A Night of Beauty and Adorableness

Tonight at dinner we celebrated my Grandma Radcliff's 81 birthday (again, she had her own party the day of) and then my nephews spent the night.

(I love this lady~)

Reminds me of my cat Panda, how she would sleep in strange positions.~

Paint Adventures at Work

At work today, my boss mentioned that she had an extra canvas that needed to be painted. Since me and my kids (I had 2 at the time) were going to paint their pinewood derby cars for President's Day and she suggested we take it with us to paint as well. After a little argument with another child, he participated (the hand prints), as well as me and a couple of other providers. I loved the way my hand looked so much I just HAD to take a picture - hence I keep my camera in my purse. Then one of my kids held up the painting so I could take a picture of the painting. It was fun!!~

Photoshoot at the Park

Last week I had an idea for a picture book (though if it will ever be accomplished is another story), and needed some reference photos for the positions. Stephanie let me take three of her kids (Dallin was in the shower after a muddy accident) to Candlelight Park by their house to play and take pictures. Most photos the kids pretended to be talking to imaginary friends but some were just them playing. Sophie didn't exactly understand my concept and kept posing and smiling straight at the camera (adorable), but McKay seemed to understand, though he was his usual quirky self, and even came up with some ideas of his own. Parker had lots of ideas and was really excited to do anything. It was a really fun experience and I hope to do it again.

Here are some of my favorite pictures. We didn't get out of the house till about 5:30pm so my lighting is funny and sometimes dark but if you zoom in you can see the adorableness.

Parker wanted to pretend to push someone on the swing.

Parker started climbing up the slide, McKay was sliding down, a collision in the middle was resolved with a twisted exchange of positions.

I told him to pretend he was driving with a friend... I'm not sure why he got angry...

Aw the far-off look.

McKay's idea: digging at the park.

I asked Parker to go catch an imaginary football, he did great - TOUCHDOWN! Even McKay joined in. Sophie is that pink speck in the sand pretending to be a dog.

My idea is "Dinosaurs at the Park." Here is an example piece that I did earlier this week with a picture I took of Parker a long time ago. Back then I took it for my high school AP Studio art class as an image of children with the imaginary friends. Now Parker whispers a secret to the dinosaur. After I digitally sketch in the various dinosaurs, I plan to convert them into pencil sketches and then color them with watercolor or marker; that part still isn't completely done.

My First Orchestra Concert

I took orchestra for about a month in 4th grade, so I'm really happy that my nephew Parker has been continuing his ambition to play the cello. His first concert was on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. It was great seeing how happy he was seeing all his family watching him from the audience. I'm glad I was able to go.

Theme was about Arizona's Centennial Birthday, so everyone was dressed in cowboy and pioneer clothing.

The little cowboy cello-ian.

(Sophie wasn't in the best of moods that evening.)

January Birthdays

The best thing about January: We start by celebrating Mom's birthday and end by celebrating Kristi's! It's the simple version of a "Month full of Birthdays."

This is the smile of a happy mother. I love you Mom!

(Heather had to keep pulling the cake back 'cause Kolytn kept trying to blow it out, silly boy. Finally Kristi just had to blow really hard. Of course, the boy scrambled off her lap as soon as they were out.)

(Everyone says my camera is really old. But does an old camera get this good a picture in dim light? I bet you couldn't even tell that the lights were off.)

A Cracker Barrel Experience

Last thursday I had the awesome opportunity to join two of my bestest friends to a late night "dinner," though actually we order breakfast. Originally we were planning on going to IHOP but then my friend Haley saw the sign for Cracker Barrel while we were exploring Bass Pro Shop and pleaded that we change the restaurant. It was so much fun being with my friends in a place that has meant so much to me through my childhood, I just needed to draw it!

As the picture shows: my friend Shelley (who wore a hat, which is extremely rare), me, and my friend Haley (whom was very excited for this adventure).

Baby-sitting in January

After a confusing week trying to figure out who exactly I was babysitting Saturday evening, I was finally landed with the Johnson kids! We had an amazing time watching "Phineas and Ferb the 2nd Dimension," the sorcerer's apprentice," and "Wall-E." We picked oranges and juiced them (unfortunately they wouldn't eat them, even after Ii found one as big as Kotlyn's head!) The night was filled with burning cheese crisps, ice cream, diaper changes, legos, and finished with a fort. My favorite part? Finding this boy while calling to him to come get his ice cream.

Every time I told Karter to smile he would stick his spoon in his mouth, silly boy!~