know that William Tell and his family were avid bowlers? Yes, it's true. But, unfortunately, all the bowling league records were destroyed in a fire, so we will never know for whom the Tells bowled.

thirteen

Corduroy pillows are making headlines.

twelve

The man who had fallen into an upholstery factory is now said to be fully recovered.

eleven

(because I am a mother of boys...)

There was a captain sailing on the sea during a battle. His servant came up to him and the captain said, "bring me my red shirt".

So, the servant did as the captain said.

After that the servant came up to the captain and said, Why did you say bring me my red shirt"?

The captain said, "Well if I get shot they won't see the blood.

The next day the servant came up to the captain and said, "There are 50 ships on the horizon."

The captain said, "Bring me my brown pants."

getting ready, again

I'm getting ready for the Johnny Appleseed Days show again. 

Last year was really fun.  I got to spend the day with my Mom and sisters. 

(all the husbands watched the kids) 

 

The show was not the best place to sell paintings, but it was good motivation to paint in preparation.  I don't know that it's the best venue for my stuff, but I know it will be fun to spend the day with some of my favorite people. 

 

 

*Etsy shop to be filled in a few weeks*

 

ten

Did you hear about the man who lost his left side?
He's all right now.

nine

The Tate Watch Co., established in the 1880s in Massachusetts, wanted to expand their line of products. They decided on compasses, reasoning that the pioneers traveling west would all need one. Their watches were of excellent quality, not so their compasses. Pioneers often ended up in Canada or Mexico. Hence the expression, "He who has a Tate's is lost."

eight

A neutron goes into a bar and asks the bartender, "How much for a beer?" The bartender replies, "For you, no charge."

seven

There was a man who entered the local newspaper's pun contest. He sent in ten different puns, in the hope that at least one of the puns would win. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

six

Two vultures get ready to board an airplane, each carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at them and says, "I'm sorry, gentlemen, only one carrion allowed per passenger."

five

Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina. One went to Hollywood and became a famous actor. The other stayed behind in the cotton fields and never amounted to much. The second one, naturally, became known as the lesser of two weevils.

four

A three-legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old West. He slides up to the bar and announces: "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw."

three

A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?," they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."

two

These friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to"persuade" them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that Hugh, and only Hugh, can prevent florist friars.

one

Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him .... A super callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

30 something

I didn't wash my hair today. 

(Or yesterday.)

So today it was pretty gnarly.  I wet it down and messed it around.  For about three seconds I toyed with going out among the English with it completely amok.  But it was more Crazy Old Lady than Breezy-Tousled Carefree.  If you know what I mean. 

I half liked it.

Then I remembered her.  The Lipstick Lady .  When I was growing up, there was a thirty-something-year-old mentally ill woman who lived out of her station wagon.  She wore her lipstick all over her mouth.  The kind of woman who would yell things at you if you glanced in her direction?

I smoothed my hair down just a little. 

Sometimes after a long day of mothering I feel a little too close to crazy.  And there is no need to tempt my inner Lipstick. 



 

South Africa Stripes :: for Julia

For Bonnie

 “God loves you. Jesus Christ died for you. He can change your life. He did it for me. He will do it for you.” 

 

(Found an article this morning.  And this gospel presentation is what stuck with me.)

 

xoxoxo

thursday

I hadn't touched a brush almost all summer.  But then inspiration struck  early last week.  And keeps striking.  It feels good to be at it again. 

the prayer

I video taped our supper last night. 

It's one of my favorite parts of the day. 

We say grace.  But my three year old really goes all out.  His voice is loud.  Full of authority.

Every night, it's:

COME LORD JESUS.
BE OUR GUEST.
NUFF BE MIFF.
NEFF ME BESS.

It's twelve kinds of awesome.

peanut butter cookies :: gluten free

So, life has been good. 

The weather is cooling, my windows are open and my strings aren't strung quite so tight.

Today we baked.


1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Shape into balls, press with fork, bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

on this night

My three year old had a nap today.  Which made for a quiet afternoon.  And an eventful evening.

"MOM!

MOM! 

MOOOOM!!!"

(He hollered from his bed)

"MOM!  CAN YOU HEAR ME?!  I NEED YOU TO SCRATCH MY BACK!"

I crawled into his bed.  "Scratch my back mom?  Just this much," he said with his arms stretched as wide as he could reach.

"Now scratch my arm?"

"And my other arm?"

"Almost finished...now scratch my back a little more?"

"And my arm."

"And my other arm."

"And just a little bit more."



This kid. 



I gave him fair warning before I tucked his shirt in and patted his little back.

"See you in the unicorns," he told me.  (Because he is awesome like that.)

blink

Under the shade of the giant oak trees

we waited for his siblings to finish their last day of school for the year. 

My three year old watched the children playing outside the windows of our parked car. 

He wanted to join them in their game of flag football. 

I explained that this game was only for the kids attending school. 

He pinched his eyes closed and then opened them again.

"I blinked.  Now I'm in first grade," he explained.

He had overheard my idiom and misunderstood. 

It's a blink of my eye. 

Not his own. 

 I'm going to start propping them open with toothpicks. 

t e n

My sweet girl turns 10 today. 

Two digits. 

In honor of her birthday, a repost...

her big brown eyes

I went to a concert with my mom and my girl the other night. At one point, my girl looked at me. And her eyes....big and brown and round. She was at once both the 8 1/2 year old she is right now, and the baby that she will always be in my heart. Those eyes.

I remembered the night before her first birthday. One whole year had come and gone. She would never be my tiny girl again. I cried. Hard. I woke up my sleeping husband. "She's going to be one." He didn't feel it like I did.

I was two years into a four year interior design program when she was born. Before I met her, I was sure I could keep pushing towards the career of my dreams. And then we met. My baby. My girl. My mom watched her for me while I attended classes. It worked. I tucked the pain of leaving her in my back pocket and finished another year.

The summer between years 3 and 4 of the program -that I worked so hard to get into- required an internship. I applied to a few places and was so excited to be hired to one that paid money.

That night before her birthday, I felt the sting of all that would be required from me that summer. All the time away. From the child that was no longer a baby. My girl. Growing so fast I could almost see it happening. I thought about just calling this place to tell them I couldn't do it. Quitting. Before I began.

But I couldn't.

We had sacrificed so much to get to where we were, and this internship would only be for a summer. But that summer turned into more. The 4th year in that program (my 6th college year) was busy with school-work and work-work. And I saw my girl at the end of the day. I put her to bed each night. And dressed her each morning. But the in between wasn't hers and mine. It was hers. And mine. Separately.

Everyday I sat at my desk I thought about how I would rather be sitting with her. I pressed forward, though, with that pain tucked away deep. I could still feel it.

And then, in an unexpected turn of events, we were expecting.

It was then I knew. There was no way....

....no way for us.

No way for me to tuck those feelings away any longer. It was time to tuck "my career" away.

That was almost seven years ago. I can feel that career being tucked away, but it doesn't feel painful....it feels good.

::Micah::

To give you an idea of scale, I've hung these in my diningroom. 

Option 1:

one 24"w x 36"h plus one 24"w x 24"h (overall 2 ft wide by 5 ft high) $120

Option 2:

three 24" x 24" squares (total stacked 2 ft wide by 6 ft high) $135

happy easter!

then bursting forth in glorious day

up from the grave He rose again!

::sjbk::

For Sare~Lah.  

Good Busy

Painting in the kitchen. 

The sun is shining today.

Weatherman says 58 degrees by this afternoon.

I need all 58.

The last two months have been sick ones for me and mine.  Pink eye.  Influenza.  Bronchitis.  The common cold. The uncommon cold.  Good times. 

I'm tired.  But the sun is shining. 

itsystitch Waldorf inspired dolls

If you have a little girl, and your little girl likes to play with dolls...well, then you need to know about itsystitch.

Photo: Amie :: itsystitch

  Shop owner Amie is a super talented lady, and she recently started selling her wares online.  She is running a contest to win one of her Waldorf inspired dolls.  You have until 2:00 pm on February 2nd to enter.  If you win, come back and thank me....and if you don't, you're welcome anyhow...you will not find Waldorf inspired dolls anywhere else online of this quality at such a great price.  And, seriously, how cute is their hair?!

one, two, three, four

hootie owl for Steph

Lori and Donna

A few possibilities...

bleeding hearts :: 30" x 24" :: $55

wildflowers :: 36" x 24" :: $75

daisy field :: 36" x 24" :: $75

(Click on any photo to enlarge)