Last Weekend

We watched movies under snugly blankets,

out on the porch.

Went for a nice walk & the girls drew on the driveway with chalk.

We went to the Monterey Sea Aquarium.

It was magical.

Spent time with daddy.

Played with Grandma, Grandpa, aunties and cousins.

It was an amazing weekend. Any weekend with family is. We had so much fun & it was a nice way to spend the 4th. We didn't make it to the fireworks this year, however we listened to them as they went off in the distance. Monterey was a blast. Aris was giggling and so excited the whole time. Zoe loved looking at the fish & Sloan was excited to be hanging out with Kimberly. Kimberly is cool because she's 12 going on 21. Thankfully Kimberly is kind enough to let Sloan tag along. I was able to get to know my sister in law a little better. She is a sweetheart and an artist also. I look forward to seeing her and her sweet little pumpkin again.

This weekend Dean and I are going to be cleaning & organizing the house. Inside & out. I am hoping to post some art projects I have needed to finish up. Really in truly I work on stuff & then forget to post pictures. Shame on me.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. I'll post some pics of the shed update. Cross your fingers for me please, Dean said he's going to work on it!

A Little Update

I thought I'd let you guys know how my little Sloan has been doing. Sorry I haven't written an update sooner. We went through the cabinets and fridge and tossed anything with aspartame. Anything with artificial sweeteners was tossed. Dean and I have made a commitment to buy more whole food and fresh food. We just feel that it is a healthier choice for all of us. Sloan has had less headaches, me too. The biggest improvement that I have noticed is her behavior has evened out. She still has her moments like any 9 year old girl, but not as many of the mood swings as she did before. It has made life at our home much easier to deal with. I've noticed her being kinder with the little ones and less frustration on her part.

The downside is she is still having quite a bit of joint pain. Her sugars are pretty high lately too. So I am going to be calling her Pediatrician in the morning just to go ahead and get an appointment with the rheumatologist. Just to rule out rheumatoid arthritis. Better to be safe than sorry. I will say that no matter what we find, eating healthy and more whole food less processed food can only be a benefit for our family. I will let you know as soon as we find out any news on Sloans' health. Thank you for all your prayers and concern.

Hard to Believe

Zan & I in Summer of 1999

Me & Zana 2009

Opening of Art Town with Richie Havens. He was amazing!

A little water fun at Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe

Hard to believe its been almost 9 years since Zana and I last got together. I think we both had a blast. I was sad to see her go home but take comfort in the fact that we are planning to get together in the next two years. Two years will fly by faster than I can imagine. Seriously, the summer is almost over. It has been such a mild summer at that. Right now as I'm typing it's only 68 outside. Due to the windy nature of Washoe County , it's almost chilly. Chilly? In the middle of Summer? Makes me think we are in for a very severe winter. I wouldn't be surprised. We shall see.

Hard to believe I did some school shopping for Sloan today. Even more of a surprise is the super wonderful buys I found. Gap Kids & Gymboree were both having pretty amazing sales. I'm looking to hit Old Navy this weekend for shirts and next week I get to use my Gymbucks (thank you Zana) to hopefully finish off all the kids winter wardrobe. What I can't find there I will fill in with sales from Target and thrift stores. Sloan has year round school and will start back in just three weeks. It's gone by way too fast.

Still the hardest thing for me to believe is the fact that this is my 700th post. 700th! I've been blogging for almost 2 years this September. I should do a giveaway or something but I am seriously scrambling to get some art projects wrapped up. The whole rest of the month is going to be just as crazy as the last two weeks. We have tons of family visiting and I am very excited. I promise to have a giveaway to celebrate the two year anniversary of Artfulife in September.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Summer break as much as my family and I are. Thanks for always dropping by and brightening my day with all of your comments. I am seriously blessed to call all of you my bloggy friends. Hugs to you all!

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone has a happy & safe 4th of July weekend!

Happy Birthday Aris!

Hard to believe my baby just turned 2! Seems like yesterday I was at the hospital waiting to see if my contractions were going to get stronger. I kept telling the nurse that I deliver fast. She didn't really take me too seriously & said I could stay in the room, they would monitor me from 2pm until 5pm and if I hadn't progressed they would send me home. I was only at 1 cm. Dean was still at work and I was all by myself. I was fine with everything until the screaming from down the hall started to get to me a little. By this time I was starting to really have strong contractions. At 5pm the nurse came in to monitor me. The look on her face said it all, I wasn't going anywhere. She quickly called the anesthesiologist. Only the normal guy who did the epidurals was busy with the screaming girl down the hall, I later found out she almost died & that was why everything for the rest of us was moving so slowly. I didn't mind. Needless to say the new guy doing the epidural really didn't know what he was doing. The epidural never took. I kept waiting to stop feeling the pain, kept pushing that little button, nothing but one very numb left leg and butt cheek. Dean finally showed up, my dear friend Carla was there. Thank goodness. My husband is awesome but not very helpful when it comes to delivery. HE stands by my shoulders but can't handle much else. Carla had always wanted to see a live birth & I invited her to be a part of this one. She was awesome. I delivered naturally and needed the pep talks that she gave me. Delivering naturally is the most painful and empowering experience all wrapped up into one. If I have the chance to have another little one, I will do it naturally again. At 7cm the Dr. told me to push. Three pushes later we had the sweetest baby girl. She was perfection. Looked just like Dean even though he swears to this day Aris looks like the mailman, he's such a tease. If you saw our mailman you would think this was a very funny running joke. Being a mom is the most rewarding job I could have ever hoped for. Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful for all three of my little monkeys.

We have been having so much fun with Susannah. So far we have gone to some amazing yard sales, my favorite quilt shop, my favorite toy store so she can take treats back to her three little ones, walking, eating some yummy pies and cakes, talking, laughing, and just having a blast all around. Tonight I'm taking her shopping and to downtown to show her our casinos. Tomorrow we are going to the opening of Art town and get to see Richie Havens perform. Thursday we will be heading up to Lake Tahoe to spend the day at the beach and have lunch with Dean then watch the sunset. A last hurrah if you will, sadly she will be leaving early Friday morning. One week is just not enough time. I'm grateful for what memories we are making though. I really hope we get to see each other sooner than 9 years from now. 

Hope everyone is having a lovely week. I'll be sharing my newest card for Simply Sweet Marriage in the next few days, and more pics. Take care & big hugs to all of you.