Yet another new Art Hobby

We had the best of Good Times this week as we went camping at Silver Creek Falls State Park, just outside of Silverton, Oregon. It has become a tradition in our family to spend Alice's birthday (which also happens to be the first day of summer) up there, sort of as a practice run for any trips we may take later in the season. I can't believe we are home again already, but I took a bunch of photos and have been having fun reliving the moments as I edit them.

I think this is one of the best photos I have ever created. It is actually a digital composite of a series of photos I took at the base of South Falls, the tallest Fall in the park at 177 feet. I am slowly learning some of the more intricate tricks my imaging program can perform -- too fun!

If I keep on at this rate, I will NEVER get "caught up" with my scrapbooking though. grumblegrumble...

The Falls are my favorite spot on the planet (so far!) and I am thrilled to have finally, after 24 years of photographing them, gotten an image that approximates the beauty of the actual place. The next time we go to the park, I will have to try the same trick with North Falls, which is my favorite of the 10 in the canyon.

The conditions on this day were perfect. I hope this picture makes you feel as I did at that moment -- as if I were standing in the middle of a bowl of golden light.

This one isn't quite so good. I think there was just too great a difference in the light conditions between where I was standing (UNDER the waterfall!) and what I was trying to photograph. Nevertheless, I think it is cool that I have finally discovered a way to capture the entire view -- from below my feet to high above my head -- in a single image.

Now, if this had been Lower South Falls, I would have been close enough to the water to put my hand in it.

Some day I will go back without the dogs (unfortunately, no pets are allowed in the canyon) and attempt to capture ALL the falls. What a wall display THAT will make!

Why I Don't Make Teddy Bears...

Will you just look at this poor little creature?? Too much blush, bad embroidery, and, to add insult to injury, his little ears are SO out of alignment. His nose could have used another line or two of stitching, and his eyes aren't indented evenly.

On the other hand, after an afternoon's work in front of a movie -- one of my last solo afternoons before my girls are out of school for the summer -- he is finally assembled and no longer lying in fragments under my cutting table where he has lived since approximately 1998. This is definitely a Good Thing.

All the "quickly doable" old projects from under the table have now been completed. I am longing to begin something new, but there are still quite a few dolls to be worked on. Most of them are pretty cool too, so it's not as if I don't *want* to finish them. (Except maybe that white/white doll who is causing me so much grief -- WHY does she hate everything I do for her??)And I really do NEED to get these girls out of my work space if I ever want to have any hope of sanity in there.

It's way more fun to start something new though, LOL!

I do not need another hobby.
That being said, I had 22 years of photographs that needed re-archiving (is that a word?) and so I went -- reluctantly! -- down the scrapbooking road. OK, I confess, I love stickers!

Now I have gotten into digital scrapbooking. As much as I love my scissors and glue (and stickers!), I have to say that this is way more fun.

What is it about the computer screen that I find SO addicting? Honestly, I can (and have!) sit here for hours! Maybe it's because computer stuff makes me feel smarter. hehehe...

It is also something of an "instant gratification" thing, as these are so much faster and more fun to do. I know, I know... they are VERY basic layouts, but I find that I actively dislike the current trend of throwing everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink in with a simple photograph in a layout. TOO MUCH!

On the other hand, now I'm afraid I have developed a desire for a copy of Photoshop...

Please welcome "Poppy"

I am working on overcoming my chronic "Fear of Finishing". It is very common for me to get to a certain point in a successful project and then freeze -- I don't dare touch it again for fear of ruining it. Hence, the pile of nearly completed objects under my cutting table...

This morning I forced myself to pick up this former "Baby so Beautiful" and finish her. I managed to do some minor damage to her wings, but I FINISHED her ANYWAY. I am tickled to death with her -- her customizations are totally out of my own head. I probably would have done things differently if I had had a "real" plan before beginning, but hey, I learned a few things to try on the next one. And there will be a next one -- this is too much fun. The new victim is getting her bath at this very moment.

So here she is. Please meet "Poppy", the flower fairy. I had an interesting time getting a photo of her -- I think her green skin confused my photo editing software, LOL. These colors are pretty true.

The detail that gets the most smiles is the little spider and web in the upper right of her bustier.

I think she wants something in her hands, but no ideas are coming to me yet.

I had to use my largest drill bit to make the holes to insert her wings. THAT was scarey! Now that I look at the photos, I think I want to add some more of the microbead tattoos to her back. The rear view is a little skimpy compared to the front...

I really like the closure on her bustier. Even my daughters now admit that she looks sweet in it.

The green and orange fabrics are silk charmeuse from my stash that were part of a Kool-Aid dying experiment years ago. I LOVE that shade of orange -- I knew I would find just the right project for it one day!

Now, does anyone have any tips on how to glue on a wig without getting glue all over the hair???

This poor baby has spent the last 10 or so years in the bottom of my daughter's toy box. She is a grimy mess, but isn't she pretty??

Roses come to mind immediately as a flower for her, but I think I want to let that stew for a little while. She has such exotic coloring that perhaps a more exotic flower (or butterfly?) would be more fun...

Fairy Baby update

She is completely painted now -- it was SO hard to stop. I was just having way too much fun. Dinner became nothing more than pita burgers as I completely lost track of time. Bless my family! They understand that when I am "in the zone" I am useless for much of anything else and are usually willing (and hungry enough) to eat what gets shoved in front of them.


Here is a close up of her face. I am pleased with the way her tattoos show in the photo as they are quite subtle in real life. The highlight on her lower lip is not so pale however. I think it's just the way the vinyl is catching the light from the window.

Didn't her skin tone turn out great?!




I'm about half way done with her costume. The plan is for her to be a little goth-ish flower fairy. Is that too big a contradiction? Her wings still need a few more embellishments -- I need to take a photo of the back view so you can see how they blend into her body. It was scarey drilling the holes to insert the wings. It took the biggest bit I have to make a hole large enough. They looked HUGE, but a little more Aves around the hole and blended into her skin holds the wings nicely stable.

Her tights fit perfectly, and the underbodice is just the right color. In spite of my daughters' protests ("She's a baby Mom!") she will have a bustier of lavender silk dupioni embroidered with silk ribbon, and then an underskirt of "flower petals" made of silk dyed with Kool-Aid.

I can't wait for her wig to get here.

Honestly, I haven't had this much fun on a project in years.

I painted my little fairy girl last night. Oooohhh, that made for a bad moment just at first. She turned out WAY too green, AND her wig melted in the oven. (Oh dear!) On the other hand, the wig will be easy enough to replace (I didn't like it much anyway,) and the vinyl softened up enough to pop her head off to make her easier to work with. All is not lost after all!

I added a second wash of paint, this time a pale flesh color, which toned down the green nicely. Then yet another wash of a rosy/lavender/flesh to blush, and then some final touches of blue in the creases. Very fairy-esque! All she needs now are her tattoos. Still thinking those should be gold...

The tights are made from a striped T-shirt -- I honestly thought I had matched the stripes better than that. It's amazing how photography shows up flaws that I just don't notice otherwise. I've got her bustier made except for the eyelets. Her skirt is cut out and the wings are in progress. This little girl is addicting!

Here are the photos I promised of my white-on-white doll in progress. The glare in the photo washes out the nice tones of the silk her gown and robe are made of, which is too bad, but turning off the flash robbed her face and hair piece of their detail. Sigh...

She is made from a Kezi's "Dollmaker's Angel" pattern, which has a lovely realistic body, but weird arms and legs. It's as is she can't decide whether to be an art or a play piece. Fortunately, her clothing hides the flaws and hangs nicely from her body.

I lost the instructions for making her wings, so I am using the instructions from an online class I took this spring from Jean Bernard. These wings made of shredded crystal organza and floral wire. The upper wire is reinforced with Aves. I still have the painting and glitter and bead embellishments to add -- these are labor intensive wings!

I will be so So SO happy to finish this doll. She isn't nearly as much fun as I had hoped.

Second Post

I am having some weird episodes with my internet connection lately, so I split today's entry in order to just get SOMETHING up on the blog. It's been a while since I've had a chance to post, and these interruptions are becoming quite frustrating...

Here is my little Goodwill baby with her ears and toes sculpted. I have painted the additions a flesh color and they are now in the oven for a heat set. The next step will be to add a wash of color to the vinyl to give her a fairy skin tone. I am thinking that a very pale green with violet shadows will be what she wants.

Fortunately, if she DOESN'T want it, the Genesis paint wipes right off until it's heat set.

Then for some tattoos -- in metallic gold? -- and her costume and wings and she'll be all set.

I'd *like* to post some photos of my white-on-white doll in progress, but I think I will take what I can get today and run with it. I'll try again tomorrow and see if I can catch a more reliable connection.

Instant gratification

Yes, I CAN finish what I start, and here is the proof. I bought the fabric for these pillowcases on a whim -- the prints just *fit* my daughters' personalities so well as to make them irresistable. And I am a HUGE Laurel Birch fan. Lydia didn't have to twist my arm at all to get me to buy the horse print from the LB fabric line. I love the way she uses color. Sigh...

Anyway, I sewed them up this morning. It's a pity the LB horse print doesn't show up better in the photo. It is a spectcular print. Aren't they cute??! And best of all, the girls like them too. It has been a long time since they let me make something for them. I hadn't realized I missed that feeling so much.


It feels very VERY good to FINISH a project and get the remnants out of my sewing room! I am trying -- really really trying -- to finish other ongoing projects, but, true to form, they are taking longer than I had anticipated when I began.



This little girl is a Goodwill rescue that was just too cute to pass up. She is in wonderful condition, but very very DIRTY. A hot bath cleaned her up nicely. (Her legs are off in the photo so that the interior of her body can dry too -- they went back on before I worked with her again.)

The ultimate plan is to rework her into a fairy in the style of Amy Brown. We will see if this is an idea the works as well in practice as well as it does in my imagination!

I think it's safe now

Here is the surprise doll I mentioned last week. Her name is "Serenity Rose" which is such a lovely and appropriate name -- she is going to live with my Mom as a Mother's Day gift. I didn't want to post her photo too soon, as mom checks the blog now and again and I didn't want to spoil her surprise. My dear dear Mom is so hard to choose gifts for. I hope she likes her...

She is a heavy girl -- over 3 pounds! -- fully clothed with painted shoes and features. I used my Genesis paints and I am SO happy with the results. Those paints are such a pleasure to use. I just with I could get a supply of them locally. Thank goodness for mail order!

I have 3 more fully assembled dolls now sitting on my cutting table waiting for clothes. It feels so good to clear out that backlog of parts off the floor. I haven't taken any photos yet, but I will do a "dolls in progress" spread today or tomorrow to show what I've been up to. It is amazing how mind-cleansing it is to actually FINISH a few things!

Paying Dues

This is one of those days when I wonder if I am *really* cut out to be a farm wife... I love living on the farm, but some days aren't as idyllic as others, and this is work that needs to be done. On the other hand, it was nothing a trip to town and some new paper and ink couldn't help alleviate. ;-) Whether or not to leave and get away from the noise and dust was never the question -- how long to stay away was another issue!

I have been creating like a maniac in my newly cleaned studio, but I can't share pictures of my latest project just yet. It's a surprise... So in the meantime, I'm going to tell you what's been going on here all day, and then you can decide for yourself if the inks and (beautiful, gorgeous, luscious, HAND-MADE) papers were worth the gas for the trip!

Both the north field and the west field were mown yesterday. A dry east wind has been blowing ever since, so a light fluffing was all the grass needed before it was ready to be chopped and packed in the silo. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get out my camera until the "fluffer-nutter" (as I call it) had already left. It is a fascinating machine to watch in action.

Here we are looking into the north field where you can see the chopper (in front) blowing the grass into the truck behind it. This truck will then take the grass to the other side of the farm to the silo for packing. The other truck on the right is waiting to take its place when the first truck is full.


This is the same truck dumping its load of grass in front of the silage pit, all ready for the tractors to push up into a neat, tidy, and well packed-down pile so that it can ferment properly without drying into hay or developing mold. That's Jake in the tractor on the right -- I haven't seen him all day. I wonder if he has had anything to eat yet...

Off it goes to get back in line for another load. And so it goes... and goes... and goes...

They've been at it all afternoon, and, while progress is being made, they won't be done for a while yet. (It's nearly 6:30 p.m. now.) Jake's dinner will be VERY cold by then...

What we go through to feed our cows!

This is the part that makes me nervous. Those tractors are plenty big enough for the job -- at least they look big enough when they are down on the ground where they belong. But look how high up they go!!!

Man was not meant to crawl around like a bug in big machines on top of huge piles of stuff, no matter HOW much fun they're having.

It's not nearly as nerve wracking to watch as when they o corn in the fall, but it still makes me plenty thankful when the grass is all piled up and covered and my man is safely back down on the ground. It's not that I don't trust him to know what he's doing... I just can't bear to watch!

The curse of an over-active imagination!


Julianna the llama and Penny the old pony are sublimely unconcerned.

It is a beautiful evening.

Irish Eyes Have A Reason to Smile at Last!

This is "Gracie", designed by Sherry Goshon and made by me. I adore her little Mona Lisa smile, don't you? Sherry's faces are so expressive! Just look at those gorgeous green eyes. :-)

Gracie herself has been sitting (hatless) in my collection for several years, while the figure of her little rag doll has been languishing on the floor under my cutting table for just as long. (poor baby...!)

I cleaned my sewing room this week, and now have 9 (!) unfinished dolls sitting on my cutting table. I didn't even count the ones sitting in the laundry basket where I store my supply of doll hair. (Ooooh, ouch... cringing!)

This morning I picked up the little raggedy, dressed her, gave her some hair, and made Gracie's hat. I think I put in maybe 2 hours work total. A bunch of the other beings awaiting completion are just as near to being finished. Hmmmm... I am seeing a pattern here, but I'm not sure quite what it means...

Perhaps I just like to go shopping for more patterns and supplies!

A couple of them were false starts; they have been dismantles and reduced to their parts for recycling. Some are stalled due to "operator error" -- I hating fixing mistakes! -- these have had the mistakes undone and are ready to resume progress. Whew!

I think I might just finish some dolls this week.

Could it Possibly Be... Spring?!

If you live in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, you come to expect rain, especially in April. So, when the sun shines in April, it is a Big Deal indeed!

We opened the door to the outside for the weaned calves -- this is the first time in their lives these little girls have been out of the barn, and most were staying quite firmly inside, thank you very much. A few were a bit more adventurous. These calves have it figured out. Don't they look happy?

These particular tulips are volunteers in the window box on the back porch. My mother-in-law never planted any but red and yellow tulips when she lived here. Even though tulips are one of my favorite flowers of all time, I am so burned out on gardening by the time the fall rolls around that I have never gotten around to planting bulbs ever... Who knows where these beauties came from -- but they are a special gift from life to my garden and I just love looking at them. Fortunately, from this angle you can't see the mass of weeds that is taking over the flower bed in the background!

This is "Fili", Alice's favorite barn cat. He doesn't like me much because I never bring him food. This is about as close as he ever lets me get to him -- I think he was just curious to see what the heck I was doing (taking photos of the calves) and came up close in spite of his better judgement! I know this is a horridly lit photo, but hey! he was gone 2 seconds later so I am lucky to have caught him at all! He isn't much to look at -- none of the barn cats are except for Pretty Momma -- but he is a nice little boy.

This is what I grabbed to work on while waiting for the apoxy clay to harden on my Water Spirit

In my ongoing effort to FINISH a few of the major projects I have underway, I decided to pick up and do the hand sewing on the Baba Yaga mask of my Smallworks topsy turvy doll. The mask is made in 3 pieces (upper face, lower face, and nose)using an interesting and unique trapunto technique; it took some fussy work, but it wasn't difficult and the results are fantastic. I still want to sharpen up the detail around the eye area and add a few more "age spots".

The next step will be her headdress, which will give her head a more finished look, and perhaps make her seem a touch more human -- this view is just scary! I doubt I will get to it this week -- I want to keep going on my Water Spirit figure -- and working on her in bits and pieces is the only way to keep my sanity on this project. This doll has already taken a HUGE investment in time and energy, but she will be worth it in the end I think.

Blessed Easter!

We had a lovely holiday weekend -- busy but very fulfilling, and a blessing in every way. Unfortunately, it also meant 3 entire days with no art at all! With the many distractions of church, family, dairy business (ASK me about my audit with the gentleman from the State Employment Department yesterday!) and general holidaying, my attention has been more fragmented than I would have liked. Fortunately, my faithful spinning wheel is always there to keep my hands busy when my mind isn't able to focus on what they are doing.

The three pink skeins are a blend of romney wool and mohair from a farm just north of here. It was a delight to spin -- almost spun itself! -- but a little more coarse than I had anticipated. This will go nicely into a future weaving project, I'm sure

The brown is a wool/luxury fiber blend that is softness itself, but a bit lumpy. Definitely a character yarn.

I got a little work done on my Water Spirit on Friday as planned. I put in a DVD and made the "splash" armatures. These were constructed in the same way as the wings of my dragon bust.

(I have to think of a name for that guy yet...)

It took the entire movie to make the 5 armatures, but I am very pleased with the form so far. Alas, they aren't quite sturdy enough to bear the weight of the polyclay, so I will reinforce them with some Aves Apoxy.

This is not a hardship as I have been dying for an excuse to give the Aves a try. I loved the Magic Sculpt, and I am eager to see how the Aves compares.
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This is a close up of the armature. You can see how well it fits the base and the figure form.

I didn't measure or plan, just "eyeballed" it. I get in trouble sometimes with my "seat of the pants" approach to planning a project, but it worked for me this time.
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This morning I finally got a chance to get back to work on it and cover the armatures with the Aves. Interesting stuff... stickier than the Magic Sculpt, but easier to blend and perhaps a touch easier to handle. When you come right down to it, it's about exactly the same though.

OK, now what! The day has barely begun, and I am stuck waiting for my clay to harden. Growl!

I COULD always go clear off the top of my work table, which became the universal repository of stuff when the carpet cleaner was here last week...

Miniscule progress... grrrrr!

As much as I love spending Thursdays with Jake, I do begrudge the time away when I have an idea hot on the burner. I managed to get a bit of work done on my Water Spirit, and I do have to wait on the arrival of my epoxy clay before I can begin sculpting the base embellishments... No matter -- tomorrow is Friday so I will have the entire morning and afternoon for uninterrupted work!


Oh my, I think I got more accomplished than I thought. This is quite wonderful! I put on the first layer of paint on the figure itself. I like the shading of the blues, but I think I want to see a little more variation in the hues themselves. Perhaps some green and purple...

Oh geez, not again. Listen to me. No, no, not again! I have GOT to get away from that color scheme. The next Spirit Elemental is going to have to be Fire for sure!



Here is the painted face ready to be attached to the form. I am pleased with the way the colors turned out -- the first attempt was too awful to show. Isn't it amazing what a little Pearl-Ex powder can do??!

I also managed to shape and tape the hand armatures. The one on the right has the first layer of clay added. Now for some real sculpting challenges! I haven't attempted realistic hands yet.


I learned a cool trick for making hands the same size from Maureen Carlson's Family and Friends in Polymer Clay. This jig is just so slick!! The pattern in the book was an exact fit for my figure, but it would be as easy as anything to size it up or down for a larger or smaller figure. The only problem I encountered was in the size of the wire -- the author recommended 18 gauge, but I found it to be much too heavy for a hand this size.

Here we go... something *totally* new for me. I've never worked abstractly before, but ignorance is bliss and I am just charging in regardless. I want to do a series of elementals, and I am beginning with my own element, "water".

The figure is just a suggested female form in a fluid pose. The face and hands will be sculpted. I also plan on doing some wave-like forms around the base, but I used up all my epoxy clay on the dragon, so I have to order some of that ASAP.

Thoughts of pearls, peridots, and aquamarines are swirling around the edges of my thoughts, but I don't quite know how I want to encorporate them yet...


Her mask came out a little more realistic than I wanted, but I love it so much that I am determined to use it anyway. I had an AWFUL time sculpting a profile -- there is a lot more space between the center of the nose and the edge of the cheekbone than shows in a photograph, that's for sure! I finally had to get Lydia to let me stare at her face for few minutes to get a feel of how a profile is put together.

I long for the day when I just *know* the stuff I need to know and I don't always have to be figuring out the little things from scratch.

I can see from this macro shot that she isn't nearly as smooth as I thought when she went into the oven either. I spent what seemed like ages smoothing that clay too, darn it! That's OK though, sandpaper is cheap, and paint covers a multitude of sins, LOL!

Painting a Dragon

The first coat of paint is a layer of Genesis Viridian Blue (a dark greenish bluish black -- gorgeous color!)

The idea was that I would drybrush over it so that this lovely rich shade would remain in the creases of the texture.

Didn't happen. Sigh...







I mixed up nice blues and greens and dabbed them on with a mop brush. The colors blended beautifully this way.

A dark purple fills in the shadows in the creases and the cuts of the muscles.

I don't like those white eyes though.




And...


TA DAAAaaaaa!!





HERE HE IS! I can't believe I made this guy. All he needs now is a coat of varnish and he is ready for display.

The spikes are accented with Pearl-Ex bright gold mixed with Genesis glazing medium. I thought it would be shinier, but now that I look at it, I prefer the more subtle effect.

And darn it! I see that I got some green paint smeared on the base. Grumble...

I think I want to add one more layer to the pedestal. It will be more stable and will also look a little more finished.

Well, well... how often does this happen -- my photos actually loaded in the order in which I wanted them to appear! Yes, I know, I AM way too easily amused!

My dragon has wings and is ready for painting. I don't know what I was so stressed about -- the wings were actually easier than I thought they would be. This does not usually happen, in case you are wondering why I am so excited. I usually underestimate (by a mile!) the time and effort a project will take.

I wish I had made the wings a little bigger, but I would have run out of clay if I had, so oh well! I had *just* exactly enough Magic Sculpt to finish covering the wire mesh that is the armature for the wing web and the candlestick, which I decided was pretty dorky looking as the base for a Majestic Dragon such as this is becoming.


Ready to paint! I got an old luncheon plate from Goodwill to use as a pallette. Decorative as well as functional -- I like it! The Genesis paints are so pleasant to work with. If I were independently wealthy, I'd have one of each color. Good thing I know how to mix what I need!

By the time you check this spot again, my dragon should be finished!

Homage to a Good Friend

This photo of me was taken in 1997 at a fire lookout station in South Dakota. I post it here today for 2 reasons, the first of which is in loving memory of my beautiful little dog Theo, who left me yesterday after a brief illness. He was 17 years old, which is VERY old for dog.

Not old enough for me, alas.

I also put it here to remind myself of what I CAN be when I take care of myself. I will NOT use my grief as an excuse to eat too much or to shirk my exercise. I WILL use it as an excuse to cry instead, because I must, and because his life was worth the tears his death costs me now. Wasn't he the cutest thing???

It took effort, but I made myself stay busy (and out of the kitchen!) yesterday afternoon by getting back to work on my dragon. I had been dreading this step for fear of ruining what I had already created. I wish I could get over that...

So I shaped the wing wires in a pose, then wired on some metal mesh to act as a support for the clay. Magic Sculpt epoxy clay makes up the bones and the "skin" of the wing web.


Here is a close up of the wing before I cover it completely. I am nearly out of the Magic Sculpt -- I hope I have enough to finish this step, or it will be days again before I can get back to it. I really REALLY want to get this dragon finished!

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I am so glad that I decided to paint around the pearls and crystals on his breastplate BEFORE adding the wings. Those wings are just *in the way* of everything and from every angle. They have also compromised his balance, though I posed them as carefully as I could to keep him stable. This guy is now very VERY top heavy. I am going to need to add something as a base to keep him from being so tippy.

Crayola Rain

I love Spring Break, if for no other reason that it IS a lovely break in a routine gone dull over the winter. This year we returned to the Sea Gypsy in Lincoln City, OR. I never ever get tired of looking out to sea and listening to the waves. It rained most of the times we were there. This is a shot of the rare spot of sunshine we saw. I took about 7 photos of this sunset and none of them were the same. I get so excited by all the colors!

OK, so it usually rains -- and this year was no different -- but that's why I always bring along something to do that doesn't need to be done outside. I usually bring along my knitting, and sometimes drawing supplies. This year I didn't feel like knitting, and for some reason known only to the spirit that inspired my hand to move, I threw in a box of crayons with my drawing supplies.I guess I was in the mood for crayons! I had so much fun just playing with the c0lors. The 2 ladies just sort of grew out of playing around with what I know about average facial proportions. The fish is the only "planned" drawing in the group. I hope to do a painting from this design once I get the idea down a little better.
I never did get out my Official Artist's Tools...


This is one of our "neighbors" for the week. I don't know what we were doing that he found so fascinating, but he sat there on the fence outside our door for quite a while watching us!

I love love LOVE going to the Coast, but I am happy to be home again now. It was wonderful to spend such a good amount of time together as a family. It was a little hard to have Jake go back to work today, and then Monday the girls will be back to school too. Sigh...

On the other hand, it will also be fun to get back to my projects in progress. That is, IF I catch up with the laundry, LOL!