Being Artistic

Tuesday night my friend Amy invited us over to her house for a little art lesson. She is an amazing artist and an amazing friend, so of course I took the opportunity to learn from her. She was so patient with our millions of questions and made us feel capable of painting like she does. Honestly I was surprised at how well everyone's paintings turned out. I invite you all to check out her blog and see her amazing artwork and ideas. Ok, on to my masterpieces. Here is where it all began...the first layer of both my paintings.

After the third layer and my pencil work. The drawings were Amy's ideas from her sketchbook that she let me use. I think they are adorable.

The final products after painting on the top layer (all the accents and real colors). I was thrilled with how they turned out, and pretty amazed that I did it all by myself. Made me believe a little more in myself. I'm thinking of using them in the new baby's room.

Here are a few snapshots I took between layers while the paint was drying. We had a great time of fellowship. Thanks Amy for opening your home, your supplies, and ideas to us. We had a great time!

On My Mind...

Today my mind is full. Full of memories and full of anticipation. Memories: Today is my Gramps' birthday. He passed away in February of 2006, and today he has been on my mind. He was a wonderful man. He led our family with a strong hand and a loving, caring, and giving heart. His death was somewhat sudden, so there are times where I feel I would have taken every opportunity to say all the things I wanted to say and all the things he needed to hear. All the things I thought he knew. I assumed he knew how much I loved him, how thankful I was to live next door to him, how much I loved his nicknames for me, how thoughtful I noticed he was, how concerned he was for his family, how much I saw his love for us, for others, for Jesus. I think about him on a regular basis, but for some reason this past week knowing his birthday was coming up the memories have come to me more often. They are happy memories that I enjoy entertaining. I only wish he was still here. To me my son and now my daughter. To give me parenting advice. To just be there when I go visit. I miss him all the time, and I'm so very thankful for all the memories that keep me comfort during times like this. Anticipation: I am SO excited about our little girl that is on the way. I won't lie. It was a total shock, but now that the shock has gone we are thrilled. I had to refrain myself from going and looking at all the little girl clothes in the store today knowing that I would probably want one of everything. I am looking forward to going to the consignment sale this week to pic up a few things for her. I'm looking forward to finding a name for her. I'm looking forward to seeing Levi be the protective big brother. I'm really looking forward to seeing her wrap herself around Aaron's heart. I think she may already have us both wrapped around her little fingers. I'm also just looking forward to the changes that are to come. Going from one kid to two. I know that transition will be difficult, but I know that the transition doesn't last forever and the rewards are beyond measurable. Our lives are going to be richly blessed by the addition of our little sweet one. I'm so excited, and just waiting with anticipation!

IT'S A GIRL!

We found out at our 3D ultrasound yesterday that we are welcoming a BABY GIRL into our family! If anyone had asked me I would have sworn we were having a boy - my pregnancy was exactly the same as Levi's, the heartbeat was getting lower at each visit, etc. Not to mention we really wanted another boy. Had the name picked out and everything. So it was a complete shock and total surprise when the ultrasound tech said "It's a girl!" Levi was with us at the ultrasound and was so excited about his new sister. She kept waving on the monitor and Levi would wave back. Although we were "wanting" a boy, we are thrilled that we will be having a little girl at the end of the year. To get myself excited about a little girl I've made a list of all the things to look forward to:

• CLOTHES! Girls have the best clothes and there are always more girl clothes to choose from then boy clothes.
• Now my sisters have a ring bearer and a flower girl for their weddings.
• Hair - not that I even have a clue of what to do, but now we get to play with bows and such, and my friend Lisa has her own business for stuff such as this so I'm looking forward to giving her some business.
• I think my mom still has some of my clothes from when I was a baby and I'm looking forward to putting her into all of it.
• I can't wait to see what she looks like. Big brown eyes with blond hair. I think she will be adorable to say the least.
• Shoes - boys need what? 2 or 3 pairs. Girls need tons! So exciting.
• Now I can register for all the blog giveaways that are for girly things like bows, hats, dresses, etc. *Alison - any cute hats you want to send our way we would love it*
• A mommy's girl!!

Here's to a wonderful new adventure that we are so excited about!

Memories and Shooting Stars

I have always been fascinated with space. I can remember being in elementary school and reading about astronauts and thinking "I'll do that one day." Well I'm no astronaut, but my love and fascination for outer space has never changed. One of my favorite ways to enjoy the wonders of space is to watch meteor showers. They hold both precious memories and new experiences for me each time.

I remember being 6, 7, maybe 8 years old and there was going to be an awesome meteor shower one night. My family along with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that lived next door all gathered this one specific evening to watch the amazing event. I remember feeling so special that not only was I able to watch something so amazing, but that I was surrounded by my wonderful family and we were all sharing this experience together. I'm not sure that anyone else there that night even remembers it, but I have carried that memory with me ever since. As I got older I still indulged in the annual meteor shower that I was aware of, usually dragging my dad and sisters with me because I didn't want anyone to miss something awesome that just might happen. My dad always indulged my love for these things and was always right there beside me whether it was sitting out on a summer night or freezing our rear ends off just for the chance of witnessing something spectacular.

Now that I'm married and have kid(s) of my own I'm looking forward to making even more memories with them. At any chance I get I drag Aaron outside with me on these nights in hopes of seeing something beyond description. A few years ago we were freezing outside watching a pretty good show. We got so cold that we moved into the house to say warm. However, I wanted to watch more of the show so we sat in the bathtub and continued to watch the show from there. Last night was the peak of the Perseid shower. Aaron & I went out last night and again this morning and it was totally worth it. Last night I walked outside and within a minute I saw the most amazing meteor/shooting star I've ever seen in all my years of watching. It came from behind my house and went all the way to the tree line. It was bright orange with the longest tail I've ever seen. Totally made my efforts worth it. We saw a few more big ones, and then this morning saw around 30 in the 45 minutes I was out there. The whole time I was out there I kept thinking about how much I was looking forward to Levi getting older so that I could share this passion with him. Not only it is an awesome sight, but it just reminds us how grand our God is. Something I think we all need to be reminded of every now and then.

I'm already looking forward to tonight. Maybe we'll get lucky and see a few more!

HOT

I had to share this when I saw it today. In the south we have been experiencing extreme temperatures making it hot, hot, HOT! To make matters worse my car broke down and for the last week I've been driving my husband's truck that has no air conditioning! Hopefully it will be fixed soon and we'll have a little relief, but until then...I'm melting!

Summertime

It has been sooo HOT this summer. Honestly it has been miserably HOT. We've taken advantage of every opportunity to cool off this summer - whether its filling up a big bucket full of cold water or going swimming - we've been enjoying our summer. Here are some of my favorite pictures from this summer and our cooling off adventures.

Check out my shades!