Just in Case You Worried...

I got my water color pens yesterday. Here are some samples of what I did to the Sidney and Allison!

What A Great Week

If anybody out there knows how to add music to this slide show I would really like to know!

There's No Color

Please don't think that I haven't been doing any art work because I have. Nothing much, but I have been doing some drawings minus any color. I really want these water color pens that look so cool...but they are too much money and when I say that they are too much money I mean that they are not free so we can't afford them right now...maybe one day. I think that I just need to adapt to the supplies that I have, and since I am away from most of my supplies, it means that I am limited to a pen and a pencil! I hope they're not to boring, but it proves that I am covered for this week in the art department!

Sidney Nicole

Allison Kate

Girls

Marshmallows and Donuts

When my sister and I were little girls my mother would throw such fabulous birthday parties for us. She always went above and beyond to make them special. She is an excellent cake decorator and we would always have a custum cake of our choice(some of them included Holly Hobbie, Old Mother Hubbard, The Three Little Pigs, they were amazing) . Our birthday's are in the summer so the parties were always held outside in the yard and we always played games! One of our favorite games was when the grown ups would tie a marshmallow or a donut to the end of a string and we would hold our hands behind our backs and try to eat it. I know, you can piture the scene it takes you back to a warm summer day in the late 70's and early 80's and you wish you were there!

So today we had my niece Allison's 3rd birthday party and my sister, the "super mom," was like watching my mom 25 years ago. Allison wanted a Hello Kitty cake, which my sister made and decorated...perfectly. She made favor bags, all Hello Kitty themed and they played "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," and of course the Donut game. It brought back a flood of memories of how my mother went out of her way to make things fun for us. While I sat squatted on the ground taking pictures with everyone's camera making sure we captured every moment of the fun day there was a little girl inside of me that wanted to join in and eat a donut off a string with my hands tied behind my back.

Allison cheating at the donut game

Amy's perfect cake

Amy and the girls

Birthday fun 70's style!(my sister is the little girl in middle with the pony tail)

Do You Trust Me

So I know that it's cheesy, but do you remember in the Disney movie Aladdin when Princess Jasmin is not sure so about Aladdin's flying carpet and he asks her "do you trust me?" That line is going over and over in my head right now. God is asking my husband and I that very question today. On any other day that is not filled with trials, if someone asked me do you trust God, my answer would most assuredly be "definitely yes, of course I trust God." Today however a problem arose that we just didn't see coming and we are really having to trust our Father and it feels a little bit hard. I am confident that God will see us through this, I know that He is on his throne, even though it feels like we have fallen off of our chair. I am finding myself filled with questions about what is next, filled with fear, filled with selfishness. It is so easy for me to let Satan in my mind. Yet in the midst of it all I am still hearing a quite "do you trust me?" and there is something in that, that is giving me peace.

Psalm 9:10
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 22:8
"He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."

Psalm 32:10
Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.

Psalm 112:7
He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

Psalm 118:8
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

DIY

For anyone who doesn't know what DIY is, it is the way my English husband always says "do it yourself," at home renovations, pretending to be on Trading Spaces, however you say it, it is what we are doing right now. We are currently doing some DIY at our house and can I just take the opportunity to say that I am losing my mind! I had the bright idea that painting our kitchen cabinets would be an easy job! I had vision of it taking one whole day to do the entire thing...try 4 days and I am still not done. In fact there is a layer of saw dust all over my house that may never go away. The sanding alone took two days, working with very few stops! We are still paitning and I leave tomorrow for Maryland and I'll be gone for over a week. Here's a picture of the kitchen before...I hope that soon I'll be able to show you the after picture! Ahhh!

He's My Hero

When I woke up this morning I immediatly called my dad. Today is Dad's day and he is pretty much the greatest one in the entire world. He is the most normal guy you could ever meet, he's not flashey, he's not loud, he's not a high powered executive guy or anything like that ...but he is the nicest, most compassionate, thoughtful man ever. He is the most solid Christian I have met and he gets stronger every year!
About a year and half ago when Kevin and I were house hunting, we found this great little blue house that we loved. It had white shutters and sat up on a little hill...the bad part was that it was already sold! I, being the drama queen that I am was devastaded. I called my dad and cried about it one day and in his very calming voice he said "God has house for you- even if it's not that one." Once again being the drama queen that I am, replied "but I want the little blue house with white shutters!" In which his response was "then I will pray that you get a little blue house with white shutters." God is so good b/c here we are a year and half later in that very blue house.
Thanks, for praying for us Dad!

I got inspired

I've been an art teacher for a really long time now. I make art that children can do all the time, I make art for others when they say they will pay me(which I never take money for), or when someone has a really great idea for a present to give to someone they love, but I rarely create anything from my own imagination. I do pretty much take a sketch book with me wherever I go, so I will share that with you. Whoever "you" are, here and now I am making a promise to myself that I will create some kind art every week for the summer, maybe even every day, I'm not sure yet. This is what I'm praying.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalms 90:17

Anyway, these sketch are some of what I do regularly on my own...nothing but doodles...but it's all I have done in the last few years!