Finished Painting

I have recently finished this painting of Emily. My paintings usually take time to be completed because I put them away, pull them back out, put them away again, start a new one. My creative juices don't always go the way I would have them. I can't finish a painting if I am not feeling creative enough to do it. Plus being a mom of two kids and having so many daily tasks take up my time it is hard to get a chance to paint. I do it mostly when the kids are in bed, but even then I end up with dishes that have to get done or laundry up to my ears that has to be folded. Our place is also unbelievably small. It is driving me batty to have every corner stashed with something. Perhaps that is another reason I don't paint as much as I want to or should. I have NO room! My paintings are tucked away in a closet and I have no studio to paint in. I paint in my front room, using my coffee table. I had to get rid of my art table because... you guessed it NO ROOM! I can't wait to move into something bigger in a year.

The paintings I am currently trying to work on are: A watercolor of children's blocks. Just something for me and it will look cute in my kids room. An oil on canvas of my daughter and her cousin as flower girls at my sister-in-law's wedding. I love the painting, but because of my limited space I have no where to paint and the fumes are bad for me and my kids. I need a circulating fan, but that costs money and in the winter... someday it will get done. I itch to paint it. :( I am painting a picture of the Salt Lake Temple, my favorite temple. The problem with this painting is people are much easier for me than buildings. They drive me crazy! So many straight lines I could die. So when that one gets to me, I put it away. And another oil painting of my brother and my nephew. See, that is a lot of in the stages paintings. Sometimes I have so many I forget what I have and what I was previously working on.

In a few years I want to get my portfolio filled up and start advertising to art galleries. I want to find a way to make prints of my paintings and sell those as well. My dream is to become a free-lance artist and have my work and my name known in the art community. (sigh) I paint because I love it and I am truly artistic in thought. I want to do the things I love to do and find what other people love as well. I am always a work in progress in everything.

So I thought I would add some things about myself that my sister Rachel started. So here they are:

What I Was Doing Ten Years Ago:
Humm... 10 years ago I was 14 and I was going to art lessons and piano. I had my group of friends that I hung out with all the time. I remember this age being a very confusing time for me though. I was trying to figure out just who I was and who I wanted to be.

What I Was Doing Five Years Ago:
Five years ago I was a newlywed to my sweety. We got married in July of 2002. I was also working and going to school. It seems like ages ago when I was married and didn't have children.

One Year Ago:
I was pregnant with Lindsey and so happy! I was just glowing. We had wanted another baby for awhile and it was such a good pregnancy, I hope my next is that good.

Yesterday:
Was Sunday so we were at church in the morning, then we came home and relaxed most of the day. That is until I couldn't stand being in a very dirty house anymore and went crazy cleaning.

Five Snacks I enjoy:
Hormel sandwich ham
Potato chips
Prunes
Cereal
Chocolate anything

Five Things I Would Do With a Million Dollars:
Invest it and make it grow into two million
Put a down payment for a house
Go on a family vacation to Disneyland or Disneyworld
Buy a bigger car
Go to Italy

Five Places I Would Love to Go:
Italy to see the Sistine Chapel
France to see the Lourve
Ireland and
Sweden
Travel the country going to historical and church historical places

Five TV Shows I Like:
What Not to Wear
Star Trek
The Office
Anything on HGTV
Flip That House

Five Things I Hate Doing:
Laundry, laundry and more laundry, probably because there is ALWAYS laundry to do
Dishes, though it is better than laundry
Scrubbing the tub
Changing the sheets on the bed
Organizing the filing cabinet

Five Biggest Joys of the Moment:
My two beautiful kids
Nice sunny days
My supportive, wonderful husband
The holidays
Life in general

Halloween Party

We had 3 Halloween parties. Lots of fun and both girls were so cute I had to get their pictures! This was for a trunck-er-treat party and chili cook-off. I wasn't able to go because I had an appointment I couldn't cancel, but Robert took them and they had a great time. He said Emily over stuffed herself. Every time he looked he found she had swiped a piece of candy or a dough nut. Robert has to miss Halloween because his school professor won't let anyone off that night. Sad. So at least he got to do something with his girls. Emily was so sick the next day she hardly ate and was exhausted. She doesn't nap any more, but she put herself down for a nap and told me she didn't want to play outside! What is up with that? She ALWAYS wants to play outside. That usually means she is pretty tired. So she took a nap on the couch with mommy. It was so nice to be cuddled, she never does that.

Halloween Cookies

YUMMY! Emily is helping mommy make cookies. Cats, Frankenstein, pumpkins and ghost cookies with green, white and orange frosting. They were fun to make and tasted great too. Lindsey couldn't help, but sat in her chair munching on her carrot. It was so much fun and boy did they taste good too!

The Band

Robert's job has days where they try and boost moral during the busy times in the company. Well, he had a friend and other co-workers who put a band together and Robert was the one on the keyboard. The pictures are poor because of bad lighting, but he wore shades and I sprayed his hair up and crazy and then sprayed it with temporary white dye. It was pretty cool looking! He did awesome! They played about 8 songs and he did really well. It was fun and I took the kids and his parents came to watch. Lots of fun!

Pumpkin Soup

My sister-in-law gave me a wonderful pumpkin soup recipe. I made it tonight and yummy is it good! It is like a pumpkin chowder with onions and garlic. So delicious! If anyone is looking for something new to eat this fall and wants a warm soup that is perfect for fall, give this a try.

Pumpkin Soup
3 Cups Chicken Stock
1/2 stick butter
1/2 pint of wipping cream
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 tsp thyme
1 apple chopped
1/2 tsp salt
3- 3 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
pepper to taste
1 minced garlic clove

Saute' onions, chopped onion, celery, garlic and apple in 1/2 stick of butter until soft. Take and blend in food processor or blender until a little smaller, but not pureed. Mix chicken stock, wipping cream and pumpkin puree in pot with spices. Heat on medium high until nice and hot, stir often so it won't burn on the bottom. Serve with any other fall foods, corn bread or biscuits would be really good. Enjoy!

Lindsey and her cousins

Lindsey and Lilly


Lindsey had two cousins born right around the same time. Lilly was born 5 weeks before and her cousin Sienna was born two weeks after her. It is so great to have been pregnant with both my sister Rachel and my sister-in-law Lori. Now she has two cousins close to her age. All the girls are so adorable and cute and all so different in personality. Wonder what they will be like as they get older. We just love our baby!