It's Notes like these.......

That make my day!  Not because I'm so great, because heaven knows I'm not.  But I'm trying....and this note confirms that my "trying" is paying off.  It also makes me so proud of Lilly!  She tries so hard!  She just has so much energy and wants to share it with everyone she meets.  EVERYONE.......Her Kindergarten teacher told me in a loving way  "It doesn't matter where I move her.  She just talks to anyone!" One of Lilly's Primary teachers who is a dear friend of mine told me once "I was just like Lilly.  I still am, I have to concentrate so hard NOT to talk." I am the complete opposite.  I have to concentrate so hard TO talk.  Not sure where she got this "Firecracker" personality but she sure is cute and has made me more outgoing because of it.  We were at Target once checking out and Lilly was probably 3 and she said to the cashier, pointing to me "Hi, this is Jennifer."  Ummm....thanks Lilly and "Hi, it's nice to meet you!"

Nautical Skirt

So I have had this "nautical" looking fabric (actually a bed sheet from D.I.) for about a year now and haven't really known what to do with it.  I made Lilly a dress from it HERE, and made Max's snakey friend from it as well, HERE.
I still had a butt load of material though and I was inspired by this look:

So I used the same technique as my Yoga top skirt HERE. And this is what I ended up with:

Um yeah, don't mind the Valentines decor. Or the fact that a 7 year old took this photo while sitting on the couch and watching Willy Wonka.  This was the best one too :(

The thing that makes me most angry, is I have a navy blue cardigan with ruffles on it, that I wanted so badly to wear with this today and I couldn't for the life of me find it.  It's going to bug me to no end until I find that thing.  Oh well I guess, there's always next time!

Organizing Photos for Paintings

In response to many people asking me about my photographs that I use for my paintings:

 This idea was not mine, but rather my Grandmother's.  Who taught my father, who taught me.  I'm sure it's nothing new and probably lots of people have done it before.  It's probably not done nowadays  as much, with everything being digital, but never the less here it is.
Find a box that fits the largest size photographs you have.   Make divider tabs and organize your photos.  Soon you'll find that you start taking photos of certain things like rocks, water, streams, trees, barns, mountains etc. so you can fill your box.  Maybe you already have a bunch.  I like having tangible photos rather than having them on a computer.
 This box shown here had cookies in it I believe.  I remember helping my Dad gather and organize these photos.
He used the large size recipe cards with tape at the top to make the divider tabs.  These photos are from my grandmother and Dad.  It's quite a collection.  I had started making my own from a shoe box, but after my father passed away, I inherited his.  I'm in the process of combining them.

 So now when I want to do a painting, I can choose my subject matter, go to that category and pull out photos.

  My father also had a portfolio thing, that he kept  photos from magazines and calendars organized.  It's falling apart now.  I have one of my own too and need to get rid of this one as it is really hanging on by a thread....or rather with crumbling tape.  But I'm having a hard time parting with this one.

Winter Wonderland

Took this photograph a couple of days ago when the sun came out!  I love when the trees are lined with snow like this!  Beautiful!  I've always loved all the seasons, winter included!  There is something beautiful about each season.  I love living in a place where we get to experience all 4 seasons.  Utah has been in kind of a slump this winter, with pretty much no snow!  You never realize how much you take something for granted until it's not there.  LONG LIVE WINTER!

Watercolor Wednesday Week 45

Another painting I did from a PHOTOGRAPHS from my Grandmother/Father's  photo stash.  I just can't resist a river.
View my other work HERE.

Why Do I Walk?

I get asked that a lot.
I love to walk.   Let me give you MY answers to that question.
-It's therapeutic.  It gives you a chance to think things out, to pray and to get answers.
-It's a chance to escape all the troubles of the world and for that brief moment in time, nothing else matters.
-It makes you slow down and enjoy the beauty of the world and all its details that are missed, when you speed past in a car.
-It gives me time to talk with my children.  When I walk Lilly to school and home again, I purposely leave my phone at home.  That 10-15 minute round trip is sacred.  It's OUR time. There are no other distractions. We've had some pretty serious talks, we've cried and laughed and been silly we've had lectures and we've played games, we practice spelling words and talk about our day.  I cherish those walks with my children.
-Because I never know when the ability to do so, could be taken away.  My father had a pretty serious disease that rendered him, for the most part immobile.  I thank the Lord everyday for my ability to walk and run.
-To save money on gas.
-To save my sanity.  I admit I giggle, like a little child, when we walk nonchalantly through the maze of cars and angry drivers, and honking car horns in that school parking lot and I think to myself "So long Suckers!  I'm getting exercise and I'll beat you home!
-Exercise.   Kid's these days get so little of it as it is.  Lilly has a lot of energy.  Walking or running to school helps release some of it before she has to sit and be still.
- I love to walk.  It's something I enjoy.  I see no reason not to.  I'm an able bodied person, why shouldn't I?

Nighttime Snowmen

I had a bunch of notes to deliver tonight to various people and I thought that it would be fun to walk, since it was snowing and it was dark.  I always liked walking in the snow at night and so I thought the kids might like it as well...and I was right.  After we were done delivering, we went into the back yard and made 4 snowmen, one for each member of the family.  The kids were not cooperative at all with the picture taking and wouldn't hold still long enough for me to snap very good pictures.  What you see below is the best of what I did get.

Lilly doesn't look too thrilled.  My kids have mouths that naturally turn down.  So even when they just have a relaxed face,  they get told to "smile" or "why do you look so glum."  Even when they were little, little, I'd get comments like, "that's a sad sad face, for such a cute little guy/gal" even though she was perfectly happy.  My husband has the same mouth and gets told often that he looks angry.  Apparently if you have a mouth that naturally turns down, you have to always smile or be told you are rude and angry.

 We had a fun night together.

Make a Skirt From a "too small "Dress

 Lilly had this cute dress (shown above) that she loved and it just doesn't fit anymore.  So instead of throwing it out, I decided to make a skirt out of it.  I really like the detailing on the hem  and just couldn't get rid of it.  This would probably work best with dresses that have the empire (high) waist.  I cut the top off of the dress just below the ties and then used an old T-shirt to make a stretchy waist band.  I used the same technique I used for my Yoga top skirt HERE.  I never got any photos of my cutie in it, but she did look super cute in it, with her leather "Ramones" jacket and pink and black boots.
 I love refashioning new clothes out of old ones!

Home Tour- Bedroom Addition

 Welcome to my bedroom.  My small, small, bedroom.  We have a California King sized bed, which probably isn't the best choice for such a small room, but I LOVE my big bed.  And we bought it when we  were first married and had much bigger spaces.
The shelf above the bed is a life saver.  It's no longer centered above the bed, because we used to have the bed pushed all the way against the wall.  It is now big enough that you can get out of bed on that side. Excitement I know!  The little decorations on the wall above the pillows are contact paper.  It's kind of a work in progress.

The crocheted pillow was a gift from an older lady in our neighborhood, who gave it to me after my husband did a bunch of work in her yard for her.
The quilt on top is one I made out of all my Dad's old clothes and the other one was a wedding present from my husbands aunt.

The chair over there in corner, is mostly there because there is no room for it anywhere else in the house and I can't part with it.  My mother bought for me when I had Lilly.

That door there in the picture below is our closet.  HUGE I know!

The door on the left is the entry/exit door and the door on the right is the closet and has a hanging mirror on the inside.

We had to be creative, with such a small closet.  It was very tall, so we took advantage.  We also use the closet in the office for space.

Also for all my shoes, we had to be creative with the space.

This side hosts the TV (Someday we will have a wall mounted one) and the little TV looking thing on the shelf, is a video monitor  so we can see and hear the kiddos.  Also on the shelves, journals, a bursting jewelry cabinet, DTV receiver, an alarm clock and pictures.

That's all folks!  View the other room tours HERE.

Watercolor wednesday Week 44

I know I know, it's not Wednesday, but I started the series and have been keeping track of the number and if I start with a new day it messes up the numbering system ( in my head) and so I'll just keep with the Wednesday theme at least until I hit the one year mark.  Which should be coming up pretty quick.
Happy PPF to all of you!  I should also mention that this is my submission to SWEET SATURDAY'S and SUNDAY SKETCHES. Thanks to everyone who makes such nice comments on my posts.  I really appreciate all the encouragement.   Click on the link there if anyone would like to join in and post any paintings or sketches.  It's a wonderful group of very talented people!

 "Moonlight Bouquet" 11 1/2" X15"

"Desert Rain" 11 1/2" X 15"

View my other painting HERE.

Free Day

Today is the anniversary of my Father's Death.  8 years ago today was pretty much the worst day of my life.   It's been an emotional week but my sister texted me this morning and asked if I wanted to join her and her kids to visit BYU's Paleontology Museum.  We've been holed up in the house for too long, with too much to stress over and I really needed to spend some time doing something not pertaining to Primary, or bills, or taxes, or blogs (Every year I have all my blog posts from that year turned into a book, using BLURB.  It's a nice way to preserve our history and the kids LOVE to look at the books.  But it is a TON of work.) so I happily agreed.  So what I thought was going to be a crappy sad day, turned out to be a really fun day.  Thanks Shaunie.

In our defense, these aren't the actual fossils, but casts made out of metal.

The kids loved the fake palm tree..?

You can watch people, looking for fossils.  Not super exciting, but.... kinda cool.

This staircase was actually the funnest part for them....But hey, they are 3 and 4.  There was a drinking fountain just below this railing that they could reach by sticking their fingers through the bars...oh and an outlet (that the drinking fountain was plugged into) about 5 inches above the drinking fountain.?  Not sure who thought that one out...probably no one.

Dinosaur museum didn't take very long so we went over to the Bean Museum.  

Max had to touch the "water" there by the hippo to see if it was real.

There was a lion there at the museum too that was on a slowly rotating display....thingy, that scared Max and William cause they thought it was alive and would eat them... (maybe a little help from mom on that one.  But hey I can't resist a chance to scare someone.)
The best part about all these museums is that they are FREE!

Home Tour- Living Room Addition

Not sure if I should call this room the Living Room or the Family Room.  I googled the difference and still can't tell which this this.  This is the room that you enter when you come through the front door, is just off the kitchen and is more of a sitting/visiting room.  We have a television in there, but the surround sound and sub woofer are all downstairs in the "other" living/family room.

This first view is what you see when you walk in the front door.

Inside this cabinet, hold our record player and record collection, we love us some wax!  It also hold the remotes for the TV, VCR and wii game console,and wii games. 

This is the view from the kitchen looking at the front door

View the other rooms HERE.