Tiny Angels II

I don't know where to begin with this painting. I am so grateful to have done it for two wonderful, amazing people. Two people that I've never met, but have been so touched by. No one should ever have to experience what they have experienced as parents. I can only hope that through the paint that was applied and the brush that it was applied with and the love that it was done with, I was able capture a bit of joy in a far too-'short life. I did a painting about a year ago for Robyn and Keith, they had lost their premature, twin girls about 6 weeks apart. It was a devastating loss and as an artist I was challenged not only artistically, but emotionally. I was given a poem for my muse and the rest was my vision of their precious angels and their journey. I was very happy with the outcome, and on the opposite side of the spectrum, Robyn and Keith were expecting Rowyn and I was happy to do a nursery piece for their new little girl's room. Fast forward, and little Rowyn's journey into this world wasn't the smoothest and during a time when most parents are struggling with exhaustion and diaper changes, these two individuals were discussing things that no parent should ever have to discuss. Little Rowyn fought a valiant battle, and gave her parents time to snuggle and love her, but she was called to heaven to be with her sisters far too soon.

I was contacted by Robyn to do a memorial piece for precious Rowyn - I thought about it and oddly enough our visions were almost identical. I took my time with this piece, knowing I am doing something so special and meaningful for a family can be kind of stressful. Being a mom, I wanted this to be just perfect for Robyn, knowing I would expect nothing less for myself. I am so pleased with the outcome, I am so happy that Robyn loves it as much as I do. It is interesting how people come into your life and what you learn from them. I am grateful for the trust this family put into me and I am grateful that I can share it with you. (photography by Leslie Webber -thanks Les!)

Tiny Angels II

Thanks again Robyn and Keith - my love goes to you both.

Thanks for everyone stopping by - I have a few more paintings to share and some crafty fun coming up!

what we do

Lovin' big brother reading to lil'bro and lil'sis

This weekend we were a bit home bound - Ryan was working so the kids and I decided to capitalize on the home time and work on some crafts and projects we've had sitting here for a while.

We're big fans of the Olympics, winter in particular. Jon just loves it - more than the other two - he's decided he wants to be a snowboarder - we've tried to explain that we don't really live in an area that is conducive to snowboarding, but we could start off by skateboarding. He fits the skateboarding look - lanky, droopy drawers, long hair. So even if he can't balance on the board, he at least looks like he can. Blend if you will.

If you know Jon you know he asks a MILLION questions, he never quite got out of that "why?" phase. Which is a good thing for life-long learning, but can be trying when you just want to get through something. In any event, I have a friend who home schools her 8 children, yes you heard me 8. They are wonderful kids and a wonderful family, and run like a well oiled machine. She has a blog that she posts all sorts of goodies, menus, projects, homeschooling items, etc. One of her recent posts included a Olympic lapbook, that discussed the history of the Olympics through our current winter Olympics. Knowing Jon likes the background on things - I thought this would be perfect. You couldn't beat the price either - $3.75 for the .PDF file - download, print and you're ready to go. So I hopped on and purchased and we decided Saturday would be the day to start. Now, Jon had the misconception that we'd hammer out the whole thing in one day - when I explained that this could take a full month to complete he looked at me like I had two heads. After we started, he figured out that one day was not going to be enough to complete this book. Even though I knew that, I didn't know what I was getting into either.

We sat and read the directions, glued our folders together, prepping our base and then dug in. We started with a history of the Olympics. Innocent enough, but after the first sentence, we had to stop and talk about "sacred truce" and discuss the difference between sacred and secular. Then we had to discuss mythology and the Gods, an overview. Then as we read through the timeline, Jon started asking why the dates went forward and backward. So we had to take some time to discuss BC vs. AD. and explain Latin and also how the dates go forward at one point and then backward at another. At this point we're about an hour into it, he's still hanging on so we continue. Then we had to discuss roman numerals - so I found a converter online for him to see what the letters stand for and how to create numbers with them. Not easy. Who knew this one page would cause so many questions!

Eventually we got to learning about the Greek culture, which I always find fascinating since it's part of my and my family's heritage. We learned about their culture, politics and family life. It was just perfect for Jon and we then cut out our hard work and glued it to our board. One of like 12 for that particular board. This might take longer than a month.

We have our science fair today, and swimming ends this weekend, I think we'll be able to dedicate a couple of hours each day to working on our lapbook and our goal is to have it done before the next winter Olympics. Kidding. It's been fun, a learning experience for me and Jon, and I'm excited he's interested at all. What do the other two chickens do while we're working. Well Drew has become my little artist, I can hardly keep him in paper, so he was drawing Olympic events, snowboarders and the torch and such. Penny enjoyed working on her cutting skills and likes to cut confetti- which may sound silly, but she's learned to hold the scissors correctly and just about has enough hand strength to cut with one hand, which is no small feat for a new 3 year old. She's more of a color-inner, vs, her own artwork, but I am sure that will change in the next few months - Jon and Drew were around three when they started to draw people and things that actually looked like people and things.

That's it in a nutshell, a relaxing day that included a bit of learning and of course some awesome time together.

One of the best parts of my day, when Jon gets home from school. Love that boy.

Thanks!!!

Miss Pickles is 3!!!

This is two days late, but better late than never...

Okay so Penny's birthday is turning out to be a bit like mine - Pennaukah if you will. Friday will be the conclusion when she goes to school and her aunt and uncle come over to give her, her present. It is hard for me to remember a time when I didn't have my little girl. I can still remember sitting or laying as it was in the ultrasound room and we had Jon with us and the tech whispered to me - "it's a girl" and just being floored. We don't make those - I was fully prepared to have a third boy. I can't say enough though, how blessed I am to have my daughter.

So this morning we woke up to a two hour delay - so we had a very nice, lazy morning. Penny had her typical breakfast of milk and string cheese. Then it was on to getting our tutu on. Needless to say it IS a bit fluffy. But not too fluffy to twirl around for a few pictures and of course offer up some of Penny's finest facial expressions.

After that we played dolls and well the rest of the day includes, opening presents, homemade macaroni and cheese and hanging out with our uncle tee tee.

How did my baby get so big?

We changed out of our tutu and shirt to our "mermaid" dress up outfit. We wear this a lot - it is the equivalent to Drew's spiderman costume. It gets a lot of face time and is a primary part of our wardrobe.

I capitalized on the morning by giving the boys free reign on my stickers, stencils, scrapbook paper and blank cards. In my hay-day I was a scrapbooking machine - now I am more of a photobook machine - so much faster and easier. That leaves me, however with a TON of paper, stickers, stencils, etc. So I decided to put that to good use and I am so glad that I did. Holy smokes - did they turn out cute. So heart felt - there is nothing sweeter than watching my two boys make something so careful and thoughtful for their baby sister. I believe tears formed, but I sucked it up - I've become my yiayia - she cried over EVERYTHING happy. I guess there are worse things and to be compared to my yiayia is just about the best thing I could think of. I digress. The cards are awesome - so much better than anything I could buy in the store.

So what's so great about Penny? Sometimes she says some of the funniest things - during the superbowl we all enjoyed the Denny's chicken commercials - when we asked Penny - "what did you just see?" because we were all laughing, she simply replied: " chicken nuggets." She can make me laugh like no other - honestly, she never ceases to amaze me in all aspects. After having two boys, I continue to be floored by the nature that is a girl. She is so nurturing, so loving. She's independent and can hop on her brothers and run around with the best of them. She might be wearing plastic heals and a tutu, but she's running. I can't wait to see the woman that Penny becomes because she's a pretty spectacular little girl. I know our road will not always be so smooth, but for now when we go to bed at night I hold tight to our usual exchange: "You my fend mommy?" me: "I'm your best friend Penny, I love you." penny: "Yes, you my best fend mommy, I wuv you too." and with that I'm crying.

Happy Birthday my precious angel, my miss pickles, my littlest chicken. I love you - enjoy your day!

Thanks!!!!

American Girl

Nicki, what do you think about global warming?

(conversation cards - this question may or may not have been in the box)

It's no secret that my mom loved dolls. I love dolls, not with the passion my mom did, but I do like them. I can't help but be a little girl when it comes to dressing, styling their hair and playing with them. Penny and I have had many a tea party. I have been known to "disappear" with Penny and only to be found with a hair brush and ponytail holders. I'd like to say that Penny really pushes me to do it, but I would be lying. I love it.

Penny loves dolls too - which works out well because she's inherited most of my mothers dolls. When she was in utero, mom bought her Bitty Baby from American Girl, then when Penny was four months old, Mom and I took her to American Girl to pick out a doll (okay so I picked it out) and we ate in the Cafe. I have a small scrapbook that covers the weekend together. I looked at it recently, I am so happy I did it, understanding that Penny won't remember that day without it. When my mom was still alive she made me promise I'd take Penny when she was three - I don't know why three was so important, but who am I to question a dying woman? It worked out that we would go this past weekend right before Miss Pickles third birthday.

We went up north and stayed in a hotel by my dad, he, Ryan, and the boys accompanied us to the American Girl Store (taking one for the team) and eat at the cafe. It may seem excessive to go and spend the time and the money. Fortunately we had most of everything paid for before we even left the house - this weekend had been in the works since late summer. Penny also has multiple American Girl dolls, but in all fairness she inherited two and one she was too young to pick out. So I wanted to give her an opportunity to pick out her very own doll. We brought Nicki, the doll that mom bought for her and made an appointment to get her hair styled at the salon. After scheduling our appointment, we had lunch, which was delicious. It was hilarious because pretty much everyone was celebrating a birthday. So we heard about 20 renditions of "Happy Birthday" which Penny thought was for her each time. One day she'll understand that it isn't all about her, but for now, it is. Penny was a little cranky, she developed a runny nose the day before and slept little at the hotel - it could have been a recipe for disaster, but she was a trooper and all that suffered was our photography because she had little patience for "smiling" or "posing with her doll". I'll take it because there were definite fits and I am very happy to say none came from our table. After lunch we went to our "hair appointment" and picked out our hair style for our doll. Adorable.

Feeding Nicki tea.

Nicki at the salon

This is seriously the best picture of us for the day - goofy grins all around - at least I smiled nice!

Happy Girl - with pretty dolly - best picture of the day.

After our appointment it was time to shop - holy cats was the store packed, you would have sworn they were giving dolls away (I can assure you, they were not). We were hoping to buy the "ballet" outfit - we don't call it ballerina - it's ballet - Penny will most certainly correct you on that. But they were out of stock, so she settled on a snazzy sparkly number which I am pretty sure Penny would like in her size. She also picked out "Sugar" a small yorkie dog that is about as cute as can be. From there we went down to the historical dolls and Penny settled on Elizabeth - Felicity's friend. Felicity didn't stand a chance, Elizabeth has a big pink dress - if it's pink, Penny is all over it. So Elizabeth it was. We also got a cute summer tee for Penny and one of her dolls and then a small Julie doll because she was our second favorite choice.

All in all, Penny did a great job and enjoyed herself immensely despite the chaos around her. She doesn't get stressed out by choices like Jon or Drew does - she pretty much knows what she likes and that is that. I figure that is one of her best and worst qualities.

This may seem like a silly picture, but I love it. My dad has been dubbed Silly Papa for obvious reasons - the kids just laugh and laugh at my dad and his antics. It's hard to take him seriously sometimes. He had a pretty easy time shopping this year - he just let Penny pick out the goods at AG!

After American Girl we all crashed at Silly Papa's for pizza and cake. It was a yummy end to our busy day. The boys took turns staying at Dad's. Jon stayed Friday night and Drew stayed Saturday night - we tried to leave all three on Sunday, but dad didn't share our excitement - maybe one day...

We got home, unpacked and Penny played. She received a tea set complete with a picnic basket. She promptly ran to her room to introduce her new dolls to her old dolls and have a tea party. I am very blessed that I have children that can and want to play on their own. She loves to close her door and shut out the world and play. It is precious to be outside her door and hear the magic of her imagination.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend - I look forward to going back to American Girl with Penny, just her and I. Tomorrow is her actual birthday- we've got a few surprises for her - I made her a "3" t-shirt and an adorable pink tutu that is fluffy as all get out - when she tried it on today she said, "I big!" meaning the tutu is quite big, but I am confident that she'll love flitting around the house in it. Until then - thanks!

Contest Winner...

This will be a quick one, we're getting ready to leave for Chicago to celebrate Penny's birthday at American Girl - but I couldn't leave without announcing the winner....

Lisa Au!!!! - Congrats and thanks for all the awesome ideas. Since your guys are bigger, you can have a choice of an Owl or a small bouquet of posies - you choose. I just bought some yummy fabric - so either way it will be fun, fun, fun!

Thanks to those who commented - I'll be back again soon!

DYI Posies and a Contest!!!!

I love having flowers in the house. Unfortunately it isn't as easy in the winter, as it is in the summer. In the summer I just walk outside and cut whatever I fancy for a vase. In the winter, I have to buy them or hope that someone else does (which never happens). Ryan surprised me with a bouquet of gerber daisies on the anniversary of mom's passing. She loved gerber daisies and could grow them very well. I nursed them best I could and I finally had to toss them yesterday. Not to bad for two weeks - gerber daisies aren't known for their longevity. I missed the little posies, so I tried to think about what I could do to replace them. I had a rare opportunity to peruse etsy. I love etsy, but I like when other people find cool things and pass them on. I liken etsy to an anchor store - Macy's or JCPenny's - too many choices, too overwhelming. So I bit the bullet and looked myself. I found some cute fabric flowers and thought, "I can do that!" I went off and did it. The bonus is that I have a permanent bouquet AND I used up some of my remnant fabric. I'm thinking of turning one into a corsage for a jacket, sweater or hair thingy. I might just have to add this to the PP inventory - let me know what you think!

First I cut out two sizes of circles in fabric and complimentary felt.

I then sewed around the circle - leaving an irregular width from the edge. It doesn't have to be perfect - it adds to the character. I used white thread because it was there and threaded, I suppose if you wanted to get real sassy you could use contrasting thread for an additional flair!

You'll end up with a pile of thready circles that need to be organized and trimmed.

I then organized them into piles that I thought looked fun together.

I used wire to poke through the fabric and then through the bead at the top.

See the bead? I ran it back through and twisted it, I secured a smaller bead at the base underneath and then twisted the wire.

Vwa-la! I clustered three to four posies together and then clustered three of those groupings. I wrapped them in the same wire to keep them from separating.

Will you be my Valentine?

Okay so while I was making my flowers, I had the idea to make an owl. I like owls a lot - their trendy, but cute. So with all that extra fabric, I decided to make a quick stuffed friend.

A little bit of felt, fabric and buttons and you have a fluffy little friend.

Even Drew likes him.

The Owl tamer...

Guess what - I'm giving an Owl away! All you need to do is make a comment in the comment section. I'd love to hear some ideas for other little stuffed friends. Then I will draw the winner at random on that random number website that everyone uses. Once I draw the winner I will contact you and you can tell me if you want an Owl for a boy or a girl. Plus you might see your stuffed "idea" come to life in the coming months. The contest will close Friday at 3pm EST. You can enter once per day - happy commenting!

Thanks

Snow day doings.

We had a snow day today - I enjoyed it immensely, Ryan left later than usual to allow the roads and traffic to clear out a bit. The kids played, inside, outside and in between. I love when they're home. I decided to be fairly productive today, laundry, ironing, sewing and cleaning. All those luxurious things us stay-at-homers do for a living. I was more productive than usual - I'm not sure why, but grateful when the urge hits me.

So I've got all this fabric, some I've had, some I've inherited. I've cleaned out a bunch, but decided today to do something with some of it. When we moved into this house, my mom helped me pick out and purchase the fabric to make our roman shades and custom headboard. At that same time we also purchased accent fabric for a years old piano bench that we refinished and gave a second life. I had about a yard of that bench fabric left and decided to make a pillow for our bed. I love making pillows, they're so easy and as I get older I like the contrast and character they bring. I come by it honestly, my mom was a lover of pillows. I have the pillow warden (Ryan) to make sure things don't get out of hand and we don't have too many. I am really happy with how this little fella turned out- it has a chocolate brown backing and then I added the beads for a bit of embellishment.

I then had some Valentine fabric I bought when mom was still living with us. Mom was my official apron maker. I like to wear holiday aprons to my kids school parties - yes, I am a dork, yes, it embarrasses my children. It is retribution for all those public temper tantrums they threw when they were toddlers. Mom was well enough to make my Christmas one, we had bought the fabric for the Valentine one, but she never got around to it. I'm not sure what kept me from doing it other than it was something that she was suppose to do for me and couldn't. It's silly, I know, but that's me. So I decided today was the day and I made it - I realize when I was photographing myself that it makes me a bit fluffy, which as a healthy girl, fluffy isn't exactly the look I'm going for... it's a bit fuzzy, but you get the idea:

Last but not least is a Valentine skirt for Penny. I had enough fabric left over to make a twirly skirt for Penny for Valentines day. That's the benefit of being able to sew in a rudimentary way - I can make something like a skirt in about 10 mins and she can wear it once for all I care - it was scrap and minimal effort - but turned out cute and she looks adorable with a fluffy skirt - not like her momma.

Pair that puppy up with a red t shirt and red tights and her black boots and she'll be rocking the love. I'll post pictures on Friday of her ensemble.

Next up is a shirt and tutu for her third birthday, I think I may make one tutu for our trip to Chicago and one for her to open on her actual birthday. I also have an idea about a number "3 " t shirt - so I have to see if I can make that one work - using some of that remnant fabric I've mentioned and some "sparkle" and a not-too-expensive t shirt - instead of spending 30-35$ on one in a catalog or online. I'm pretty confident I can make the tutu and shirt for less than $10. I may make up a tutorial of that one to share.

So that's my snow day - happy homemaking at its best, we're still living off of Super Bowl leftovers so I'm not too concerned about food right now. Perhaps tomorrow.

Before I send off I have to say I am LOVING all this snow. I'm craving a fire right now and wish that Ryan was home to enjoy it (and tend to it as well!) When those super fluffy flakes were falling, I immediately ran and I got my camera and snapped a few shots. Just gorgeous if you ask me - I don't think I could ever live in a place that didn't have snow.

Soon enough that wind chime will make noise, for now, it's a bit frozen in time. I've had a ton of winter birds too - blue jays, cardinals, robins and sparrows - I can't catch them, but they're enjoying the seeds I've left out as a token of appreciation for their color on the white backdrop.

Okay - that's my day -the natives are getting restless so I am off to referee. Thanks!

Oh and I'm posting this:

Kelly Moore is giving away a bag! Go enter to win! http://kellymoorebagblog.com/

I don't know who she is, but she's got cute bags - so check it out!

Why Penny wants a sister...

Penny would love a sister. I feel for her - I've always wondered what it would have been like to have one. Since this can no longer happen in our household, Penny is out of luck. So she has decided that Cyd is her sister, even though he's a boy, but that seems to matter little to Penny. He is warm, he listens, he follows her around and tolerates being dressed up and decorated. Doesn't that sum up a younger sister? Penny thinks so, as do I.

I have to say there are moments when Cyd drives me crazy, like when he needs to be groomed and drops yet another black cotton ball on my floor after a behind-the-ear-scratch. Or when someone comes to the door and he barrels through the house to run up and jump on them, or the way he skids out on my hardwoods making them resemble a shell of their former selves. Yes, Cyd drives me crazy, he's an attention whore and sneaks naps on the couch when I'm not looking, but honestly I wouldn't trade him for anything. He's a phenomenal dog and here's why:

He loves everyone. He tolerates Penny laying on him, putting bells, bows and necklaces on him daily, Drew covers him with blankets and stuffed animals and sometimes he becomes a hairy planet where lego ships land. And he takes it. all. in stride. For a dog who's first year and a half of life is sketchy at best, he is the most phenomenal pet I could have every asked for.

Penny takes him on daily walks around the house, leading him up and down the stairs, into closets, her room, you name it, he's been taken there. He gets locked in her room, and comes out looking like a bedazzler puked on him. He doesn't whimper or whine or even try to take it off - he just acts like it's no big deal and knows eventually someone will remove the swagger from his fur.

If you look closely you'll see that Cyd is sporting a sweet gold necklace, last week it was a red ribbon with a bell, the week before that it was a pink hair scrunchy on his tail. He's worn crowns, bracelets and been fed tea in a cup, with a spoon - he hasn't explained to Penny the whole awkward opposable thumb thing.

Penny also loves to love on Cyd. He cut his foot earlier this week and it made for a bloody mess all over the house (thank you hardwood floors) it was concentrated in Penny's room and on her bed - ugh. I got him to stop running around and played vet and cleaned and bandaged his cut. He's a good boy and sat still, but I think Penny kissing his nose saying, "it's okay baby, it's okay" was probably helping - I mean his tail was going a mile a minute - he really loves attention. I am happy to report he's a-okay - and nurse Penny had a lot to do with that, I think.

I had to take a minute to honor my fourth child because last night when he came into the kitchen wearing his necklace Ryan and I had to laugh, then take his picture and then remove the necklace. We're true parents: chuckle, document, resolve issue- I like to think it's just seasoned parenting is all.

So thank you Cyd for being such a wonderful, tolerant dog. I am pretty sure he can't read, but he's Border Collie/German Shepard mix - two of the smartest breeds on the planet. Sometimes I think he's on the lower end of the gene pool, but honestly between you and me and the fencepost - I think it's an act and that he's a lot smarter than he lets on. I think being conveniently stupid works for him and that my friends is a pretty damn smart dog!

Little Ballerina Penny

It was only a matter of time, before we starting dancing.

If you know Penny you know that she basically twirls through life.

We decided that a ballet class at the park would be a good start to ease us into this new world.

But as Leslie said - who are you kidding, this is only the beginning, there is not going to be "trying" ballet for Penny. We have a long road ahead of us that includes, slippers, leotards, tutu's and more.

Honestly I couldn't be happier. I actually cried today when she put on her ensemble. I love having a daughter, I do. I thought about my mom and how she would have just, well cried when she saw how adorable and perfect Penny looked in her ballet gear. Not to be too sentimental, so I'll tell you a little story - so while Penny and I were shopping for this little ensemble, she went behind the counter into the glass case and pulled out the bow you see above. She handed it to me and said, "I need this." Not I want, not can I, I need this. Boy, we are IN TROUBLE. But she it does finish the look perfectly.

Thanks!