Our Spring Project

Hello Friends,

As promised, here is a photo of our little water feature. Alex and I really had a good time putting it together and it was so easy and inexpensive! All you need is a large pot- we bought ours at Joann's with our 40% off coupon so we got a good deal. Then we went to Walmart for a bag of rocks, $3.00 and a container fountain kit, $17.99. That's it. The only real work was cleaning up the rocks before we put them in. A messy, wet job but Alex was more than happy to do this part. We took an old plastic flower pot and turned it upside down to put the pump/fountain on top of to make it a little higher and then filled the bottom with rocks. We added water, plugged it in and there it was! Our own little patio fountain. Needless to say Jake, Alex and our neighbor Jared played in it the whole rest of the day making their Lego men swim. We're going to get some goldfish and a few floating plants next week so the Lego pool will be closing:)

I also want to ask a favor of all of you. In the summer I stop watching TV and I try to read as many books as possible. I'm a huge reader anyway but summer TV usually stinks and I find this a great opportunity to get a few more good books in. So here I am with some birthday 'Borders' gift cards in hand and I need some recommendations! So tell me what you have read, what you loved, didn't love. I will tell you that I don't want any depressing stories! I have been reading a few novels by Ian McEwan and that's enough sadness for a while. And don't worry if they are cheesy as long as they are good and cheesy:)

Have a great evening!

Huge Cup!

I made a mistake in my last post in not explaining that the cup and saucer is HUGE as in it's a planter.......for plants......not drinks! Although I do know a few people who could probably use a cup of coffee this big. Anyway, here is a better picture so you can see the true size:)

Lost in Spring!

Hello my long lost friends! I'm sorry it's been so long between posts. Things have been a little crazy here. We have been spending so much time outdoors playing and doing yard work and gardening that I've barely had time to do my commissioned paintings. This past week has been absolutely beautiful and as I warned you before, I have no desire whatsoever to be sitting in front of this computer. Maybe I'll just have to blog on rainy days:)
Here are a few photos of some of the sweet things I have been given or purchased this week. First is this little Calla Lily that was given to me for my Birthday from my nephew Cooper.
Next is this very "ME" polka dotted HUGE cup and saucer that I bought at Walmart of all places.
I'm going to fill it with herbs to keep on my patio table.


This coming weekend is my "Sister Getaway". I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it...........you know the tune, hum along with me! I will be sure to post some pictures of our adventure.

Good Morning Friends

Hello all!

I wanted to share my latest custom portrait. This is actually the daughter of a fellow Etsy seller, rebecca3030, who makes the most delightful jewelry. You should check out her really unique things. Mothers Day is just around the corner! If you remember my last portrait of the two little girls with the little puppy, they are the daughters Rebecca's twin sister. They are like my sister and myself.....thick as thieves talking several times each day. In fact, her sister's name is Mandy, just like mine:)

Speaking of sisters, I just want to thank my sister for being the bestest friend ever. I celebrated my 38th birthday yesterday( am I really that old you say?) , without my husband and she made it an extra special day. Incidentally, my husband arrived at home at 1:30 am so needless to say I didn't get much sleep. It doesn't look good for my father in law but at least he got to see his son's one last time. Thank you all so much for your kind words and support. You are a great bunch of blog friends!

Today is going to be a beautiful day and I'm going to spend some of my birthday cash on some garden things! Yippee! I think the boys and I are going to make some sort of water feature on the patio. Maybe with a goldfish or two if I can find a place to put it where the sun won't make fish soup out of him:) I promise to post pictures soon.

Have a great day!

Hello!

Hello Friends!
Personal update:
Hubby still not home
Father In-Law still in hospital but doing a little bit better. Yay!
Strep throat is back UGH! .......now I have to go back to the Dr.'s. Why do they always give you such a weak antibiotic the first time around? I'm an "in the middle" kind of gal. It's how I live my life. When I buy an appliance, I don't get the best, I don't get the worst, I get the one in the middle. Same with clothes, food.......pretty much everything. So give me the middle antibiotic would ya? It takes a lot to get me to the Dr. in the first place so please don't give me some weak drug that's not going to do the job! Give me the one in the middle:)
Rant over.............
Meet Lizzy Sunshine. She is my latest little painting and she's available in my Etsy shop. I thought I'd paint some of my little girls for a change as I'm getting a little bored with the bird ladies. I've been busy with commissioned pieces but hopefully my other half will be home soon so I can get some "child free" time to get more work done. Hopefully things will get back to normal around here soon.
Have a great day!

Save the Bees!

Hello Friends,

I hope you are all well. I wanted to thank you all for your kind words and well wishes. My father in-law is still in critical condition but they are hopeful that he will recover mentally. My husband still has no idea when he will be coming home so I'm still holding down the fort:) Jake told me the other day that he will be my husband while dad is away. Awwww, boys are so sweet!

My sister sent me this link and I wanted to share it with you. It's called The Great Sunflower Project and it's aimed at researching the decline of bees. I don't know if you have heard about this but the information is very, very sad. Imagine what would happen if all of our bees die. NO FOOD PEOPLE! No cross pollination, no crops, no food! Not to mention no flowers, honey ....you get the point. All you have to do is join this group and they will send you a packet of sunflower seeds to plant in your yard. At a certain time, you will be asked to watch your sunflowers and count the bees that you see. Then you log onto the site and record your findings (or you can mail a paper form). They will then use this information to figure out what parts of the country have more bee problems and will be able to turn their attention there. I signed up this morning and the boys and I are going to make this one of our summer projects. What better way to get your kids involved in saving their planet by explaining how important bees are. I've mentioned in my posts before about the little things we take for granted. I think Bees may top the list!

Have a great weekend!

Good Morning....

Good morning friends. It's been an interesting 12 hours...my father in-law , who lives in Florida fell yesterday and is not doing well in the hospital. So my husband packed a bag and ran off to the airport this morning. It's odd because we have never been apart for the almost eleven years we've been married. It's not that we swore we'd never be apart or anything, it just has never happened. It was funny because before he left he was giving me instructions on the things that need to be covered since he doesn't know how long he will be away. After he left Jake looks at me with a look of concern and says, "Mommy, do you know how to pay bills?" Jeez! What do these kids think I am? I explained to him that it was Mommy who lived on her own, in her very own apartment and paid her very own bills before she married his dad...who I might add still lived with his parents! Then he proceeded to tell me that he'll help me with the math. That didn't hurt since it's a well known fact that I'm awful at math and I will gladly accept his 3rd grade math skills. I would seriously like to make a little visit into his wee brain and see what he thinks of me. If I was the one who had to leave town would he ask his dad if he knew how to feed himself? Do laundry? Give Alex a bath? Hmmmmmm. I wonder. Kids are funny little creatures aren't they?

My dad passed away in March of 2000 at the age of 52 from cancer. Since then I have tried to keep in mind that life is short and to keep everything in perspective. So when I go to the store and the cashier is a rude little twit, do I go to the manager and complain and maybe cause her to be fired? No, I smile, say thanks and forget all about her. When someone cuts me off on the highway do I honk my horn and flip them the bird? No, although the old Tracy would have done exactly that. The new Tracy takes a deep breath and asks herself, "In the grand scheme of things, is it really a big deal?" The answer has never been yes. So the next time you are stressed about something, take a deep breath and ask yourself this question. I promise it works.

I miss you dad!

Happy April Fools Day!

A happy April Fools Day to you all! I hope you are keeping up with the tradition of pranks and jokes. I can't say that I have had much luck yet in fooling anyone because I'm such a bad liar. I always smile when I'm trying to fool my kids and they never believe me. This is why I turn away and leave the room whenever the discussion of Santa comes up.

I started trying to get out of my rut this morning by finishing this painting. She is huge and I had mentioned before that I probably wouldn't put her up for sale but I thought "What the heck?" If she doesn't sell, I'll just keep her hanging in my studio.

Thanks so much for all of the feedback regarding the John Adams book. I know I do get a little passionate about books but I can't help it. I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. I always tell my kids that reading is the best thing I've ever learned. My grandmother volunteered as a reading teacher for adults who never learned. Could you imagine all of the things they are missing? If you really think about it, how many times a day do you read without even realizing it? Reading is definitely one of the simple things we tend to take for granted.

The weather is starting to get a little warmer around here. My garden is starting to bloom in spots and I'm going to get the patio furniture out of storage in the next couple of weeks. That's my favorite part of the season! There's nothing better than having my morning tea outside listening to the birds. And every year I say to myself...."Why don't I live somewhere where I can do this all year?" The truth is it probably wouldn't be as special, right? I promise to post some pictures of my garden when it's fit to be seen:)

Have a great day!