Great New Blog

Hello everyone! I just stumbled upon a great new blog that showcases various artists' work, websites, blogs and opinions. Check it out at http://craftysynergy.blogspot.com/

Peace!

Some Art Stuff

So quick update on N first...he is feeling much better today although still staying very quiet so he isn't quite back to normal yet. Unfortunately I am starting with a sore throat headache thing that in retrospect is what N was managing before the ear infection. Let's hope that I don't end up down that road.

On to more pleasant things. The other day n and I organized and sorted all of the beautiful sea glass we have been finding this summer. She loved working on this project and I was pleasantly surprised to see that we actually had more of a variety in color than first thought. We used white paper plates to help us with the sort and then I took these photos.





More recently we have been working on wax mono prints to be used as invitations to both children's birthday parties that will take place in August. I love how the prints came out. n had an interesting observation as she was helping me organize her invitations to go out today. She said " This is so hard. I love them all and don't want to let go of any of them." I know just how she feels. Here party is beach themes to some degree and N's party is Indiana Jones. So can you tell which set belongs to which party?

Summer Sickness Yuck!!!

So today started off just fine. We got up early and got ready to go to school. Today was CPR re certification training at school. Most of the staff came to the training and it was great to see everyone. Everything was just fine until around 10am when N came into the training session and said his ear was hurting. I thought 'Oh No!'. I had him rest while I finished the first part of the training. We went to break at about 10:20 and I checked in with N and found him in pain, still. So I called the pediatrician and was able to get a 2:40 apt. By the time the training was over N was in excruciating pain so I called the pediatrician yet again to get an earlier time slot. The best they could do was 12:20. This worked out fine because it gave us about 20 minutes so n could eat lunch before we headed out. You may be asking why we didn't just go home. Well it just so happens that school is about 30 minutes from home and home is about 20 minutes from the doctor's office so it would have been shall we say silly to go home and then go back out to the doctor's. So we finally headed out and had time to stop at CVS to pick up some kids Tylenol to take the edge off of N's pain. (it worked thank God). We get to the office at 12:20 to find the place full! I have never seen so many people in the office before and we've been going to the practice for almost 10 years. Some of the children waiting were not happy. They were crying loudly and incessantly. N handled the 40 min wait well. Had we not stopped for the pain meds it would have been a very different situation. After waiting all that time the doctor looked at him for maybe 5 minutes...not even and proclaimed that he had an ear infection and that she would fax in scripts for antibiotics and ear drops. The nurse at the desk told us to give CVS an hour. We gave them about 40 minutes by the time we made it to the store via back roads(to eat up some of the hour). Luckily the scripts were just being filled and we waited(again!) for about 10 minutes before paying for our drugs and heading home. Meds on board and with a warm compress against his ear N was feeling a bit better although tonight he ended up with a fever. For him fevers tend to lead to vomiting. Tonight was no different. So he is settled comfortably in my bed tonight where he is most comfortable when ill. Think I'll be up all night tonight?

New Venture?

Over the past four years I have found myself artistically inspired by my teaching partner. She has an art education degree and is a talented artist. She makes beautiful cards, several of which I have framed and have hanging in my home. I have learned so much from her over the past several years and have worked to fulfill my own artistic goals. In the past I have made my own cards and am now perfecting the process. I enjoy the work and would like to move to another level with my handmade things. I have also found passion in working with fibers. I enjoy working with soy silk and wool roving. I have also enjoyed working with handmade paper and creating with sea glass. I have so many ideas running through my head. I am seriously considering starting an etsy shop. I know some of the folks that I read regularly have their own etsy shops and I would love to hear about your experiences. The handmade things I give as gifts are always well received but would they sell is the question. What do you think?

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Well as you can tell from the title of this post it is very HOT here! It is summer so the heat is understandable, but it totally drains my energy. The children and I have been enjoying the ac in my bedroom this afternoon. Soon I will have to venture downstairs to make something for supper. I'm thinking sandwiches and potato salad(homemade earlier today! yummy)

I just read an interesting post over at Mindful Life. It centers around the difficulties of blogging. She hit on some very interesting points such as the fact that blogging tends to be a one way relationship. People check in occasionally or regularly but rarely comment or become engaged with the author of the blog. I guess it begs the question: Why do we blog? Is it to share information with family and friends? Is it to journal our everyday experiences? Is it to connect with new people and develop relationships? Or is there another reason to blog...to share creativity, viewpoints, perspectives, information? When I examine my own reasons to blog I find that I fall into several categories. I would like to have more connection or feedback from my readers but should that be my focus? I'm not sure.

I think I will give these questions some more thought and return later to add to this post. N is clamoring for the computer so off I go!

Peace!

Fun in the Sun!

So yesterday was a 'play date' day at my house. Both of the kids had friends over for the day. We started with the arrival of N's friends T and M at around 10:30. They play really well together. They started with video games and then moved on to legos and action figures. 'n's friend p showed up around 11:30. She quickly felt comfortable and we all had a great day together! It is interesting to have a double play date going on. In one way is is great because both children have friends but in another way it is very tiring for me because eventually the boy/girl thing happens. Yesterday it revolved around playing in the water. The boys wanted the girls to spray them, but the girls didn't really want to play with the boys. It all worked out fine we even fit in spa treatments for everyone with loads of bubbles. Even the boys enjoyed the bubbles. By the end of the play date T and M wanted N to go home with them and p wanted to have a sleepover! We put the kibosh on all of those extra plans and opted for planning more play dates for next week.

Now that my children are getting bigger the question of sleepovers is coming up; not a lot; but every once in a while. I'm not sure how to proceed with this phase of childhood. I am perfectly happy having one of my children's friends come and have a sleepover at our house but that would result in the inevitable reciprocation. I'm not so sure I want my children sleeping over at another family's home especially a family that I have not known for all that long. It is definitely something to ponder. I would love to hear what you all think about this and how you may have handled these experiences with your own children. It is questions like these that I wish I could discuss with my Mum.

Lots of Work!

We did some serious cleaning and organizing this weekend. Our 15 year old washing machine is on it's way out so we are preparing the washroom for a new washing machine. (probably a 4.6 cu ft Maytag Bravo) I can't believe all that we did. We finally purchased and set up two heavy duty shelving systems. I have all my art/craft supplies somewhat organized on one set of shelves while the other holds household supplies. Who new shelving could be so exciting.

We also rearranged the basement family room. We removed several extra pieces and put them into temporary storage in our utility room. It is so clean and streamlined we actually want to spend time downstairs!






By far my favorite project of the weekend was the completion of our second mural downstairs. Years ago I displayed the children's artwork along the stairwell and on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. The art work has long since been removed. A few months ago I painted that wall as well as the walls going down the stairwell a crisp white to serve as a backdrop for new art. The entire family got involved in creating the art that now welcomes us as we descend the stairs.

Check these pictures out. If I could hug this wall I would. That is how much I love what we have created.









What do you think?

Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July! Aren't we lucky to live where we do? We are blessed to be free and certainly should thank all of those brave men and women who have given their lives for us or are risking their lives as we eat our hamburgers and hotdogs tomorrow.