Sweet Sloan

Today little Sloan painted while I worked on paperwork and set up Dr. appointments for her. Isn't she a cutie with her new glasses? I love this little girl more than all the stars in the sky. Tonight we went as a family to the mall to exchange a few items. Then we went to get Sloan's new ballet and tap shoes. She told me that the tap shoes we bought tonight are, of coarse, the best.

A fun little carnival

Popeye's first costume

Halloween 2006 at Bumma and Pop pop's home Ocala, Florida

Halloween carnival 2007 at church in Sparks, NV

Halloween 2006

Tonight after the carnival

Today was busy, but very productive. I finished the hugely cheesy pumpkins that I meant to finish days ago. All I have to do is put a clear coat on them tomorrow. It only took me a few hours one I got started. One side has pumpkin faces for Halloween, and the other side is just a plain pumpkin for Thanksgiving. I wanted them to have a double use. Deans' Mom asked me to paint her a Santa and his sleigh with reindeer, for Christmas. I will start on a sketch in the next few days. I need to finish a scrap booking contest that is due on Thursday. I have a 12x12 page layout, card, and gift tag to finish. All have to coordinate. The theme is "What I am thankful for". I have the rough sketch down on paper and most of the scrap booking elements gathered together. Tomorrow, when I am able this project will be my main focus. I am really wanting to start that giant canvas. It is calling my name along with a few other projects I haven't started yet.

The carnival at church was very well done and fun for the kids. Everyone had fun. It was nice to go as a family. Did you like our tacky Wendy's diner pictures? Can you believe how big the girls are getting? I am so tired, so now I will sleep for a while. Goodnight.

The Birthday Girl

Good morning birthday girl!

Silly little Zoe!

How cute is this? She likes to put on Daddies shoes and hat all the time.

This Sprite is sour!

Goodnight little birthday girl!

Two years ago today........

Zoe and I Last October in Ocala, Florida at D and Paulas Home

It is hard to believe that two years have passed so quickly. I truly believe that things have gone by so quickly because life has been so darn good, and well, happy. It's when the times are hard, or things are unpleasant that time crawls by at a painstakingly slow pace. Two years ago today is when my darling Zoe was brought into this world. I never thought I could love any other child as much as I love my Sloan. Zoe proved me wrong, as has my little Aris. It is amazing how large one's heart can grow. Zoe is my joy. She is Daddies little girl, and the little darling of the family. The copycat of Sloan, and the big sis to "Popeye" as she so affectionately calls Aris. Now she is turning two. We will be having a small party for her next Saturday, but I hope this is still a very fun day for my little Zozzers.

Back on track

I think last week kind of threw me off my work schedule a bit. Now things are getting back to normal. I thought I would jot down a few thoughts before I go and paint. Last night I talked to Deans mom and so far their home is OK. They still are unable to return home due to hot spots in the neighborhood. Cindy said many people in her neighborhood have lost their homes. It is very sad. When I asked her if there was anything we could do, she asked that we keep all the families that have lost so much in our prayers. I am sure there will be a long road of healing ahead for many California families.
Last night I was able to walk 2 miles on the treadmill. Dean worked on the little 50 dirt bike while I walked and then I came in and did crunches and stretched. I have missed my walks at the Marina. It's just a little difficult to drive all the way over when Aris is still waking up still in the early evenings. Hopefully in the spring I can get back there again.
Today has so far been a really great day. I am off to paint and will write more soon.

An uneventfully eventfull day

Little Sloan is back on her normal school schedule. So I was able to take a nap with the girls, although I am still pretty tired. I had a lovely phone visit with Deans Grandma Swanson. Carol is super spunky, but has a heart of gold. She makes me smile and is so very kind. I feel very blessed to have all of Deans family in my life.

Little Aris and Zoe both have a case of the runny nose blues today. It is no fun when your little ones are not feeling totally 100%. I am hoping that tomorrow everyone is feeling better.

When Dean came home tonight he let me know that his Mom and Eric and Jennifer all had to evacuate their home today due to the fires in California. I hope we all can keep them in our prayers.

I am sorry this is a little short tonight, but my neck is sore and my head is aching so I am going to go to bed. Until tomorrow, Good night!

Crop till you drop

I just got home from the crop night with Jennifer and Kathe. It was so much fun to visit and work on some new pages. I worked on Halloween pages the whole time. I had forgotten to bring my box of pictures, so all the pages are picture less. Tomorrow or should I say later on today, I will find my Halloween photos to add to the pages I did. I am hoping that Aris didn't cause Dean too much trouble while I was gone. If she didn't I would love to do a crop at least once a month. Well I better go get some sleep. Good night!

Today I finished all the unfinished projects that have been piling up in the living room over the past two weeks. It feels super good to get organized. When I'm organized it helps me feel like I can be a better wife and mother and a more productive artist. When there are no unfinished projects piled up around me I actually feel relaxed enough to create. I got my pumpkins sketched out and now I am waiting for Dean to cut them out. I will be scrapbooking tomorrow with my dear friends Kathe and Jennifer tomorrow night at Treasured Memories in Sparks. They are treating! So all I have to do is show up and scrapbook. I think it will be fun. I haven't done any scrap booking in a few months so this will get me back in the swing of things again. I have found a really great scrap booking store in the Caughlin Ranch shopping center. It is called Altiere Scrap booking. They have kind of crazy hours that they are open, however even if you don't scrapbook it's worth checking out. They have tons of fun papers, ribbons, embellishments, and other fun eye candy for any crafter.

My little ones were fun today. Sloan has had half days all week so it has kind of messed up every ones nap schedule. Sloan and Zoe played babies this afternoon, and it seemed to be a day for hats. The hat that Aris is wearing in the picture above was made by Jennifer M. It is so adorable and yes it is as soft as it looks. It was so sweet of her to think of my little one. Zoe is obsessed with hats! If she had her way she would wear a hat all day long.

I was able to talk to my friend Michelle today and she just had a darling little boy an the 9th of October. He weighed 8lbs 3oz and was 9 days early. Michelle, and her husband Derek named him Charlie. There daughter Leah will be two in a few weeks. Congratulations guys!

Daddies home

Here is little Zoe waiting for Dean to pull into the driveway. "Daddies home," she says. Every time she sees a white truck with a lumber rack driving down the road she squeals, "Daddy!" I have to tell her daddy is at work and then she just kind of sits in the car seat and looks out the window again. The past two days Zoe walks around all day saying, "I want my Daddy!" Its very cute. Sloan worked so hard today on her homework and she aced her spelling pre-test. Aris was a bit fussy today, but all in all it was a good day. I was able to talk to Cindy, Deans mom. She is a wonderful person and it was so fun to talk to her.

Tonight I am going to sketch some pumpkins on wood so that I can cut them out, paint them, and put them by the front door to use as decorations. Very cheesy, I know but fun, and I am not letting any wood scraps go to waste. I have been a wee bit busy the past week, that's why I didn't post. However I finally caught up on the house work (we had a mountain of laundry), now I feel like I can relax enough to create again. I am very inspired by some art documentaries I watched this week and I plan on starting the big canvas this weekend. It's been a good day

A sigh of relief

Today was one of those days where I feel like nothing went the way I wanted. It was still a good day. I made an attempt to clean the house, and failed miserably. Zoe and Aris just didn't nap very well. Since I always try to do the cleaning when they sleep, not much got done. Sloanie had fun over at Abbys' home today. When we went to pick her up we had dinner with Kirsten, Abby and her mom and dad. They are a very wonderful family. I feel blessed to have them in my life. When we got home Dean and I put the little munchkins to sleep, and then I started jonesin for something sweet. I am limited to pretty much ice pops or rice crispy treats. So I went to the store and bought the special margarine that is milk free, and some marshmallows and made up a tasty little batch of rice goodness. I probably will eat all of them by tomorrow, they are so darn good. OK enough about rice treats. I am going to sketch for a moment before I go to bed. I want to start one of the huge wooden canvases that are collecting dust in the garage. I am going to pull out some of my old school painting skills and just have fun with this one. It will be fun to just paint for the hulovit. It's been a really great day. Until tomorrow................

At last

Yessssssssssss! Can you say done? I can. Today I finished the project I've been working on. I put the last few dot's on it this afternoon. It's pretty cheesy, and anyone who knows my art style will find this piece a little silly, but I really had a blast doing this one. It was a much needed kick in my creative butt. I think sometimes when you are a mom and being pulled in so many different directions, you feel unable to create. This project has shown me what a few hours of work each night can produce. I sort of almost feel like a person again, my old artsy self. Tonight I will work on a piece that I started before this painting. It is a piece to go along with the series of animal illustrations I have been doing. Well little Moe (Zoe) needs my attention so I will sign off for now.

Another productive day

Well, I am still not done yet . However I am extremely satisfied that I got as much done today as I did. My little ones needed a lot of TLC today. Tomorrow will be crunch time. Enjoy a few pics from my busy day, plus the work in progress.

A busy day

Well, I didn't quite get the painting done. I did however get my rough sketch settled. Any artist knows this is half the battle. Tomorrow will be filled with painting, painting, and more painting. Zoe was so much fun today. She was my little shopping buddy at Target for diapers and wipes. Real fun stuff. Little Aris is not feeling very well. So we all took a nap before we had to go and pick up Sloan and Abby from school. It was some much needed sleep for all. The girls worked very hard on homework today and played in the back yard until Kirsten came to pick up Abby. Thank goodness I have such an awesome husband, he came home and fixed an awesome breakfast for dinner. It was super yummy. I think I will sign off now because I am pretty tired but tomorrow I will write more.