Savannah and her birthday loot.

I can't believe she's two!

I know why van Gogh cut his ear off!

I have been a painting mad-woman this week! I LOVE to paint. I love it so much that I tend to loose perspective on what I should be doing and ignore everything until my ideas are materialized. Food? Sleep? Kids?
I just want it all done.
To see my ideas as reality.


The boys room, living room, dining room, entry way, hall way, and mud area are all painted. Chad and his friend (thanks Anitra for letting him hold your husband hostage) spent all day Saturday hanging molding in the bathroom and living room. There is still a lot to do, but I need to slow down. So here's the real story though...

My kids have been so bad this week.
And I mean REALLY bad.
I couldn't figure out why, but now I know.
It's me!
I have ignored them all week to get done what I wanted to do. When I give them all my attention...when I am available to talk to them right when they need me...when I am not distracted and able to focus just on them, they are happy! Silly me to take so long to realize this. Silly me to expect them to act like adults and take care of themselves. I think with all of Chads traveling and my crazy artist mind, my poor kids must have felt a little lost. So here's the plan.

I will save my things for the evening when they are in bed, and be prepared to stick to our routine during the day, and we'll see how they do.

I am so blessed to be a mom to these amazing kids. I need to remember that they are only mine for such a short time. They grow up so fast...I will have plenty of time to cultivate my artistic mind later. In church today the talks were on magnifying our callings. I couldn't help but think of motherhood the entire time. I could do so much better.

I have a feeling it's going to be a great week.

Hope you all have a great week too!





Oh ya! The title...I know you artists out there will get this...
Someday I will learn how to balance my need to create with the needs of my family.

And not cut off my ear in the process.

Just wanted to invite you all to a two day photo shoot I have been invited to shoot at! I am so excited, and honored that Amy would choose me to be her guest photographer!! I should explain that I am not starting a business in photography...this is just for fun. I love shooting with other photographers, and I love having studio time, and I just plain love shooting portraits!!! So, if you are interested, call Amy Berringer 703-389-5615 and set up a time slot. Take a peek at the flyer. The theme is "hats"









By the way....

All three fish died today.

Good news....

I can reward my children with new fish if they are brave for shots tomorrow.


By the way again....

I forgot to mention that Amy Berringer took our family picture that I just posted. Isn't it hilarious? It captures truth!!!

Hi Y'all

I almost forgot my blogger password, it's been that long. Never again will that happen, thanks to New Years resolutions. This is the only journaling that gets done around here. I've realized it's pretty important.

Just a few things from the last three months that I want to remember...

Lisa, Shauna, Sydney, Carol, Travis, Rochelle, Mark, Liz, Truman, Alli, Andrew, Henry, and Eliza came to visit sometime during Sept, Oct and Nov. Having people come stay at my home fills my bucket to the brim. It makes me so happy. VISITORS!!! KEEP COMING!

October included a trip to Gettysburg, Lancaster (where the Omish hang their laundry out to dry), and the Hershey Factory. Nat and Jared were brave enough to join us, and it was wonderful. I accomplished a huge goal during that trip...to be able to do a back handspring again. The miracle occurred on the battle field. Ever since I can remember, the sight of an open field gives me urges to cartwheel and tumble. It's my choice mode of transportation. As an adult, I have learned to suppress it, but that day, early in October, I could no longer hold back. Very satisfying trip.

The month of October also brought swine flu to our entire family and pneumonia to me. Chad was gone for a couple of weeks, so my lucky husband missed all of it. My friends were so amazing and brought my family lots of food and help.

A lot of November was delightedly spent sewing 20 aprons for a sweet friend who wanted to help me save up for a new camera. What she didn't know is that I have an addiction, one I had suppressed for an entire 11 months and 28 days, and her request was enough to put me into relapse. I spent all of my hard earned money on more fabric. Beautiful, lovely fabric, that I can't wait to sew into something amazing. Thanks my sweet friend Amy!

December, what a great month it was, except for a few minor things. We found out that Jackson is allergic to pistachios and cashews. We now keep an epi-pen with us at all times. And since we're talking about allergies, we found out that Chad is allergic to wheat, but only if he eats it before he exercises. He too is supposed to keep an epi-pen in his work out bag, and avoid wheat if he is going to work out. Crazy huh!

Later in the month we FINALLY made it home to Utah. It filled my heart to see my family and friends. I wish there was more time...I felt as though I barely skimmed the top of what I wanted and needed to do there.

And that brings us to today.

Today equals...
first allergy shots for the entire family, and a new bribery-fish tank with 3 new fish who I pray will survive through the night. 48 more shots to go, and we will be allergy free!! I can't wait!