Tea for three

I believe part of my calling as a mother is to help create memorable experiences for my children....so I put together an elegant tea party for Sarah to share with some friends. 

(Mommy disclaimer: Of course I neglected my housecleaning this afternoon.....there's a reason why there's a handy thing called the 'crop function' with pictures. You can't see the dirty dishes waiting for their turn to monopolize my attention.)

(Another tangent: No, we don't drink 'real' tea. I served non-caffienated herbal teas and lemonade....just in case you're wondering. We are Mormon, you know.) 

The girls dressed up their dolls in their finest clothing and carefully arranged miniature chairs around the tea table. The dolls shared secrets throughout the party (don't they look like they're whispering something sneaky?)

I happened to have excess chocolate fondue left over from a church activity I had arranged earlier in the week (Oh it was so fun! I get to minister to the single members in our ward. I love socializing with older women!).

The girls were delighted to have an array of dippables for the chocolate. (who doesn't love chocolate-covered cookies, cake, fruit, well....I suppose chocolate-covered ANYTHING is pretty good! I've even seen chocolate-covered bacon in the candy stores.)

They had a lovely time chatting and giggling. For my part, my heart was full just to watch Sarah have such a fun time. I feel so blessed when we get to have happy days like this, just enjoying each other's company. 

When we moved into the country, our lifestyle changed in some unexpected ways. Everything is so far away now that we have the necessity of creating our own entertainment (rather than visiting the library or park or shopping, etc). I had expected this a bit, but I am constantly surprised at how much richer our lives are when we cut out the city attractions. (Okay, the one exception is the library...that one is hard to live without! So we make bi-weekly trips into town to pick up a basket of books.)

Life is beautiful. It just is.

Kids crave dirt

Along with milk and vegetables, kids need dirt and worms to grow.

Today my children spent all day in the pasture playing in the dirt. They were so enthusiastic about their game. I was given breathless snippets of updates each time they dashed through the house for a drink of water or restroom break. Other than that I didn't see or hear them for an entire afternoon!

At the end of the day they tramped back to our house, covered from head to toe in mud and dirt. (I won't mention what my floors looked like after this parade!)

They were exuberant in their accomplishment and begged me to take a tour of their dirty creation.

(Pun totally intended!)

Very proudly they led me into the pasture, their faces all glowing with unconcealed pleasure.

With a grandiose wave of his arms, Matthew said, "Ta-DA!"

They had spent all day digging a trench.

It was over 100 feet long. 

They said it was the best day ever.

I was reminded yet again by my little ones to enjoy the little pleasures of being alive. 

I am so happy where we live!

(As a side note, Nathan and I have wanted to dig a Polynesian-style BBQ pit big enough to roast an entire pig...I wonder if the children would be so obliging as to take care of the excavation....)

Just do it

It's official.

 I'm going for one of my dreams.

 I am illustrating a childrens' book.

Isn't it exciting? 

We are aiming for publication in time for Christmas.

I'm simultaneously tickled with anticipation and terribly nervous.

We'll see how things go.....I wonder if I'm allowed to share my illustrations online here? 

Hmmm...something I need to ask the author. I'd like to share my work here if I can.

 ( *laughing* and when I can remember to upload them, that is! Aren't we still waiting for me to post pics of my Christmas paintings.....yeah, well....let's move on....)

I am currently conquering some of my project list so I can focus properly on this new project. 

(See the shower walls behind me, still waiting for tile? Yeah....that's a biggie on my project list.)

Among my projects I am currently incubating 35 chicken eggs. If all goes well, they will hatch just in time for Easter, won't that be fun?! 

I can hardly wait!

Joke Journal- Sarah

Sarah started interjecting humor into her conversations lately. It's hilarious. It's been more and more entertaining to talk to her...she's just getting generally more funny, and she knows it. 


Yesterday the children were talking with Nathan about age and maturity, and how some 
people act much older than they really are, etc.

Sarah: How old would you think I am, Dad?
Nathan: Well, you're pretty mature...so I'd say 22.
Sarah (throwing her hands in the air with mock horror): Twenty-TWO?! What happened 
to my childhood?!

Projects, projects everywhere

Projects pile up around me, calling my name and vying for my attention. I've been kindly answering their pleas for attention this past week and conquering some of my to-do list.

Just a random picture I love of Matthew.

We originally bought our little farm house from some people who were chain smokers, so we had to cover all surfaces liberally with Kilz primer in order to block the nicotine stains and noxious reek. It made the ceilings and walls look a dirty, dingy grey color. Well, I finally painted the children's rooms and made them look cheerful and welcoming.

Hopefully I'll remember to post pictures soon of their bedroom transformations. I've been waiting for my sewing machine to arrive in the mail (my last one was dropped during our move and was shattered inside....how disappointing!) so I can sew curtains before taking pictures of the final product.

I particularly love Sarah's room: it's like a fairy tale garden full of flowers, dragonflies and butterflies. It's absolutely magical. She asked me to paint a couple of paintings to hang in there. The canvases will host a fairy tea party and butterfly garden.....whenever I get around to actually making them. I've been working on the concept sketches and they are looktojtiood. I'll give a picture tour of her room soon. (Let's go ahead and add that task to my growing list of projects! Who knows when it will be done?)

I've been brushing up again on my body art skills since I took a leave of absence during my difficult pregnancy and postpartum baby-stage. (What a great pun! Did you catch it?) Diego is old enough to eat cereals and other solids, so I left him for TEN HOURS (yikes!) last weekend while I worked my first festival of the year. I've agreed to work this monthly festival for the rest of the year....so I'm really excited about this prospect of regular gigs again. I really enjoyed getting back into my artistic groove, so to speak, and interacting with so many families.

The next project will be a biggie. I purchased some AMAZING wooden frames for a steal last week. (They are the extremely ornately-carved and gold-leafed type of frames you find in museums or churches. Nice!) I always look for frames at thrift stores (buying frames new is just too expensive for me, so I have 6 paintings sitting unframed on my bookcases). Occasionally I find a fantastic frame I can use, so I take it home and remove whatever ugly picture it originally held (and was usually the sole reason why it was sent to the thrift store in the first place) and frame my own art for almost free. SO, I found two heirloom-quality frames for only $25 last week. I literally salivated just looktojtat these beauties. So I bought them. The only problem is that none of my finished paintings are quite big enough to use in these frames......so I'm planning on another painting. And it will have to be huge.

I purchased more tree swings for our property. I can't help myself. I want to have trees dangling all over the property, calling little children to come play. Have I mentioned enough times how much I adore tree swings? My heart feels so full of peace and quiet happiness each time I watch my children swing under the arms of an old oak tree. This is what life is meant to be like.

Now I have the project of actually hanging those swings. Where's my Boy Scout when I need him?