Fun Photos...

 
Max and Stewart, look the same.

 
Weirdest thing I ever made Emma eat. Almost. They were on sale, frozen.


 
Most recent mural, July 2008. Great Grandma Billie's powder room.

 
Inspiration for her powder room, metal hydrangeas $99 or so a set from a decorating catalog. Paint is cheaper!

10 minute chunks of time to be creative

I had fun friend visitors in my home today, 2 busy-body boys, 3 years & not yet 1. Mr. Potato Head collection came in handy. Their visit made me remember how it was living with babies. My advice to their mom as they were leaving, "Do something for you, something creative, if only for 10 minutes!"

When my troop of family goes off to work and school each morning, I am left with long stretches of time, uninterrupted, unless I choose to answer phone, front door, take Great Grandma to physical therapy, go shopping. Sometimes I still fill my day with time-wasters and I am disappointed with myself that I haven't gotten more done by the end of the day.

So the advice is for me, too! We can all get a lot done in 10 minutes! For the creativity class taught by Karen ( www.karenamelia.com ) she helped us make a bag of tricks, ideas to pull out and 50 creative things to do when we felt we were in an artistic slump.

In 10 minutes I set up this library display, in Aberdeen Public Library, advertising the Flying Geese Quilt Guild quilt show October 18-19th at Harford Technical High School in Bel Air. If you know anyone with Alzheimer's or other dementia there will be a special exhibit of 52 quilts that have toured the country that deal with the disease. I'll post more information as the time gets closer, but hope you make time to come and see the show.

 

10 minutes. 10 minutes to be creative.

I'm off to hand sew black and white fabric to a dumpster dive window screen, making pockets for the back of our bathroom door. Saw the idea in a magazine and have been meaning to do the project all summer. Today is the day, after several day's worth of 10 minute chunks. I think the secret of getting creative things done as a mom, is to be entirely interuptible, without resentment, able to get back on track and in the right mindset as soon as the next 10 minute window opens.

Game Time

Once a week we have Family Home Evening. During the years it has evolved, sometimes more visual-aid oriented, more stories, more discussion as our kids grew into teenagers. We still include a lesson, singing time, scripture time (French Book of Mormon), TREAT time, but we have a new one! GAME TIME!

 
We got Marshmallow War idea from Aunt Laurajane's family in Wisconsin.

 
We divided up into teams. Staked out hidey holes.

 
This is gang up on dad team!


 
Three bags of ammunition split among the teams...We are still finding marshmallows a week later.

 
War casualties included one right eye...

 
A hard hit marshmallow sent a frame on the fireplace mantel to the ground, casualty: one glass frame that said, "Come unto Christ."


 
"Bishop Cookies" for TREAT, recipe from Nicole Klein--one of our absolute favorite treats now!

Trashy Hair Ties

 

They slip out a little bit, if you don't twist them in tightly enough. Heather Bailey makes them. Too cute!

I am allergic to CATS!

 
This room is probably my least favorite mural I have ever done, ever, ever. I am almost embarrassed to put it up here, but I'm doing this for my history, and as a reminder to get things written down in contract before any painting starts. Trying to make the wishes of a client concrete and visual can be difficult. I was given a pillowcase of wild tigers and lions, big cats. The only cats that will ever be in our home are painted ones.


 
Find the signature, easier to read in mirror!


 
Monkeys in cat room.


 
And more monkeys, painted super fast. Silly and sketch-painted, so I could be done already.

Bartered Paint for Music

 
Suzanna's piano teacher's favorite music painted in her basement--now painted over before they moved...

 
Darth Vader room. I did basecoat, too. Should have taken a photo in the dark--some of the cool glow paint used here.


 
Stars in Vader's room...more glowing goin going on that you can only see in dark...



 
I paint clouds! It is probably my favorite thing to do in bathrooms. "Utah Sky" basecoat is my stand by to use.

How long would you look for a $100+ dollar bill?

I got a call from the elementary school nurse, explaining that Sam had thrown away his retainer at lunch. Accidentally. The janitors had already thrown out all the garbage cans from the cafeteria, but we were welcome to go through the dumpster and look.

The dumpster only had 11 black garbage bags. Not counting the sticky thick and viscous gel on the floor of the dumpster. The janitor let Sam and I borrow some plastic gloves, and I reached in as far as I could and pulled out one bag. I helped boost him up to climb in and he helped me pull out 3 more bags. Hot lunch was pizza, and a side of what may have started as broccoli soup? And applesauce. And lots of chocolate milk. It was a record hot day, over 90 degrees. The flies loved us.

Nothing metal-like. Lots of wasted food. Cold lunch sacks were pretty gross, too. Somebody did not eat all of their beet sandwhich. It bled bright red-purple all over the bread that was left. Yougurts and full Capri-Sun juice pouches squriting as we poked around. Combing through sludge with our gloved hands, searching every corner of the bag and pulling out bottles and bags and gunk.

We finished those first 4 bags and my silent prayers started getting more desperate. I hoisted Sam in again to the dumpster, cautioned him to not step on the bags, and we shoved out 5 more.

As soon as we opened that next bag, Sam got excited. "This looks like my lunch, it's going to be in here, I know it!" He pushed aside cheese stick wrappers and there it was. A miracle in the filth. I made him put it in his pocket (NOT IN HIS MOUTH!) and we hefted the bags back into the dumpster.

We let the office know of our success, and walked home the .5 mile, smelly and satisfied. And feeling stomach-squeamish. I could not even think about cooking dinner. At least he remembered that day, before they emptied the dumpster. I did manage to tell him that, too. No hugging, though, not until after a lloonngg shower.