I’m here

We are traveling again to see family. But instead of doing a ton of driving, blowing through pretty areas to see family who are well, a PIA (pain-in-the-ass) we decided to stay a couple of nights in Sandpoint, ID–the town where my husband grew up.
We are staying here
On lake Pendorile.

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Summer Reading (or more ways to avoid doing homework)

I love reading, and I will admit I like to read something entertaining and sometimes a bit naughty too. There I said it. I try to read a “good” or uplifting book from time to time but really?

So here’s what I’ve been reading and in what for: actual book, ibook, or audio:

Hello Kitty Must Die by Angela S. Choi. Found at my local library, picked it up because of the cover and it’s been entertaining! Reading actual book.

The Search by Nora Roberts. If this lady writes something I want to read it, loved this book. Read it on my ipad which is actually a pretty cool way to read books and it’s cheaper than buying a hardback book!

Death Echo by Elizabeth Lowell. Another author I always enjoy. Read this on the ipad, a good action/adventure story with some steam thrown in.

Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie. Hilarious, fun, crazy! If you ever find yourself needing a good, fun read grab any book by this author. I’ve read several and they are all terrific!

The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. Not to be a total geek but I bought the book and am also listening to the audio book from Audible. The author reads this book and I find that when I’m cycling and need something to think about this is good to listen to even while I’m going back through the book.

Nature Inspired by Tracie Lyn Huskamp. Great book of mixed media techniques inspired by and using nature!–actual book

True Vision by LK Ludwig. Great inspiration and really interesting techniques. Love to just thumb through this. –actual book

I tried to read the Twillight books but just couldn’t get into them, and even though I may be one of the only person who hasn’t read them I just don’t have the interest. Not that I object to vampire or other worldly books. Case in point: Just read the series of books by JR Ward The Black Dagger Brotherhood. I read a few in book form but had a hard time finding them so I read most of them on the ipad. Good, thrilling read and there is a lot of umm “action” of all types! And I’ll leave it at that!

What have you’ve been reading? Any recommendations?

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inspiration: quick and cheap

A while back I had an idea that came to me as I was playing in my art journals and was trying to think of what to do. What if I made a little inspiration box? A cute little box filled with all sorts of prompts, inspiration, quotes and etc and when I needed to be inspired I could grab a little strip of paper and do what it said? Well I thought on it for a long while and figured it was a good idea but I wasn’t feeling like investing much time in to it.

Then I found some small wooden blocks that were leftover christmas decorations and thought of dice! I have a set of dice my husband gave me long ago–pre kiddy days that were a similar idea but totally different topic I made a list of prompts and techniques, painted the blocks and wrote these out with a sharpie.

Okay maybe a little silly but it was fun to roll a dice and do what it said. I have a few more of these blocks I may add to my collection as I come up with more ideas.

like I said “quick and cheap”!

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Doing some scrapping: procrastination at it’s finest

If you know me, and are around much you can tell I have a lot of homework I need to get done by the amount of other stuff I do!
So this week I grabbed some photos, and stuck them to paper. Kept the layouts pretty simple, tried not to worry over the “design” and just got the story down. My titles are a little lame, but they’re done!

pool time (09)

old school play

first day of school, one of my favorite “non-posed” pictures, kind of hate this page though…. (09)

farm life (09)

summer girl (09)

canoe trip (09)

working (09)

okay, now I really should get my homework done so I can pack us up for our road trip to Colorado tomorrow! Two four year olds in a car for 15+ hours at a time. Can you say pass mommy the tranquilizer?

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Picking Blueberries, making pie

On Monday the kiddies were going stir crazy and I was getting cranky trying to occupy them. So I went online to pickyourown.org, a great way to find what’s available in your area to pick or buy fresh. We ended up going to the Berry Ranch, just 10 miles from home. The first time we went there was on a pumpkin trip with the local twins club when the kids where babies.
(Insert cute baby pic here!)

This is a great little farm with some farm animals and all the farm stuff you’d want to do.

we picked, and ate as we picked.

made wishes by blowing on dandelions

looked for lady bugs

boy found a stick, girl found a tree swing

We brought home 2 lbs of berries, made a pie and a dozen muffins
My girl grabbed the big camera to document the process.

Then the boy wanted her to take pictures of the tomatoes he had picked from garden. Of course I had to grab my phone and take a of pic them!

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finch update and more bird tags

As of a few days ago, all of my finches had flown the nest. Both nests are empty, I’ve left them in the flower pots to see if birds re-use nests. But for now they are empty and we are waiting for more babies. The
best part of this experience is that now my kids are always on the lookout for bird nests. They see them everywhere and get so excited! And honestly, it makes my little naturalist heart proud that they are always on the lookout for these things. They are learning that nature is all around us, even in town where we live and we don’t have to drive to the mountains to enjoy nature. This is one of those little things that I hope they carry with them always.

And now for my latest obsession: birds and tags.

Bird on a branch tag.

Egg tag

This one is my favorite so far. The burlap, the egg, the paper. The metal bookplate was one I’d had for quite a while but never used because it was bright pink! To alter it I added a coat of gesso and let it dry. Painted on brown, added some vaseline after it was dry, then dabbed on some ivory paint. It didn’t turn out quite like I’d hoped but I like it anyway. Reminds me of a crusty painted old piece!

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chasing butterflies

A few days ago while driving, I noticed something yellow caught on my anteanna.
I realized it was a Swallow Tail Butterfly.
So I stopped, I picked it up off the ground seeing that most of it’s abdomen was missing so it wouldn’t be flying home, but I carried it back to the truck anyway to let me son hold it.

This is what I want my kids to learn
an understanding and appreciation of the natural world
have a sense of awe when they see a big butterfly fluttering by in the back yard
and to never be in such a hurry that they can’t stop to admire the little things in the world.

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