Playing Catch Up Again

Whew. Looking back over the last several months I'm trying to decide what to post first. I guess I should back up to April. Today, I promised my grandmother I would post pictures of the murals

I've been working on and realized I haven't posted the most recent one. Earlier I painted the 50s children with pendants, then the next two were free standing canvases. The first was a baseball fence scene with hidden pictures and then the second was from an old photo of Roger Maris. This one was so fun because it was so different from the rest being in monotone. It also felt like the paint flew quickly for this one.

The shot below shows the size of the canvas. The living room was the only place I could fit the canvases. They were too large to take upstairs or downstairs to paint in an out-of-the-way spot. So, my kids were a bit disappointed that having many friends over to play was not happening much these days.

So fun to be painting again!

Judah turns 3!!!

It's hard to believe my little boy turned 3! Judah is such a delight.



Who knows who he's calling.

We love our little man!

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

Today would have been Samantha's 4th birthday. Unbelievable! I finally figured a way to get a clip from our home movies of her smiling for the first time. This was taken 2 weeks before she died (9-18-07). She was 4 months old. We weren't sure if she would smile at all (honestly, we weren't sure if she could see or hear much). This series of smiles (they lasted about 3 days) was one of the most precious gifts she gave me.

What's Been Occupying My Time Lately

Several weeks ago I had 2 very large packages come via semi truck to our home.




The kids loved the box they came in and were busy making a house in no time.



The first mural idea the client wanted was something like this (a picture he found) :

So this is what I came up with:



I changed the children to resemble the client's children and I changed the angle of the fence to make it more artistic. Finally, I added 10 hidden pictures throughout. Since this will be hung in a dentist's office, it will be something fun the kids can find.

Hidden below are a ball and jacks, gecko and teacup.

Peppermint and Bible.

It's been so much fun. However, I didn't anticipate the size or the amount of room they'd take up. I could not maneuver the canvases down the stairs so the only spot for them have been in the living room. The kids have been very good in keeping far away from it, but they've been disappointed that we haven't had many people over for visits because of the risk. I'm hoping to deliver the canvases this week and will be relieved when they leave in one piece.

Christ has Died! Christ is Risen! Christ will Come Again!

This is the Threefold Truth

This is the threefold truth on which our faith depends,
and with this joyful cry worship begins and ends:
Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

On this we fix our minds as, praying side by side,
we take the bread and wine from Christ the crucified:
Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

By this we are upheld when doubt or grief assails
our Christian fortitude, and only grace avails:
Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

This is the threefold truth which, if we hold it fast,
changes the world and us and brings us home at last:
Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!



1 Corinthians 15:3-5

Spring Break ?

We had a week off of Classical Conversations, so we decided to head up North for Spring Break. This time, Amy (my sister) and Elena, her daughter, came with us. My poor boys. Joshies had an ear ache on the 9 hour car ride up and was in bed for the next 4 days with a fever. The day after, Micah was hit. They both went in and out of sleep for several days. Finally on Friday (the day we were planning on heading home) I took them to see the local doctor. They were prescribed antibiotics and the next day they were improving. I was noticing Judah was starting to act sick so I wanted to head home right away.

I had a moment during the week where I could get a long look at my favorite lake. It was so pretty seeing the ice formations.

The kids had a blast with their cousin, beside all the sickness, and thankfully, she escaped it all and went home in good health.

After returning home, the next day I took Sophia to the doctor and found out she had strep. Judah was immediately tested and his test was also positive. Now our fridge had 8 bottles of amoxicillin. I asked the pharmacist if it came in gallons.

The first night I gave Judah his medicine he developed a rash all over one side of his face and his eye lid was all puffy and he started wheezing (we've found out this winter he has asthma so I've been watching for signs all along). I guess he's allergic to amoxicillin. Poor little guy was better after a breathing treatment.

Whew. What a week. I agree with Josh who said when it was all finished, "We missed Spring Break!! Can't we do it again??"

Evening Entertainment

My husband and I were actually having uninterrupted conversation this evening after dinner. We soon noticed why the divided attention. I bet the 'pot' was at least 20 minutes of entertainment!