Faith, Hope and Art

Eat, Pray, Love: Custom Dining Room Wall Art

2012-02-11T11:03:00.000-06:00

Last weekend it was the fabric portion of the dining room. Here is the reminder picture. If you missed it, you can CLICK HERE to go back and check out the starting point of this project.

Once I had this, the traditional paintings that I had up just didn't fit. As seen below. While I like mixing styles and such, the contrast between the contemporary graphic quality of the floral fabric and the romantic paintings just did not work.

So, I decided to do something fun and different. No, I haven't seen the movie. I didn't even think of the movie while I was making the pieces. My students however, were nice enough to point out the movie title to me! So, I really hope the movie is decent since it appears that I am advertising it!

How did I do these? Well... first, I bought 3 black stretched canvases. Then, I used my Pazzle and designed the images (or you could use a Cricut if you have the fonts and pictures). I cut the art and the words in white intermediate vinyl and adhered it to the canvas. My awesome dad offered the tip that if you heat up the vinyl with a hair dryer, the vinyl will adhere to the canvas better. It did and now it looks like the vinyl was painted on!! Hooray for having a super awesome creative dad!

After getting all the vinyl on the canvases, I bought twill tape in a nice red and some 1" thick Heat N Bond Ultra and ironed it on to hide the staples.

And there you have it. Truly custom dining room wall art!

A Genetics Conundrum

2012-02-09T19:56:00.000-06:00

Life in my house is a roller coaster. We truly live in survival mode most of the time.

This is one of those seasons. I won't bore you with the details. However, in the last two weeks we have seen 4 different specialists. One for each child, plus an extra for Maddie.

Last week, Lexi saw a Metabolic Geneticist and we had some interesting discussions. We don't have results from any of the tests yet. One of the interesting things done was a full family tree complete with circles and squares and lots and lots of questions asked and answered.

Today while talking with a different doctor, a disease/syndrome was discussed and the doctor mentioned that it's an inherited disease from some gene mutation. While the discussion progressed, he stated that well, we would know such and such because my sons, brothers or uncles would have it.

I don't have sons.
I don't have brothers.
I don't have uncles.

Hmmm.

How's that for a conundrum?

See, I have three girls.
I am one of four girls.
My mom is one of four girls.

So, we don't know if we have the gene mutation.

Only time will tell. Thankfully, if we do have it, the syndrome is much less severe in females than males.

And that leads me to wonder, is this why my family line is that of girls? And I can't help but think about the lost pregnancies. Was Maddie's twin a boy? I know, it doesn't matter, but I can't help it. A few years ago a doctor mentioned in passing something about genes and girls and inherited issues and boys and some other mumbo jumbo. Now this. And so, this mother's heart begins to wonder.

And there you have it.

An update on our genetics conundrum.

Kidney Walk 2012!

2012-02-08T17:39:00.000-06:00

It's that time... Kidney Walk time!

The Fort Worth kidney walk is on March 24th. We invite all of our friends and family to come out to the Trinity Park on Saturday morning, March 24th and support Maddie in raising funds for kidney research.

Our team goals this year are: 75 team members and $5,000.

Colors: Purple T-shirts. (we will order tshirts on March 1st. They will be purple with lime green Maddie's Team)

Click on the link below to join our team today!!

http://donate.kidney.org/site/TR/Walk/NorthTexas?px=1768506&pg=personal&fr_id=4300

The kidney walk is such an important day for Maddie. It's the one day of the year that she is truly celebrated and supported for who she is.

If you can join us on the 24th, but are not up to walking, we will have a tent set up for the non-walkers!

Any questions? Send me an email!

An Interactive Color Wheel

2012-02-08T09:25:00.000-06:00

The Virtual Instructor is a website that I love and use in my classroom a lot.

Here is the interactive color wheel! Click on the above image to take you to his website.

And while you are there, check out his art lessons as well. They are free!!

Enjoy.

Fabric Wall Art Tutorial. This is a home decor project even the NON crafty can do!

2012-02-07T20:04:00.001-06:00

I was going to wait to show off my dining room when it was all done, however, I'm so proud of it even half done, that I had to brag!! :)

Here is the finished wall. Follow my step by step process to make your own! It's soo easy I hate to even tell my secrets! And how cool is this, it's a Technique Tuesday!!

Go to the store and find a couple of yards of fabric that you love. You can choose a bold pattern like mine, or you could use a smaller pattern and then cut a larger image/picture out with a template. For example, large flowers could be made with fabric with small print, using a different fabric for each petal...
Purchase some Heat N Bond LITE. Get the LITE if you plan to remove this image from the wall later. If you use the ULTRA, it will probably have more staying power.
Iron on the Heat N Bond LITE using the directions on the package. I didn't worry about wasting some of the backing as the package was I think around $7 for enough for more than 5 yards. And it's way easier to cut the fabric after you put the backing on it.
Cut out the pattern or your desired image. You can see the backing on the back of the fabric. The backing tightens the fabric and allows you to cut out the image with minimal fraying.Make sure to use sharp scissors! And don't forget, move the fabric around and hold the scissors in pretty much one spot.

Below is a section cut out.

Below is the backside of the fabric.

Choose a small piece to start with. It's really easy, all you do it pull of the backing paper, position where you want the piece and IRON IT ON THE WALL!!

I started in a random spot. You might plan ahead more than me, but the really cool thing is that if you hate where you put it, pull it off the wall and iron it down again! It truly is awesome :)

And finally, here is the pattern on the wall!

Good Luck!

And I challenge you, even all you noncrafty people, iron some fabric on the wall!

Fabric+Iron+Wall= Art!

2012-02-05T21:10:00.000-06:00

It's still a work in progress, but I love it sooo much, that I had to show off my dining room wall!

I can't wait to finish up and post pictures of the entire dining room.

But for now, here is the motif that I put in a small section of the room. I love the whimsy and the colors. It's more vibrant that you see through my camera phone.

How did I do it?

Well, I found the pattern was perfect. I ironed on the bonding backer, cut out the pattern, ironed the pieces to the wall and there you have it.

I'll put a tutorial on here asap! You will love it as much as I do!

A Lamp Borrowed, A Tableau in Progress

2012-02-02T20:57:00.000-06:00

My mom collects lamps. Maybe calling it collecting is too strong of a word, but let's just say she has more than I do. So, this weekend as she was rearranging things in the house, I asked if I could borrow the lamp in the picture below.

Isn't it a great lamp! I've always liked it. My sister's and I gave it to Mom quite a number of years ago for some occasion, so it holds special meaning to me, but in addition to that, it has just always appealed to me.

Now it's going to live at my house for a while.

Doesn't it help the tableau in progress? !? I'm still on the lookout for a plant to go into the rooster,(except that the rooster is Doug's so I'm sure at some point he is going to want to use it.) So... I'm still on the lookout for a plant in a cool container to go with the hurricane.

And in the picture below, you can see one of my absolute FAVORITE things in a house. Empty wall space and an uncluttered floor. You see, it has become a pet peeve of my mine that you can walk through so very much of my house and not even know if I have baseboards or not because everything is on top of each other.

I LOVE having some empty wall space!! I know it looks weird in the picture to have this void, but in real life it's wonderful. (And to be honest, in order to take the picture I had to move the doll-sized highchair and a board book, so really, it's not empty space, it's just furniture free space!)

And there is another glimpse into my home. I'm hoping soon I can post a picture of what my living room looks like when it is clean! Don't hold your breath :)!!

Why should you have flood insurance when you live in Texas in the middle of a drought? This is why.

2012-02-01T21:04:00.001-06:00

In case any of you dear readers didn't know, I live in Texas. Actually I live in Central Texas where water is at a premium. In fact, we are in the middle of a drought.

Things are dry. Well, they were.

Until a week or so ago. Then it rained.

Six inches in one day. On dry ground.

Dry ground does not absorb water, it causes it to flow.

How do I know this? Look at my poor floors.

The first two pictures are of my laminate flooring in my dining room, hallway and into my living room.

Just for clarification sake, the seams should not be obvious. The seams should be flush with the rest of the board. The seams should not catch your foot when you walk. The seams should not cause you to trip. This is no longer the case. fun.

And here is my bedroom. Remember the new carpet that we put in just two months ago? Yeah, that carpet.
But the carpet is okay because we pulled it up over half of the room, took the pad out and let it dry outside and had four fans running under the carpet for days.

If only the laminate was salvageable. :(

And NO, it is NOT COVERED by our home owner's insurance policy. Why? because once the rain hits the ground it is SURFACE WATER. It's not rain anymore and insurance doesn't cover surface water without a flood policy. Now, if the rain had come through the roof, they would cover that. If it had come through the window, yep, that would be covered. But because it had the audacity to hit the ground first, it's not covered. Yes, I'm a little bitter.

Because really, we live in the middle of a neighborhood, in the middle of town where the closest creek bed is at least a couple of miles aways, in the middle of Texas where we haven't had more than a dab of rain in forever. But yeah, I should have been carrying FLOOD INSURANCE!

What are we going to do about the laminate? Live with it for a while and be thankful that it wasn't the whole house.

A Daycare that Spoils. (In A Good Way!)

2012-01-29T08:13:00.000-06:00

Way back in August I posted about Kylie's new daycare and how good things were going. Well, it's late January and it is still good!! Yeah, we've had a couple of ughs. Like biting. But, when you take a toy away from someone, you probably should expect to be bit.

By and large, Kylie's "school" is awesome. Like every other daycare, I wish it had a more "homey" feel, but the facility is clean, there are plenty of toys, the curriculum is great and Kylie is happy.

Why is she happy? It's the staff!! They are incredible. All of them. I'm sure that the few staff in my pictures would be just thrilled to know that their pics are on my blog, but too bad. :)

Kylie's teachers, Tara and Paige love on her everyday. They offered to get Kylie ready for me in the mornings since she gets their early. So most mornings, they get her dressed, fix her hair in braids or ponytails and this last week, they even added teaching her how to brush her teeth!!! Yeah Baby!!

Here is Kylie and Tara. Tara would be mortified at Kylie's hair. It is always fixed perfectly when I pick her up. But these pictures were taken at the Christmas party so they had other things going on that day!

This next picture is of Tara, Paige and Tate.

Tate, the lady you can barely see, wearing glasses is a director?? Not sure. She's always there, always smiling, runs the front desk and takes Kylie many mornings all wrapped in a blanket and cuddles her!

It is so nice to see my sweet child being loved on by the people that take care of her everyday!

What's even better about Kylie's school? It's not just these ladies, it's April and another Paige and countless other hard workers that make Kylie's day special. They know that Kylie doesn't eat meat, so they give her extra helpings of fruit. One day, one of the teachers even pulled apart the lasagna so that Kylie would eat the noodles!

And lastly, since one would think I am a commerical for them, they are teaching Kylie the fundamentals of reading and math. The two year old class isn't just play, she is learning to love reading and knows her colors and numbers and letters.

So, there you have it. If you are looking at childcare, take a few minutes to visit different schools at different times of the day. Ask lots of questions and look at the kids. Yes, there are ALWAYS nasty snotty noses. That's just one of the perks you get when you get more than 2 or 3 kids together! Ask if they have video cameras in the classrooms. We have that and can log in and watch our kids play! I can't remember to and don't have time too, but you can bet that if there was a problem or I was concerned I would in a heartbeat! And lastly, watch the interactions of the staff. The workers should work as a team, if they are not, ask who is doing all the work and wonder what happens if that worker leaves. Would your child have the same experience if that person were not there? Some daycare's have really high turnover rates and you want to know if your child's classroom is going to be in constant upheaval.

Hey, and if you happen to live in my area and look at this daycare, tell em you read about them on my blog. Maybe I'll get a referral discount! :)

I used to be sentimental. Then I had three kids.

2012-01-28T07:57:00.000-06:00

There are moments when I wonder who I have become. :) I used to be sentimental and I would keep almost anything that had a special story or a link to my family's past. These days, it's take a picture of it, put it in the scrapbook and send it on it's way!

Such is the case of my sofa. I love this couch. It was the first major piece of furniture that Doug and I bought for our first house right after we got married. It has moved with us eight times! I have pictures of Doug on the couch with Maddie just days old sleeping on his chest. And the spills and the crayon marks.... how could I be contemplating it's demise?

But I am. I'm tired of it's plainness. It's boring neutralness. All the qualities that made it a good investment and easy to decorate around have made it blah. And up against the tan wall. ICK. The colors are just off enough to not go together at all.

I'm trying to decide what to do. I've tried a slipcover. That didn't work. It ended up looking like a dark brown blob. It could be that I bought the slipcover at big lots. But what if I order an expensive slipcover and hate it. What if I couldn't return it? I could try to re-upholster it myself... except that I have vivid memories of my mom doing just such a thing with 3 small children (well, I guess I wasn't that small if I remember it so well, but go with me). I don't think it turned out well as we got a new sofa not too long after that, I think. I was just a child you know :)

So there you have it. This wonderful couch has lived well, but I'm ready to send it on its way. Not that I have the money to replace it. This whole discussion is really hypothetical!

But for grins, what would you do? And painting the wall is not an option.

Finding Balance on the Red Wall

2012-01-24T20:14:00.000-06:00

I know, I know... I teased you with this picture and now I've moved on.

Well, one simple reason.

I can't find the one thing that I really, really want to put on the empty side of the dresser.

So, I'm moving on for now... well, moving to a different wall in the living room, not a new concept.

Here is a portion of the back wall of my living room. I love the vibrant red, contrasting with the white trim and ceiling with the brown beams. It's fun and appeals to me.

I think it is so important to create places that appeal to you. Who cares if it is designer, or in fashion, if it makes you smile or feel good, go with it.

However, I do think you should know at least a little bit about why you like something! No worries, I won't go into a big long lesson ..well, I'll try not too :) , but I will break down the above picture for you. If you want to know more about balance, simply do a google search on balance as a principle of design and you will find tons of stuff!

Okay for the quick teaching.. You see, there are 3 kinds of balance. Symmetrical, Asymmetrical and Radial. Most of us know symmetrical or formal balance. That's where you can cut something in half and you get an equal amount on each side.. ie the human body. Asymmetrical is where you can't cut it in half and get equal parts and radial is circular, like spokes on a wheel. Get it? Got it? Good! See, easy!

In the below picture, I've super-imposed a grid on top of the picture. Yes, like grids. Shocking, I use visuals to teach :) So in the grid you can see that the bookshelf, the dominat object on the wall is in symmetrical balance with the pictures. This makes for a nice grounded space. While some of us like things willy-nilly, we don't want EVERYTHING to be chaotic!

However, to break up the symmetry, I have a plant on top of the bookshelf that is much larger than the little bike that is sitting there with it. The bike is a seemingly afterthought. (There are lots of teaching terms that I could insert here, but I won't!) Then in the bottom quadrant, the chair sits. If I had a chair to balance on the other side, it would be too planned and BORING! Even on a red wall. Instead, the lone chair throws off the symmetry just enough to be interesting. Also, the solid color, one tone chair isn't distracting in a "look at me" way so the whole thing just feels good.

And that's it.

Balance is simply the arranging of things (objects, pictures, paint, etc..) so that no one part of a work overpowers, or seems heavier than any other part. But remember, balance doesn't have to be boring. And look, I'm leaving the correlation of life and art to you this time!

I hear you, loud and clear. Or is it silent and deadly?

2012-01-21T08:26:00.000-06:00

I hear you.

Well, actually I can't.

So I can.

Are you confused yet?

Over the last couple of years I've learned a little about blogging.

I've learned that somethings that I am really interested in, you are not.

Elements of Art and Principles of Design theory happens to be one of those areas.

You like how I use them. You just don't want to know why.

Thanks :)

It's just like teaching school!

So, while I'm not going to stop teaching you readers about these things,

I'm just going to do a better job of hiding the teaching!!!

Moving on.

I need your opinion.

This little set up is right inside my living room.

Which one do you like better? And sorry about the quality of the pictures. I used my camera phone.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

I'm taking a vote.

Thanks.

Is it January or March?

2012-01-17T09:31:00.001-06:00

Is it January or March?

The grass is green.

Pollen is in the air.

It's mid-70's and beautiful.

Not exactly winter.

I love me some family time in the spring!

Composition.

2012-01-16T11:21:00.001-06:00

This is my first post in a series called Life Defined by Art. If you would like the introductory page, click here.

Buried in the list of Principles of Design is a concept called Composition.

Composition is not the single most important concept on the list, but in my humble opinion, it is the make or break concept! You see, it doesn’t matter how great your line work is if the viewer quickly glances at your work and moves on cause it doesn’t capture their interest.

Composition helps set the mood of your work. It gives the viewer a "feel" for the artist and even lets the viewer learn a little about the artist as well.

As I teach composition in art class, I use a tried and true graphic to help students understand how to place things on the page. Yes, it is formulaic, but until you understand how and why something is done, you don't understand how to break free from it in a positive way. Below is my graphic. It's not my original thought. It's a lot of different people's theories rolled into one usable handout.

Many people understand the idea of breaking a photograph into a grid, but they don't consider the grid placement for other art forms. What is really nice about using the grid is that it gives a place for the artist to mentally focus. It helps the artist define one key area, an impact area for the best color, the best contrast, special edge work or great detail. This allows the artist to spend time developing that one area without feeling like he/she has to give that much attention to the whole.

In the above painting, you can see that I chose to make area 2 my impact zone. Yes, I bled into part of area 1, but not too much :) I went with the expected and made the faces the impact zone, but I could have changed things up and made the hands realistic and detailed, making the impact zone 4.

As the artist, the important thing is to focus on one area. And by placing the detail and best highlights and so forth within the blue areas, the viewers eye remains inside the painting. If you place the impact area on the edge of the plane, the viewer will look at your impact zone and move right off your piece onto the next thing. And that would be a bummer.

OKAY... I'm moving on. sorry, I get a little too "teachy" sometimes.

So how does this relate to life?

Well, when was the last time you have felt like you are worn out, pulled in too many directions and have no focus? Yeah. That's how it relates.

Let's take another look at the composition grid.

If I break down my life into the grids and I place my job, my family, my community responsibilities, my church responsibilities and everything else into a grid, my first question would be how many sections can I have. But truly, if I have 12 sections and my immediate family takes up four, I need to figure out what makes it on the grid. Obviously, my job is one.Then do my sisters/parents/mother-in-law all share one box? That's a lot of people and expectations for such a small box. You get the idea.

Very quickly my grid is full. Did I make time for myself? Did I leave a box for exercise or scrapbooking? If I didn't, what am I going to cut? Am I going to dump my work for the public library? Ouch.

Now that I've filled my 12 boxes, I'm ready to move to the focus area. Just having to put my life in a concrete black and white format helps me see why I am always struggling to "get things done!" So, here is where things get tricky. Obviously, my children need me a lot. So does my husband, even though he gets forgotten often. Thankfully there are four boxes that make up the larger impact area. It goes without saying that my family should be in my impact area.

Is yours? Nope, it's not to make you feel guilty. You notice that I said that my family SHOULD be. There are times when my impact area moves off my family. This is why I like putting things down on paper. Cause really, does doing my job mean more than my children? If not, why am I spending more time working than playing with them? No, I'm not giving up my job. I can't. So, I have to make sure that my work is not in an impact area. Yes, it gets a box, but not my best box!

In the end, I have to remind myself that in my life, as in a composition, I have to be deliberate as to where I put all of my best color, my best detail, my best everything. Everything doesn't get the same weight visually in a composition. If it does, the viewer's eye has no place to rest. This is just like life. Everything in life can't be the focus. You have to have an impact zone. If not, you will have no place to rest.

A Pre-Valentine, Post-Anniversary Gift for the Foyer

2012-01-13T20:58:00.000-06:00

With the way I titled this post, you might think that I gave a gift to the foyer.

I didn't.

I really bought the tree print for Doug.

For either a late Anniversary or a pre Valentine gift.

It was funny, he opened it and smiled and said that he had looked at getting one for me.

Good thing I'm either late or early so that we didn't overlap and both buy the same gift.

That would be bad given that they are custom and not returnable.

So, disaster averted!

And here is the print on the wall.

Yes, the prints are high.

I cleaned off the entry table so that the picture would look nice.

All the junk mail that usually sits on the table is hiding nicely in the drawer.

So you see, usually, I would need the prints high like that to see them over the accumulated "stuff."

Hmm. Now what am I going to get Doug for V-Day?

I might should have thought that thru a little longer....

Everyone's favorite dirty word... BUDGET!

2012-01-02T21:02:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year, everyone is talking about it, so I thought I'd throw my two cents in too :)

Aren't you glad?

Well, here is my budget. It's actually pretty easy to follow.

Don't buy things you don't need. How do you do this? Don't go shopping.

There you have it. That's my budget.

Really? Yup.

Here is how my mind works, or maybe doesn't work... who knows.

I buy decorative things for the house when my friends have those at home parties. I like supporting my friends and their friends. It makes shopping way more fun.

I also buy decorative things for the house on clearance, or Ikea. And since I'm at Ikea maybe once a year, if that, it's not too bad!

Clothes shopping? Well, for myself, I buy things when my younger hip sister Katy says I have too. She's pretty thrifty, so I don't have to worry about spending a crazy amount when she's in charge. You can take a look at her (and my other sister Melody's) blog at http://cherrycokecruising.com/ . Even their blog name is hip.

Clothes for the kids? Too be honest, a couple of times a year I go off the charts and have a friend of mine do a couple of custom and totally cute outfits, but it's worth it. Other than that, I am the back row sale rack kinda shopper. But even there, it implies that I shop. I don't. I usually wait until one of my kids points out that their shoes are worn out, or their jeans are too small or something like that.

So where do we spend our hard-earned dollars? EATING OUT!!! OH YEAH!!

I'm not gonna tell you how much we spend on food. It's none of your beeswax. :) But, I can tell you, we spend too much. I love to eat out. That is our entertainment! However, if we want to be sensible and all that, and we have to cook and be money-minded, then let me tell you that E mealz is the way to go!

Click on the above picture and it will take you to the website. It really is awesome. Using E Mealz I have the meals for the week planned, a grocery list made out and the recipes (all basic that Maddie can even help handle) in hand. It's totally the way to go if you have to cook.

And that's it. That's my budget.

I know that you are glad you took the time to read the fine print of my budget!

But hey, it really is simple.

DON'T GO SHOPPING!

Hope you have a great year and that you stick to your budget, if you have one. But, if you only stuck to your budget for one month last year, don't expect to be able to make it all year, this year. Really. Why don't you try to make it to three months this year. That would be a reasonable goal.

As to goals, I've got lots of those. In fact, I make up for the lack of shopping with goal setting! Wow. I probably shouldn't have said (written) that. Good thing I am already completely aware of my lameness!

Misery or Joy?

2011-12-31T06:00:00.001-06:00

I've read a number of blogs and had countless conversations with people of all ages and stations and I've come to the conclusion that some people live out of joy and some people are defined by their misery. (Yes, that's blunt. But in case you didn't not realize that about me, I'm blunt. I don't sugar coat and I am fully aware that I'm not sweet.)

Maybe I'm trivializing the this or that somewhat, but over the years, I truly think that most people can be listed in either the joy camp or the misery camp. I don't know about you, but I want to be in the joy camp.

I'm not trying to push away pain. I'm not trying to devalue trials and tears. I'm just asking you and myself, do you define yourself by the pain you have felt or the joy you have experienced?

At this point some of you might think that I must not have any experience with the misery of life. Well, I've had more than some and far less than others. I'm not naive, I've seen some really yucky things, and I've experienced heartbreak. But more than that, I place my hope in things greater than me and know that because of some of my life experiences, I can find common ground with most people.

This year, as we embrace 2012, I am going to be cognizant of living from JOY. When I get downtrodden, overworked, overtired and beat up, I'm going to remind myself that in this life, some things are crappy, but in the end, if we let it, we learn and grow and can experience JOY.

And if you see me around town and catch me living on the misery side, stop me and remind to live joyously.

Here are a few of things you can remind me of:

1. I have three beautiful daughters who are the delight of my life.
2. I have a handsome husband who was not afraid to take control of our future and start his own business.
3. I have a large extended family that supports me.
4. I have a good job that challenges me every single day.
5. I have friends that I can count on and laugh with.

Really, when put it this way, what would I have to be miserable about anyway?

If you have the time, inclination or desire, check out A Place Called Simplicity this writer takes this concept to a whole new level.

The Joy Of A Texas Winter

2011-12-30T20:48:00.000-06:00

There is something wonderful about 70 degree days the week between Christmas and New Years. In Texas, sometimes you get these incredible days and sometimes you get rain. Rarely do we get snow. I have to say, I LOVE this weather!

While I was cleaning out the garage and doing the Christmas takedown, my girls had a chance to play outside. Lexi got a new scooter. Obviously.

So for all of you out there that are in the midst of winter and snow, here is a burst of sunshine for you! Doesn't she just make your heart melt! (And don't you just love my new camera!!)

Walmart... Really? No return, not even with a reciept???

2011-12-29T17:37:00.000-06:00

Maybe I've been living in a bubble and am the ONLY person to not know it... but did you know that Walmart does not allow holiday items to be returned after said holiday even if you have a receipt??

Well, I didn't! And it's not written in their store policy, it's not posted anywhere in the store and it isn't on my receipt! So, how was I supposed to know? You don't! And I call FOUL! and UNFAIR!!

You see, this all started out so simple, I purchase new pajamas for the girls every year to open Christmas Eve. Maddie as a tween isn't really an adult small, nor is she a kid size either. However, in my quest for jammies, I settled on an adult small purchased from Walmart knowing that if I found something more her size elsewhere I could always return it.

Happily, I found a tween size that were cute at another store and all was well. I had my bag of things to return to Walmart and almost did so on Christmas Eve, but with the store overflowing with people, decided that since there was no rush, to just wait a take everything back a couple of days after Christmas.

Well, today, 12/29 was that day!

I got my items marked, waited my turn at customer service and had a very nice and friendly worker explain to me that she could not take the pajamas back. That it was STORE POLICY to not take anything back after the holiday. I was shocked! I asked where this policy was posted. She confirmed that it wasn't. I asked why it wasn't on the receipt. She said that was a good idea, that I should let corporate know that they should do that before next Christmas. You see, it would make her life much easier she said.

To be honest, I really wanted to throw a good fit. Thankfully I didn't. And thankfully $17.97 isn't the end of the world. But it's the principle! I understand not wanting to take holiday items back after the holiday, but at least be HONEST about it. Make a sign and put it on your receipts... like the honest store owners do.

So here is what I have decided to do, (and I realize that the monstrosity called the Walmart Corporation doesn't care) but I'm not going to buy anything from Walmart that I don't have to. Boycotting Walmart doesn't work. Not in a small community like ours where it feels like our dollars are held hostage! But for me, I am going to do my best to plan a little better, buy a little earlier and purchase from retailers that care about their customers.

What about you out there? Did you know about this policy? And if so, how did you find out?

An Angel, A Narrator, a Toddler and an attempt at a Family Picture!

2011-12-19T11:26:00.000-06:00

We are so blessed at our church to have fabulous music. The children's programs are outstanding and the kids are learning so much about their faith and music as well!

Yesterday was the Christmas Cantata. Maddie was a narrator and Lexi was an angel. Kylie just looked cute.

Here Lexi is pictured with Pastor Howard.

And finally, an attempt at a family picture....ugh. What's bad is that one of my students who takes awesome pictures took these. Oh well. I was hoping for some magic, like maybe losing 20 pounds in the picture too...

Stop the Press!

2011-12-17T06:58:00.000-06:00

Stop the Presses!

I made it to TWO events at Lexi's school in ONE day!

As a working mom, I NEVER get to go to anything at my children's school. Sad really given that I'm a teacher, but I'm one of those parents that the teacher never sees. My girls are so good about it, but they do notice that I'm not there. Lexi goes through spurts of asking me to come for lunch or to pick her up, but most of the time I think we are all just pretty resigned to the fact that while I get holidays off to spend with my kids, I won't ever get to see them in things at school. Well, I guess until they get to high school and are at my school. And then they will be too old for class Christmas parties!

Okay, enough of the whine and back to the fun.

Today Lexi had a T.O.T.S. performance in gym class. I can't remember what it stands for. Basically, it's ball handling skills. She did great. After the performance, they had parents come out and the kids taught the parents. Good for Doug!! I was happy to be the photographer :)

Then came the class Christmas party! I must say, I so enjoy a well organized classroom and party! The kids rotated from the letter to Santa station, to the gingerbread house station, to the ornament station, to the snack station and finally to the Christmas tree decorating station. I know that some classrooms function in chaos, but I just love organized teachers!! Yay Mrs. Priddy!!

A little wire, some beads and wah lah... Friend Gifts!

2011-12-12T20:53:00.000-06:00

It wasn't that long ago that when Maddie, aged 11 asked to make gifts for her friends for Christmas that I cringed and said "Sure" in that sing-song voice that says "I may be saying yes now, but we are going to chat about that later and come up with a different plan..."

However, it is with great pride, that I can say that Maddie is now not only an official crafter, but she is getting good at it too!! Last year she made baked goods that were delicious for friend and teacher gifts. This year, she decided to make necklaces.

Below are a couple of her creations!

And here is a close up. Can you see that one string is gold and one is silver?

It looks really good in person!

Now granted, I would have never chosen the color scheme, but the necklaces aren't for me.

I think her friends are going to be super excited!

A Happy Heart for Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T19:58:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving from the McLemore's

and the Maxwell's

and the Greene's.....

I love getting together with my family. This isn't all of us, but we had a great time. The weather was beautiful, the food bountiful and laughter plenty.

Maybe this year means more as my grandparents (in the middle, Grandad in the grey suit and Grandmother in the white shirt with the cane) are in their upper 90's. Just last week Grandad was in the hospital. I know that these special moments are fleeting.

My dad's dad, my Papa, died 23 years ago on Thanksgiving day. I remember the day with such clarity you would think it was just last year. Maybe that's why Thanksgiving is such an important day to me.

I hope you had the opportunity to be with those you love on this special day of the year.

You Can Never Go Home Again... Or Can You?

2011-10-27T06:43:00.001-05:00

We bought a house and we are moving!!

Well, we bought the house about six years ago or so, but yes, we are moving back to our old house.

It's interesting how life works.

We thought the house had sold, we moved out the first week of June and the buyer moved in and was to rent our house from us until his house sold.

Well, with the market and all that... his house didn't sell. So out he goes and we go back.

It could have been a disappointment. But it's not.

We found that we love our house. We missed our house. The girls asked every day to go home.

So now we are going home.

But I painted a number of rooms and we got new carpet, so it feels like a new house.

Yeah for us.

No buyers remorse for us :)

Scrapbooking Made Easy, it's all in the Method!

2011-10-19T08:48:00.001-05:00

As you all know by now, I'm a busy woman.

So I have had to figure out how to streamline some things along the way.

One of those is basic scrapbook pages.

By streamlining the method of creation, I have more time for my favorite part...

EMBELLISHMENTS!

So while you may be tired of my preaching easy scrapbook pages, I just can't stop myself :)

To start, choose 10 patterns and 12 pieces of cardstock that go together.

Plus you will need base pages of white or cream depending on your color scheme.

Here are my chosen pages.
Notice that my pieces of cardstock are really papers with a dominant color and a small pattern!!

The next step is to choose a set of page layouts that you like.

Most of mine templates are taken from Close To My Heart's template books.

In fact, all of the layouts for this set come from Imagine.

To be honest, one of my very strange quirks is that I LOVE to take the layouts and place them on paper
and see how many layouts I can make with a little paper as possible.

So while some of you might groan, I live for graphing paper!!

Once I have my cutting guides ready, I cut the paper. The biggest part of the learning curve is to

NOT STRESS over which page is which!

It's all part of the game.

As you cut your paper, label each piece in pencil and then when finished sort into piles.

Below you can see my pieces sorted with white between each grouping.

The first time you do this, it will take some work.

You won't like some of the pages.

In the midst of trying to figure out what to do you, you will be taking my name in vain!

But when you figure it out, well...

Then it is FUN!!

All of the above layouts were pieced and placed in the span of about three hours.

That's 18 12x12 pages.

That's enough to fill a gift book.

Plus, I had a good bit of scrap paper to use for journal blocks, embellishments and so forth.

So, if you haven't tried this type of scrapbooking, try it!

In fact, I'll teach you how.

Stay tuned for more details....

Some do it in a year, for me, I'm taking 10!

2011-09-25T20:20:00.000-05:00

The sum total of my life.

I downloaded a plan to read the bible in a year.

That was more than a year ago. I'm on week 6.

Acknowledging that my life is not going ot get any simpler or easier...

I'm going to give myself 10 years.

Whoever developed the One Year Bible approach was not a full-time working outside the home mother of three.

If you are a full-time working outside the home mom and want my 10 year plan, let me know. Maybe we can motivate each other.

Just don't expect me to call you every week or anything like that.

Well, I'm off to read Exodus 19.

Can't wait to show you my certificate of completion in 2021!

Life, 24/200, and Pinterest

2011-09-17T09:50:00.000-05:00

I just realized how long it has been since I was last on here. One of these days I am going to feel like I have my feet under me and can do fun things again. I'm not there yet.

So what's been going on in our world?

Well, to begin, Doug left his old investment company and started his own financial company!! Exciting times. A little scary, but every risk comes with reward and it was time for him to be the guy that made the decisions about his future!!

Moving a financial services business is a lot of behind the scenes work and a quick move in the end, so we have been very focused on starting McLemore Financial Group.

If you need any financial advise, call Doug at 254-968-1020!!

What else is going on? Just school and life. Maddie was sick most of last week. A little "innocent" 24 hour sore throat for most people becomes a week-long yucky time for Mad. After she had been sick for four days I took her to the doctor, but the doctor was booked solid, so they did a nurse visit to check her urine and do a strep test. The strep test was negative and thankfully her urine looked good. Then the nurse asked the regular questions and did the nice nurse talk. Thanks. I really wanted to ask her if she had looked at Maddie's chart. But I didn't, I just pointed out that the 24 hour virus she was talking about had passed long before. It gets old and tiring. My sister is a WONDERFUL nurse, so I really try to be more patient with medical people because I truly know that they have the patients well-being in the forefront of their mind, however, there are times when I really just want to say... LOOK AT HER CHART!!!

Okay, sorry about the want. Maddie is well now :)

Next on the agenda, progress reports went out Thursday. Lexi beat Maddie's grades! Maddie did point out that 6th grade is much harder than 1st grade and Lexi pointed out that Maddie had missed almost a full week of school. Nonetheless, Lexi was rather proud of her three 100's, a 99 and a 98. Maddie didn't do to shabby either with two 100's and a lowest greade of a 96. As a teacher, I couldn't help myself and told them to remember that this was just a progress report and that the official grade would come later and that I expected similar grades to show up there....

I am so thankful to have children that do so well in school. It is a huge blessing!

And how am I doing? Well, thanks for asking. I am doing okay. I am still in the learning the new routine phase of the year. My students are really good and my program is really off to a great start this year, but me, well, I'm struggling.

However, it is getting better and as I sat in a meeting on Thursday, I realized why.

Have you heard of the 24/200 concept? Well, studies show that it takes doing something 24 times to do it proficiently. But it takes doing something 200 times to make it routine. So here I am with a new schedule and a new curriculum and feeling overwhelmed every day. Of course I am! We are only on day.. well I don't know, but it's not day 24 yet. So thinking about this has made me stop beating myself up for being exhausted and overwhelmed and given me hope. It is getting better, and it will continue to be so.

I like this concept so much, that I think I'm going to make a 24/200 banner and put it up in my classroom. Students are constantly asking why they have to draw something they have already drawn, explaining gets old.. but a banner, I could point to and say remember.... :)

And lastly, in all the crazies of the days, I started using pinterest. I wasn't going to as I knew it would be addicting. I've looked at it a number of times and such, but this week a friend of mine was showing me what she was doing and I just couldn't resist any longer.

For those of you that don't know what Pinterest is, well, it's a virtual pinboard. It's like sticky notes to use in a catalog. It makes looking at cool pictures way easier, becuase when you find something you love or want to use, you don't have to do the right click save to folder thing and then never find it again. With pinterest, you pin it or like it and it puts it on your board and has the direct link for you! So when you want to go to the source, you double click you picture and it takes you to the website the picture was first posted at!

Isn't that SO COOL!!!!!

Well, Kylie just came in throwing a 2 year old tantrum and Doug saying "YOU ARE DONE" (to Kylie, not me) so I better go!

Next installment: an update on our housing drama.

Bathtime Cutie

2011-09-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you just have to share the cute things in life!

Kylie is one of the cutest!!

Isn't nice to just smile!

Feeling like a First Year Teacher :(

2011-09-01T07:45:00.000-05:00

My first year teaching was the fall of 1997.

I've taught more subjects than are offered at some schools!

I'm really pretty flexible and very organized...

But this year, I'm feeling overwhelmed and underwater.

Just like a first year teacher again.

For the record. I hate that feeling.

Why you ask?

Well, since I'm in the middle of my whine fest, let me tell you.

I teach

Art 1
Pre AP Art 2
AP Drawing
AP 2D
AP 3D
AP Studio
Graphic Design
and just for grins, I like to throw in an independent study AP Art History student.

So that's a lot of things in one day. However, I teach 3 Art 1 classes. Those classes are first period, fourth period and eighth period. Yeah, we wouldn't want to put them back to back, cause that would be easy. Then my AP Drawing, 2D and 3D kids are all in the same class, but since it's a college board approved course, each section has their own syllabus and stuff. And I could go on and on...

But I won't.

Overall, I love my job. I get to teach something I love and I recognize that I am good at it. However, for anyone out there that says "it's just art..." I invite, no I encourage you to walk a day in my shoes.

So thanks for letting me whine. I am hoping to find a new normal soon. I'd really like to make something creative. I think it would help my bad juju. But in the meantime, I've got 150 students to prep for this morning.

Friday Night Lights.. Small Town Texas taking down #1.

2011-08-27T09:32:00.000-05:00

Last night was the season opener for our local high school football team.

We played a BIG rival! There is a good deal of bad blood between our schools and while a game that doesn't count for the district standings is HUGE to us. You see, prior to the game, the rival school was ranked #1 in Texas in our division and we were #9.

Here are the girls as we were leaving the house for the game.

At game time, it was over 100 degrees! The stands were PACKED and it was electric.

There is just something about Friday Night Lights!!

The girls were hot and tired so we only lasted the first half. I wish we could have made the whole game!

We kept up with the score, but it's just not the same thing. :(

The final score of the game?

We WON!!

How sweet it is.

Ideas At Work: My 2011 Classroom Decor

2011-08-22T19:50:00.000-05:00

And so the 2011-1012 year begins!

This year my room is

Under Construction: Ideas At Work!!

It got rave reviews today.

Notice the DANGER and CAUTION signs around my desk!

The student's thought that was funny, and true.

So there it is!

My hope is that it will inspire students to be creative and allow

IDEAS AT WORK!

Teaching is a Family Affair

2011-08-17T17:33:00.000-05:00

Getting ready for a new school year is what I consider to be one of the funnest things about teaching.

I love decideing on a new classroom theme.

I love making new charts and class procedures handouts.

I love bulletin boards and posters.

I know, it's kinda weird for a secondary teacher to say that, but I do.

I guess that's why teaching art works for me :)

But along with all the new, there is a lot of work.

And lots of hours go into making a classroom a nice place to be.

Below you can see my girls hard at work helping me get a first day of school activity ready!

By now, Maddie is a pro.
Lexi is learning and staying on task with moderate redirection.
Kylie is participating.

Here are all the bags stuffed with their "goodies".

And for any Art 2 student out there... here is a sneak peek to your first project for the year!

The Bell Ringer!

2011-08-12T06:58:00.000-05:00

Yep, teachers have gone back to work! You know how I know? I have a kid that got a "BIG OUCHIE" and she's not feeling great. That's how I know.

What is it about kids and work? I tell you, they just intuitively know when I have to be at work and when I am just working in my room. The last few weeks I've spent a good deal of time at school getting my new curriculum for my SEVEN preps ready, but I've just been working on my own time, so I came and went and the kids just chilled and all was well.

Then, Wednesday night, (the night before teachers went back to work officially) Kylie and Lexi were playing in Kylie's room. I heard a crash and a scream and I run in there and Lexi is playing all innocently with the baby dolls in one part of the room and Kylie is laying in the closet floor crying. Notice the protrusion on Kylie's forehead!

All in all, Kylie was fine. I called my sister, the nurse, and she gave me some pointers. I didn't have an ice pack, but frozen corn worked, well until Kylie ate the corn. It was a typical Mommy's getting ready to go back to work night! Thankfully Doug returned home from a work conference a couple of hours later, after being gone for five days, and the world returned to it's proper spot on it's axis.

The Hardest Part of Being a Working Mom

2011-08-05T19:46:00.000-05:00

In case you didn't know, being a working mom is hard! There are so many decisions that a mom agonizes over when it comes work and family. But hands down the HARDEST PART OF BEING A WORKING MOM IS CHILDCARE!!!

This has been a constant strain, struggle and cause of sleepless nights in our house for the last eleven years. Crazy isn't it.

Maddie was born in May 4, 2000 and since I'm a teacher, I had off until we want back to school after summer. That was July 28, 2000. That marks the begining of our journey with daycare. And here we are in 2011 still enjoying the world of childcare.

Kylie started at a local daycare on Monday. I have to say, I'm really not the greatest fan of daycare centers. I like a homey feel. I like my little one being with just a couple other kids and a mom/grandma.

But sometimes in-home settings don't work out really well and sometimes the loved grandma-type retires! So after looking around a while we decided on a facility that we felt comfortable with. They have an awesome schedule and after years of working around challenging in-home care schedules, it is really nice to have consistent hours.

Here is Kylie on Monday morning on her first day of "school."

Isn't she soooo cute! She was happy to go and did great! In fact, I waited to write this post as I wanted to get the whole week in so if we had any major issues, I could report them!

But thankfully, no problems. Kylie played well, she napped, she ate and never cried. I would say that is a good week!!

Believe me, I know we will have problems, that is the nature of childcare, but here is the recap of the things I liked about the week. (And yes, I will have to look back at the post sometime in the future to remind myself I am sure..)

I love the fact that a staff member greeted my child and made her comfortable every morning. They were genuinely (or great fakers) happy to see her and made my departure seem natural!
I appreciate the fact that my child's teacher is with her all day. No mid-day teacher changes!
I LOVE the watchmegrow.com video cameras!! It makes me feel like I am involved when I can ask about the interactions that I can see on camera.
I am grateful for the daily report pages that tell me what was for lunch, how long my child napped, and when diaper changes occured and other sundry items. This makes me feel like I am a part of my child's day.

Being that I am not a newbie, I know that things will not always be great, but I do know that the first week is vital in a childcare setting. Kylie is happy and doing great. That means the world to me.

Interestingly, this facility is owned by a couple of "momswhoknow" and I think it makes a difference. If you have never had to leave your child in daycare, be thankful. If you have, you understand what I mean when I say what a relief it is to know that Kylie is safe and happy. Truly, one of the greatest gifts to a parent is not having to leave your child crying while you go to work. Cause I'm sorry, it doesn't matter that "she only cries for a minute." And telling me that "as soon as you leave she stops crying" doesn't make my heart hurt any less.

Hopefully, this is just the begining of a great childcare relationship!

Classroom Under Construction

2011-08-03T09:18:00.000-05:00

If you were lulled into the summer schedule and didn't realize that August 1st came and went. It did. As a teacher, August 1st is THAT DAY for me. I really enjoy June and July at home. I do a little school work and piddle around the house. I love that time, but in the back of my head, the date, August 1st sits there and reminds me to not get too comfortable.

It really is kinda funny. Last week (prior to August 1st) I was up at the school and it was me, one administrator and the cleaning crew. It was DEAD! Then August 1st, Monday, arrived and the school is a hive of activity. Our students don't officially arrive for the first day of school until August 22nd, but the building is crawling with kids. In fact, tomorrow the 4th, we have a full morning of freshmen as they get acclimated to the campus and our procedures.

I can't wait to show you my classroom!! I am the lone high school teacher probably in the world (or so it seems) that decorates my classroom. I guess it's that artsy-elementary brain I have! This year I am doing IDEAS AT WORK. Complete with orange construction barrier stuff draped on my ceiling!

Hopefully by next week I can show you the room! It is going to be fun. And a good thing. 30 art students in one classroom with one teacher is going to be NUTS and LOUD! I've even bought myself a Yakker Tracker (sp?) It's a stop light that will change from green to yellow to red depending on the noise level. I think it fits my construction theme perfectly!

So that's what I am up to. If you live in the area and feel the need to organize, label, sort or hang.. give me a call. I can use all the hands I can get!

When they say Chunky Bling, they mean CHUNKY!!

2011-07-29T08:18:00.000-05:00

I got an email a few weeks ago from a company called Chunky Bling. They asked me to consider promoting them on my blog. I looked at it and thought, heck why not. They looked like they had fun products. However, I decided that I couldn't promote something I didn't know about, so I ordered me a watch! The price was really reasonable too!!

It arrived in the mail today. First impression. Good. Nice packaging!

Please excuse the arm shot. I am well aware of the old ladyish appearance of the closeup of my wrist! I am blaming that on having translucent skin and freckles!

Notice how chunky it is. I didn't really think it would be THAT big!!

I'm not sure that it will be worn that often as I can see myself snagging it on all kinds of stuff.

However, Kylie is IN LOVE!!

And I have to say, it is perfect for the first day of school. It just looks like an art teacher (or maybe elementary teacher..) doesn't it!

In the end, I really like the product. I like the fact that I can order a not so bright band to clip onto my watch face. Did you notice the lobster clasps that attach each section? I think that is sooo cool. And then the band itself is stretchy. And for someone as clasotrophobic as I am, the strecthy part makes this watch very wearable. Otherwise the bulk would have my wrist in a panic!

So, if you are looking for some CHUNKY BLING, I'd give them a try.

Sometimes you have to play hooky!

2011-07-24T22:31:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning in plenty of time to make it to any service at church that we might want to attend. But... I really just wanted to go do something with my family. So I googled all of the attractions that we could find within two hours from home. The goal was to find something indoors or that included water, and of course a reasonable price. I looked at a aquariums, museums, water parks, malls, zoos.. you name it.

It is so difficult to find attractions that are family friendly, reasonably priced and that cater to an almost 2 year old, a six year old and an eleven year old!! I really wanted to go to a water park a couple of hours away, but as Maddie reminded me, she can't stay outside for long periods of time, so that takes a day at a water park away. And I don't mind saying that I am WAY too cheap to spend a fortune on tickets to a water-theme park and only stay for 2 hours or so.

We could go to one of the museums, but that is our default, and I don't think my girls would be all that impressed with the "Cubist Experiment" about Picasso and Braque at the Kimbell.

So we found ourselves in a delemia. I really don't want my girls to think that a family adventure or family fun time revolves around shopping. The problem is that living in a small town, we find ourselves just going to the "big city" to shop and to do something, and that in turn, becomes our family outing.

After lots of discussion and consideration, we ended up doing what Maddie suggested. (Yes, we do that often. Have you met Maddie?) We loaded up and went to the metropolis of Eastland, Texas.

Eastland is not a booming city (I don't think??).

We drove in early to get lunch.

We drove through town. We turned around and went back to the DQ.

So had everyone else.

Apparently it is the only restaurant in town?

An hour later we left the fast food place. UGH!

But, I tell you, it's worth it for Eastland's water park.

I don't know it's real name.

All I know is that session 1 starts at noon and lasts till 2:45 and that my family swims and plays for $8. Yes, that's $8 total.

There are lifeguards and slides and we have a blast.

Used to, you could bring your own food and drink. Now they have a concession stand, so no food, but if you have a paper cup with lid, you can bring a drink! Yes, that's big news for us :)

Here is the family..

Really, coming here is like having an incredible pool with slides and lifeguards for yourself. There were maybe 30ish people at the park. The girls just played and played and Doug mastered the slide!

Then he took Kylie down the slide. She LOVED it. She is our fearless child anyway, and so she thought it was great.

For those of you who know us and where we live.. well, yes we have a little water park in town as well. We have a few slides. And yes, it is bigger than Eastland. However, while it's name is "Splashville" it's real name could be "Ruleville" and as a mom who takes her three kids there often, I love those rules. But on the weekend when Dad is around, we like to have fun and ride down slides together and horse-around in the water.. all the things that are not allowed at "Ruleville".

So, if you happen to be looking for a fun, family friendly place to go this next weekend.. might I suggest the water park in Eastland. Nope, they don't know that I heart them :). Just don't stop at the shell station if you need to go in for anything. It's like walking into a lit cigarette. YUCK! I usually stop at the exxon right when you get into town cause the bathrooms are clean, but Kylie was about to fall asleep, so we had to stop RIGHT THEN and we ended up getting second hand smoke. :(

This wasn't going to be a commercial for anything or anyone.. I was just going to tell you all that we skipped church this morning and it felt good!

That's all.

Create Your Own Path!

2011-07-22T06:55:00.001-05:00

Love it.

This picture just totally resonates with me!

I wish I could give credit to the person who owns this, but I got it off a blog and she didn't know who owned it either.... so if you are the creator of this cool picture, I'd like to know your name!

House Hunters, small town Texas style!

2011-07-21T13:26:00.000-05:00

We went looking at houses today. I was going to post pictures of them with the direct link, but blogger and realtor.com don't like each other, so instead I'll just show you the pictures. Too bad!

I don't know that any of the houses are "it", but there are some possibilities. We had really wanted the next house to be the forever house, but as Doug pointed out, we are probably putting too much pressure on ourselves and our now looking for a house that fits our family for the next chapter. Don't really know what that means, but when we see the house we will know. right? :)

The houses ran the gamut in size and price. Dream house is 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2 living, 2 eating that fits our price range and is move in ready, or is below our maximum and can be updated BEFORE we move in. None of the houses fit the dream description. Some were closer than others.

House #1

4 bedroom/2.5 bath/2 car garage.

2860 square feet.

I liked this house. The location with the driveway on a busy street is not ideal. Lots and lots of updating would have to happen and the kitchen has a weird angled wall, but overall, I really liked the floor plan of the house. The backyard currently has no yard. The fence is tight on to the house, but it looks like the fence could be moved to where the rest of the fence lines are on the block.

House #2

3 bedroom/2.5 bath/2 car garage
2777 square feet.

Just 3 bedrooms, but two nice size living rooms. Small kitchen, but it opens onto an eating area and den space with a fireplace that could be really nice. The biggest problem with this house was that the electricity was turned off and it is hard to see inside interior rooms without a light. We would have to remodel and turn the dining room into a bedroom, which would work as there is a half bath across the hall. Two good size bedrooms upstairs. Great street, and feels nice when you walk up to the door.

House #3

3 bedroom/ 2 bath/ 2 car garage
1545 square feet.

Obviously very small, would only work if you could add a master suite. The yard is probably big enough, but then you end up with a small backyard. The location is more than ideal, the reason we looked at a smaller house. In fact, if anyone out there needs a really nice 3/2, this is a nice house.

House #4

4 bedroom/ 2 bath/ 2 car garage

2366 square feet

Move in ready. Top of the price point. Only one living area, but it is a good size. Small backyard, but beautifully landscaped. I think this was Doug's favorite as it is in perfect condition. It's hard though, I really want a house with character and trees wouldn't be bad either.

House #5

4 bedroom/2 bath/2 car garage

2827 square feet

2.07 acres

We almost didn't see this house. The owner wasn't ready for us, but we were kind enough to stand on the porch and wait for ten minutes.... interesting first impression. The house is huge. It could really be called a 6 bedroom house. We would have to do a lot of updating and since the house is at the max for us, we wouldn't have the funds to renovate.

House #6

4 bedroom/ 3 bath/2 car garage

2506 square feet

If we had to make a decision today, we would probably go with this one. Two bedrooms with a shared bathroom are upstairs, which would be perfect for Maddie and Lexi. The house has one living area, but a nice size office that would function as a living space. The only real downside to this house is that the master bath is small and needs to be updated and the master closet is small. It's funny, the rest of the bathrooms and closets are good, just not the master. The kitchen is smallish, but not bad. The backyard is nice. Overall, the house has a really nice vibe.

House #7

4 bedroom/3.5 bath/3 car garage
3912 square feet
1 acre

This is a statement house. It is an estate for a local "celebrity" and I really wanted to see it. I have to say, this is truly a house you have to see to believe! It is vintage everything!! It is not a house we will be purchasing. I can't imagine how much it would cost to renovate it for a family. This house really is a 3/2.5 with a 1 bedroom/1 bath guest/maid quarters accessed through the garage.

I can so see this house made into a restaurant or taken over by the local arts council for office and gallery space.

So there you have it. Hope you enjoyed the virtual house hunt!

Another Fun and Easy Project for all those Paper Scraps!

2011-07-16T16:39:00.000-05:00

What do I do with scrap paper? Keep it or Toss it?

Yes, it is an age old question.

Well, I guess I am a both. A Keeper and a Tosser. It all depends on the day or the mood :) !!

But, one thing I do find difficult is to what to do with large scraps or whole pages of scrapbook paper that I know that I won't use. I hate storing things for storing sake.

So, below is one of my uses for scraps!

Recycled Paper Bowls.

Sorry, I took the pictures with my camera phone, so the quality is sad.

This is really just a simple paper mache project. I used ModPodge about 1/2 strength mixed with water and strips of scrapbook paper torn on all sides and a mixing bowl that I put a plastic bag over. I ran the paper through the glue and smoothed it onto the bowl. That's it.

I really like the torn white paper look inside the bowl. Originally I had planned to put another layer of colored paper down after the structure dried, but I think I will keep the bowl as is. I might varnish it, I might not.

So there you have it, another recycled paper project!

Maddie Makes Her Favorite Casserole for Dinner!

2011-07-08T20:54:00.000-05:00

Maddie made her favorite casserole the other night for dinner. She did a great job and and dinner was rather tasty! The recipe follows. If I already gave it to you.. sorry.

Maddie's Favorite Recipe

Brown 1 pound ground meat.
Layer a bag of uncooked egg noodles in bottom of a casserole pan.
Spread the cooked and drained meat on top of noodles.
Open up 2 cans of navy beans, 2 cans of black-eyed peas and 2 cans of corn and pour them on the casserole. DO NOT DRAIN!!
Use about a 1/2 can of water and pour over top of casserole.
Cover with foil, place on a pan to catch any bubbling and cook at 350 degrees for one hour.
Enjoy. Doug and I use salsa on top!

All my girls eat this better than most any other meal we make!

Sometimes doing your civic duty means being in a parade!

2011-07-05T07:59:00.000-05:00

Small Town USA, yep, that's where we live. Actually, it's Stephenville, Texas.

In our little corner of the world, we have a parade on July 4th! Given the size of the community, about 15 thousand people, we have a huge parade! There have to be a few hundred floats (that includes trucks, cars and horses) plus we have thousands of people sit along the main street and watch.

It is a lot of fun. I have wonderful memories of the parade growing up. I was in it as the Statue of Liberty on year, I twirled batons for a few years and rode for various clubs and organizations. Now we are passing these moments and memories on to our kids.

This year, we were supposed to be at the lake house with my family for the 4th, but given that I serve on the public library advisory board and we were in the parade, we came home early.

We used Doug's big red truck and one of the ladies on the Friend's board made signs. I had bookmarks made and off we went!

The following pictures were taken by Bill. A friend of ours who rode in the truck with Doug and Kylie while his wife walked and passed out bookmarks and his daughter waved to the crowd. Thanks Bill!

Look at that tiny girl on that horse!

Kylie isn't too impressed with the parade!

We ran out of bookmarks way too fast, but we had a great time. It was fun to hear the crowds cheer for the public library!

We've decided next year, we will get tons more bookmarks made and recruit more walkers!

See, sometimes doing your civic duty can be fun!

The VBS placemat, napkin, napkin ring and spoon.

2011-07-04T13:24:00.000-05:00

Here are the girls finished VBS crafts.
So nice to have this DONE!!

Two hundred kids and their crafts.
So very glad to have that big CHECK mark next to that to do list!

Woven Watercolor Placemats, an age-appropriate craft for VBS

2011-06-30T21:37:00.001-05:00

Age appropriate crafts for Vacation Bible School is a hard one. The gap of ages, from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade make creating a craft that engages all of the children in attendance tough.

In keeping with my desire to create a craft that is worthwhile, I had the children make placemats. Now I realize that most will probably hit the trash sooner rather than later, but... I can say that the majority of the kids, no matter the age, learned something during this project.

First off, the kids painted two different papers. On one they painted "cool" colors while the other was "warm" colors. I explained to them about thinking of the "warm" as the sun and the "cool" as the ocean. Given that we are in Texas with 100+ degree heat, even the smallest children understood the concept.

Another teaching moment came quickly with the Lots of Color... Little Water hand motions. I taught them about using a brush and loading the brush with paint, not water. And then we painted. Some children painted quickly and some not so much...

I then let the pages dry for a day or so and then we cut on into strips and the other into the base. Amazingly, there were many fifth graders that did not know how to weave!!

When we had the woven paper finished, we glued it to the construction paper and the children colored the edges. Finally, we laminated all of the projects.

And here they are...the great thing about this project is the end result looks good and works, no matter the level of ability!

Next up? Napkin rings.

Beaded Utensils and VBS

2011-06-28T13:48:00.000-05:00

A year or so ago I found a blog about an adopting mom selling beaded utensils to make money to help pay for the adoption. I bought a couple. (Those picutured above are NOT hers... hers are MUCH better..) I'd post where to go buy some, but she's not selling them anymore. However, if you would like to puchase a beaded utensil, give me a couple of months, but my girls and I are going to make some and send them to Orphan Wares, so you can help feed the African orphans and buy our pretties...) but I digress.

As I might have mentioned, I am heading up crafts for VBS. I am determined that the kids will get to make something worthwhile and that we won't make trash crafts... you know, the kind you throw into the trash the moment you get home.

Yesterday, the kids watercolored a couple of papers and tomorrow they are going to weave them into placemats that I will laminate. Today we worked on the beaded utensil. Let's just say that one session into the morning, I punted. Remember, I teach high school art and my children at home are used to my craft instruction, so I didn't really think about a "typical" five year old and his ability, or lack of ability at putting beads on a wire... So, some of the kids glued their beads to the spoon. We will make their glued spoon into a picture frame.

The biggest win of the morning? Only 2 of the bead bowls were knocked over. With two hundred kids using bowls with beads in them, I'd say that is a good day.

Can McDonald's Be a McDonald's without a Diaper Changing Station?

2011-06-27T22:12:00.000-05:00

I thought I might tell you about our Colorado Family Trip starting at the very begining, but I know that you don't really want to know that we made our first stop of the more than 1000 mile drive at mile 30... or that on our third stop only 2 1/2 hours into the trip it was 114 degrees outside. However, I decided that there are some things moms just need to know.. so here is one very important thing.

The McDonald's in Childress, Texas does NOT have a playplace NOR do they have a diaper changing station ANYWHERE in the restaurant!

How can you be a McDonald's without a place to change a child's diaper?

I don't think you should be able to call yourself a true McDonald's if you don't have a place to change a child!

It's bad enough they didn't have a place for the kids to play.. but I had to change Kylie's diaper in the middle of the restaurant on a bench!

So, let that be my warning to all of you parents out there. Just because the McDonald's has a nice billboard that says "Remodeled" and it looks all nice and pretty.. it doesn't mean it is a McDonalds....

No Pre-Packaged Crafts!!

2011-06-27T07:27:00.000-05:00

VBS starts this morning.

I'm in charge of crafts, and nope, we are not using pre-packaged crafts. I decided to do something useful, or at least worth doing. I hate it when my kids bring home those pre-packaged crafts that I have to either find a place to put them or throw them away while no one is looking.

So, yes, it's more work, but I'm hopeful that the kids will enjoy making the crafts and that they might learn something too.

Pictures to follow.

Where to start? hmm...highlights? New car? Colorado?

2011-06-26T08:48:00.000-05:00

So much to report. We got back last night from vacation in Colorado! It was great and I have lots of stories to tell.

I so wanted to post as we went along, but since I didn't have anyone staying in our house, I didn't feel comfortable broadcasting to the world that we were away!

I've decided to do a review of our trip and let you all know the good, the bad and the ugly!

So stay tuned.

Progress

2011-06-14T16:07:00.000-05:00

Moving is hard. And it has just about done me in! But here is a glimpse at Kylie's room. Yeah, it is done. Well, it's not decorated or anything like that, but all cardboard boxes are emptied, it's been cleaned and her toys are put away!

Yay!! Having one room finished helps give me hope that soon the rest of the house will be clean and box free.

Heck, I may even put a picture on the wall just to do it!

The bedrooms are large in this house and it is so nice to get the girls toys put away in their rooms. If only they toys would stay there.

Over the last few years we have been spoiled having two living areas, and now the girls (and us) are having to adjust to keeping their toys off the couch so that we can sit down.

We have been in the house a week and I am hoping by Friday (today is Tuesday) that I'll have every room put away.

Thanks for giving me a forum for my moving misery. :)

Going Mobile

2011-06-11T06:44:00.000-05:00

I'm going mobile.

So, now, if you are on your "mobile device" you can check out my blog in a better format for your phone!

Now, if only I would update my blog more often!

As to the move, we are getting settled, slowly! Hopefully I'll have an update soon complete with a few pictures :)

Precious Moments

2011-06-06T16:44:00.000-05:00

Newsflash.

Life is busy.

I know, shocking.

But in the midst of the everyday nuts, sometimes was have to stop.

Today was one of those days.

Last Thursday we moved out of our house. Towards the end of the day, I made a frozen strawberry lemonade run and on my way back I passed my mother-in-laws car on the side of the road.. next to an ambulance, a fire truck and two police cars. I quickly made the block and was able to be there with her just a couple of minutes after she had been hit by another car.

Thankfully she was okay. Very, very sore and bruised, but okay.

Today, while we are waiting for our move to the rent house tomorrow, we just rested and talked to Nana.

Those are truly special moments for us all. And in the face of all of life's uncertainties, moments like these are truly precious.

Oh my poor sore body!

2011-06-03T07:41:00.000-05:00

We loaded the truck yesterday.

This morning I have to finish cleaning out the house.

Then I'll have the weekend to recover and we will move everything into the rent house on Monday and Tuesday.

What a way to start the summer.

I'm beat.

But so glad to have loading the truck behind me.

We are currently house-sitting for my parents. They are in Costa Rica on vacation.

I am so thankful that I have vacation to look forward to in a couple weeks.

In other news. I'm going to get me hair cut and highlighted and styled.

This is BIG NEWS! I typically get my hair cut once a year. With highlights, I'll have to go like regularly or something.

I've decided that I'm ready for grown up hair.

Now, what style? hmm...

If you have any ideas, let me know. My hair is a little past my shoulder blades, no bangs.

We are MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-05-22T17:19:00.000-05:00

It's been a long, long time coming.

But, or house has finally sold and we are moving!!

Not out of our town..

Just into a FOUR BEDROOM HOUSE!!!!

Yes, that is cause for major celebrations!

If only there was time.

Funny, it took like three years to sell and we had to be out in less than 3 weeks!

So, come June 1st we are out of here.

The house we are renting won't be ready until closer to the 10th,

so we (and our stuff) will be in limbo for a little more than a week.

But so what... we will manage.

Cause we are moving into a FOUR bedroom house.

And then, after we get settled. I'm going to find some time to craft and blog.

right?

Maddie Turns 11.

2011-05-05T20:43:00.000-05:00

Maddie turned 11 on Wednesday, May 4th. I truly can not believe time has gone by so quickly.

Every year I take Maddie's picture out in front of our tree before school.

Except for this year.

It was the track meet at her school, and we went out for breakfast and then I had three kids to get to school and me, so no wonder, I forgot.

I did take a couple of pictures of her asleep in her bed at the end of the day. I also took a couple of pictures of her room. Needless to say, she's a preteen.

I'm not posting those pictures right now :)

But I do have posted her 50m dash at the track meet. She placed 2nd in her heat!

I have to say, that's pretty darn good for a girl that missed two years of PE and pretty much any extra running and playing due to being sick!

Thanks for sharing in her special day.

TAKS testing!

2011-04-29T15:36:00.000-05:00

There is nothing that can drain a teacher like the TAKS test! I am so, so glad to get this week behind us!

Sunday is the children's musical at church. They are performing Under God's Sea in 3D! It's cute and the kids are fun to watch.

I know it's bad, but at this point, I'm just checking things off my to-do list.

With this show done, I'll only have 3 events left on my list before the end of the year!

Of course, not on the list is the cleaning of my class room. OH MY!!

In the midst of the never-ending-events of our house, last weekend, I sliced open my right hand and am the proud owner of 3 very expensive stitches.

It's an interesting story.

Saturday night, Doug was grilling steaks out on the back patio and I was in the kitchen unloading the dishwasher. The cabinet that the coffeemugs are stored in is directly above the dishwasher. So.. I was putting up a coffeemug and having to reach a little awkardly to do so. (I've only done this a couple of times a day for the last six years..) And I dropped the cup. It hits the counter and bounces back up as it breaking into pieces. One shard sliced open the side of my right hand. Immediately I knew I had to have stitches!

So my mom came over and pulled the steaks off the grill while we were at the hospital.

And that brings us back to today. The end of TAKS week.

I'm hoping for steaks tonight for dinner.

The Merry-Go-Round

2011-04-21T12:43:00.000-05:00

Defeated.

That’s how I feel today.

I had really high hopes for Maddie’s Rheumatology appointment yesterday.

The doctor came in and asked about the big picture as to what Maddie’s basic problem was. I handed her a copy of the spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet consists of doctor visits, blood work, x-rays and surgeries. There are 185 entries.

Let me say that again

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE.

185 SEPARATE ENTRIES.

That’s not a typo.

And this doesn’t include well-child visits! Nor is it every visit to a specialist.

Maddie is 10 years old. Do the math. This is not a “normal” child.

So we talk to the doctor and she starts brushing us off.

The merry-go-round music might as well as have started playing.

Maddie doesn’t fit a simple clinical diagnosis for her symptoms and her age.

I am used to this merry-go-round.

But it doesn’t make it any easier to take.

Thankfully, Doug was with us and started asking more questions and pushed the doctor a little. She initially wanted to send us on our way, but Doug was able to convince her that maybe she could wait for the results from blood work before she said Maddie was fine.

I can’t explain to someone who has not walked this road how difficult it is to hear doctors brush us off year after year. I would give anything for Maddie to feel good. To be well. But she is not. A “normal” child does not wake up in the morning after nine hours of quality sleep exhausted. EVERY SINGLE DAY. A well child doesn’t live in pain EVERY SINGLE DAY! It is hard to sit and listen to doctor’s explain away documented problems as if explaining it away will make it go away.

So here we are. Again.

We have some really good specialists that have improved Maddie’s quality of life significantly. The problem is that they are focused on their specific area. Yes, that’s what they are supposed to do. But in the mean time, we don’t have a specialist that looks at the whole picture. We thought we might get that with Rheumatology. I guess not. Doug explained to the Rheumatologist that we are tired of being pushed from one specialty to another. That we need a quarterback. We need a doctor to take ownership and to look beyond the textbook. In fact, half jokingly, Doug told the doctor to take good notes, that she might write Maddie’s case story one day.

So, where do we go from here? I don’t know. First, we wait for two weeks for blood work to get back. It’s hard. We want it to be good, but we also need something to show up so that maybe we can get a diagnosis of something.

Four years ago we were told it could take 10 years for a diagnosis. I guess we will learn to be patient. In the mean time.. if any of you out there know a student or doctor that loves research and interesting cases… let me know and I’ll send you Maddie’s case. I have done all the research I can with what I have. I’m in the market for some good (free) medical books!

And now I’m off to update Maddie’s spreadsheet with yesterday’s appointment details.

Maddie's Team Picture

2011-04-12T14:28:00.000-05:00

Cool huh. Not everyone is pictured, but it's an awesome feeling!

Now that I have the group picture, I have to get busy on the thank you notes.

Oh my!

Texas Bluebonnets and kids.. it's the way we mark the passage of time.

2011-04-03T20:36:00.000-05:00

Another year has come and gone. Truly it is amazing how fast the year flies. I want to savor these sweet moments while my children are young.

It seems like just last month we were taking pictures in the bluebonnets and Kylie was just a babe-in-arms. And here we are, again, and we can't take a picture with her in the same place twice!

This year with the complete lack of rain, the flowers are sparce. We could have found a new spot for the pictures I guess, but I love taking the pictures at our friends house. In previous years we would stop on the side of a highway or go to an old cememtary, but with the danger of the trucks flying by and slithering snakes at the cemetary, I love letting the girls roam and play while we take some traditional pictures!

Amazing isn't it. They grow up so fast!

And while I'm not posting it here.... Doug took a number of pictures of me orchestrating the girls. I think I'll do an entire page in the scrapbook of me trying to get the girls to stay in one place, to all look in one direction and so forth. The pictures are funny.. but let's just say, I'm not looking like a hot mama. :)

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle... Into Art!

2011-03-31T20:46:00.000-05:00

My student's have another art show opening tomorrow.

Yep, I am truly certifiable.

I'm thinking I probably have 50 pieces in the exhibit. This is in addition to the hundreds we have on display at another exhibit right now. CRAZY!! But my student's and parent's can't say that they never got an opportunity for the community to see their art :) !!

The show that opens in the morning at Cross Timbers Fine Arts Council is a

Trash To Treasure

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Techwaste Art

It's a very creative and strange and fun show. Below are just two of the many pieces as these girls turned their projects in early and they are already on our online art gallery.

Maybe one day soon I can post more of the really cool pieces in this show. Or not. We've got the state art contest in a week plus prom the next weekend! Oh my!

The NKF Kidney Walk and Maddie's Team

2011-03-28T07:10:00.002-05:00

There are many days when we feel like we are alone.

Explaining IgA Nephropathy to doctors.

Explaining symptoms and conditions to teachers.

Teaching friends and family about our "normal."

We struggle with the fact that Maddie hurts

and is in pain daily, but looks healthy.

Other's can't see our pain.

Kidney disease and pulmonary issues and a

compromised immune system

don't go away.

They are not mono or the flu.

But today was not one of those days!

The gift of the National Kidney Foundation

and the Kidney Walk

for us

was feeling of belonging.

That we are not alone in this journey.

That our family and friends and even people

we have never met have our backs.

That we have people in our lives who will stand together and make a bridge

for us when we can't see how to cross the next ravine.

That gift is priceless.

The purpose of the kidney walk is to raise money for

kidney research. And we did so gladly.

Maddie's Team raised almost $5000!!

Maddie's Team was made up of close to 70 people!!!

Isn't that incredible!

Here are a few pictures from the walk.

They even had cheerleaders along the way!

God smiled on us with incredible weather

and a beautiful day.

We look foward to a repeat performance next year!

UPDATED for the 2012 WALK:

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN OUR TEAM... PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW!!

http://donate.kidney.org/site/TR/Walk/NorthTexas?px=1768506&pg=personal&fr_id=4300

SISD Youth Art Exhibit

2011-03-25T15:37:00.000-05:00

SISD Youth Art Reception.

Done. Hallelujah!

(The SISD Art Teachers!)

We had more than 400 people at the reception!

It was great!

Here are a few pictures of the show.

I don't think I was exagerating when I said 1000 pieces!!

The show is held in our district audtiorium that used to be a church.

The space behind the pews works great for spreading out all of the work.

So there you have a virtual tour!

Little Girl Blue

2011-03-22T07:05:00.000-05:00

When I started this painting, it was all in shades of purple. And actually a happy-ish painting.

Then I realized that from the angle and the purples it looked more like a domestic violence painting. UGH!!

So in photoshop I played with it a bit.

I really like this version.

It's melancholy without being traumatic!!

And no, there is no meaning in it.

The only significance is that I'm working through the color wheel in paintings.

Have a great day!

A Family Trip to the Fort Worth Zoo... along with 20k others.

2011-03-17T21:31:00.000-05:00

A Family trip to the zoo.

An awesome zoo.

Really.

The Fort Worth Zoo is incredible.

But I have to say that I like it better when:

It's not Spring Break and everyone else on the planet goes.

(at least we didn't go on 1/2 price Wednesday!!)

and I like it better when I don't have a sick 18month old baby.

But other than that, we had a great day :)

See...

I love this picture of Maddie. She looks like a little girl here!

Yup. I'm wearing complete mom gear. I recently went shopping and have more stylish clothes. No, I'm not wearing them here. Heck, at least I'm in the picture.

Yes, It was a good day.

The best $9 spent of the day? Renting the double stroller!!

Traditional Acrylic Painting Meets Photoshop Filters and Brushes

2011-03-17T06:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday during Kylie's naptime I painted this canvas.

This morning since Kylie had me up at 5am and I had free time, I uploaded the picture of it into Photoshop and played.

I love the end result.

I totally dig the grunge look, so adding the depth to the edges was fun.

The picture file when I was finished was huge, so I down sized the resolution and compressed the file in order to load.

Yes, you lose clarity and details, but no one wants (or is willing) to wait five minutes for a picture to load! Or at least I'm not.

This makes the second piece in the series.

I'm thinking citrus green for number 3.

Spring Break

2011-03-16T16:10:00.000-05:00

Spring Break.

Finally.

It couldn't have come at a better time for me!

So why am I rejoicing over a few days of down time and catch up time?

Well, for starters, here is a picture of my students at contest.

Yup. That's a lot of students. 38 to be exact.

72 pieces were judged. That was a lot of prep time.

Then there was Hats Off for Kidneys...

It was wonderful and the community outpouring AMAZING!

Then we've been setting up for Youth Art Month

While I haven't counted yet, I think we have 1000 pieces!

That's a lot of work.

And finally,

a little time left to spend with my children.

Oh how wonderful it is to have time to love on our babies!

An outpouring of support

2011-03-12T07:28:00.000-06:00

Hats off for kidneys was a great success! We are so thankful to our community who supported Maddie's Team! More than $2000 was raised yesterday!

Thank you so much to the students and staff in our school district who made Hats Off For Kidneys such a great day!

Yippee and a Bummer.. hoping for more Pfaltzgraff!

2011-03-06T22:00:00.000-06:00

I have been talking about buying new dishes for three years. Yes, three years. I'm not much of a shopper and I didn't want to just settle for something. So I've been looking and pondering.

Finally, we found some dishes that both Doug and I both really liked. The colors just fit our house perfectly and I really liked the way the coffee cup felt in my hand. They are called Calico and are part of the Pfaltzgraff Stoneware collection.

So we bought two boxes (that's all they had at the store) and brought them home.

I was so excited to finally get them out and change out our old dishes. So here they are!!

UNTIL...

              Yep...

                         From the first box, a broken salad plate.

                                      From the second box, a broken dinner plate.

                                                        BUMMER. DISAPPOINTMENT!!!

We don't live close to where we got the dishes. The boxes were in perfect condition. It wasn't the stores fault. The boxes were just packaged so tightly, it was bound to happen. Sad. :(

Now I'm wondering about how long these dishes will last. My other dishes were the ones we registered for when we got married. We have used them just about everyday for the last however many years we have been married. We are talking about thousands of uses and all are still in great condition. Just dated. They are the same brand, so I'm really hoping these new ones are okay!

I'll let you know! I sent Pfaltgraff customer service an email today along with a picture of the broken plates. I'm really hoping they will send me two new plates! Otherwise... I guess I'll start the three year quest to find a new set of dishes. ugh.

Hard Work Pays Off!

2011-03-06T14:32:00.000-06:00

The Reward.

Yesterday, I took 38 students to our Regional Visual Art Scholastic Event.

We had 72 pieces judged.

35 of the 38 students medaled.

52 total medals were awarded to us.

11 perfect scores!

1 state qualifier.

It was a good day.

Whew. A little perspective on a crazy week.

2011-03-04T22:45:00.000-06:00

Remember that video I mentioned in my last post? The one that was to replace the real image of me at the retreat? Well, it wouldn't work. So... I went to the retreat tonight and spoke. Now I'm home and resting a little and will hopefully get some sleep before leaving out for school to travel with my students to contest bright and early Saturday morning.

I'm glad I went. Even if I wasn't there for very long. It's always nice to be a participant in something you have been looking forward to for a long time. I would have really liked to have heard the other speakers (my sisters!). Hopefully they have notes that they will share with me.

It's funny thinking back on the last week. I had this sense of urgency all week to get the mountain of prep work done and all the crazy details tied up so that I could leave work today as soon as the day was over. Last year a student's mom and I worked till midnight the Friday night before contest. But this year, I felt compelled to work every night the over the last week to get things ready early.

I'm so glad I did. If I hadn't used that prompting, I would have never been able to take the afternoon and evening and drive two hours away from home (each way) the night before 78 art pieces go to contest. I would have been stuck at school and have missed out on presenting to these wonderful ladies.

Hopefully what I told them about color and life meant something.

Maybe one day soon, I'll get a chance to share it with you.

The Video

2011-03-03T06:28:00.000-06:00

I've made a video about the Palette of a Woman's Life and how it relates to painting.

I can't get it to load. From anyplace, in any format. It's rather frustrating.

Life is extremely busy right now.

I can't wait to finally show off some of my student's work for contest.

It's on Saturday.

Maybe after that I can post some artsy things. Well, I can dream :)

Color Palette

2011-02-28T22:19:00.001-06:00

My mom is having her annual women's retreat for the women of her church this weekend. Almost two years ago, my mom asked my sister's and me to be the speakers. We've been talking about it since then.

Lots of cools ideas, we finally came up with topics and so forth. The theme: Palette of A Woman's Life.

Then, just a couple of months ago, I found out that the only contest I take my art students to all year long was that same Saturday. Total Bummer.

So, I am trying to get my virtual presentation together while also getting 78 pieces ready for contest!

Below is a sneak peak of what I'm introducing... :)

And if you want more information about this awesome retreat.. click Cottonwood Women to go to my mom's blog.

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

My goal is to get this uploaded asap! Well, I have to video it first.. But those are just details. Right?

Shoes... Shoes.. Shoes

2011-02-26T09:22:00.000-06:00

Kylie lives for shoes. This is my inspiration for my week 4 painting.

I tried to post about Maddie's latest doctor visit, but the post wouldn't work. Hopefully I can do that soon.

Today the girls and I are going shopping with my mom, 2 of my sisters and 4 little girls. My girls are at their finest this morning, complete with meltdowns, tantrums and more.

JOY.

Get Your Paint On Week 3

2011-02-20T14:28:00.000-06:00

This week for class, we had to choose four colors and paint something. We were to only use those colors. Well, I tried. I really did. In the end, I layered the four colors chosen from my bathroom towels and curtain and did lots of sanding and texturing.

I’m pleased with the results given the assignment. I don’t love the painting, but am happy to have completed the assignment within the timeline.

In the close up below you can see all the layers of paint. I really love the bottom left hand flower. If I could just cut that one out and use it I would.. and I might. :)

So there you have it, another painting!

Go Big or Go Home

2011-02-18T22:49:00.000-06:00

This week in Get Your Paint On we were challenged to focus on color. I am still working on this week's painting, but I ramped up last weeks painting with color so I thought I'd share.

I have decided that I like the idea of Impressionism, but I like some crisp lines as well, so I am developing my own style. I also really like the green chair. In the picture below you can see my going big this week! I think it's 2'x3'.

At school we are hard at work getting the art pieces ready for contest. I have more than 40 students attending and we are taking 78 pieces. I truly believe that there are days were I must be certifiably nuts and I have to say a small program like mine taking that many kids with that many fine art pieces on a bus more than two hours away from the school is nuts.

My painting this week is an abstract-ish one of the roses I got for Valentine's Day!! I've got to get it finished and posted by Sunday.. so I better go get my paint on!

Classes, Modems, and Life

2011-02-17T15:32:00.000-06:00

Emily's randomness for the day:

I am enjoying my painting class tons. I wish I had more time to paint, but am thankful that I can dabble here and there! One day, when my kids are grown, I'll have lots of time to paint and will wish I had my children at home.

My modem died on my home computer. So I upgraded my iphone to tether to my laptop and I can cut my home DSL, which saves money! I'm hoping to figure it all out soon. Until then, my computer usage is limited. I have pictures I want to show you, but I'm still working on that.

We are taking Maddie to Scottish Rite next Friday for an orthopedic evaluation. She has scoliosis and is in a lot of pain, so we have been sent there. Another set of doctors. ugh. But if they can help, we are thankful to have the hospital and their resources.

Don't forget about the kidney walk! We need walkers and virtual walkers!!

Click here to join!

Get Your Paint On Week2

2011-02-12T22:54:00.000-06:00

I like. More info to come. Dead modem at home.

Maddie's Team for the Kidney Walk

2011-02-09T22:08:00.000-06:00

It's time for the National Kidney Foundation's Kidney Walk.

Maddie wants to have the largest team, so we've got to get on it!

Date: March 26, 2011

Place: Fort Worth

Register to walk with us, or donate dollars!!

Thanks!

Sources of Inspiration

2011-02-09T20:53:00.000-06:00

So, I'm taking this painting e-course. It's great! I'm telling my students about it at school and they are impressed that teachers still take classes and learn. They are shocked when they find out that I'm doing it because I want to, that no one is making me and that I even have to pay for it myself!

This week we are suppossed to find a painting/artist that inspires us. Man, this is hard!! I love so many different styles, periods and techniques.

I've got to decide and then paint something by Sunday!

So, after really pushing myself to look for someone new, to break from a classic and all that, I go back to Monet.

Yeah. Boring. I know.

It's not experimental, cutting edge, trendy or anything.

But I love Monet. I love the colors, the landscapes, the technique.

I wonder if I love Impressionism so much for the art, or for the memories of walking through the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. I think they are intertwined. All I know is that even though I push myself to move beyond Monet, something about his uneven horizons and bursts of color continue to call to me.

So I guess I better translate this into a painting!

More Fun

2011-02-04T19:28:00.002-06:00

done.

Getting My Paint On

2011-02-04T17:15:00.000-06:00

Hmm. I like these a lot better in person. I'm gonna have to find a way to take better pictures of my work at home.

But here is my homework from this week.

We were told to work in blocks of color.

The nonconformity and uneven lines were purposeful.

And then I had more panels just sitting there, so I did this below. It's not finished yet.

I'm going to do something whimsical with numbers or letters with it I think.

Nonetheless, I'm enjoying the creative process.

Snow Day, Take 2..Take 3...What?

2011-02-03T15:18:00.000-06:00

Saw this on the internet. Hilarious!

Tomorrow is our Snow Day #4.

Ouch.

Getting My Paint On.. Part1

2011-02-02T00:00:00.002-06:00

I am so pumped about my ecourse I'm taking. And I'm very proud of myself for taking the time to gather supplies before I left school yesterday! Cause today, SNOW DAY!!!

So, I decided to make myself a painting spot in the laundry room. Yes, I have a craft desk in the den. It happens to be the perfect height for one year old hands. And is currently the home of Lexi's oversized dollhouse. My spot in the laundry room is great for standing and working and is tall enough that little hands and eyes are not intrigued.

Here is my spot. Please don't look at the dust :)

And here is my painting in progress. I tell you, I am so leaving my comfort zone by showing something in progress. eek. please no snide comments!

But I do want to mention something, for those of you out there who don't like to paint because you can never mix a color the way you think you should be able to and you get all frustrated and all that... well. Let me tell you something. It is NOT YOU! It's the paint.

It is. I used to hate to paint becuase my colors were always muddy and icky. And then I learned about GOOD PAINT. And a whole new world opened up! I use Golden Acyrlics and their mediums. They are FANTASTIC!! So, give yourself another chance. Go buy a sample size of a couple of colors and play.

In fact, Golden has a wonderful color chart that you can get that teaches you about color mixing. And no, this isn't a paid advertisement :) I just get frustrated with crappy paint and the disappointment that it leaves you with.

So there you have it. My handy "studio!"

Snow Day!

2011-02-01T14:09:00.000-06:00

It's currently under 20 degrees here in central Texas.

Winds are more than 20 mph.

And what are we doing.

Yup. Playing in the snow covered ice.

Crazy.

Don't you just love Snow Days!!

A Creative Challenge Just For Me: Get Your Paint On!

2011-01-30T07:23:00.000-06:00

I did it.

I've been looking at this class for a while.

I really wanted to do something for me.

But who has the time?

But this morning, just now, I registered!!

YIPPEE!

As a teacher, I am committed to keeping up with what is going on in the art industry and this course just seemed to have all that in one.

So get ready!

I'm gonna do some painting!!

I hope it's as fun as it looks :)

I'll keep you posted.

A Strange Night and Post-Infectious Bronchitis

2011-01-28T21:08:00.001-06:00

Have you ever had a completely sleepless night, total insomnia or some reason your brain wouldn't stop and you never went to sleep even though you were in bed from 9pm to 5am?

Well, I did Wednesday night. It was nuts.

It's been a hard week and teachers everywhere are facing the daunting reality that teaching as we know it is changing because of careless politicians. Many, many teachers are losing jobs and districts are facing tough choices. It is really sad. Because the reality for us it that when we strip down our schools to the bare bones we are short-changing our kids. I am truly worried that unless something dramatic changes and funding returns to education in the state budget, that we will lose a generation of tomorrow's leaders.

So needless to say, there is a little stress.

But not going to sleep? That's crazy. While I do mull each day in my mind at night and plan the next day, I still go to sleep at a decent hour.

But not Wednesday night.

So as I lay in the bed I sang praise and worship songs in my head. I've always been one that can actually hear the music in my head ( I already know I'm on the crazy side of crazy..) so at least I was entertained. :)

Then about 1:30 am my heart started burning like it was on fire and God told me to immediately pray for my sister, her husband and their daughter. It was like when Samuel heard God in 1Samuel 3. No, I did not hear an audible voice, but God directly spoke into my heart and told me exactly what to say. I did a virtual prayer walk around her house. It was incredible. I wanted to call my sister, but I didn't want to scare her at 2am! So I texted her and told her what was going on. I asked God that please, please, if something was wrong for Him to use the ping of my text to wake her up. She didn't text back, so I went back to bed.

I thought hey, awesome. I felt so privileged that God would use me this way and thanked Him for not allowing me to sleep. (thinking that I would be going to sleep now!!)

But nope. My chest heart. My heart felt to big for my ribcage and my pulse was high.

Finally at 5am I got up and got ready for the day.

Thankfully I had an awesome workshop presenter (Jill) lined up for my classes from Texas Pottery and all was ready. An interesting side note here. When we scheduled her workshop, it was originally scheduled for another day. Isn't it incredible how things work out?

When I heard from my sister later in the day, she said that she hadn't slept well, but that all was okay.

I made it through the day amazingly well. I still felt icky, but God had gave me amazing energy. We have an after hours clinic that is open late, so I went in and found out that my bronchitis from a couple of weeks ago hasn't cleared up yet. The infection is gone, but the inflammation is still there. So all my crazy symptoms that I have been having make sense now. I'd never heard of Post-Infectious Bronchitis. Hopefully with meds and a little rest, I'll be well soon!

Finishing off my crazy day, I finally went to sleep a little after 10pm and never moved until 5:30am this morning.

And there you have it. Sorry for such a long tale, but it is really quite abbreviated. You know, there are a lot of hours in the night when you are not sleeping!

And just a side note about praying or singing "Fill me Holy Spirit. Speak to me. Use me." These are not idle words or a time filler. They are a wonderful invitation to the Father to join Him on an adventure. I pray that you will join Him on an adventure soon!

A Little Kindergarten Creativity

2011-01-21T20:55:00.000-06:00

I read a post on Mother Load tonight asking for a little creativity help...

so I thought I'd see what my kindergartner and I could do in a few minutes.

Here is what we came up with.

Zentangle

Yes, it is my go to these days for cheap and easy entertainment.

Yes, you can make them really cool and intricate and gorgeous.

Or, you can get kids started on the project and then have peace in your car/house for a good 30 minutes!

That folks is ART in my book.

Here is what we did. I took a piece of regular copy paper and tore it into four pieces. Then I followed the basic guidelines for a beginner Zentangle and we put a dot in each corner and connected the dots. I love showing this step from the book because you can see that the lines don't have to be perfect!

Lexi kept commenting about what if she messed up. I love telling her that it's her piece and as long as she likes it, that's all that matters. The lines don't have to be even and you can color over something and that's okay too.

So after she did the Z step, she decided to write her name in the top section. I was thinking we would only do her initial, but apparently they have been practicing writing their WHOLE names and so that's what we did!

The next section went great. She made half circles all around the page with her pencil and then colored in the dead space in the center with pink. This pattern went really fast and I thought we had it made!

But then we got to the coloring in section. She liked doing the little circle things and the dots, and had decided to color in the middle with purple when we hit a wall. Her hand got tired. We were about 15 minutes in and she was coloring and decided that this might be too hard.

So we stopped and went to the last section. A smaller section. For this one she chose the little four line design. Yeah, an easy one. Her class is really working on patterns right now and this four lines drawn horizontally and then four lines vertically again and again were right up her alley!

After she finished, she went back and finished the purple coloring in and we shot a picture and done!

The whole project took less than 30 minutes and she really enjoyed it. Granted, this was not new to her, but she had never completed a "project" before.

So here are my two cents for anyone that needs are really cheap and easy project for 6 year olds..

Pre-cut paper into a smallish size.
Practice this yourself first so that you can explain the steps.
Buy the book or print out samples from Zentangle so that each group of students can see examples of the various designs.
Decide beforehand if you want these in one color, multiple colors or if you just want to use pencils. Don't decide on the fly.. you won't have everything you need and someone will cry!
If a section gets tough, it's too tedious or you just get stuck, move on and come back later. Or draw a line across it and break it up.
Keep the sections that you want almost completely colored in to a minimum and make those the small sections!\

So good luck and have fun! And thanks Lexi for being my star pupil!

Why no new posts?

2011-01-19T12:46:00.000-06:00

Bronchitis

Flu

That's why.

You should see my house.

A Girl Without Words Leaves A Lasting Legacy

2011-01-08T20:22:00.000-06:00

My heart aches.

I will miss her smile.

I will miss how she challenged me with her eyes to find a way to include her in activities.

Not just meaningless, you sit here and look pretty stuff, but actively engaged in lessons.

And because she trusted me, I worked harder and found new ways to do things.

Together, with the help of Ms. V, her companion, we created art.

We used sticks and tape and a little bit of everything

and once, I even poured paint on the floor and she used her wheels for printmaking.

We were willing to try anything and had so much fun experimenting and creating.

I am so blessed to have been called one of her teachers.

I am so blessed to had the chance to call her one of my students.

I will never forget

Her smile.

Her laughter.

Her joy while being an artist on a wheel.

Just like any artist.

With hands covered in wet clay.

Creating a masterpiece.

Lindsey was an incredible young woman who capitvated the community with her smile.

She loved life and fought so hard to live.

We will miss her.

But the lessons she taught will stay with us.

To laugh.

To love.

To fight.

To expect to learn.

To push yourself and others.

To live for the journey.

Exhaustion and a little Creativity

2011-01-07T20:32:00.000-06:00

Whew. The week back to school after Christmas break is always tough. It seems like we jump into the spring semester head first and don't come back up for air until June.

So many wonderful things are happening at school though. My students are learning (even though they would rather not somedays I think!) and fun projects are in the works.

Contests are racing towards us and Prom is looming.

On the home front:

The house is still for sale. People love it... but they don't buy.

Report cards for Maddie and Lexi came and went and all grades were good.

The house is clean and laundry piles are ever present.

So, here is my bit of creativity... it's called Zentangle. I had my students do a Zentangle project during the fall and I have found it to be an awesome why to refocus and relax. I get to be creative and it's not messy!

Here are a couple I did for the girls.

And because my students are so incredibly awesome... let me show you a couple of their pieces.

As always, you can go to

http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=91585

to see lots more work from my art students!