My Ebenezer

  I never imagined that this hummingbird would reawaken my desire to be an artist, but it did. I drew this hummingbird in June and posted it to my Instagram account, and a friend from high school (hi, Natasha!) messaged me and asked if I'd ever consider selling my art, because she was interested in this one.   I read her message, turned off my phone, and thought about it. I closed my eyes and had an actual flashback to that dismal day in college my sophomore year when, as they did for all aspiring Studio Art majors, the art department voted on my portfolio and decided that I was welcome to "change directions and pursue a degree in Art Education, but [I] lacked the determination necessary to make it as a studio artist." That verdict became a self-fulfilling prophecy; totally squashing all my desire to be an artist. I closeted my art supplies and didn't draw another thing until my mid-twenties. Then the Lord so graciously answered my prayers for children, and I had them...

Seth, age 7

I struggle to balance my life. The things I have to do versus the things I want to do. I have identified a very addictive streak in my personality, which becomes almost obsessive when awakened. Take this puzzle I recently completed for example:  It's a Norman Rockwell painting that was printed into a puzzle, and I just love the subject matter--it's so humorous. But it. was. hard!! So hard, in fact, that I hope I never have to take this puzzle apart. It may just have to live in our schoolroom because I can't bear the thought of all that effort going back in its box in fragments. I don't know how long it took me to do this puzzle, but I do know that for the last several days I have spent almost every spare second poring over its 1,000 pieces. My eyes ached in their sockets and I repeatedly lost track of the time--a rarity for me.  All that blue and green! All those skin tones! All that car trim! And in this puzzle, the pieces are not evenly-shaped and patterned in a ...

You know when the electricity goes out suddenly and unexpectedly, and it's kind of cool for the first hour or so? You light candles, you might pull out a card game, you imagine what it must have been like for people before electricity was a given.  And then, along about hour three of the power outage, it starts to get Really. Old.  That is how the current worldwide quarantine feels to me. I'm not even going to explain about the Coronavirus since I can't imagine you not knowing about that already. A couple of weeks ago the government began clamping down one freedom, and then another, until what we're left with is the order to just stay at home.  Social Distancing. The whole world, it seems, has been ordered by the powers that be to stay at home except for absolute necessities like food, medicine, or doctor visits.  And just like that, everything from the way the world learns, worships, shops, works, eats, and lives has been freedom-restricted. I'm not saying whether...

Once or twice a month Jen and her kids come over for art and geography. We have certainly come a long way since the early days  of doing this! For example, this year we have been able to use paint in almost every lesson. (When we first began the kids were ages 3-7, and there was no way we were painting! Far too messy!) For our Christmas art class we usually make ornaments, and for the class before Valentine's Day we make Valentine cards.  Here were a few of the samples I made to spark the kids' imaginations: Actually, never mind. I just have the one example. My phone is trying to send the other pictures, but it's bogging down and taking forever. Nobody has time to wait for that! If they arrive sometime today, I'll try to load them onto this post. This fish one is what I'm planning to give to Josh for Valentine's Day.

I recently had the opportunity to complete this hummingbird, which had been sitting in my sketchbook half-finished for months. What joy God gives me in drawing, and I have to believe I enjoy only a sliver of the joy He felt when He formed these beautiful little birds. All those colors competing for top billing in a bird hardly bigger than an insect! I'm hoping to draw more birds as time allows, and maybe start giving them away as gifts more often.

"What should I get our moms for Mother's Day?" I asked Josh. He's used to this question; neither of us is very good at gift-giving. This is not because we don't want to give gifts. No, this is because we both have a perfectionist vein which deeply desires to give The Perfect Gift. As early as a month prior to an occasion we begin investing much thought into what we should give, and then dismiss several decent options because they're just okay. We can't give a gift that is just okay. We need the PERFECT ONE! Meanwhile the date in question marches ever steadily closer. Finally, in a desperate attempt to give something before it's too late--because we still haven't arrived at The Perfect Gift-- we... (wait for it).... go to Amazon and order a gift card that we then email to the person the day of the celebration. Nailed it! *rolls eyes*  So, if you've been one of our lucky Amazon gift card recipients, this is why. It is because we love you f...

The artist in me and the mom in me frequently do battle, and I must admit it is usually the mom side of me that wins. I value No Messes at the cost of Artistic Expression almost every time. Good thing I didn't know Seth was getting out paints and paintbrushes, because in the midst of my dinner-prepping, I would have said no to painting right then for sure. But look what we would have missed out on!

Josh has been encouraging me to develop some interests I have, and not be so burnt out with the daily work that I have. Laundry, dishes, and dusting will always be there waiting for me, so I might as well take a little time for some relaxation. It's about balance, right? I signed up for a drawing class online ($15!!) and I can go at my own pace, which so far has meant a lesson about every three weeks or so. I'm not going to set any time records, but that's okay. Here's what I've done so far in the class:

I had the option in college to major in Art Education, but at the time all the education classes steered me away from that option.  Little did I know.  And now, 12 years after graduation, I am teaching Art twice a month to our little homeschool group--which consists of Noah and his Jacksonville cousins.  We have had 2 classes so far, and it's going well.  It's a bit of a challenge because I have ages 2-7 in my "class", but we do manage to have ourselves some fun, even if I do often lose the four-year-old to the greener pastures of the toy trucks. Today we did fingerprint art... Titus made "blocks" out of his fingerprints.  See him eyeing the trucks in the next room?  I get you, Titus! Libby had fun making lots of different colored fingerprints Brianne immediately decided to make flowers, and they turned out beautifully! (Hey, where's Titus?  Can you guess?) And Noah worked on a hand "tree" with fingerprint "leaves....

This coming Tuesday marks the end of this year's 49th week!  What have the last few weeks been like for us?  Well, busy.  I've not been taking a whole lot of photos, but I've been dying to blog again.  And while my inner perfectionist cringes at the thought of missing whole weeks at a time of this 365 project and doesn't know where to begin to get back on track, I think I'll just jump in and start here. This little man turned ONE YEAR OLD on November 19! This was his cake.   This little man went swimming on Thanksgiving Day and lived to tell about it! :)  The air temp and water temp were about the same: 62ish degrees.  Brrrr!! I affectionately call this Seth's Downward-Facing Dog (that's a yoga position which looks just like this).  He does this an awful lot for reasons I can only begin to guess. I made this for a family in our church who asked me if I would.  They asked in July and I just now finished it.  *h...

I am enjoying having a working camera in my possession again!  After hemming and hawing over my options, and coming to grips with the fact that we couldn't spend the money on my "dream" camera, I settled on a Canon Powershot, which has been working out marvelously. Our other new purchase over the last couple of weeks was a hammock for our backyard, which has provided hours of pleasure, plenty of entertainment, and one black eye. Yep.  Didn't get a picture of Noah's shiner (it happened prior to the new camera), but here are the pics from the rest of this past week! :) Mr. Seth has begun the yellow vegetables.  Here he is chowing down some squash.  Loved. It. Noah out by the hammock Noah's latest craze: making funny faces.  He asked me to make a funny face so he could take a picture.  I think I can do better than that next time! :) We finished Gulliver's Travels (much to my relief!  That book was not one of my favorites.) and bega...

I'm feeling pretty redundant that I keep saying, "This week was a pretty normal week" and then proceed to show you photos of the "same song, second verse" if you know what I mean.  That said, I am so thankful that most of our weeks roll pretty much the same way, and so full of the Lord's blessings.  I just hope those of you out there who read this don't get tired of all the sameness from week to week. Soccer practice!  What crazy weather we're having, though, I must say.  Last week was freezing, then I see this photo, taken on a beautiful evening with temps in the 70's, and as I type this today, it's back down in the 50's again.  I had Brianne, Titus, and Libby over one morning.  After a morning of playing hard, they vegged out for a bit watching a movie while I made lunch. Kindergarten art!  LOVE it!  Can you tell what it is? Look closely, and you'll see it says "Car Insurance"  Well, actually, it says, ...