"You're right, I am a coward! I haven't any courage at all. I even scare myself."- Cowardly Lion

Ok, so, I have mentioned the art thing.  I know I have...you know the "life long dream of doing my own art" gig.  I started thinking  (inner monologue) about what if I have a million paintings left over after the covered bridge festival?  I guess I should do another festival.

I got online and one link lead to another and I was lead to the Irvington Halloween festival. Hmmmm..... I contacted them. YEP they had booth space if I hurried. I printed out the forms and then hmmmm.......

I looked at J -age 7- and said (outloud this time) I am not sure if I should do this or not, what if nothing sells?
Then I realized I should have made that comment in my head. What kind of mom says that to her 7 year old? It is not her job to take care of my concerns. ....but I am glad I did. That little freckled face pixie looked at me, smiled and then put her hands on her hips.  "MOM, you are an amazing artist, you need to do this, and just be brave. I was nervous when I sang on the 4th of July but I did it and I am so glad that I did"  

OK SERIOUSLY what kind of example would I set after that half time speech if I didn't sign up.  I reluctantly signed the check and walked it out to the mailbox.   Man I love that kid.

I am reminded of a Ben Folds song...he talks about how when we are kids we imagine how the need to fit in and being scared ends when you are an adult.  Once you are an adult you realize that it keeps going and going. surprising sometimes.   I am painting like a fool with that little freckled face in the back of my mind. I am also loving that L comes down every morning to see what I painted and declares....Mommy painted that. Yep I did.
Blessings,
Lindsay

Is that turtle wearing a dress?

This was the question my 2 year old asked me today at the nature center at the park. I explained that is his shell.  She also asked me if the salamander was wearing a hat? - No, sweetie that is just how his head looks.  I heard probably 30 other questions about the animals, mostly is that a mommy or a daddy? 

Backtracking- there has not been a job that I  have ever had that some days I didn't HATE.  This job is the exception, there are days that I am close, but I have yet to hate it! Days where I have the flu yet still filter thru 2 year old tantrums....VERY close to HATE.
Times like today are the times that I am glad I am the one answering her reptile questions.  I am glad that I get to take her to preschool and see her refuse to do arts and crafts (OH the irony).  I love that I am the first one to hear about J's day off the bus and the one that takes her to choir.

There are days I have questioned my choice to be a stay at home mom. One day J asked me what my job was. Hmmmm.....I told her my job was to take care of her and her sister. She gave me a look like....is that it?  To a seven year old I can understand the thought.

This is where the art thing has been my saving grace.  I have been really working hard on it and it has been noticed in my house.  I hear J telling her friends about how her mom is  an artist and how she is going to sell her artwork. :)  It has made me feel like a real person and made me appear to be a real person to my 7 year old.  A win/ win.  My 2 year old is not concerned one way or the other....she just wants to help me paint!  It is funny when you actually use the talent that God gave you, wonderful things happen!

Blessings,
Lindsay

ART....ART.....EVERYWHERE!!!

OK I have been working hard on finishing up a few projects. Wanna see??

Here is a onsie that I painted for a friend, I am thinking of painting more and selling them at the Covered Bridge festival. What do you think??

I have been working on refinishing my grandmothers china cabinet. I painted it white and then distressed it, I am pretty happy with the results!

Look....

FUN HUH???

We got new appliances last week and thought I would add some fun things in the kitchen.

I got these forks from various Goodwill's, you can get 5 forks for $1.00.  I hung them about an 1.5 inches apart and I LOVE IT, with a capital L.  Here it is...

I also thought I would dress up the girls swingset. It was looking a liittle worse for the wear. I waited untile the outdoor fabric was 55% off and made a new awning.....

Here is what you see when you walk out onto our brick patio outside....(look above the door)

These are sunprints that J and I made tonight, we had so much fun, she is pumped to make more!

Turn your head to the side and look at this framed deal I made for J's room. I bought a stamp cut of a butterfly and then punched out a TON of them out of black construction paper, I folded some of their wings.  I glued them down using a glue stick....pretty easy!

I can not claim that I made this, but it is one my favorite things I have bought myself. I see this every day when I walk out of the garage.  love.

This is a piece that I did when we moved in, I bought 3 apples at an art store, fake of course, and cut them in half using a jig saw. I then just hot glued them to the painted canvas. I have had at least 4 people ask me if they are real! :)

This is not art, this is just my dog, isn't she great?

This is a mural that you can find at my brother and sister  in law's basement....I had fun doing it!

These are the greatest things I have ever made....ready?

Blessings,
Lindsay

I LOVE it!

Unfortunately right now  there are a few things in my life that I DON'T love. I decided the only way to make this any better is to think of things that I do love.

I love God
I love Cracker Jacks
I love that no one can make me laugh harder than my husband.

I love that my parents rock.- I mean REALLY rock. I do not know 2 better and more unselfish people.

I love that my 7 year old gave her allowance out  of her little purse, to a homeless man, unprompted (now I am tearing up)

I love when you open a new jar of peanut butter and it is smooth

I love the smell of cigarette smoke outside.  (odd....yes.)

I love my house.

I love my dog- she is AWESOME

I love that my 2 year old sees beautiful things in the store and asks me if I painted them.  :)

I love Hobby Lobby. alot.
I love campfires.

I love that I went to camp as a kid. WONDERFUL and I will send mine too

I love that I went to a big ten college. Boiler up baby.
I love the smell of paint

I love  Hot Tamales.  It is my favorite candy.
I love Sangria.
I love spinach salad.
I love Ben Folds.
I love that my husband loves me no matter how crazy I am
I love that I can be sad and hold it in around everyone but him... being around him forces me to be myself.
I love that my best friend has been that since we were 16. 
I love coffee.
I love my family, immediate and extended.....they are such a blessing!
I love when I catch a sniff of someone wearing Drakkar cologne.  It smells like Jr. High.
I love seeing people's happy pictures on facebook.
I love running.
I love my toenails painted.
"I love lamp, I love table...."
I love singing in the shower, loud.
I love staying up late.
I love the smell of Dreft, it makes me almost melt.
I love my close friends- really - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them. I think this only child thing gave me a big heart to love my friends HUGE, like sisters.  There is not much I wouldn't do for them.
I love that my seven year old is so much like her dad, it is fun to watch.
I love watching my kids dance together.
I love that I can still remember my high school locker combination, and most of my grade school and high school friends phone numbers from then. odd huh? Wish I could find my keys.

See...now don't I feel better? See how much love there is.....it is everywhere. Make a list of the things you love and I bet it will make you feel better too.
Blessings-
Lindsay

Here we go....

Ok this blog entry is going to be mostly about ME! (Selfish? Nope...sometimes you have to do that!)
Since I can remember, if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up......artist. I can't imagine doing anything else.  Sometimes you have a picture of what a career looks like that isn't accurate.  I have been a graphic designer, I have been a muralist, and I have been a stay at home mom. All of these jobs include art, but more of it was about painting and creating other peoples ideas.  I have a notebook full of ideas of my own that I would like to do, but for who? what would I do with them when they are done? Would anyone spend $ for them?  Then these serious questions are interupted by one of my girls smacking the other one and the other one screaming. Who am I kidding? I am not in the stage of life to make this work.  Maybe later........

until...my AMAZING friend Stacia called me last week.  The call went a little something like this.  "Lindsay, would you like to share a booth with me at the covered bridge festival?"  Me: " Helping you sell your flowers?" (she makes AMAZINGLY beautiful things!) then slowly getting it that I could do my own things and sell them! I almost peed!  I have hardly thought of anything else.  Isn't God awesome! Just when you resign that "it is just going to be this way"  it changes!!!

I have a few projects that I am in the middle of here, then I am CREATING things!!!!  I will be posting things and in a whirl wind of ART!!!!!

What a summer!

Can you believe that summer is going so quickly???  Can you believe that I have completely ignored the blog? I can. My girls and I have been super busy this summer!

I should probably update on J and her singing experience. She did AWESOME! It was one of the hottest days of the summer and all of Mark's family was here visiting J was PUMPED and not  really too nervous.  I will try to post the video of her.  My little freckle faced baby marched up on stage and sang without any background music.  She did not make the finals but I think she was so proud of how she did.  We were approached by a few people that offered to be her vocal coach.  That is overwhelming, not sure if that is where we are headed.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEDy6lo7OWU

J has been wanting to do face painting lately, not sure why but, sounds good to me.  After I painted the girls faces we went to Lowes to look at appliances.  They wanted to keep the paint on.  This is what they looked like at Lowes....

DO you think that Mark lost any negotiating power when his kids look like zoo animals?

Hmmmmm....what else have we been up to? I have been working on a few repainting things for Js room

Here is the finished product

Her room is mostly pink and lime green, she wanted a little zebra print, I figured that a little bit couldn't hurt!

M and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary! We bought ourselves Jack Johnson and G-Love tickets. It was AWESOME!!!! We had amazing seats and it was an awesome show!

Here is our view from our seats...

The one and only G-Love (without the special sauce)

Here is Mr. Jack Johnson...

Here we are happy and very hot.....

We also went to see Tom Petty this summer! Here are a few snapshots from that awesome evening.

I have so many more things to write about...some happy, some sad, but will continue more later, I don't want to overload ya!

Blessings,

L

confession....??

  J told me quite awhile back that she wanted to play tennis this summer.   AWESOME! I support her learning a lifelong sport. I asked around about tennis lessons and heard that a local country club offered reaonably priced lessons.  I signed her up, and her lesson was this morning.

Here was the issue.... I looked up the address before we left and it was at 126th street and River Road. Sigh.
This was the location of my grandfather's farm.... years ago.  The farm has since  been turned into subdivisions and country clubs....it also turns the stomachs of alot of my family.  I don't think any of them expected the land to sit vacant, it is a product of the growing Indianapolis.... but ....

Let me clarify, I am not the country club type.  I am also not the "farming" type or one to volunteer to "rough it",  I sit in the middle of these two very different groups.  I pulled up and realized that the tennis courts I would be watching J practice on were only feet away from my grandpa's barn, that is still standing and now housing golf carts.  I walked all around the barn, on one side was a golf course and the other a pool where a very loud coach screamed at the summer swim club.  It made me sad.  I had a real  hard time being there, like I was a traitor or something.  

The only thing I could compare it to is if you had a favorite local restaraunt or bar and went back after years and years and found it had been turned into a McDonalds.  Today I felt like I had walked  in and ordered a cheeseburger at said McDonalds.  It is a lame an minimizing comparison but the only thing I could think of.  There was no one there today to lame blame on.  I just felt very uncomfortable. To top it off I went and got gas at BP today.  My hippie score is at a total negative. 

I know the history of the farm myself, but wanted to see today if there was anything on the internet about it. I found this awesome essay written by my awesome cousin- I have read this before, but it seemed fitting today.  Please read this, it is very impressive!  http://www.wabash.edu/magazine/displaystory.cfm?news_id=1279

I will be taking J to more tennis lessons, this time I will be asking the grounds keepers if they have any of the wood from the barns that might have come off chipped or what not. I can use this in a future art project in my house.  It makes me feel like less of a traitor. :)

I hope everyone is having a great summer and I will be posting about my squirrely girls tomorrow. 

Blessings,
Lindsay