Arts and Crafts.

Three of 'em!
Last Thursday and Friday I had an excuse to stay home with the kiddos! My babysitter was on vacation. She will be next week too, but I couldnt get it off (hmmf!) but a friend at work has a daughter home from college that will be watching them at my house - yay!
So, while we were home I got to try out a craft that I found in a magazine. Here are some pics, you can figure it out.
Why did I need a magazine article to discover this cute little project? I think I had more fun with it than Jonathan did though. I did most of it, though I let him think he did. I have always been bad at letting children do their own projects. I think the end result should look like it does in the magazine. Bad Mama! Actually I think this project may have been a little old for him. Probably best for a 6 or 7 year old...or 28 year old.
The second project, however, he did complete. And I am sooo proud of him. I asked him to draw a picture of him and Daddy for Father's day. He really delivered. It is amazing how it seems like just last week he would draw a line or a circle and say that was a person (no eyes, nose, arms, legs, nothing). As you can see here, though, Daddy has eyes, nose, mouth, and even ears. Big deal to me. In my kindergarten entrance exam I forgot to add ears to the man I was told to draw. I got docked for it. Anyway, not only is there a whole face, but he made sure Daddy had clothes - complete with buttons! And he made a TALL Jonathan. Not quite sure why his head is in two parts - he does have a double crown in real life.

And the last project (so far) for the weekend...
A photo prop. I went yard-sailing this morning and found two old wooden chairs. One for $2 and one for $3. I had a hard time choosing a color for the $2 one but finally decided on Ocean Blue. Jonathan loved it and offered to "model" for me to test it out. He was so excited he didnt even let me move it off the cardboard before he jumped up and started posing. Isn't his expression so cute in this?

I have two photo sessions next weekend: One with a single mom with two small children (that's what I got the chair for), and the other is a mainly indoor maternity session. I got a new strobe for lighting and am having a hard time finding the time to get the lighting nailed for the session. Hopefully I'll get it down before my subject gets here on Saturday! Watch for flickr posts next weekend!

My little Razorbacks at play

My little Razorbacks at play
Originally uploaded by Sweet Portrayal

Chuck went to Arkansas last weekend to take his Arkansas Boards exam and meet with some podiatrists wanting to hire in Little Rock (yeck!) and another in Fayetteville that wants to sell his practice in Siloam Springs (meh!). He brought back razorback snouts for the kids and they just loved them and I loved getting some fun pics of them. Why cant they sit together and be so cute without a snout on!!?

finally!

melt-a-mommy
Originally uploaded by Sweet Portrayal

i got her to look up! and boy am i glad i did. look at those eyes!

I'm a gardener!

Well, not really. We don't own our house, so I cant exactly uproot the bushes to plant a garden (not that I would have the time), but I did buy a few plants to pot. I got two cherry-type tomato plants and Chuck bought me two chili pepper plants. I potted them and have been carefully watering them daily and guarding them from the kids. They have really grown fast and...lo and behold...I counted TEN little green tomatoes on the tomato plants today and saw two tiny peppers on the pepper plants! I am soooo excited. Given, after buying the plants, the soil and the watering can (the pots were already here at the house) they have become a little economically unwise. What can I say - they better be good tomatoes! Hopefully the bunnies that hop around the yard most days dont end up eating them out from under me!! We'll be able to enjoy a nice salad or two, or three.


Oh, and I included a picture of the place we recently moved to. Much better than the old place. My advice...if you have kids...dont do a townhouse.



And this last way-too-close up picture is of me with my "new" haircut. I hated it the first day, was okay with it the following week, and since then it has grown into a little unmanageable mess. But...it could be worse!

Valedictorian

Two weekends ago now, I got to go see my oldest niece, Emily, graduate from high school. As she was a valedictorian of her class, she got to give a speech. Of the five speeches given by the valedictorians hers was by far the best! I was sure that my sister had helped her, but no, the graduation was the first time she'd even heard it! Graciously, my beautiful, smart, funny niece gave me the transcript to post on my blog:


On the box of the board game The Game of Life, it reads, "Where will your choices take you? You made it through high school, now what's next?" According to the instructions the object of the game is to "travel the path of LIFE making decisions, building a family, earning money (and paying some too), buying homes, and collecting LIFE TILES."
The first decision is made right at the beginning of the game: College or Career? By now most of us have already made that decision and found that the choices are many.
Once we decide what path to take, we spin the wheel and move our number of spaces. Some of us get high numbers like 8, 9, or 10, and move quickly. Some of us get the lower numbers such as 3, 2, or the sometimes dreaded 1. But we take what we get, move the spaces, and read what the space says, hoping that it is good news. Sometimes it is! We may collect money for something like writing a Best Seller! But sometimes we land on a "bad" square and have to pay fees for a surgery.
Those little yellow squares can bring joy with a "NEW BABY" or the can bring grief with the two words: "LOSE JOB." Sometimes we land on them and sometimes we don't.
During our jounrey, we often come to stop signs, and even though we may still have moves left these stop signs represent times in our life that we will have to make important decisions, and we must stop. We may be choosing our career, getting married, or buying a home, al the while collecting LIFE TILES.
LIFE TILES are what I consider the most important part of the game. The game instructions tell us that LIFE TILES are "all about family activities, community service, and good deeds." The way I like to describe them is by calling them the "memorable moments." We have already collected some from high school, and most of us may be collecting one right now. Just like in the game, we never know the true value of these moments until we look back on them years later.
So, here we are, at the beginning of the game. We are about to start a great journey. On these crazy, winding roads I wish you, the Class of 2009, the best of luck. I pray that God is with you, on the good spaces and the not so good spaces, and that He guides your choices at every stop sign you come to. Remember that the most valuable part of this wonderful Game of Life is not the speed that we move but the memories we make at every turn.

Ah...that's my Emmy!
We were all soooo proud of her!

Congratulations Emily!!