Our family just got a bit bigger

Everyone meet Cleo, our newest member a 7 years young rescue dog.  

I have had a lot of fun introducing her to friends and family via email and Facebook mainly because we were vague and made it sound like we were having another baby, when you have four kids people tend to get nervous thinking we announcing another baby.  And we may in the future but for right now we have a fur baby in our home and we couldn't be happier.

She is sweet calm and collected, until she sees a squirrel, chipmunk or other dog.  So we have obedience training in our future.  More to teach us how to deter her from some of her behaviors as well as get her a little bit more leash trained.  She is great with the kids though still a bit nervous around Valen, though I cant blame the gal, he is a ball full of energy and is as stable as a two year old can be *smile*  But Val has learned about gentle petting we are still working on him to stop following her everywhere, she isnt thrilled about having a two year old shadow but she tolerates him!

We have had her just under a week now but just like any new baby we can't imagine our life without her and it feels like she has always been part of our family!

  

What's this blog about?

When I first started this blog it was about my adventure into momma hood. My creative endeavors changed as time went on but a constant was life with the kiddos and apparently my complaining of vacuuming, dishes and laundry *smile*. A few nights ago I went through a few years of my blog. And what I realized was this was my "baby book" of sorts for my kids it documented their lives and lately that has pretty much stopped thanks to my updating on Facebook, only problem with that... I can't go back on my timeline and read all my posts. I want my kids to be able to read about their childhood easily so I made a decision my blog is still going to be about my art but its going to be much more about my adventures in momma hood again I hope you all stick around (you are still here right?) as I go back to my "roots" so to speak!

Around the art table

I took a quick video of my kiddos painting, holy cow does a mess ensue but they love it so much!  (baths were given after we finished up Valen had paint up all the way to his elbows) Hope you enjoy the video, can you believe how big the kids are getting?!?!!? I went through my blog and got all weepy seeing my kids basically grow up in blog posts!  Man these 7 years of being a momma have flown by!

The wedding gift

It started with this photo. A few months ago I asked a friend of mine to send me her favorite engagement photo. Her wedding was coming up and I had an idea for a gift.




First I blocked in the background




Then started working on the lovely couple.




Kept working on the sky.




Picked up a helper along the way (good thing I only one hand/arm to paint!)



Decided to add in the tree to ground the painting.




Foliage added.



The final painting (of course I left it to the last minute to wrap and forgot to get a decent natural light photo of the finished painting!)







Congrats you two hope nothing but love and happiness on your journey together!

Hope for Oklahoma

Besides doing my teddy bear collection I have also donated 5 of my inspired art gals to help raise money for the families in Oklahoma. There is over 170 items amazing stuff from all over. So head on over to www.facebook.com/hopeforok

Bid often and generously if you can!!!

Be the good

Is it just me or does it feel like lately we go from one tragedy to another?  The recent devastating tornado in Moore, OK has left me with a heavy heart.  I am a weepy mess and felt like I wanted no NEEDED to do something.  It was while I was driving my kids that the thought of teddy bears came to me and I knew it wasnt just a silly thought, I had to do this, I needed to collect as many teddy bears as possible and so I created a FB page and a blog.  I told my family and friends and sent the information out into the world with a prayer that this would be huge that we would comfort as many kids as we could.  

I am in the very early stages but I know in my heart and soul this is only the beginning!  I would love your support of my calling, here is the blog:  teddybearsforkids.blogspot.com and the FB page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Teddy-Bears-for-Kids/317264511737405

Please share and like the facebook page, lets have this journey together!

Finding the time to paint

The #1 question I get (especially once someone finds out I have four kids under the age of 6) is when do I find the time to paint. Some of its late nights but honestly lately I'm so tired after I get all the kids down for the night I'm pretty quick to have my own head to hit the pillow. So instead I'm creative with my time.



I put the baby in a sling. I pull out the paint during quiet time. And today since the weather is getting nice I take the paints with me to our different appointments we have during the week. I get about 30 -45 minutes a day just by doing that.

So there you go, no excuses if you want to be creative carve out the time!