one of "those" days

today was one of "those" days. yesterday, on the other hand, was delightful. pbs in the morning, fresh aebelskivers (danish applesauce pancake balls rolled in cinnamon sugar), kite flying, visited my grandparents, "triangles of destiny", library, park, "pop-a-sicle", 5 library books, a few songs, naptime. today... dry-erase marker on face/neck/wooden easel and a wet spot on the floor. jack had stood there quietly behind me and pooped/peed his pants. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! i slightly freaked out. but, when it was all over, told him i still loved him. "this too shall pass." is my motto these days.:)

art

i really like this one because jack's art is so linear.

my collection

i have a little collection of artwork by my old college friend, lauren. i was given one painting, but i bought 3 others with birthday or Christmas money. just thought i would do a little show-n-tell because i got the most recent painting in the mail the other day. and it is swoon-worthy.

the first painting is my new acquisition, "italian eggplant with peppers". such a beautiful style. the second is "squash", a fine illustrative piece. the third is "henry's pumpkin", my first purchase of brilliance (look at those brush strokes!).

chalkboard

i love jack's new chalkboard! it's one of those gifts that keeps on giving. it's great to share art with my child. over and over! and it's a learning tool! i foresee long hours practicing the alphabet and numbers. it is pretty sweet.

jack's Christmas present

my little artist at work.

an alternative to halloween -- part 2

i made 5 double batches of kool-aid play-doh for the party. it smelled so good. the kids loved it! so glad. jack SAT in the same (jack just interrupted me to say, "i'm so happy to see you."! i'm in love!) chair for hours!!! there were some other play-doh lovers that kept him company.:) there is an ice cream bucket of play-doh on the dining room table right now. once i saw how well he played with it, well, it is going to be around all the time! have to encourage his artistic side, of course! and, of course, he is truly gifted.;)

box of loveliness

today i received a box of loveliness from a friend. lauren pope, you are a great friend. in my box was a bunch of cool hand-me-downs for jack, dark chocolate:), postcards, a funky coloring book, chalk, a birthday calendar, and............ a valentine illustration lauren did that i had just loved. it is hanging on the side of my fridge (where jackie can't ruin it) for now, but i will be framing this sweet thang soon. it is lovely.

face painting

i am having a fab week. my sis is here with her 4 girls. yesterday we painted Christmas ornaments. the girl's ornaments are angels and jack's is an elf. then i painted the girl's faces. elerene painted a lady bug on nole's face. she is a very naturally talented artist and i am very curious to see if she is the next generation of artist in our family.

what i painted on my face is a little joke. that's what my dad wrote on the back of his lawn tractor with reflective tape letters. ha ha. i am holding my little niece elles. she is a little over 2 1/2 months.

good knitting weather and... a painting in his hands!

it is about 69 degrees out today!!!!!!!!!! can't believe it. sat on the bench outside my grandparent's chicken coop and knitted while jack amused himself with the coop door.:) could have stayed out there for hours, but was starving for lunch. i opened up a ton of windows in the house. may go back out there to knit after i make some chocolate chip cookies.

today i got the postal notice that the painting i bought from my friend lauren's on-line etsy store was at the post office ready to pick up. !!! so excited. i packed jack into the car without even any socks on, just shoes. had to wait for them to open from their lunch break. come on!... when we got back to the car, i ripped open my package. inside was my painting and odds and lovely ends. i had a little flash of epiphany. took the painting (in frame and ready to be hung!) and handed it back to my son in his carseat. wow. that was amazing. i think that was the first time jack has held a painting. it meant so much to share that with him. i will have to teach him all about art this week. we'll go on a gallery tour of the house.:) maybe i will even paint something. shocker.:)

squash

i bought a painting. my friend from pcc, lauren, was having an art sale. i bought this fabulous simple little painting. to those who know that i am so broke, i will explain. i got approx $75 extra dollars this paycheck for selling 5 "extra credit" ads. woo hoo! i am so excited to add this to my art collection. i know it will feel at home in my eclectic haven. my little offbeat colorbox. my nest.

ga!

or should i say, "I GOOOOOOO!!!"? that is an inside joke. my cousin's husband speaks korean. he says "i goo" (spelling?) constantly. "i goo" roughly means "oh no". oh no. i never seem to have enough time! i really am having a lovely time, but i just wish i got more done. probably my fault. i know it is my fault. oh no. i goo.

well, at the very least i will put a short blog post out there. i have been inspired lately. #1. i have been inspired to re-read the l. frank baum "wizard of oz" books from my local library. (came across artwork from the books at work.) i think there were a bunch of them when i was little, but only 4 have survived. alas. they are from 1900 on. i read them all! the last one was "the lost princess of oz". i was surprised to find i remembered lots of the book; i was in grade school when i read these last! if you love fairy tales, YOU MUST READ THESE BOOKS. they are gems. the scarecrow, tin man, and the cowardly lion are ok characters... but what about tip, moombi, the woozy, the sawhorse, jack pumpkinhead, betsy, cap'n bill, and cayke the cookie cook? or the inhabitants of utensia? they are all kitchen utensils. it was hilarious reading that chapter.

#2. other inspiration. lauren pope. your yearning for a knit dress for jane has inspired me to dig out my knitting. i just have to finish the endge and put fringe on a long red scarf i just finished that i suppose i will keep. i don't know of anyone else who would want it. then i am going to start on scarves for jack, and andy if he wants one. jack's will be navy blue and yellow large striped. i think andy would be cool with a red and black or gray stripe. can't wait to get started.

#3. i have been inspired by my cousin stacy to use more dried beans in my cooking. i am also looking to augment my meals with noodles, rice, and potatoes. just like grandma used to do. just like how i have a veggie garden and i knit scarves. hey, it might as well be 1958.:) "not that there's anything wrong with that." anyway, i have made a black bean mexican dish and a chili recently. boy, did that stretch out! i am actually ending a 2 week pay period with plenty of food options. usually i apologize towards the end of week 2 for the meals of hot dogs and tuna.:)

have you been inspired lately?

the winner is...

MARYN! congrats maryn, you won the 250th post giveaway. i hope you enjoy your art. or your gift of art, if you pass it along. so, i will be e-mailing you soon for details.

how did i choose a winner? well, my friend lauren used a hat. i thought i would try that method. since i am in the basement i looked around for something halfways suitable. i saw my great great uncle oscar hanson's metal WWI army helmet. it's pretty gnarly. there are splashes of paint all over it, and a hole in the top for drainage so my aunt mary could plant flowers in it. she planted flowers in everything. there's that good old depression era thrift for you!:) i think i might post a photo of the helmet later. jack is ill and crying in his crib so i have to scoot. p.s. here is my gnarly helmet. not for sale or contest prize!

vbs '08

alas, this year i did not get to attend all of Deerwood Baptist Church's Vacation Bible School. it is such a great, life-changing time. i have to work nights so i can stay home days with jack. the olympics was the theme of our Church's VBS this year. i wanted to "do my part", so i was the art director and head arteest. my fave art/decor installment was the gigantic (10ft? 12?) flaming torch at the front of the Church. the flame was a bunch of crumpled tissue paper glued to some poster board. and glittter, oh yes, there was glitter!:) the flame shimmered. i also did a twist on the wordless book with the olympic rings. i was very pleased.

jack got to "help" pastor choose some songs for opening night. pastor loves jack. i think they'll be buddies.

it came!

my print that i won came in the mail friday. i was so excited! the mail lady actually drove up to my house with it. she honked and dan, jack and i all came rushing out to get the mail. i figured it was for me. the artist, ellen, was so sweet. she HAND WROTE me a note (a shocker these days) and included an adorable business card... and a card! bonus art! and of course, included was the print. it is so whimsical. it is going to look so amazing against the green walls in my living room. i can't wait to get it framed.

still tuned?... happy 250th post to me!

sorry i have kept you waiting. i am still here. i have been insanely busy (just typed in "busty" instead of busy. ha ha!). yes, busy. i had a beloved cousin and family come to visit. a beloved sister and fam come and visit. a roadtrip to see a beloved college chum, and a house to clean and veggies to pick and freeze. busy. breathe. so, do you want to win something? it is super fun to win. i don't usually win contests. but i did win recently and have been inspired to have my own contest.

to win all you have to do is leave a comment on my blog. perfectly painless! the prize will be whichever of these original paintings you fancy. i did these children's illustrations a while back and they never found a good home. hopefully one of them might catch your eye.

the contest will close at 8 am on september 6th. good luck and God bless!

I AM A WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes, you read that right. i ... am ... a ... winner!!! i meant those capitals. i am so excited. i have just won something from someone that i have never met before.

my friend lauren (moberly) pope has a great blog that i read all the time. (and you should, too!) i followed from her blog on over to soule mama's blog. good blog. soule mama has a book published and i will have to look into maybe getting it. anyway, lauren started having contests -- i did not win. soule mama had a contest -- i did not win. ellen crimi-trent was a fellow non-winner that told soule mama she was having a contest. i followed on over to ellen's blog and I WON ELLEN'S CONTEST! i am the cynical type when it comes to contests and the internet... but i am usually an optimist. ellen's blog seemS like it is coming from such a nice person that i am squealching my unlike-me pessimism and i am bordering on ecstatic. hoorah!

what did i win????? ART!:) i love art. if i am correct, i am receiving a print of some flower illustrations. if so, i will frame it and it is going in my living room. if it is the owls or house, it goes in jack's nursery.

also note: this is my 249th blog post (as second breakfast, not including gypsy jean boo teek). i may have a contest of my own in celebration of my 250th. stay tuned!

cowboy background

this is the background for the invite for jack's 1st birthday party. it is a work in progress. i decided to keep the backdrop really sparse. i was going to add bushes, maybe a sun or trees. but i think i won't need that. i am going to put my "cowboy" right in the middle and he needs the focus. this is a work in progress. will post finished product.

jack's "baby"

here is a recently finished piece of "folk art". i did not make the dolly. it was a 90's cast-off from my mom. i saw it and thought jack might want a baby. it was originally a girl doll. with a dress. i thought jack (and dan) would prefer a boy "baby". so, i painted clothes on him. the face was already drawn on, but i altered it. it took me 2 hours on a sunday afternoon. i think my husband was watching bob ross paint "happy little trees". (scream) jack loves this baby. he likes to suck on his head. i named him "patrick" because i think a boy i knew at pcc named patrick had burnt orange pants.

patrick is chillin' with my indonesian chickens.

i love sunday school

i love teaching sunday school. my class is supposed to be 1-3 graders, but if someone is sick or etc., i can have kids ranging from 3 years old to 6 grade. it can be crazy, but i love it. the trick is to not bore the older kids while engaging the little ones.

case in point. yesterday i had jon (4 yrs. old in may), hannah (kindergarten?), andrew (1st), and sarah (3rd). my story was about stephen, the first martyr. intense, right? well, it turns out i was glad because a story about stoning is nice and violent and right up little jon's alley. although, i might have spooked him a bit when i demonstrated what it was like for the religious leaders to "gnash" on stephen with their teeth. i did it to hannah too, so he wasn't the only one gnashed.:)

these are the kid's drawings of "when they forgave someone". actually, jon's photo is of rocks filed by missles, hannah and andrew just drew bands of color, and sarah couldn't think of a time when she had forgiven anyone, so she just drew a hypothetical situation!:) i am married, so i thought of a recent forgiving and drew it right away, but that's personal.:)

what i am reading

i read a lot. i tend to do most of it while nursing jack, these days. i read a lot of mags. dan has a ton of free subscriptions lately that he got somehow. these are: "reader's digest" (time waster), "time" (beat-you-about-the-face-liberal), "nat'l geo adventure" (hard to find interesting besides the photos), and "esquire" (what?! dan didn't know what it was. what it is... effeminate men's ads and sexual innuendo and crud. i am going to find out how to cancel it. i am ashamed of what the mail lady thinks. i am scared my step-son will read it. i am angered by this mag.). dan also gets "cycle world" and "auto restorer". i dig it. that's my real man.

i only get one mag these day, mary englebreit's "home companion". it is great. very arty. a bit crafty. always a delight.

but i do read a book now and then. the Bible. that's hard to hold while nursing. i have just picked up an art book about carl larsson that i am dying to get into. i have also been reading an art book i picked up in the museum bookstore at the minneapolis institute of art. it is really interesting because it gives you a little history behind the works.

here is a little painting by larsson. i like it because it is great, obviously, but also because it reminds me of my mom's apple trees.