Faux Stained Glass

This past weekend we had our annual gift exchange for my art club. We each drew a name and created a gift for that person. The theme was, "All that glitters". So upon walking through Hobby Lobby I came upon these really cool glass blocks that you can paint on, do collage, or fill with different items. I was inspired to paint one and put a light source inside to make it "glitter". I decided to try a faux stained glass paint technique. I would like to try it again on a bigger glass block. I think my technique needs some work. The painted flower was inspired by Georgia O'Keefe because the friend I created it for is originally from New Mexico.

Someone's in the attic.....

Yep, someone is in the attic....and it's Nolan these days. For the last several months his new area of intense interest has been attics. That and old houses. Hey, I'm glad he has an appreciation for history. Ever since we went on a tour of our deceased great Aunt Peggy's 130 year old house, he has been in awe of attics. He could tell you which of his teachers at school has an attic, if there are stairs or a ladder leading up there, if there is a light, and if they utilize the space. And ours happens to be easily accessible so guess where I find him some days? You guessed it, the attic. If I need something put away up there, he's my man! So for several days of good behavior and no meltdowns, he earned another tour of Aunt Peggy's house. And I have pictures to prove it.

I do love this little boy. He is so unique and has such a passionate nature about him. And I love how he shares his passions with EVERYONE around him!

I'm Back

Here I am almost 2 months later. For some reason I have had an aversion to blogging. Sadly, I had wanted to do this follow up post 2 months ago to share the artwork inspired by the touching photo of Brendan helping his daddy. I wanted to try to do scratchboard again since I hadn't attempted it since high school. Scratchboard is a board covered with a thin black layer. You use a sharp tool to scratch away to the white, sometimes silver underlying layer. It was difficult for me to demonstrate texture and depth, but I had fun trying! So here is my rendition of one of my favorite photos on scratchboard.

A Captured Moment

I am definitely a sentimentalist. Sometimes to a fault. I have a hard time getting rid of things, because I'm afraid I'll be letting go of memories. I'm so wistful sometimes, it is sickening. So I have to share this captured moment. A picture snapped during such a simple task between father and son. I look at this, and I want to weep. Weep for those days, several years ago when my oldest, Brendan was a toddler. Some days I wish I could just rewind....

Sweet Joy

Ordinary Day

Old truck holding something special

Can't hold back

Must express himself

Explosion of pure joy

Sweet Relief

Quality Time

Since my husband has been working long hours, he has been trying to spend one-on-one quality time with each of the kids. Each child has different interests and values their time with their daddy in a different way. For Nolan, he took him to wash and put gas in his truck. And Nolan loved this! He even "wrote" about it in his journal at school. Alaina is content with riding in daddy's truck to go get ice cream. One Sunday afternoon, Brendan wanted to build something with his dad, so the two of them went up to the lumber store and whipped this up from scratch. Of course, it's nothing to my husband who is a carpenter. But I was impressed, because I could never do this.


Notice the sad eyes because this was taken right before my husband went back to work. Brendan has a hard time every week when he leaves to go back to work. But, it won't be like this forever. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

On another note, can I just say that parenthood is so hard sometimes! I am really struggling right now with making the best decisions for my kids. It is so hard to know what to do for them. I just pray daily that I make the right choices for them so that they can learn to their full potential and grow up to be the men that God intends for them to be. I know He has a plan for them....I know that full well.

Gas Stations

Okay, I haven't posted for awhile, so I'm dusting off this blog to write about a very important subject in our house these days. You ready....gas stations! Yes, we talk about gas stations all day long here. And we also talk about them in detail when we drive by them. And we drive certain routes to drive by our most favorite gas station which happens to be Phillips 66. The one in our town is deserted and closed and I get to hear about it ALL of the time. Every week Nolan chooses the gas station to get gas at and washes the windows while the gas pumps. Don't worry folks, I have him step away from the toxic fumes. Let's just say it is the highlight of his week! And being the uber cool mom I am, I took him to the working Phillips 66 in a town nearby to pump gas as a reward. He informed me that there was another Phillips 66 in this town over on Iowa street. And sure enough the other day I spotted it. He's an AMAZING kid who takes an AMAZING amount of patience, but he sure does make me chuckle every day!