Blabbering my way into spring

There is something special about south facing windows.

The morning sun is cheerful, intoxicating and invigorating. I cannot get enough. Kaitlyn is like I was when I was little and runs to sit in the warm patch of glowing light on the floor. She will drag toys and crafts to the slow moving sunny square and spend an hour or so basking and soaking.

Ethan is drawn to it as well although he usually gets annoyed after a few minutes and makes long squinty eyes and crinkles his nose before covering his face with his little hands and screeching.

Whew, take a breath. I know that should have been shorter and I am sure I could edit it but I really want to get  this out so I can go watch Dave fly his model helicopter around the room.

So unedited this post shall be.

It really is pricelessly funny to watch him chase the remote controlled helicopter all over the place. It seems to have a mind of it's own and often hits lights or gets tangled in the string for the blinds.The best part is watching Dave freak out and slam buttons wildly in an effort to get it under control.

Hmm, now I am wondering where this post was supposed to go. I really had nothing on my mind post wise that has to do with these photos.

Rather I have baby on the brain and art projects galore. 

I must really post all that later but I cannot sort it out clearly enough to get it out right now.

Instead here is one of the places my art goes.

This is the store where my art went after the show at the coffee shop ended.

They have been so kind and I cannot be thankful enough to them for displaying my art over the last year...or is it two now, I cannot remember. Yikes.  They really awesome there anyway!

I try to come up with pieces that compliment what they have on the floor and sometimes I fall in love with accessories or furniture there.

Like this orange sofa/chaise lounger/sectional. You can split it up how you like. I am not sure where it will go yet since we already have an orange shag carpet and next to that it might be a little much but I do see lots of giggles and stories and snuggles happening on it.

It also might fall out of style quickly but I really don't care.  It looks very slip coverable if we get sick of the color some day. Dave also doesn't think it is the most comfortable couch ever but the stretch out on it potential is huge!

And here is tiny glimpse at the second batch of three huge paintings (in progress last week) for a client in Texas. Which reminds me that I need to get a lot of stuff uploaded onto the art blog.

And now for a scary peek at our house. This is the real deal and why no one (except for my little sister) is allowed over right now.

We seem to find ways to go on living despite the mess and crazy overtake of bins from the basement.

Now for a few excuses as to why it looks this way.

- We have to move the furniture all out of the way when I work on large paintings so I can have  the floor space. (Dear studio, you cannot come soon enough!)

- I am tired and too busy to clean.

- the basement reno has forced everything upstairs.

- I slack in the house department when I am busy with orders.

Really I have no excuse. I am just this disorganized right now. Not only in the house but also in thoughts. I have been a terrible friend this winter. To real life friends, online friends and my imaginary ones in my head. Pregnancy is tough on me. I try really hard to enjoy it but I would rather cry. It hurts so bad. Sometimes the pain is so great I could throw up. My body aches and throbs endlessly. I am just not one of those happy glowy prego's, though I really wish I was.

If I could just get pregnant, feel a few kicks and pop the baby out all in less than a week I would be ecstatic!

Instant baby! What a dream.

However I feel terrible admitting this. I know the longing and ache for a baby. After the loss of our first baby the pain of wanting a child was ripping my heart apart.

The waiting to get pregnant process as we tried and tried was horrible.

But then the joy of the next pregnancy was amazing! It got me through the pain. 

In truth I feel like I should never utter a word of complaint since I have a friend who had 11 miscarriages before being able to carry one baby to full term.

I am ashamed that I do not enjoy being pregnant when it is something that I of course wanted and it is such a miracle.

When I look at the kids I am overwhelmed with gratefulness and love, every pain and ache is sooooo worth it but it doesn't keep me from wanting to cry and scream daily as I go through a pregnancy.

I am shutting up now, I said way more than I meant to but it just kinda spilled out.

Back to the house......sheesh!!

 I was talking about moving furniture and mess and stuff, so....

The nice thing is that the space created by the furniture being moved can also double as a dance floor to welcome spring.

And with out any more blabber, here is a little spring time dance. You might need to turn your computer volume way up to hear what they are dancing to (Dan Zanes).  

Happy spring!

Lots of belly pic next post....Dave took some tonight!

Chasing my 'tale'

We have been trying to get ready for our trip to Mexico. Fake and bake tans are in the works (not for the kids though) and working out has been on the mind.

However I am still packing on the pounds as the weeks close in. Then again, I do have an excuse. My thighs though, they are going to take a major beating (in the form of steep hills and a Wii board) after this baby is born!

Ethan has been having issues with the bright glare off the snow. I have searched high and low for his sporty shades and have turned up nothing. 

So he gladly sported  a pair of Kaitlyn's with no shame.

Since then funky blue and red 'Cars' shades have been purchased  for the dude. 
 

Now for a complete change of subject.

Oh, I should have warned you this was going to happen.

You see, when I don't post regularly (at least a few times a week) I start stockpiling thoughts and photos and next thing you know it all becomes a major mumble mumble of junk in my head.

so rather than post any of the stories siting in my sketch book or in my files I will once again just try to get caught up on daily life.

I am dying to share the bath tales that Kaitlyn has told and I hope to do it before the baby comes since it involves babies popping out of tummies and mommies not having enough hands.

It really is a post in itself so...soon.

Back to the catch up stuff.

Here is a photo I took of Kaitlyn. This is the un-edited and natural light shot.

I liked it, although to make up for the overcast lighting I could really bump up the exposure a little.

Then I decided to brighten it a bit and make it a B & W.

And then for fun I gave it a fantasy sheer glow.

These are the ones Kaitlyn has approved and would like printed. I am guessing they will end up in her room either taped with yards of masking tape to the walls or maybe with some arm twisting they could end up in one of her unused white frames.

I would rather use these two to frame but I like to give her some free reign in the decorating of her room.

And now Ethan.

This guy hates getting his picture taken. You would seriously think I was shooting him with laser rays or something. He turns his head and makes rude faces when he sees the camera so if you are wondering why there are more pictures of Kaitlyn it is because almost all the pictures of Ethan are of the back of his head.

Was that just a run on sentence?

If sure felt long winded!

The nice days have been , well, nice!

(changing subject again)

Puddles. I cannot tell you how well puddles go over here. 

Although today is snowy and cold, again, the rubber boots sit patiently by the door waiting for the next big thaw.

Another subject. My wildly creative daughter. Have I told you how much she hates her art class?  I do not blame her in the least since I find it rather painful to sit through art theory and the elements of drawing myself.

 The part that surprised me was her complete boredom and impatience when it comes to coloring or drawing. Rather she likes to create with clothing, "It's the fashion, mom!" Or with gluing and stickers and folding shapes. Clay sculpting or painting abstract art. 

When it comes to doing her pre school books she skips right to the puzzles, mazes, math and matching or sorting sections. Drawing and coloring sections go untouched.

I just never realized that all children do not love to color and draw. 

After the last art class (Kaitlyn walked out 10 minutes after it started exclaiming she was "just done!") I have a feeling that we will be spending the next few sessions playing tag and hide and seek in the halls.

I am just not going to push this one.

Rather I will encourage her creativity in her dancing, gymnastics (though she is pretty uncoordinated....like I was) and whatever else it is she seems to like.

I have a feeling Ethan might be the more artistic (paper wise) one. He enjoys scribbling and drawing big wheels. Time will tell.

For now he is pretty into his cars, trucks, tractors and trains. He wakes up, runs to the living room and dumps his bucket of cars on the floor. He has one in hand most of the day and then takes one to bed with him at night.

Oooo, ooo, ooo, yes! I almost forgot. Shoes!

The one thing that still fits, besides earrings.

The kids picked out new boots over the weekend and while they were napping in the truck after shopping I ran into a second hand store and found these.

10$ bucks baby!

Made my day!

By now you might be noticing a trend in the background of most of the photos. A big mess.

Every corner and wall is lined with junk.

No play dates here for a while. Well maybe a month. Carpet has been purchased and the old stuff is in the process of getting ripped out of the basement. I can hardly wait to get all the toys  and craft stuff back down there. 

I am a little afraid of the cleaning process once we get organized but I am super excited about the new storage system we have planned.

Another post there in itself. That one has to wait until the basement is completely done.

In the mean time we shift stuff around upstairs and mix lego, cars and dolls all together. It is fun for a few minutes but it takes an adult to figure out the cleaning up part.

Ah, ha. The one thing Kaitlyn will occasionally work on that is anything similar to drawing.

She hate to practice her printing but when she is bribed with something to trace she will comply. 

And she is quite proud.

Ethan works on his dots and curves.

And last but not least. Well maybe it is least. I do wish I had more energy and more hours in the day! Here is one of the 6 projects I am working on. None complete.

This is the main reason I have not been around. I am swamped.

I am happy about this. I love being booked and I love being busy. I haven't been able to get the last 8 paintings onto the art blog yet but after these projects are done I will get to work on that.

I think that I will be taking a break as well. No more orders until some other time.

I will compile a list and after the baby comes will evaluate it and my schedule.

I miss blogging, I miss reading, I miss sitting and not doing anything. I miss watching tv after the kids are in bed. However after two days in a row of any of those things I find myself back in front of a canvas coming up with something anyway.

Oh the circles we chase our own tails in!

Finally, drips off the eves

I started unloading all the photos off the camera's tonight and realized that between the two there are over 600 pictures. So, I have some editing to do. 

You may wonder why I am using both camera's. Well, I still carry the point and shoot in my pocket or bag since it is so handy and small.

Then when I am around the house and am up to lugging the heavy duty goody I use it. 

So there is a mixture of qualities but this is what is working for me these days.

Anyway, I will go through the photo's in batches from each camera. I know this will be a slight issue since there are similar photo's on both but...blah...blah...blah......

I don't even know why I am saying all this. Let's get on with the post already!

A few days ago it was -40C and we wondered if spring would ever come. The old frost bite patches on my cheeks burned when I went out and I could hardly stand the minute it took to get from the house to the truck.

On top of this I was having to suck in my gut the best I could and arch my back to get my zipper done up on my winter coat. 

So today when I finally looked out the window I saw water pouring off the eves and puddles on the road I was so excited.

Sweeeeeeet!

I pulled the inner shell out of my coat and went to zip it up.

It did not happen.

I hope spring is here for good because I don't fit my coat anymore. Not even close.

I pulled out my fall/early spring jacket and managed to get it zipped up, rather snuggly.

I am sure I looked hilarious but it worked to get me out of the house.

The kids were skeptical and granted they should have been. We only made it out 3 or 4 times all winter. Did you know we had a record of over 60 days with below -30C weather this winter?

I cannot even imagine what it must be like in the colder parts of the world. Those people must be tough! My hat is off to them because I was going nuts!

So with today's weather I couldn't wait to get out and begged and pleaded with the kids to come out and play.  They really weren't sure though. They stood at the window looking at the puddles and the dripping icicles then went back to playing.

Finally I dug out their fall jackets and then they got excited. It only took minutes and they were out the door to see if it was really that nice.

It was! Ethan had an issue with the glare off the snow and I wished I had dug out their sunglasses. 

However it did not hold them back from exploring and playing and soaking up hours of gloriously warm sunshine.

We walked to the playground, went for Slurpee's, splashed in puddles, dug in the snow and swung on the swings in the back yard.

The feeling of getting out and not having to worry about frozen fingers, toes or snot was liberating. Intoxicating! 

I just hope it keeps on melting like this. 

Then again I think I say that every year and we always manage to get another dump or two of snow and bad weather. I don't care though, I know spring is around the corner.....even if it takes until the middle of July for all the snow in the front yard to melt.

Day one of the melt is on and it has lifted my spirits higher than I though it ever could.

Happy spring!

Not feeling so glowy

Obviously I have to stop saying I am back. I keep falling off the blog wagon so I think until after this baby comes I am just going to say that whatever happens when it does will.

OK, I have now sat here thinking about how to really start this post for.....well, way too long. I am usually spilling over with stuff to say. 

I started writing about how tired and unmotivated I have felt lately, how messy our house is and how I feel overwhelmed with it.

 

Then I was going to share reno photo's but we are still working on it so now I don't know where to go with this.

My thoughts are just way to jumbled right now to get anything out properly so I think I'll just run through some photos and do my best.

Keeping busy and distracted is something we have been thriving on.

Magnets were on Kaitlyn's mind so we dug out magazines, glue, glass stones and  polymer clay.

Little people for little people.

Painting is always on our list as well. I think I have splatters on most of my clothes.  To tell the truth I used to worry  about this and wanting to look more put together when I go out but now I have come to terms with it and I know that it is really just a part of who I am.

This painting is now in the coffee shop, a replacement for the one that sold last week. 

Going in for tea when I have dropped off paintings is a treat the kids love.

However it doesn't last long since they think that exploring the shop is more fun then sitting and sipping.

Belly shot. 28 weeks.

Kaitlyn loves to craft and spends a large part of her day coming up with creations. One of the things she brought to me were these "finger clothes."

Ethan gets in on the crafting a bit too but would rather do puzzles, play trucks or scribble. 

Last week Dave (a.k.a. Cableman869) took us out for a treat. An afternoon at the spa.

After soaking and splashing for a few hours in the pool we headed down to the dining room for dinner. Kaitlyn fell asleep half way through her meal, Ethan faked it.

It was really an awesome surprise treat, and what I want to say is ''Thank you" to Dave. I haven't been showing him enough how much I appreciate him.

Hormones are messing with my moods and I just don't do or say what I should. I am just not one of those glowy  radiant pregnant women. Rather I am sore and moody. 

But Dave really pulls through and picks up were I cannot and deals with my moods. I cannot thank him enough.

I guess that is it. I am off to sort through my thought. Sorry for the boring post, I really am just not myself tonight. Night all!