Ratt a Tat Tat...Here is an Alley Cat

These little square collage pieces have been occupying my spare moments the past few days. This one is a gift for an old friend.... Hope ya like it John!

Anyways... I like the little alley cat slinking around the city... don't cats just make you want to slink or saunter around???

The Big 30!

Yes, Yes... Jen has now officially entered the 30 year old age group! I had a big whopper of a birthday yesterday and I must say it was a blast, despite the big number... thanks to my lovely husband, family, and soooo many good friends!

My big birfday went a little somethin like this...
sleepy jen wakes to an eager joshie & lavender clutching a cutely wrapped present... the box reveals a picture of pine cones in a basket (that looks suspiciously like the one in our den)... I go to the pine cone basket and there is a pic of our Hemingway books, where I find another picture that leads to another sneaky, unexpected place and so on until..... .... .... drrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuu (that is a drum roll) I find my real present... which is a brand new tinnnie tiny little cannon digital camera just for me !!!!!! It is so lovely and tiny that they call it an elph... so cute, huh.... and EXACTLY what I wished for!!!!

I kept finding myself missing out on many photo worthy Lavender outings b/c I have no room or extra arms to wield the giagantor camera with broken lens that we always use... you mommies out there know what I'm talking about!!!! We need technology that we can operate with one hand.... yes?!

Anyways... all throughout the day I had these little reminders of my little celebration and how much those around me love me too. Joshers made a lovely breakfast for me... which was very tasty... and we also had a slammin party out here at the house... hotdogs... bonfires... beer... smores... old friends... newer friends... cool rubber stamp presents... and balloons too. Oh ya... I also received a incredibly swanky pair of Confederate colored flip flops that say REBEL across the bottoms... they make me feel WILD... just wild I tell you!!!! Watch out you don't know what I'll do next! I am the super duper 3 0 celebrating, rebel yelling, wild one...... WWWWOOOOO HOOOOO!

A New Work

Here is the latest piece for my new portrait series... it is entitled Mt. 5:6 and it is a portrait of JR, my friend and the pastor of ERPC.

I feel a bit mixed about this one... the colors and composition seemed to turn out ok, but the pencil drawing could be better... I liked the piece this afternoon for awhile... now I think it should have been better... but this is always how I feel when I reach the end of a work. I guess that's why I just don't get it when artists want to keep the art and "have trouble letting it go." I just don't get it... I would prefer that each piece I finished flew off to another country about an hour after its completion.

Anyways, here it is... another one down... more to come.

And for Kate and Cat... the tip about the Acrylic Gloss Medium rocked... you saved my bum and the many hours I put into this piece. Thanks, girls!

Guess What?!!!!

Yep, Yep... It's true!!! The Kring family is now a family of four... the newest addition is very small though!

It appears that I am only 6 weeks and 6 days the Preger, but we just couldn't keep our little mouthes shut any longer... How do people keep such news a secret??? I dunno... but it looks like November 19th is the big day for this little bunny.

All bets are off as to the sex of the babe... of course everyone has already begun to claim that this will be another wittle girl... everyone being my mom, amelia, lavender, leah and others too!!! He he ... we just don't care... a new little baby will be ours soon and we are so very pleased as little peaches!!!

What a magical and exciting time it is to be me! I am always so very impressed to read about the development of little babies in their mamas... how impressive the human body is... what amazing feats are taking place in little ol' me!!!! Here is a snippet of what out little bit is doing in there....

The first heartbeats have begun! The baby is now an embryo and is about 1/17 of an inch long. Growth is very rapid this week. The umbilical cord develops. The eyes and ears begin to form as well as an opening for the mouth. The heart has begun to pump blood and most of the other organs are well under construction. Buds form on the body that will become the arms and legs. Exciting week!

How thankful we are that God continues to bless this little family!