Making Art

We have a little artist.  Peaches has always been our little artist, coloring on walls was her specialty when she was two.  This seemed to be a thing of the past, until the other day, when she moved on to pillars.  The story goes, the other day I took the easel outside for her to paint on. Painting outside is so much better then inside. She was so adorable painting away, and then it started to rain, so I threw the extra paint by the hose (to clean later...my mistake HERE) and headed in. Well, later came and went and I completely forgot about all the paint sitting outside.

The next day they go out to play and I go into the office to put something away and I hear her on our front porch just singing away (she always is singing and making up songs), I look and she is dancing and singing, holding a PAINT BRUSH. "Oh NO" runs through my head, my eyes quickly dart to the mass of green paint now covering one of our white pillars.  Painting the pillars green, she was painting the pillars green! 

I didn't handle this well, looking back I wish I would have taken a deep breath and then approached the situation, but there was a lot of yelling and then scrubbing, and it all came off, and we made up. She promised to never paint the pillars again....and I promised to always clean up the paint!!!!

Here are some pics of the artist at work

You can see the white pillar in the background that got a fresh coat of green paint the next day

Memory Making at Wrigley

Earlier this month the kids and I were able to make a memory with Papa.  Papa Trout used to play baseball and sometimes is able to do really cool things with the Cubs still.  He was throwing out the first pitch and singing the 7th Inning Stretch, so the kids and I tagged along.  We had a blast with Papa, seeing him in his element and hearing him "sing" was so fun.  For me, it was extra special, because I have memories of my dad taking me on the field and running around and having fun, and now my kids were able to have that experience too. The Engineer went with when he through out the first pitch, it made for great pictures.

Dandelion Queen in a Midspring Night's Dream

Peaches is everything I always wanted in a little girl. She can be rough with the boys, and she can host a perfect tea party for all her dolls.  She is a mixture of sass and sweetness and boy can she charm you to get what she wants. If I had a dollar for every time someone told I was going to have my hands full when she gets older, I would be rich!  She is my free spirit, my charismatic child, that I love and would never, ever change, even if she pushes me and tests me almost every day...I love my girl and my husband snapped these pictures of her while I was working one night and I edited them today.These pictures just touch my heart because they seem to get to the heart of Peaches, they capture her perfectly.

Midspring Night's Dream

My Dandelion Queen

Merriment at the Zoo

Did you ever find a place that you knew it was special?  That it would hold a special place in your heart and that you want to tell everyone about, but keep it a secret at the same time? I have a few places like that, some to remain a secret, but one I will share.

The Michigan City Zoo is one of those places. Located just off of the beach on Lake Michigan, it is a small zoo that has all the charm and characteristics of a forgotten treasure.  There is a couple of tigers and some bears and zebras, but the really special place is the bird house. You need to visit this at the end of summer, when all the vines have covered the ceiling and cover the wires, so you forget that you are actually in a large cage. The birds fly around and you can get a stick with food on to feed them.

When you are walking around there you can feel like you have your very own zoo just for you. If I had a million dollars, I would share with the Michigan City Zoo!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Merry Memories

The woods behind my grandparents house is filled with wonderful memories for my mom and her siblings and my cousin and I.  I think my kids will have memories in these woods too.  For a week in the spring the normally dirt brown ground turns into a blanket of yellow.  It is truly a beautiful sight.

Here are pictures from our little outing in the 

yellow woods.