Various tidbits

Happy First Day of Spring! It was really a lovely day. It was supposed to rain, but barely did, and not till this evening. My neck was hurting badly last night, and then again this morning, but it is much better now. We had our usual toddler/piano day, got quite a bit of school in (We are doing well with that this week!), played the Dragonology game, listened to music, and started reading aloud the Easter Story in our worn copy of the New Testament. I had them in bed by ten pm, and you know what? The Boy actually went right to sleep! Yay! I have been sitting at the kitchen table working in my art journal, getting photos on the computer, and checking blogs.

The Dude called tonight and is very sick. Nothing like having the flu in a hotel room hundreds of miles from home. He should be home tomorrow night, late. I am actually pretty pleased with how the kids and I did while he was away this week. It has been a challenge, what with my sore neck and all the raging hormones, but all in all, we worked together well, the kids have been integrity with their schoolwork, and I haven't killed anyone or said anything nasty that I would later sorely regret. As Dy says, it's good stuff.

Speaking of Dy, she is in labor and has been for over 24 hours. It's moving slowly but she is hanging in. Think good thoughts. I cannot wait to meet this little person, and all her other little people in a few weeks! I am so very excited to get to finally meet her in person after talking on the phone almost daily for the last 6 years.

The Boy (and I, sigh) has the WA State Speech and Debate championships this Saturday. I am planning on packing lots of art supplies to keep myself busy, as we are pretty much gone from 6 am to midnight. Wish him luck, and me patience. Actually, this really is a fine group of kids, and they seem to have made me their honorary S & D Mom, so it's all good. After that, he will just be preparing for Nationals, which are in Las Vegas (Whose idea was it to let a bunch of teenagers loose in a city like Las Vegas- I need to ask if they need another chaperone!) at the beginning of June.

The Girl found out today that she received a gold seal and an SMTA musical excellence reward at her adjudications 2 weeks ago! This is pretty cool, and means that she is already accepted into the Octoberfest recital later this year, so won't have to audition for that. TBPTOTP was doing a happy dance in excitement that one of her students got a seal. Very cool. We have just one more adjudication for her a week from today, and then a recital in May. Then the season is over for a while- whew! I can use the break! Having the S & D and piano seasons at the same time was a bit stressful and tiring to me. Now that I know to expect this, it will be easier next year.

Tomorrow will be errand day as we are out of both chicken feed and cat litter. I also need to thoroughly clean the house. And especially the kitchen table- we have been having issues with people being on the computer in the kitchen supposedly to do their online writing class, and then playing online games instead of working, so today I worked at the kitchen table. It was messy, but fun.

Gotta clean and tidy up, have the kids help me change my bed linens (Nothing says "Welcome home, Dude, like clean sheets, but my neck is still to sore to do it myself, sigh.), etc.

Talk soon,
LB

Yay! Art Content! Assignment complete, and ATC's

I wrote in this post, about a journaling assignment (watch the video) from SuziBlu, wherein we were to draw our "power animal" in the Mola style. It only took me two weeks, but I finally finished one of the two turtle pieces I am doing for this assignment.

This piece is done with my koh-i-noor woodless colored pencils, which are very different from my Prismacolors or the watercolor pencils. Both the background and the base of the turtle were done with Twinkling H2O's. I like the combination of these two mediums. They kind of make the design look like it is glowing. Very cool. This (of course) looks much brighter in person. I am doing an ATC swap with Tami over at 101 Fairy Lane. I took these photos and will post them, but I would rather you went and looked at them at her blog, because her photos are so much better than mine! They show the colors so much better. Here are the ones I made for Tami. Our theme for this month was a tribute to Lemons and Lemondrop's world, so the one on left is for that. I also sent her a belated Valentine- on the right.

Here is the one Tami sent me, of a sweet lemonhead girl in pretty purples. Really- go look at these at Fairy Lane, ok? I am not sure why mine came out so blurry.
And just because she hasn't had hers taken in a while, a photo of Sparrow, our other kitty-toddler.
That's it for now.
LB

Tidbits: Sick Me, Toddler-Boy, and Mola Assignment

I have been under quite a bit of family-related stress this week, and it seems to have caught up with me. (I won't go into details about the specific issues, but have you noticed how stress can do this??) I noticed Thursday morning when I awoke that I was a bit sore in my lower back and hips, and my joints felt a bit stiff. This achy feeling grew through the day, as I carried, lifted, cuddled, chased, sang to, and played with my toddler buddy Abe. (I will talk more about Abe in a minute.) I stopped by the grocery on our way home to pick up a pizza or three so I wouldn't have to cook, and it was all I could do to walk through the store, and I was so C-O-L-D in the freezer isle!! By the time we were home, it was all I could do to move, and I was so exhaused I was yawning constantly. Being with a toddler is not usually this physically draining for me, so I knew something was up. So I have been laying in bed, or on the couch, with a heating pad on my lower back, wrapped up in all the afghans and quilts I can find, trying to rest, and directing the kids from here. We watched "For Your Eyes Only" last night, and then I actually got 9 hours of sleep.

My goal today is to only get up to go to the bathroom, which I plan to do often as I am going to drink so much water my eyes float- gonna flush out the toxins that are causing me such achiness. I have my art journal stuff still packed from yesterday, so I may work on that for a bit to keep from getting bored or getting too sucked into the internet. I will have to take the Boy to the High School, but other than that, they can take care of themselves and me today.

I did have fun with my sweet toddler-boy yesterday. When we started this relationship with the BPTOTP (Best Piano Teacher On The Planet), I had no idea that one of the perks for me was going to be having a special relationship with her baby. I love being "Nanny" again, and teaching, learning with, and loving this special little fella. Abe is getting so big now, and doing so much more fun stuff. He is now tall enough to stand on a stool in the kitchen beside me (instead of on the counter with my arm on his chubby leg, making sure he doesn't topple off) as I make our lunch, recognizing letter sounds and shapes ("Nanny, draw a diamond for Abe."), etc. His language abilities have really grown in this last month, and he has grown so tall and thin I can't believe it! He is becoming a little boy now, leaving so much of the toddler traits behind, although he still has those wonderfully chubby toddler hands and feet (I still love to nibble on his toes and hear his little giggle.). He referred to himself as "I" yesterday instead of "Abe" several times. Abe is also so very 2.5 lately. He is discovering whining, hitting, demanding, and the word "NO!". It is good that he keeps my inner preschool-teacher on her toes! I do love Thursdays with Abe.

In the art area, I haven't been doing much, but I have been working in my art journal. I will take photos of my journal work when complete- I am working on a specific asignment, one I got from SuziBlu. Her work is a very different style than mine, but her video challenges are very inspiring. This assignment is to do a journal entry on your"power animal", mola style. I am working on two different renderings of my totem animal. Bet you can guess what animal I am working with. Bet you can. I have actually been quite inspired by a number of artists doing YouTube videos on art journaling- not all of them are as wacky and fun as Suzi, but inspiring none-the-less.

Okay, off to get a handful of Ibuprofin, a pitcher of water, and maybe another quilt.
Hugs,
LB