365 Project Day 151

Here are the other three that I came up with for the yellow pages swap. In case you cant tell the fish one is for Fish Window Cleaning and so the fish is doing that with his tongue. Okay...I thought it was funny....

365 Project Day 150

Here is another set of cards I finished for yet another swap. This one required that we alter a yellow pages ad with something that illustrated the ad. I like the way they turned out and will probably do a couple more for the swap as this one has the option of swapping either 3 cards or 6. Anyway...thats what I did today. How about you?

365 Project Day 149

This is our goofy, annoying dog, Buddy. He is pretending that he is not staring at me. That's what he does all day...every day...stares at me. If the girls are not here he follows me from room to room and stares at me. He has food, he has water, he doesnt want to go out. He just wants to stare at me. OMG! So annoying! The kids say ignore him. I try. He whines at me or puts a paw on me just to be sure I'm aware of the fact that he is staring at me. ARG!!

365 Project Day 148

Bethany had her end of the year concert tonight. Sadly this was the best picture I could manage. She had a wonderful beginner year and is really enjoying the flute. She actually takes the time to practice and if we could manage to get her a decent flute would probably be one of the better players. This was another marathon concert because the beginner band was followed by all the 7th and 8th grade bands. Thankfully the beginner parents were free to leave if for no other reason than to make room in the gym for all the other parents so I didnt have to feel guilty for ducking out of this one. Bethany and Artha stayed to hear their friends play and didnt get home until well after 9.

365 Project Day 147

I dont really know what got into my son! He said he was really bored. He had to be reallllly bored because we woke up to discover that he had cleaned the kitchen...completely, straightened the living room (even drapping the afgan over the back of the couch) and at 730 in the morning had already used the weedeater on the flower beds and was mowing!!! I'm thrilled...and proud...and a little scared. Maybe I should make a list in case he gets bored again?

365 Project Day 146

Artha had her end of the year band concert tonight. She had an awesome freshman year and is eager to get back to marching season. I hate being one of those parents that watches her child's band play and then leaves but the concerts have gotten ridiculously long. Artha was in the first band to play. Three songs and they were done. The concert, however, went on for more than 3 hours! I felt guilty for sneaking out when she was done but I have a family that needs to eat dinner before 10 on a school night!

365 Project Day 145

I didnt take this picture but I wanted to include it. This building was the activity building at the church where I grew up. We just called it "the green building" because it was painted this sort of blue green color. I remember in elementary school the drill team I was in practiced in it sometimes when it rained. I remember VBS and Hopefest and sunday school in it. In high school we used it for a couple of our Speech Banquets and Phil and I had our wedding reception in it. This week it was torn down to make way for a playground and soon the church building where I was baptized, confirmed and married will be torn down too. I hardly recognize the place that was so much a part of my growing up. Progress can be really sad!

365 Project Day 144

For those who are not familiar with these little guys, this is an armadillo. No, I didnt use a telephoto lense or anything like that. He was actually that close. Armadillos are strange little creatures with absolutely atrocious eyesight. They dont mind people much obviously and you can usually get very close and not bother them. This one and a friend walked all around me while they were searching for food in my sister's yard. I wish all animals had the ability to know who was there just to enjoy them and who wasnt. It would be so cool to have them all come right up to me this way and not care because they knew I'd never hurt them.

365 Project Day 143

I had the absolute priviledge of accompanying my Dad to a reunion of the first 25 years of the Friendswood Police Department. My mom and dad built the department from the ground up and Dad was the Chief for 25 years. It was a wonderful afternoon and Dad had such a great time. I was truly blessed to grow up with a man like my dad as an example to follow and these men and women were a part of that too. I grew up believing that the world was filled with only the very best people because I spent my childhood surrounded by the amazing men and women who served and protected the City of Friendswood.

365 Project Day 142

Okay...still remember the picture of Phil's books? Well this is my book closet. Why, you may ask, do I have a book closet? Well the people who lived here before us expanded the bathroom on the other side and created this very shallow closet that they were nice enough to equip with shelves just right for books. As you can see it is quite full but very well organized. Everything is arranged by author and seperated into what I have read, what I havent read, and what I need to take to my mom the next time I see her. I would say there is easily at least 500 books in there, probably a lot more actually. I have read about 1/3 of them I'd guess and fully intend to read them all. Mom is always adding to the collection so it continues to grow and I know I'll never run out of things to read. Now go back to Phil's books. He has a large collection but its probably 1/2 or less of what I have and he reads about 100 times more than I do. That is why he has read most of his over and over and I'll spend the rest of my life happily just trying to read all of mine at least once! Anyone need a good book?

365 Project Day 141

This is the series of books I am currently working on. Thanks Laura for the recommendation. Its taken this long to get to them but I'm really enjoying them. If you enjoy Christian fiction, Dee Henderson is awesome and I highly recommend this series. Still remember the previous picture?

365 Project Day 140

Phil is always adding things to his dragon collection and this is one of the newest additions. For lack of a better place he hung it over the bookcase where he keeps all of his books. Yes, the bookcase is purple...it came that way. Now remember this picture. These are Phil's books. Phil reads constantly and has read most of these books many, many times. Remember this picture, okay?

365 Project Day 139

If you remember a few months back I posted pics of the ridiculously gigantic fig tree in our back yard. We trimmed it back severely, regaining an amazing amount of yard in the process. As you can see, despite being cut back to probably a third or less of its original size the tree is still doing its thing and is loaded with leaves and now figs. They will start ripening in the next few weeks and if we can beat the birds to them we might get to enjoy a few.

365 Project Day 138

Really slow picture week so here are some random shots. Here is something I did up for Phil for his office. His diploma is in one of those padded book things they give you. Anyway it has seen better days and he wanted something worthy of framing so this is what I came up with. We both wanted to have the beautiful picture of the Concordia Chapel included since it was demolished this year. Still makes me sad.

365 Project Day 137

Today I want to dedicate my post to my sister, Beth who is celebrating her birthday today! Love you sweetie!!

365 Project Day 136

Okay...here are the cards I struggled so hard to come up with. The first is supposed to be the shire from the LOTR and the second is from Struwwelpeter. This particular story is a charming little tale of a girl who plays with matches and ends up burning to death. The little pile of ashes and her red shoes are all that is left. There you go kids! Sleep well!

365 Project Day 135

Artha and her best friend, Lizzie went to their first Band Banquet tonight. I dont ever remember band banquet being so formal but here it is. Its being held at a hotel in downtown Austin and seems to be almost prom like with a banquet and such for the whole band. Artha has been so excited about going and we got an amazing deal on this beautiful dress (love those after prom discounts!) The picture really doesnt do them justice. They both just looked so amazing!

365 Project Day 134

Here are two of the cards that I have completed for the other group in the May PAT (Pick a Theme) Swap. One of the group requested turtles and another cemetery angels. I am really struggling with the other two, Lord of the Rings and Struwwelpeter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter, a disturbing little book of cautionary tales for children written in Germany in 1844. I'll figure something out but WOW...really?

365 Project Day 133

This arrangement I got from Trinity for Mother's Day got even more beautiful when the lilies opened up. I just love it and it smells amazing! Thank you, sweet baby!

365 Project Day 132

I made this card just for fun and trade. I felt like playing with shapes and colors and this is what came out. Are they fish or arent they? Who knows? I just think they are fun.

365 Project Day 131

Okay, this one was actually taken on Friday but I couldnt leave it out. It was just the perfect depiction of how incredibly hot it is already here in Central Texas. Even the poor squirrel has had enough and its only the middle of May. I cant wait to see what August feels like...not!

365 Project Day 130

I still cant convince my kids that all I really need for Mother's Day is their love and permission to do what I want for a day. Instead they chose to bury me in flowers. They were all incredibly beautiful and some were extra special because Sarah arranged them herself! I am truly and incredibly blessed and the best Mother's Day gift of all is the fact that I get to be Mom to the four most wonderful and amazing children ever!

365 Project Day 129

Loving the hair! Trin got up from a nap and had taken out the hair tie that was in her hair. She was rockin' this wonderful "Flock of Seagulls" do and we just had to get a picture. I'm really loving the posing though! "Look at me, I'm beautiful, dahling!"

365 Project Day 128

From the "how the heck did you manage to do that" file comes this little gem. Bethany had a little blob of orange stuff, comes in a little plastic egg thing, she got it at a party...i dont know what you call it. Anyway, she put it down on the chair next to the couch. Phil then places the remote on top...keys down...dont ask me...i wasnt there. Voila! Now you have a remote with orange goo stuck on the keys! Does this stuff just wipe right off you ask? HA! No, after much work with a pin or something, Artha managed to clear all the orange goo from the remote and thankfully there was no permanent damage. Lesson learned. Orange goo...remote...bad, bad combination!

365 Project Day 127

Another completed swap. This time the theme was "Whatever You Rock At". I wasnt sure what I rocked at so I polled some of the others in the swap and they said Color was my thing so I came up with these. I really love them and I'm thinking about trying to print up these and my suns into sets of note cards and selling them on Etsy. What do you think?

365 Project Day 126

I finished these cards for another swap. This one is a PAT (Pick a Theme) and you basically sign up in a group with 4 others and are required to complete a card for each of the others in the group. The style of card is determined, for instance these had to be handpainted. Each person picks the theme for their card. In this group one wanted daffodils, one wanted cute male gnomes, one asked for gerberas, and the other wanted flamingos.

365 Project Day 125

The latest swap that I have finished is one in the style of Steampunk. I'm not even sure how to describe it so here is a link to the definition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk I've never done anything in this style before so this was a new challenge for me. It was a double challenge because the other part of the swap was to make an "inchie" (basically the same as an ATC only instead of the standard 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch size they are just 1 inch square) for each card magnifying one section of the card. I thankfully got lots of suggestions and feedback from Artha, Ashley and Bethany and was able to sit down and do all of them in an afternoon. I'm sure they wont qualify as traditional Steampunk but are more my take on it and they were really fun to make. The inchies were especially fun and may be something I do again.

365 Project Day 124

I've also been practicing some drawing, trying to learn more about perspective, shading, and how to get the most out of my colored pencils. This is one of my favorite buildings here in Pflugerville. I believe it was a Gin of some kind once upon a time. I think it will probably be demolished soon though. Yet another loss in the name of progress.