dreaming of snow

Got up early this morning , got the kids fed and was baking by 8:00. I've been baking cookies all day today. Chocolate chip, sugar, russian tea cookies, gingerbread & pizzelle's. We got all the pieces made for the gingerbread house so we can assemble it tomorrow. The kids have been begging me to help them make a big gingerbread house topped with lots of candy. So I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use my tremendous culinary skills. (don't laugh too loud at that one.)

It's really starting to feel alot like Christmas around here, except for the 70 degree weather and not much snow in the mountains. The kids have already started talking about going sledding like we did last year. Ryne told me that he has been dreaming of snow.

remember me?

Wow, it's been a super long time since i have blogged. Guess not much to say, been so busy. Have just started to get back in the swing of things as far as my art stuff. Just finished & mailed some ATC's for a swap that was hosted by Marilyn. I loved the theme, and was so happy to be involved. Can't wait to get all these cards in the mail. This is a picture of how mine turned out. Been scrapping a little bit and have added some stuff to my 2P's gallery.

Today has been a lazy day off. We didn't have school today so finally got to catch up on all my cleaning & washing. I have also been trying to get some stuff ready for tonight. I'm going scrapbooking. More to come. 

new journal

This is a shot of my new art journal. I really like using this picture of my grandma. Love how it turned out. 

family 

art journal 

finally..some art

Just wanted to post some of the art I have been making. Loving my art journal. My class is over, but I will continue to make pages. I have fallen in love with this medium. I'm finding that I really enjoy mixed media type of art. Love just doing what I want and including whatever I want in my pieces. These stamps from Paperbag Studios are making me so happy; huge inspiration. Last night I finished the pink piece. Have been thinking about doing it for a while now. I have been wanting to use the picture of my Grandma and her siblings (the Kucia family). Absolutely love that picture.

ice creat at disney 

watermelon eatin' 

summer fun 

Shannon 

R & D 

daddy 

summer is over.

Well, this is our last day of summer. School starts tomorrow. We officially begin our homeschooling year tomorrow. Shannon started Montessori last Thursday and had a total blast. She was actually upset to find out that she didn't have class on Friday. Everyday she gets up and asks if she can go to school today. This just makes me want to smile. I'm so happy that she likes school so much. I will leave you with some pictures from this summer.

nature 

it's only nature.

We have been growing tomatoes and melons in our garden. Everything has been growing great and we have been getting lots of cherry tomatoes and were just starting to see some little watermelons. It has really been a fun experience for the kids to water the plants everyday. This past week the gardeners decided to come and clear out our whole patch of garden with the Crenshaw melons and watermelons. They completely wiped it out. Cut down all the vines. I guess they didn't realize they were fruits. :( The kids were completely devastated. They were crying and didn't understand why this had happened. So, the next day, we go outside to water the only thing left in our garden, the tomato plants. And we find half our plant eaten by these creepy worm looking caterpillers. EWWWW. But of course Ryne thought they were great. He wanted to keep the five that we found as pets, as well as the hatching larva. So we have just let the hornworms take over the cherry tomato plant to see what will happen. Ryne kept asking me why I was making funny faces and had goosebumps all over. I replied that the worms creep me out. His reply, " It's only nature mom."

please give.

I've been wanting to post the last few days, but just have not been able to put my feelings into words. I am in complete shock over the events in the south. please pray & give.

question.

How does everyone like the new banner? Not bad for a first try. Trying to personalize the blog a little bit. Didn't realize how many people are reading this and how much controversy it is causing. Not sure what direction I will take this blog, I need to think some more about it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! 

kids. 

sad today.

Today was the day that public school started in our area. It was a rough day for me but not because I was sad to be dropping my son off at his first grade classroom. I'm sad today because it has made me come to grips again that my son is different from most kids. We have always known R was different but with each passing year it is becoming more evident. We have begun the journey of evaluation; quite possibly leading to Asperger's. The beginning of public school today is just another reminder of how different he is. I'm worried that the world will not be kind & sympathetic to those differences. I know I cannot shield him from life, that would not help him, but I want him to learn and experience life on his terms and not be pushed into things until he is ready. That is why we have chosen to homeschool. This decision was not taken lightly and took us over a year. I am excited to be on our journey, but still have this ache in my heart and lump in my throat today.

One of my goals in life is to raise happy children. I want them to understand themselves; to know their strengths and weaknesses. I want them to be kind, generous, and sympathetic to others. I am trying to keep my eye on the bigger picture. What do I need to do to make sure that my kids are happy & productive human beings? I try to take each day as it comes and look for the positives. God has entrusted me to take care of three fabulous little people and help them to grow to be all they can be. I want to celebrate their uniqueness and if homeschooling is the way to do it, then this is my journey.

my banquet. 

My banquet.

Recently, I have been contemplating the purpose of my life. What direction am I headed? Where am I going? What am I doing? I have realized that I owe my life and who I am to the Lord. HE is my purpose for living. I want to live to show glory to God. "everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory." Romans 11:36. This realization has been life changing. I have always believed in God, but I have never had a personal relationship with him and put my life in his hands until recently. I'm excited about learning all I can and seeing him work in my life. I am approaching each day with a new attitude. Yesterday at services, our pastor spoke about Matthew and the occasion of his decision to follow Jesus. This really struck me. Matthew held a huge banquet to tell everyone he knew of his decision and to introduce them to Jesus. Our pastor then asked if we have held our banquet. Have we told the people in our lives? I believe that all my friends and family know that Jesus is my Savior. But I want to shout it from the rooftop so everyone hears. I have never felt more alive and at peace in my entire life. Written august 8th, 2005

painting.

This weekend flew by so quickly. We are busily getting the house ready to sell. Been cleaning, organizing, and painting. Got rid of so much STUFF, twenty bags worth went to Goodwill over the weekend. It's amazing how much stuff we accumulate. Feels really good to be rid of so much stuff. Saturday we painted the laundry room, which desperately needed a nice, new coat of white paint. I think we finished the room in record time, because my awesome friend offered to take the kids. So grateful for her! We even took a little time out to visit some open houses in the area to get an idea what houses are going for. All in all it was a very productive weekend.

playing.

It has been so much fun making my ATC's for Rhonna's swap. This is my first swap and I just hope everyone likes them. Tonight I put each one in their special envelope and sealed it shut. They are ready to go to the post office tomorrow.

Animal Kingdom 

checking in.

Well..It has been forever since I last posted. So much has been going on and we've been so busy. Last week we got back from our vacation to Florida. We had the best time. Flying cross-country with three kids is an adventure in itself, but turned out to be better than I expected. We got to visit family that we haven't seen in about 8 years. The kids got to meet their older cousins for the first time. They had so much fun together. Spent most of the time in the pool and just hanging out. Then it was off to Disneyworld for 4 days. The kids had a great time. Shannon got to see Cinderella, and have breakfast with the princesses and Ryne got to see lots of dinosaurs over at Animal Kingdom. Drew was just excited to be flying on the airplane. So now we are back and need a vacation from the vacation. Everyone has been super tired. Trying to get re-adjusted to the time change. It's amazing how a 3 hour time change can really mess up your body.
We've decided to put our house on the market now, rather than waiting til our new house is built. So, Rich and I have been trying to get stuff fixed up around the house. We are having a few painters come by to give us estimates on painting the kitchen, family room, and entry. Let's hope we get some reasonable estimates, or we will be doing it ourselves.

countdown.

I woke up this morning with a sense of nervousness. Our trip to Florida is only a WEEK a way. I have not done my usual list making yet. I feel very out of sorts. A ten day trip to the beach and Disneyworld with 3 kids...need I say more. Just trying to sort out in my brain what we are doing and what to bring. And I have to factor in that Ryne wears about ten pairs of underwear a day. These kids never want to wear clothes when they are home. So if a speck of water or anything else spills on Ryne, he has to change. We've already talked about bringing extra clothes on the airplane just in case. I'm so glad that we have a washer and dryer in the condo we rented at the beach. Looks like I'm gonna be doing some wash.

Rich and I have been dreaming about what our vacation is going to be like. We have visions of spending days on the beach reading or working on my art journal. We just want to relax and spend time with Aunt Wendy & Uncle Bob and the kids before heading to Disneyworld. But after many days of this daydreaming, I had a realization that, in all likelihood, this is not how the vacation will be. The kids are super active, and are always doing something, and getting into something. Ryne's mind has to be involved. I'm sure we will be doing some sort of oceanic experiment of some kind while on this trip. Ryne and Shannon will undoubtedly be giving us many singing and dancing shows at night or on the beach. And Daddy will be helping Drew make lots of sandcastles. We are going to be wearing our cruise directors hat on this vacation. No relaxation in sight for us, but that is ok. We will be soaking every minute of it in, and of course I will be taking lots of pictures. I guess we will have to wait for the relaxation vacation til the kids are older. :)

big boy 

happiness is...

*joining an ATC swap.
*having a great lunch with the kids. we went and ran some errands and decided to stop for a corndog, and then of course, stopped for some ice cream. thanks to Shannon, i have now tasted coffee ice cream with gummi bears. Mmmmmm.
*Drew's sudden interest in wearing "big boy undies". I think our six and a half years of buying diapers might be coming to an end. :)
*finishing a couple scrapbook pages.
*counting down the days to our trip to florida. can't wait!

art journal 

the heart of a boy

When i read the art journal challenge prompt for this week, I knew the exact picture I wanted to use for the wings. I’ve had this picture of my dad when he was about 2 that i absolutely love. (circa 1948). Found the book page with the title “the heart of a boy”, and that is what I went with.
used 7 gyspies tissue paper for the background then added acrylics and glaze over it. Put some paper and book pages on top, then used some bubble wrap for stamping, along with the dragonfly and silverware stamp.

Journaling:a little boys heart is full of happiness, full of love, and full of life. a little boy may seem rough and tough on the outside, but his heart is as soft as butter. a little boy love to build, imagine, and play in the dirt. little boys soon grow to be men, but they still remain boys at heart.

fond memories

I finished another art journal page today. The idea came to me last night, so as soon as i got up this morning, I just wanted to create. I have this awesome picture of my grandmother when she worked at a confectionary company in Cleveland ( Aug. 1939) that i had to use. This page was inspired by a prompt a while back...do a page inspired by a dessert. Journaling is all about how my Grandmother always had dessert after every meal. She loved anything sweet: candy, cookies, cakes, and pastries. It just brings back so many happy memories I have of my grandmother.

I used acrylic paints for the background, then adhered the picture and stars. I painted a pearl metallic paint on top to make it shimmer and then added the title and journaling. Everything is adhered with gel medium. thanks for looking!

fond memories 

art journal.

These are just a few new additions to my art journal. I'm trying to get caught up on posting them.

life. 

breaking free. 

love. 

favorite day of the week. 

drew 

florida here we come.

Well, its official, we (the entire family) is headed out to Florida in July. We are so excited to be going on vacation, but even more excited that we will get to see family. Our trip will be centered around visiting Wendy, Bob and the kids, and of course, a little side trip to Disney World. The kids can hardly contain their excitement.


On another note, today was just gorgeous, the weather about 78 degrees, so the kids and I decided to take a trip to the park and feed the ducks and play. We went with some friends of ours, so we had an extra good time. Lots of smiles.

schools out.

Well today was Ryne's last day at Montessori. There was an end-of-school picnic tonight. Everyone brought blankets, had dinner, listened to childrens music, had ice cream sundaes, and visited. It is such a nice event for the whole family, and the weather was gorgeous. The kids really had a good time running around with their friends. For some, this was a sad event because they know they will not be returning next year, but for us, it was just another happy Montessori memory. We will be coming back next year. Shannon will be in the same class that Ryne was in this year. And she is super excited about it too, she can't stop talking about it. So, we are off to start our summer.

future redsox players 

surprise

We got a surprise package in the mail on Friday from Grandpa MacIver and Patty. Thank you so much for all the goodies. The kids wanted me to take a picture of them in their new gear so everyone could see. They love the outfits, thanks so much for thinking of us.

surprise

We got a surprise package in the mail on Friday from Grandpa MacIver and Patty. Thank you so much for all the goodies. The kids wanted me to take a picture of them in their new gear so everyone could see. They love the outfits, thanks so much for thinking of us.

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