Our Mexico Getaway!

David & I left for 6 days in Los Cabos, we stayed at the Hilton Los Cabos Resort - it's beautiful!

We had lunch one day up in San Jose del Cabo, the smaller town, closer to the airport. To me it is more "old mexico" style, than down in Cabo San Lucas, which is about 30 minutes south.

That was our one day of rain.

Most of our time there was hot and sunny! This view is from the beach/pool side of our resort, looking to the north toward the Westin up on the cliffs.

the night prior to my b-day, David and I arrived back in our suite to the surprise of balloons, wine & cheese, chocolate dipped strawberries, a bubble bath, and rose petals EVERYWHERE! Talk about "turn down service"... what a birthday treat! Who knew he was that romantic!
on my 41st birthday, on 12/3, I got my first tatoo - okay, it was only henna, but it looked pretty cool for about 2 weeks! and.. it didn't hurt!
Who's "Lina"??? one of the "pool boy/bar servers" brought me this decadent chocolate cake surprise while we lounged on the whale watching deck just over the side of the infinity edge pool at the resort. I could get used to this lifestyle!

My mom was home with the kids, so since she had to fly back to Vegas, we had to get home. We missed out on snow, wind, heavy rains, etc. Lucky us!

Jordan helped with T-Day

Jordan got a bit messy while helping me get the herb butter under the skin on our turkey. We had 6 adults and 6 kids here for a lovely holiday. So glad my parents could make it up here! Yay, Nanna & Poppa!

Halloween 2007

On the weekend prior to the "big day", David helped Marina & Jordan 'gut' the pumpkins and then they set out to creatively carve one each. Ryker wasn't into it, so I only have 2 pumpkins rotting out on the front porch.

Marina & a couple of her girlfriends all love the character of "Dwight K. Shrute" from the TV show "The Office" (go figure???). 3 of them decided to be "Dwight" for Halloween. They shopped at Value Village for ugly 'man clothes' and purchased wigs to attempt to cut into Dwight's very odd hair style. Thinking they still might not be recognized by the majority, they printed his photo from the web and make a 'stick mask'.

Jordan got creative selecting odd clothes at the same thrift store and adding a few additional items to become a wild and crazy clown. During the class party at school, he got 2nd place in the constume "fashion show" - losing out only to "James Blond".

By 7:30, there were 7 crazy girls trick-or-treating at our door, then deciding it was time for a water break. Convenient that I had just put popcorn in the microwave... I handed that over to them. Parts of costumes were peeled off and the decision to stay in and watch a scary (really scary!) movie was made and they got picked up by 10pm to finish off the night.

Pictured here are: Tess, Steffi, Maddie, Marina (back row), then Casey, Natalie & Bailey (front row).

You should have seen them all hiding under blankets and screaming when David appeared outside the front window with a mask, a saw and a flashlight uplighting his image. I almost wet my pants!

Prodigy Hip Hop Team

Here's Marina with full "hip hop style & attitude"... their Prodigy team choreographer, Matt, asked them to show up to rehearsal this past Saturday looking 'like him', vs. the sometimes lacey cami tops and tiny boy shorts they usually wear for dance rehearsing. They don't have costumes yet for this year's team competition routine, but that should be coming soon, as the first competition will be in early January.

left to right: Chelsey, Tess, Lindsey, Allie, Matthew Kim (choreographer), Brooke, Natalie, Marina & Bethany. NOTE: the white headband thingys that Natalie and Marina have on are the cut off sleeve from "dad's t-shirt" - Matt's not sporting that in this photo, but it's a common accessory for him!

Inglewood Spirit Day!

Today is the finale of "spirit week" at the Jr. High (7th - 9th grades) - Ryker likes to remind us he is actually a high school "freshman"... they just take their classes at the Jr. High campus!



Since the week began, we have had "pink day", "wacky-tacky day", "retro day", "costume day", and now finally "Inglewood Knights day" with the school colors being blue and silver if you couldn't tell.
This photo is from a year ago... they were 8th and 7th graders then. Still spirited! Marina has been lucky that the soccer jersey from the team she played with thru 6th grade had the blue/white stripes before they went black! We've gotten some mileage out of that one!

Happy Birthday David!!!

10-11-62
David's birthday was celebrated tonight by the 5 of us, who enjoyed a delicious meal at DC's Grill, here in Sammamish (convenient that Thursdays are "half-price bottled wine" nights!) where 3 of us each had different steaks - mine was the best by far!, Marina had a grilled chicken & brie sandwich, and Jordan had pasta. Nice treat!

Once home, we got into our comfy clothes, had David open a few gifts, and then did the Birthday Cake ritual... candles, singing, etc. His request was chocolate cake with white/vanilla frosting. Not bad if I say so myself! Really, anything looks good on a glass pedistal!

I need an easel!

So, I've tried to be resourceful since I don't have an easel in my art room, and I either paint flat on the table, (there's hardly ever room!) or on my lap, or yesterday, I propped the painting up against the backside of one of the chairs using a heavy bin of paints to keep it in place.

One of these days....

Stage 4...

This is Stage-4 of this painting/collage.

1 - yellow wash on canvas

2 - white glaze and paint added

3 - crimson transparent wash added in sections, spashes and pours, allowed to drip

4 - Pthalo blue with gel medium scrubbed into canvas from bottom up, applied over tape-masked areas, now revealed. (Also, 3 pieces of corrugated cardboard were collaged last night)

More Creations

I've been busy working on some new art pieces, and some samples for projects to use with my classes. I've decided it's helpful to take photos of "the process" for some pieces.



















The top one is a small canvas board (8"x10") which is a collage piece and will feature many layers of glazed acrylics, crumpled paper (for texture), some pieces of 'definition paper' featuring the word "kiss", etc., and the numerals represent the 2 of us, the 3 children and our family of 5... it's still in the very early stages!

The bottom one is an altered photo, taken of David and Marina when she was just a couple weeks shy of 1 year old. I soaked the photo, sanded it, painted and stamped it. It will be incorporated into some art piece. I think I'll be doing more of these for sure!

Monster Mission

Last Thursday, I excitedly called David at work from my cell phone while in one of our local grocery stores to tell him they had a big display promoting a special event at that store for his favorite beverage "Monster Energy" drinks. The sign said, "Sunday 4-6pm, the "Monster Energy" people would be out front and give you a FREE can for every can you purchased - 3 case maximum."

Around 4:30, right after the Seahawk gamed ended, I hopped in the car and went on my "monster mission". The funny thing was the guy out front said since I bought 'by the case' I would get on the website, and next thing I knew, he was snapping my photo with my full shopping cart, standing in front the giant "Monster" truck. David teased me that the guy just wanted my picture (ha ha) because we don't see anywhere on their website, photos of people from these little promotional deals they run!

These photos show just how obsessed David is with "the monster".... yes - we got 3 Free cases, since I bought the maximum of 3 cases... yikes, where do you store 6 cases of energy drinks???

This is a cabinet above the garage fridge where we usually keep the 8 or so cans at a time that I buy for David.

Now, they even get the back areas of the shoe cabinet section!

(it was a REALLY good deal $$)

Mixed Media Design

My first class of this semester at MUSEO began this week. This is a photo of the sample I made for the lesson on "pastel fresco" art. This pear was drawn with soft pastels (which then due to moisture, blend like paint!) onto still damp plaster that was spread onto the burlap. The plaster gives you interesting texture and once it was full dry, I was able to bend & crack it further to enhance the plaster element.

I have 6 students so far in that class. They are all pretty much beginners, some are very creative, but not formally trained in art, so it's challenging. I really hope to be successful in helping them create pieces they will be proud of, in addition to just having fun in the class.

Sold!

It's been a week, but last Friday I posted this antique (not really sure how old it is... but it's old!) display/storage cabinet on "Craig's List.com" in the late afternoon, and by Sat. morning it was SOLD - full price! The buyers drove up after soccer and loaded it into their truck.

Sad to see it go, I really loved this piece, but it really wasn't practical in my 'studio/craft/computer' room, and there wasn't any other place in the house that was appropriate.

Now, my challenge is to once again (it's a constant issue) re-organize all my 'stuff' (David calls it junk) and make this a cool art studio (& place for my computer desk). I think today calls for yet another trip down to IKEA. I'll try not to get so overwhelmed there this time.

Cannon Beach, Oregon ~ Aug. 24-30th

A morning walk down the beach (first day which started out foggy) the kids found many large rocks to climb. I think Jordan had sand in his eyes?

Our 1st bonfire, right out on the beach of our 'backyard'. After sunset, we of course made s'mores!

Me, David & Mufasa @ Hug Point cove.

Marina, Ryker & Jordan @ Seaside wacky hat store. We had to go there this trip, as both boys had purchased wild hats there 4 years ago during our first ever Cannon Beach visit. p.s. they did NOT buy these hats, but Jordan DID get a pretty fun one you might see at some point.

Mufasa and Jordan on the beach in front of out rental house (see above the rock wall).

Marina, Mufasa, David, Jzo & Ryker. That water was COLD!

Our first morning we had fog and some cooler weather, but the rest of our trip was amazingly nice & sunny! See Haystack Rock in the background, just off shore? (over David's right shoulder - it looks like a mini mountain!)

first day of school

well, everyone is happy after Day One of the new school year!

Jordan left first (which really won't happen again all year) at about 7:45 and a friend took this photo at the corner of the neighborhood where they wait for the bus. Jzo is the one in the white sweatshirt. Yes, it started POURING rain right as the bus was arriving/loading. Crazy for Sept. 4th! He's in 6th grade this year, and at our schools, that is "big man on campus" as it's still elementary till Jr. High starts with 7th grade.

Being big 8th and 9th graders this year, Ryker and Marina didn't have to get to school till 11:30 and only had 15 minutes of each of their 6 classes plus "homeroom" today... during their under 3 hour day. The 'poor' 7th graders at their school had to show up at 7:40, and do a full day.

The report, once everyone got home was good. Good teachers, friends in each class (for the most part) and overall, a nice bit of enthusiasm for the coming year of school. We enjoyed a nice "family dinner night" which we hope to experience most Tues./Thurs. this season.

Next week, we start up with all the activities on M/W/F/Sat. and it's a wild season with dance, swimming, soccer, fall ball and of course I'll be teaching art classes too, so we're certainly not going to be bored!

Happy B-day Allison!

Each year for the last 4-5 years, I've tried really hard to come up with unique gifts for my friend Allison who likes that sort of thing. It's come to the point where I think we'd both be pretty disappointed with the typical store bought 'girlfriend gift' items.

So, this year I got inspired by some ideas I'd seen and created this 12"x12" framed magnet board with custom made magnets using old photos from Allison's history - people and places of importance to her.

I just gave it to her today - the colors of the papers I used on the background as well as backing each of the photos (which are under glass 'blobs') are a perfect match to a wall color in her home - it's incredible! Enjoy your memories every time you glace at it, Allison & Happy Birthday! (xo)

2 home, 2 gone...

On Thursday, David and Jzo left to get 1/2 way to Spokane for the soccer tournament that begins this afternoon. We didn't want Jordan to be too "car-wiped" to be ready to play in the heat for over an hour game without any sub players! Jzo is excited to have 3 nights with Dad to himself!

Meanwhile, I was waiting for Ryker and Marina to get home from camp. A couple hours before we expected them to get back to town, we got calls from counselors' cell phones which the kids borrowed, stating they'd had bus troubles and would be a couple hours later than planned.

So, at 8:30pm instead of 6:00, after over 8 hours of driving, 3 huge charter busses rolled into the school parking lot where many parents waited anxiously - note... 4 busses left 5 days ago. Definitely some stories to be shared!

Although in the past two years when picking up the campers they've been so exhausted they could barely talk - these two stayed up for a couple hours chatting away about all the random fun experiences they'd had. I'm sure more wild stories will come out over the next few days. Too bad David is missing this!

Well, now it's Sat. afternoon.

It's quiet here for a bit, Marina is at a dance workshop, Ryker is over at a friend's house, and last .... she's home!

oops! Now it's Sunday, early morning...

Obviously, it's much busier here when the family members are around!

We've now had a "High School Musical-2" TV movie watching small affaire (Marina +2 girlfriends) while at the same time Ryker went to a buddy's house under the guise of having pizza, playing hoops, and maybe playing a game indoors - turns out they ran upstairs at 8pm and watched it too! (H.S. M-2 is a Disney Channel movie) Like my friend said, they probably realized they needed to watch it so they'd have something to talk to the girls about!

(Blurry - sorry)...Bailey, Marina & Tess watching HSM-2

Jzo's soccer team has played 3 games so far: 1 tie, 1 win, 1 loss. The tournament points earned however, put them in the Silver Division Semis which play today at 10:40 - if they lose, they'll pack up at the hotel and drive the 5 hours home. If they win, they'll stay and play one more at 2:00 and after that, drive home. Not sure exactly, which I'm rooting for (I miss them!).

Marina's supposed to go to a big b-day party two of her girlfriends are having down at the camp on the lake, which will be 3 hours of swimming, playing, etc. on all the cool water apparatus they have down there, but the bummer is, today it's raining and only in the upper 50's so far! Could get to the mid 60's and just be cloudy... we'll hope.

near silence?

Moka (Shih Tzu mix - 9 months), Biscuit ( Mini Dashaund - 3 1/2) & Mufasa (Leonberger - 6 years)

It's so quiet in the house this a.m., Jzo slept over at a friend's house, (David & I took the opportunity to watch an "R" movie, more on that...) the dogs have crashed now after their wild chase of each other a bit ago, and so here I am. It's peaceful, but weird at the same time. I keep expecting to hear someone come downstairs and ask "what's for breakfast?"

Okay, do movie makers decide if they are going to get the "R" rating, they should just make it as grossly violent as they possibly can? We saw an FBI/hit man/mafia themed movie (we should have known...) and it was action packed, what David is always hoping, had lots of big name actors, but was really disturbing at the same time. I had to watch part of a Seinfeld re-run before going to bed to clear my mind of the awfully graphic 'special' effects. Oh well, it's still nice to be able to choose any movie we want and not have to consider if it's appropriate for the kids or not.

Here's the almost final version of my latest project - it will get a 4" sq. mirror in the middle. I actually started this one a couple years ago, so it's fun to see it "in color".

This is one of my designs, a 12" sq. wood framed "mirror", etched (wood burner), painted and added to this one are iron hooks, so it could be used near an entry for keys, hat, scarves, or light bags. It's "Welcome" in 3 languages. Not sure if I want to sell this, or keep it for myself!

2 @ camp, 1 still sleeping...

Yesterday, Ryker (14) & Marina (13) along with over 150 'friends' loaded 4 huge charter busses to make the 6 hour trip down to Antelope, Oregon for 5 days of camp at "Wildhorse Canyon", a Young Life (non-denominational Christian) owned facility. This is Ryker's 3rd and Marina's 2nd time going to this fun camp. I think they've been counting down the days since last August!

Meanwhile, Jordan (11) who already went to his camp earlier in the summer (his 2nd year at Camp of the Cascades, another Christian camp) has been looking forward to his time as an "only child", relishing the idea of having both parents and all THREE dogs to himself.

Our first day was spent going to Jordan's (Jzo is his sports nickname) championship game in a soccer tournament he was guest playing in, that is, it wasn't his club team participating, but he was asked to play with another local team who needed more players for this past weekend. They came in 2nd, and brought home some "hardware"... that's always exciting!

I also spent some of the afternoon working on new samples for some of the art projects I'll be utilizing in the classes I'm teaching this upcoming semester @ Museo (http://www.museoart.com/) check out their website if you want to see more about that part of my life. I've got a lot of work to do to be prepared before classes begin right after Labor Day, and with our family vacation coming in a couple weeks, that leaves just this week and next to get all ready. Oh, the pressure! It's a good pressure, I need a bit of 'stress' to get out of my procrastination habits.

It had been MONTHS since my art room looked like this... I finally got my table cleared of remnants of old projects, paint spills, and mostly just JUNK. So, Saturday I forced myself to "clear the decks" and give myself some space to work on these new projects.

My good friend Kelly & I are constantly challenging ourselves (& each other) to keep our "rooms" well organized and tidy... neither of us has been super successful with this, but we sure have fun finding new containers and design ideas which inspire us!

The above photo was taken on the 12th, and by that evening this is what the table looked like, and now it's the 13th, and I just took this photo. We'll see if after I finish this batch of projects, I'll be able to get it looking cleared off and clean again... stay tuned.

Jordan (who is still sleeping in this a.m.) will soon leave for Museo, where I am sub-teaching a couple classes. I took the summer off, so it's unusual for me to be going there, but the classes are kids classes today, so Jzo will have fun being my assistant (and working on the art lessons himself I predict!).

This is my first ever blog, so if you managed to get thru reading this, I thank you for your interest!