What??? More black walls?

Awww- how sweet- we were both wearing brown, so had to take a picture. Go check out Dave's blog today- he posted about the abstract. Thank you, Darlin :) :)

Having fun with the Mod Podge. A switch plate gets a makeover.

YES- more black walls!!!!!!!!!!!!! And more patchwork!!!!!!!! I am so happy with the chalkboard walls. I cannot tell you how much I love them.

If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would have black walls in my kitchen?!? I would have laughed! But here we are- and the reason it works is because I have light colored floors, light colored cabinets, white counter tops, and 8 windows. So- we have done a wall at a time and now all walls are black except the eating area. (I promise to share all of the photos of that as soon as I take them).
And just a small little picture of the baby of the fam. Sadie, our favorite puppy. We went to the park today and she did such a good job on the leash! Way to go, Sadie!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend :)

another Sarah and her art house

When I saw Sarah's blog and her decoupage projects, I thought to myself, "this is a true kindred spirit!" The scrapbook paper! The funky, colorful, patchwork decoupage projects! The house numbers! The stars! The mod podged phone! I love it! Keep up the good work, Sarah! Check out Sarah's blog- Blue Castle.

Speaking of Mod Podge- Amy has a great, informative post all about the different types of Mod Podge- check it out!

From A to ......K......::painting the church nursery::

To have such a large blank canvas! So fun! It took me a few weeks to get an idea- then it is the matter of taking the first stroke- you cannot have any fear! There were so many things that could have gone wrong- you don't know how many times I have had to start a new canvas at home because of a spelling mistake. But praise the Lord- there have been no spelling mistakes on the wall yet! Your mind does funny tricks on you too-- when I painted the big blue "J" on the wall I panicked and thought it was backwards.

Eventually the whole alphabet will be up there- please help me think of a good picture for "M". I do not want to paint a Mouse- (although Micky Mouse would be kinda cute). Each letter has a verse that starts with that letter.

Here are the ideas for the rest of the letters:
L- lolly pop
M-??
N- Nest
O- octopus, (or OBE as our 7 yr old suggested- "what's that?? An instrument!- Oh! The oboe?!)
P- pig, or pie?
Q- quilt
R- Rainbow
S- strawberry
T- tree
U- umbrella
V- violet???
W- watermelon
X- xylophone
Y- yellow?
Z- zebra, or zipper (I don't do well painting zebras)

Any ideas you have would be great! As you can tell, I like painting any kind of food or candy- bugs are good; any thing that would make a small child happy.

get your **Christmas** orders in

Still going strong on the 'trust' theme
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Christmas in July----if you need to order a custom painting for a Christmas present get your order in now! I have a list of work that will take me up til the middle of November- so I can only take 4 more orders before Christmas. After those 4 slots are filled anything ordered after will be done for you in 2010.

THANKS so much to my customers. I honestly have the best customers and I am thankful for you!!!!! Thanks for giving me new verses to paint & new colors to try! Thanks for coming back for more- that blesses my heart more than you can know.

I have been thinking a lot lately how my little business has come to be-- at first I did not want to do custom work at all! I wanted to do my own thing. But here and there I would paint something and someone would want one for their mom or sister, things have evolved from there. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to know that my art is hanging in your homes! Even more than that- 80% of my work has God's Word on it. If I can help someone meditate on the Word or share the Word with others- that is priceless.

So, thanks! And make sure to get your order in ASAP! I love you all, but cannot take "just one more Christmas order- for my favorite Aunt's cousin" on Dec 20th :) :).....especially when that is the day I start my Christmas shopping --I am going to try and be better this year.

Painting the Bathroom

Painting the church bathroom has been really, really fun. I want the trees in our house too--now just to decide where?!?!

very fuzzy photo- but you get the idea.

mod podge, more on homeschool, banana bread, & bubble baths

I have a new friend and her name is Amy. Amy has a very cute blog all about Mod Podge!!!!! Not only that- she sent me a whole goody box full of Mod Podge in every flavor :) Thanks, Amy- I cannot wait to try them all!!!!!!

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Here are some homeschool mom posts found around the web that might be of interest & inspiration to you:
Darcy
Melissa
Jen
Heather

I am a little nervous about this year; homeschooling a 3rd grader and a 1st grader with the 3 year old in tow. But with God all things are possible, right? Fun things are in store.......

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Friday afternoons are often when I have a little breakdown. It has been a week with the kids and responsibilities and cleaning and things getting dirty that were just cleaned, etc. etc. The end to a very good and busy week. Dave knew just what I needed and told me I could go and be by myself. I took a 3 hour bubble bath. Isn't that hilarious? 3 hours. (I took my laptop in there, set it on the counter and watched a movie). Meanwhile {as I was turning into a prune} Dave baked the best banana bread ever and brought me a warm piece with butter on it. All is better with the world!

I am truly, truly thankful for the family and job that God has given me. I could not be more blessed. And I realize the selfishness when I am not content and fed up with the "constant kidish-ness" that comes with normal parenting. Sometimes a little break is all we need to be reminded of the blessings. Thanks, Dave for the break (and for the bread....and butter :)

free piano music

Dave is working on a new quiet piano CD. His last one is beautiful and very relaxing. You can go here to listen and download this new song for free. (what I do is go and turn it on and then open a new tab to do whatever work I need to on the computer all the while listening to the soothing music)

Great job, Darlin! Can't wait til it is finished!!!

New to this blog? Want to go behind the scenes at the mincymedia corp? Read on...

homeschool & the best moments

Colors by Jorge Lujan & Piet Grobler

It seems "back to school" is on every one's mind these days. The first half of summer you don't talk about it- then the middle part you dread it- then the second half you start to get excited to teach your children again. Not that the teaching ever stops for anyone- homeschool parent or not. But the formal schooling begins for us in a little over a month.

I started to look through the school books and got excited all over again. We use almost all BJU press curriculum. It has worked well for us so far and I really, really like some aspects; the phonics program (in my opinion) is very strong. Both of our boys have no problem reading and comprehending what they read. Our 6 year old has followed in his brother's footsteps and now picks up chapter books to read for enjoyment.

I know there are a ton of great books out there and different programs- but for right now our kids are learning and we all are {for the most part} enjoying it!

Colors by Jorge Lujan & Piet Grobler

We add a lot of other reading material to our regular curriculum- trips to the library and field trips, and I have a stash of art books that we will never get all the way through.....

That is our program in a nutshell.

The most exciting and profitable part of the day we have kept going through the summer...and that is our Bible & story time. This happens after we have gotten up and dressed and done with most of the chores. The kids and I sit in the living room- usually all piled up on one couch. We start by reading the Patch the Pirate devotional book that the kids have to work through for their Patch club at church. I LOVE this devotional book. It has a verse for each day where the kids have to look in their Bible to fill in the blanks. Then there are a few paragraphs explaining the verse. Followed by a suggestion on what to pray about...such as; "this verse tells us how much God loves us- tell God today how thankful you are for that love".

Colors by Jorge Lujan & Piet Grobler...again

This book just gives us a jumping off place to have a good prayer time and discussion about the verse and what it means. After we all pray together we read a favorite chapter book (and our 3 year old has gotten better each day and will now sit just as enraptured by the book as the boys). We will also read a few picture books...(and during the school year- some other reading such as a history book)

Table Manners by Chris Raschka & Vladimir Radunsky

My kids are 7 (almost 8), 6, and 3...and I have to say that one of their favorite parts of the day is to sit by mom and read! There are some days when I wake up and wish I could go on vacation....I want to be away from the kids! But when we sit down to read--things are right again with the world. These times are the sweet memories that we will keep forever.

Table Manners by Chris Raschka & Vladimir Radunsky

Now I do not know if this is mainly because I love to read --and if you are more into, say- cooking or shooting hoops in the driveway- maybe that would be the time for some good bonding. And we do have other times of bonding- but this is the easiest and best for us- there is no preparation necessary- except to make sure you have good books, the Bible, and/or a devotional book on hand.

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OK- now your turn--what is your favorite part of homeschooling? OR --what is your favorite way to bond with your kid?

sidewalk paint

This recipe is from Crystal's blog. Mix 1/4 cup water with 1/4 cup corn starch. Add food color. Stir. Paint sidewalk.

Have fun! Make sure you paint your leg blue- that seemed to make it extra fun.

Poor Sadie- she is still suffering the effects of painting with a 3 year old.

Greensboro

Dave had a great weekend in Greensboro, NC at Faithway Baptist Church. He was there Fri pm, Saturday, Sunday, and the kids and I came to see him on Sunday pm.
What a beautiful, old church this was! We enjoyed the service so much. Their choir had practiced many songs with Dave and they sang beautifully.

Some good friend of ours that we had gone to church with in the past! Ralph and Doris. (Ralph is the one who refinished our kitchen table). Dave got to go to their house for lunch and eat all these delicious homemade/garden fresh dishes. Yes, I am jealous- the kids and I ate at cookout for lunch :)

Marilou and Rolando drove up with us and that was fun! They spoil the kids rotten and the kids love them. We went to Red Robin afterwards and I had the most wonderful meal ever (why does it always come back to food?!?) Anyway, I had the Chicken Tortilla soup and it was SO GOOD- and then I had a refillable root beer float (Marilou made me do it- honest)- and got a refill too! (don't worry, that was Sunday- the day before my diet :)

A big thanks to the kind people of Faithway Baptist for taking care of Dave for the weekend - and allowing him to share his music and testimony with you.

I also met a very sweet girl who has an etsy shop! How fun to meet a fellow artist! You can see her beautiful file folders HERE. (what a great idea!)

cooking with butter--couldn't be better.....

I have a lot of cookbooks and cooking magazines. It gets a little overwhelming. Have you ever decided to try a new recipe, gotten all of the ingredients and then couldn't remember where you saw that recipe? (OK all of you organized people stay out of this :)

So my big idea is to take one cookbook per week, look through it and make the week's menu using this one book. It has been fun and made us branch out and try new things.

This week it has been the Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys & Girls- the 1982 edition. (Liz B. do you remember Beth giving this to me for a b-day gift???....what a great gift along with bowl, spatula and ingredients to make the marshmallow puffs)

The recipes are fun for the kids to make and reminiscent of childhood treats of the 80's. My kids liked the idea of the Porcupine salad - but didn't like the cream cheese mixture on the bottom- so if you make it; you could leave that out- the photo tells the important details- the quills are slivered almonds.
The marshmallow puffs are good. I have to share the recipe with you. This is the kind of thing where if you are desperate one night at about 9:30 and have no treats, you could make this and be happy :)
Marshmallow Puffs
18 large marshmallows
36 Nilla wafers
3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
3 tbsp. butter

Cut 18 marshmallows in half with scissors. Arrange the Nilla wafers on a cookie sheet. Place one marshmallow cut side down on each wafer. Bake at 350 for 4 minutes (until marshmallows puff but before they begin to tip over). Refrigerate the cookies on the cookie sheet for 10 min. Heat the choc. chips and butter over low heat until melted. Dip the tops of the cooled cookies into the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate 15 min. until set.

cutting the marshmallows

(I just found out via spell check that it is Marshmallows...I ALWAYS thought it was marshmellows)
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Now it is Monday morning and I am on a diet again (every Monday morning I start off strong and then it goes down hill from there :) :) Hope you have a fabulous Monday- eat at least one treat :)

Our Very Own Modern Day Holly Hobbie

2 different styles.....

I must be having trust issues- do you see a theme going in these 3 paintings??? Dave and I were talking last night about how the Lord is our Shepherd- He is the one who leads us to the grass and water (and whatever we need)- we just have to trust in Him! What a great God that we have to trust in.

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The abstracts are always fun to paint. I have no deep dark secrets when I am painting - just fun with color- swirling it around and seeing what will come of it. When it is finished, however, we seem to find lots of hidden pictures. Here we see (if you sort of divide the picture in the middle horizontally) a reflecting lake surrounded by trees. And there is the lady in the middle with the black shirt with white stripes....kinda fun to look at.

This is Dave's painting and he likes it. He likes this style of painting the best. I know this is the kind of art that some people don't get- but if it makes my husband happy and if he enjoys sitting and looking at it- I know I have been successful :)

What is your favorite style of art? Abstract? Folk art? Still Life? other?

Oh! By the way- my friend Melissa at A Familiar Path is giving away one of my prints! It is a fun post where you get to pick a caption for a funny photo she took and you will be eligible to win!

patchy paintings

Isn't this the sweetest poem for an adopted child???

This painting is entitled, I Wish I Could Quilt
(on sale in the etsy shop)

Have a happy Thursday evening!