peacock

movie night | jumangi

We headed over to the Tendler’s house Friday night for dinner and movie. It was the perfect ending to a busy week. They sure know how to do a movie night. They have a huge projection screen in their basement and it doesn’t get much better than that.  We watched Jumangi which is a family favorite!
The girls made brownies and they waited for Sarah to all frost them together. They put their initials in that yummy chocolate icing. Silly girls!

kiss me kate

I really do love the theater. I can go see anything and I drag my family along with me. Well, I drag the girls. B agrees to join us for some of the shows. About half. The girls seem to enjoy it as much as I do…or at the very least they are getting some great acting experience because it really seems like they like it too.
Tonight we ventured up north to the Candlelight Theater to see Kiss Me Kate. I love when I don’t know much about the show before going. That was the case tonight and I was excited to read it was set in the 1940’s and based on a production of Taming of the Shrew. 
Gwyneth and I read Taming of the Shrew together this summer. I have mixed feelings about that story. I appreciate the story but don’t love the ending. I had to get past that for the show though and really enjoyed this production. 
How cute are these little ladies? They clean up pretty well! 
We had great seats. Front row!
This girl has so much sass, but she sure is cute. I’m going to be happy that she put on a dress for me and didn’t even complain about it. 

roller skating

The girls and I usually paint together on Wednesday while B is waiting for customer pick ups. This week the girls were invited to go roller skating with Sarah and didn’t want to miss the fun.  Sarah’s church rents out the entire roller rink and they nearly had the place to themselves. 
Annabelle’s foot is doing so much better and she is finally out of the boot. It was so nice to see her out there having some fun and being her good ol’, active, sporty self again. 
Connie snapped this photo of Gwyneth and Sarah. We had a really lovely time catching up while the girls skated. I just wish I wouldn’t have talked so much and grabbed a few pictures myself. 

back to the grind

There’s always a price to pay for the fun, huh? I had the most lovely, relaxing weekend with my family. My studios were closed on Sunday so my phone was quiet. It’s usually buzzing through out the day and I’m never quiet disconnected from work regardless of where I am. This Sunday there were no work calls or texts and it was a delight that I can’t even put properly into words.

I returned on Monday to a pretty rough studio. The busy, busy spring break week had taken it’s toll and my Orchards studio was in need of some serious TLC. To add to the madness I had some employee scheduling issues so I rolled up my sleeves and committed to opening and closing that studio.

My fabulous family brought me dinner and stuck around to help out. They were a huge help. They washed dishes, stocked shelves, took out what seemed like endless boxes and trash. I wish I would have snapped some photos of the before and after because it was quite a transformation. I’m very grateful for my crew and I’m certain we will all sleep well tonight.

decades day

Today was decades day at school and the girls rocked it! 
They got to pick the fashion from whatever decade they wanted. They did some research at school with their teachers and classes and we talked a bit about it at home. I was pushing for flappers and poodle skirts because we had some old Halloween costumes, but these girls had their minds made up already.
Gwyneth was set on the radical 80’s. From the lace gloves to the legwarmers this girl knew exactly how she wanted to rock this look. She did a pretty great job putting this outfit together.

Annabelle was all about peace, love, and flower power. She too was pretty passionate about what she wanted to wear. I think she made a pretty groovy hippie!

music festival

Annabelle spent two very long days practicing for the music festival this weekend. She spent nearly 10 hours a day between the drive up and back and the practices. She joined a group of about 300 kids who sang, played handbells, and instruments for the show on Saturday.
Ella joined us for the evening performance because….well, that’s what these girls do. They are the best of sweet friends and look for any opportunity to hang out together. 
Annabelle did a great job and sang her little heart out. Whenever she made eye contact with me I would make a goofy face at her and she would crack up. She pretended like it was embarrassing, but I know she loved it…right?
I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of Annabelle but she’s in this crowd if you can find her. 

painting | crystals

Our Wednesday art adventures continue! I must admit I’m having as much fun as the girls. The ideas are flowing right now and I have several weeks of projects for us already planned. I can’t wait to share them all. Check back with me in a few months…it may be a very different story…
This week we painted bisque “peeps”. The only thing I may enjoy more than these little guys are actual Peeps. They remind me so  much of Easter as a kid. Even as an adult my mom still spoils us with peeps. I think you either love them or hate them – I’m definitely in the love them camp!

 We tried out a new technique painting with underglaze crystalites. Oh my goodness, the underglaze is messy, messy, messy! We had it everywhere but managed to get a little on our bunnies too.

The crystals in the glaze “explode” in the kiln when they are fired and create amazing patterns. It’s hard to envision what they will look like when they are fired, but you just have to trust the process a bit. That can be a challenge for kids. Honestly, it’s a challenge for adults too.

Love the mess of it all!

I can’t wait to see how all these bunnies turn out!

The absolute best part of these artsy days is the time we spend together. It has evolved into so much more than a few hours of painting together. On Wednesdays they hop in the car and the first thing they ask is “what are we painting today?”. There is so much excitement for our afternoon together. They are eager to learn and be creative. There is a lot of patience and kindness and love at our little painting table… and let me tell ya, that ain’t a small thing around there.

As promised, Bunnies post kiln firing. 
They turned out so much better than I expected. We love, love, love them!

spring break and st patty’s

I like to think as a family we’re pretty good at adventures. We may not travel to the most exotic locations, but we always have a little something fun on our calendars. 
I have no idea what it is about spring break that just doesn’t seem to work for me. I always feel like I’m dropping the ball. I have grand plans for Disneyland, a beach, a mountain get away….and then we end up in Aurora, Colorado. Ha! 
As I was typing this I was wondering if that above statement was reality or insecurity. I looked back at previous Spring Breaks on this blog. We’ve been to Capitola, stayed home, Disneyland,  Breck and Vail. We’ve had variety. Not all years have been grand adventures, but they haven’t been a bust. Why am I so insecure about spring break???

I had some unexpected mishaps occur at my studios and I was grateful to be home to tackle them. B and I balanced our hectic work schedules and were able to each spend time with the girls. We didn’t have much family time all together during the week, so as I was heading down to Southlands for the weekend we decided to get a room for the family. I worked (I narrowed down 42 applications to 9 interviews and eventually hired 5 new employees in one very exhausting but efficient day!) while  the girls swam. We were able to have dinner and the evening together which was more than I could have hoped for after a trying day. I’m so grateful for a supportive husband and this little family that sticks together so passionately. 
My sweet little swimmers
Dinner at Mt Fuji, which Annabelle graciously agreed to try again because she has not enjoyed it in the past. 
That onion volcano sure is a shocker. 
The Tyler’s invited us for a St. Patty’s celebration. We stayed the night because we didn’t want to be on the roads with anyone who may have had a few too many green beers. The girls were thrilled to have some time with those little puppies they love so much. We always have such a blast with the Tyler’s and this evening was no exception. Lance and Sheila are the hosts with the mosts! 😉

painting | bubbles and stencils

It’s spring break so I offered the girls a reprieve from our weekly painting session. They were not having it. They wanted to paint and they even asked to invite a friend along. 
This week we painted with bubbles. I wasn’t very confident with this technique. These girls were super patient as we worked out the best mix of paint, water, and soap. They loved blowing the bubbles and created super cool backgrounds for their “Under the Sea” stencils. I’m loving the little plates that they created. 
Completed masterpieces. They did so great!

spring break | girls day

I let the girls choose our activities for the day and they requested a trip to Barnes and Noble to spend gift cards. We spent way longer than I anticipated at the book store but everyone left with way more books than anticipated as well. Naturally they just wanted to spend the entire afternoon reading. That’s my kind of day. 
Afterwards they requested lunch at Olive Garden. I agreed mostly because B really can’t stand it and it kind of makes me giggle that they like it so much.