Awwwwww.....

Hmmmmmmm.
Well, that "awww" could go 2 different ways...

I'm lovin the new poster Chloe surprised me with tonite...

Not so loving the artwork Sawyer surprised me with....

I told Trav...even though she put the marker away (and he can reach into that drawer now thankyouverymuchneedtomoveeveryyything!) I think it's very interesting he had to find the exact same marker that she used and post his art right below hers...

Road trip!

When my mom mentioned that my brother, who lives in Charlotte and I haven't seen in months, was going to be in St. Louis for the night we decided to hit the road to have a quick visit...

He is on the road with the group Carbon Leaf, who played at Blueberry Hill. he used to work full time for them when he was in Richmond (where they're from) but now he travels with them every now and then doing their sound.
We walked around for awhile window shopping while he did sound checks for a couple hours. Here's a sassy gal...lol
Had to take this music store pic for Gabe. Check out that guitar-lol.
The Loop-the area near Wash U is where we were. Lots of neat resteraunts, bars, bookstores and shops.
I swear 90% of my pics turned out like this-lol. The flash was too blinding right across the table...
We ate at Blueberry Hill with my brother, Clif and the drummer of the band, Jason.
I was surprised at how many cameras I saw sticking up other than mine. Glad I wasn't alone-lol.

Chloe's had a bit of a crush on the lead singer, Barry, ever since we saw them play a couple years ago up in Chicago when he dedicated a song to her for her birthday and got the whole audience to turn and look at her. She even had people telling her happy birthday later in the day who recogized her. lol. What 6 yr old wouldn't looooove that!? She even named her stuffed bear "Barry" after him...I don't think she's wild about the new beard though...
For their last song Suzanna Choffel got up to sing with them. She was the opener and was honestly very very good. I'm kicking myself now that I didn't buy one of her cd's...
We had to jump into the photo booth before heading out. I love that that place had a photo booth and try to remember to jump in one whenever the opportunity arrises. Poor mom was squished in on the floor-lol. Love this.
So glad we jumped in the car and went. Even though we didn't get to spend a ton of time with Clif it was nice to be with him. The music was great and I truly felt like an old lady driving 2 hrs to get home and in bed by 3. lol.

Lightbulb moments

Winter. I'm so over it.

Chloe and I have been taking weekly trips to the library to make winter tolerable and expose ourselves to new reading (and her to the homeless population-you'd know what I mean if you live in Springfield...)

Here is what I've been working on this past week in bits and pieces. I'm trying to do my writing that goes along with the Artist's Way and am hopeful that something will rub off on me through reading this.

The other morning on the way to school Chloe gasped and said "Mom, look at all of the glitter in the snow today!" I had to look twice before I saw it. Until she'd mentioned it all I had seen was dirty slush and ice patches and that the stop sign had finally been replaced by the city after I'd called to tell them someone plowed it over in the ice a few weeks back.

This is basically how it looked. It took my breath away.

Photo from Google Images

I spent the rest of the morning asking myself the last time I'd "seen" the glitter in the snow. I didn't come up with an answer. That makes me sad.


Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~Pablo Picasso

An early Valentine...

OK ok~so I made it for myself...still counts, doesn't it?

So I saw this cute little necklace in an {un named catalog} and thought "hey, that's pretty darned cute...$118? Ya right!" I've been a little-oh, shall we say-'uninspired" lately. It was time to get off the booty and whip up something cute and simple.

I have a small handful of these gorgeous garnet chunks that I haven't done anything with for ages (and just happens to be my birthstone) I love how imperfect they are...it's all fairly dainty-the "live" nugget is about 1/2 inch long. I pierced, sawed and sanded the open heart charm and oxidized both for a little extra warmth.

I struggled with what word I wanted to stamp...LOVE seemed so-easy? It was my first thought-then decided to go with my "word of the year".

Seems as though in early January everyone was pegging their word of the year. Their word to live by in 2010. I never professed mine but picked it out and kept it all snug in the back of my mind.

live.

A little meaning behind this....after "the great scare of December 2009" with the funky lung CT all I could think was "I want to LIVE" I was scared, wide-eyed, weak, pissed....you name it, I felt it. Now that the scare is behind me and we moved to 2010 "live" took on an additional meaning and I want to wear it to remind me...

As a SAHM of 3 little ones and trying to get a small business off the ground at the same time it's hard to find balance. Days start to feel somewhat reminiscent of "Groundhog Day"-the same day over and over. Laundry, dishes, breakfast, off to school, lunches, clean ups, nap time/(ME time!), home from school, homework, dinner, bedtime...over and over and over...and my "me" time is roughly 2 hrs if I'm lucky. So "live" takes on something else now. Live it up. Go for it. Switch it up. Go somewhere. Get out of the house. Do something. Have fun....You only live once.

.....................Right?