Spring is here!

Well if you are from Texas you know all too well the obligatory taking of the bluebonnet pictures. It is a rite of passage for all Texas children, they must sit in weeds...bugs....dirt...and rocks and smile adorably for their parents upon request. Or so the wishful thinking of all Mothers desiring to capture the beauty of Spring and Offspring in Texas!

Well at least we got this first shot before the photo session went downhill!

Poor Baby!

Yesterday after church we had lunch overlooking Lake Travis before heading out to get the bluebonnet pictures. It was a fantastic spring day.

These pictures were all spontaneous but turned out great. I know that the Grandma's will be happy to see them. And ya'll get a pregnant belly shot update!

Happy Spring, ya'll!

Sunday Verse

John 7:38

Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said,

streams of living water will flow within him.

Spring Break

You may have noticed I have been missing in action with posts. Well last week we went on a Spring Break. We spent the first half of the week in San Antonio and went to Six Flags and Sea World. The second half we spent in Dallas seeing family.

The kids really were having a good time despite the looks on their faces in this shot. And by the way this is the only acceptable pregnant photo I care to share. I am getting a double chin, yikes! And do you see my belly button popping out? It's like the pop up timer for a turkey saying it's done!

By the way I think there should be a special place in heaven for women who go on vacation pregnant. And also for women who have to go grocery shopping with small children on a regular basis.... I'm just sayin'..... Can I get an Amen on that, anyone???

Winner and Cuteness!

Before I announce the winner of the art I need to record a couple of "kids say the darndest things"...... so the other morning the kids were playing in their room and I saw them line up all the stuffed animals on the bed and then my son said "Okay we're the teachers. And Daddy is working. And Mommy is shopping. And you are the lunch lady." (ha ha so nice to know I was the lunch lady and that Dad works and Mom shops)

The other night as I got the kids ready for bed my shirt had a v-cut and apparently my son noticed my cleavage, a bonus from the pregnancy. And he exclaimed "Hey is that a butt in there? Does it make fart noises?" I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants!

Last one, we just picked up a new dress at Costco for my daughter and she wore it for the first time. I asked her if she liked it and she said "Yeah, Mema made it for me!" Then my son said "No Costco made it for you." Hee hee they are full of one liners at this stage!

On to the winner. I enlisted the Master to number our entries.

I labeled the names and then we put them in a jar.

We mixed them up and then we drew one.

And the winner is lucky number 7 - Nola @ the Alamo! Congratulations and Happy Friday!!!

Giveaway Time!

So I couldn't just show you all that gorgeous art eye candy my Sister Kathy does without giving you an opportunity to have some. This is a reprint of an original it's a "Carolina Wren". The picture is 4x6 and matted in 5x7 size to fit a 5x7 frame (not included). Hope it goes to just the right home where it will cheerily brighten your spirits every time you see it!

I will be keeping this contest open for one week and will announce a winner by random selection on Friday March 12th.

~

To enter please go visit her site at Kathleen Marie Studio and come back and leave me a comment on which of her art you liked best.

~

I'll be giving an additional 2 entries if you post a shout out on your blog, please be sure to leave a seperate comment letting me know you did.

~

Since I'm a computer-tard I'll be doing the entries by hand and will assign a numeric order for each entry and then the kids and I will toss them into a hat and will draw one to select the winner.

Part 3 - Visit with Aunt Kathy

Welcome back for the last post on my Sister and her wonderful hill country property. As I mentioned before my Sister is a Wildlife Artist. Here is her fabulous art studio and gallery. Ain't it purty?

Kathy is very talented and has done many jack of trade things as an artist working with wood and copper as some of her favorite mediums among many others.


She built this door for her bathroom and made the copper panels herself.

Here is a close up of one of the panels. She chose a theme of native Texas flowers as her inspiration for the door.

Isn't this a gorgeous view of the panels with the light shining though?

Recently she taught a class on making these panels and has future plans to teach more.

Speaking of rocks here are some of her collection from her nature walks.

Here is a peek inside the studio workspace.

Here are some works in progress. Amazing huh?

Another awesome piece in progress.

She is doing pyrography - woodburning. I love how she is able to incorporate the grain of the wood into the picture and the depth and realism of her pieces.

Here is the gallery.

Do you spy the real kitty?

Even more of her art.

This is one of her dog Raven.

She does pet portraits by the way!

I have always really liked this one. Isn't her art just amazing? Check back tomorrow for a giveaway related to her art - hint hint!

Part 2 - Visting with Aunt Kathy

It sure has been fun introducing you to my Sister Kathy. It's so hard to put everything into one post so tomorrow I'll wrap up with showing you her art studio. You don't want to miss seeing it. Friday check back and I'll reveal the Giveaway!

Here are some more pictures of the pavilion. I love that she has the rough cedars and wanted a rustic quality. Her dream for the project is to use as many native and recycled materials as possible. We had fun a couple weekends back going to the Habitat Restore to look for materials.

This pavilion will be used for many reunions and art show open houses. When we left last Thursday this was the progress and the next photo shows what she had done by Sunday.


On the window dust she wrote Got Art? and Create!!! Her vision for this project in her words were "This is the Dream Shack, a place for whoever needs it whenever it is needed, a place that is and will be available to be shared, a place that has love wrapped up in it's timbers and window sills and stories, in it's coming to be that include many people and places and history and mystery, and old stories unknown and new stories yet to be revealed and creative energy abounding to make a place to be joyful. A place to be joyful in! My dream for the Dream Shack is that the Dream Shack will be a place that people will find love and peace and acceptance and joy and hope, a place that will put arms around you and expand your horizons at the same time."


Do you see the really long telephone pole here? Well it is even longer than the photo and needs a little background story related to the project. It will be used as a retaining wall. One of her friends and neighbors up the road was clearing it from their property and they had cut it down. To get it into the back of the truck they kept having to jack it up onto cinder blocks bit by bit to get to the height of the pick up bed. They chained it in but part of the end was still hanging out. She followed in her vehicle as they transported it several miles to get to her place. The end hanging out was really smoking up and got worn down by the contact with the road. She was praying the whole time it wouldn't break or start a fire! Whew, it made it!!!

Several areas are sectioned off to keep folks from walking on the green growth where these beauties will emerge... Bluebonnets! I cannot wait to share pictures of those this Spring with you. All I have to say is God Bless Texas!

There are limestone fossils everywhere. Here is a "deer heart" a clam fossil found by the Dream Shack foundation site.

We continued to admire the fossils down by the creek, I never get bored of looking at the rocks. You never see the same things twice.

More fossils hiding in the rocks. I'm just amazed and marvel at the beauty and wonder of God's creations.

Fossilized coral reef, how cool is this? It reminds me of a loofah or pumice stone.

We liked the hole in this one and admired the beautiful clear blue sky!

The creek was rippling and glistening and we enjoyed looking at reflections of bubbles that danced like stars along the water.

Another fun fossil find!

I reflected on my pregnant silhouette in the creek.

Token belly shot for Mom to see how big her Grandbaby being produced appears these days.

To end today's post here is the final parting shot from hairy butt crack rock! Thought you'd like to be "mooned" to put a smile on your face!

Blessings, Jennifer

Visiting with Aunt Kathy

Last week we spent a day playing out at Aunt Kathy's in the hill country. They live on 14 acres of property and it is a virtual playground for my kids. I love visiting her and recharging my batteries there as it is beautiful and relaxing. I took quite a bit of pictures and they won't all fit into one post so I'll be journaling about it over the next several days. And "hint-hint" stay tuned to these posts as there will be a giveaway later in the week.

Here is the house overlooking the hillside down into the garden and the pasture and creek are further below.

Hello carousel horse!

One of the kids favorite parts about getting to visit here is the slide. My son could spend all day here! Wish we had one of these in our backyard.

We took a peek in the garden where there were some winter crops of garlic, kale and broccoli.

This picture is for our Momma, so she can she how much brush they have cleared away on the hillside.

Here is another picture a little higher up of the cleared landscape. This area was covered in cedar brush and they sure have made alot of progress.

Hi Kathy! Now here is some fun reporting. They are in the process of building a Dream Shack a handicap access guest house and an open air pavilion. Here is a teaser picture of what's going on. More pictures to come since I know our family located elsewhere is curious to see the progress and what it looks like right now.

The kids had a great time blowing some bubbles on the dream shack foundation.

Here is what the pavilion looks like. And even more has been completed since this pictures was taken!

Another favorite thing for the kids is going on nature walks and when the creek has water we really enjoy collecting and throwing rocks.

I think we spent about 2 hours just hanging out here finding and throwing rocks. Kathy and I had fun looking at the fossils and the way the light hit the water and just taking pictures. The kids could have stayed here for hours. Both kids got their tennis shoes wet, glad I had back-ups packed. They really wanted to get in the water but it's a little too chilly yet.

Here Master is throwing rocks for Raven to go fetch. What a fantastic playground for the kids to experience. I have so many more photos from our visit and more to tell you about Kathleen Marie and her work as a Wildlife Artist, do click on her name for a link to her web page.