My Brown Eyed Girls

i love love love these pics... what a very happy baby and very grumpy 2 year old I had today!
I am amazed at just how much Autumn is coming into her little self! She is just wanting to move all about and laugh and play play play.

Today she learned how to wave. I know! - so nuts to see this little itty bitty person waving and communicating after so long with nothing but squeaks, squeals and motor boat sounds!

I am a proud little mamma!

Butta fly

today I shared a moment with a butterfly.

it was all misty from the rain and a gentle warm thickness seemed to be hanging in the air as I got into my little ol' car in the back woods of Flintystone. And much to my surprise, this little fella just perched his little self on my window.

I peered at him through the rain speckled glass
He seemed to look back at me with his big glassy buggie eyes
and adjusted his beautiful wings...

I wondered if he was reading me like the terminator or if he was just as curious as I was... perhaps he was playing a little chicken with me...

he clung to the window for a good 5 houses....
but I think I won...

maybe he is flitting around some other flintystone homes right now.

We're off to see the Aquarium

we checked out the ol' Aquarium today (thank you, Mimi!!) and had such a lovely cha chilled out kinda day. If any of you cats have ever hit the Aquarium on a day that when ol' Chatty vegas is over run with tourists or school groups then you will know what a battle such a venture can be.
Today was lovely... drizzly, misty and somehow humid and cool at the same time. If any one out there saw the mountain this morning, I'm sure you fell in love with our little town all over again.... so beautiful!
On the way there I had a funny little car conversation with Lavender. It went like this:
Me: Hey, Laughfer... do you know where we're going?
L: Where?
Me: To the Aquarium!!!
L: ------
Me: Do you remember the Aquarium?
L: Who's there?
Me: FISHES! Lots and lots of fishes.... and turtles, and penguins, and butterflies and big fishes and little tiny fishes, and fishes that swim fast and fishes that swim really really slow!
L: All kinds of that stuff!!
Me: Yep
L: And cows?
Me: Huh?
L: Cows and itty, bitty, little, duckies!
Me: I don't know about the cows.
L: And BIG duckies too!
Me: Yes, big ducks too.
----- We go over through a bumpy constructiony part o town ----
L: It's hard to go...
Me: What?
L: It's hard to go
Me: Go where?
L: To the AQUARIUM, mom!

drrrrh.

Anyways... some how we made it to the Aquarium with vertually no one there. We were 6 people out of a total of 20 or so! Very sweet to have such a luxurious stroll through all the exhibits.
And yes, you should thank me that I did not post all the jelly fish pictures I took. I am in love with these glorious suckers.... that is unless I were actually swimming with them. They are really overwhelmingly pretty to watch.

Olympic withdrawals

so alas, the sweet sweet 2008 Olympics have come to a close and I guess we must say goodbye. It is not with some quiet reluctance that I push the power button on my remote.
I have enjoyed every little morsel of these games. Every evening I would find myself looking forward to pressing a button and suddenly being present in a world where overwhelming achievements are the norm and incredible feats of strength and stamina are on display at every turn.

I know, I know... it sounds obsessive, right? well, I just might be a little Olympic crazy, but I gotta say... there is no other place where you can absorb not only the collision of a plethora of cultures, but also witness the making of world records and the display of human emotion in such a raw form. I mean, there it is... ultimate joy, satisfaction, despair and disappointment right there on the faces of people who have sacrificed so much for their goals.

Yep, I just love the Olympics...
and I'm sure that tonight when I walk toward my remote at 8 pm I will find a bit o quiet disappointment as I re-realize that there is just no longer a good reason to push that button.

but also...
there is so much good sleep to be had (that I have been missin) and a very happy husband who I'm sure will be ever so pleased not to have to move my drawing boards from in front of the tv or be serenaded with the shouts from the living room.

--- 2012, you got some big beijing shoes to fill --- adios

Miroslav Tichy

yo, cats... I found this guy, Miroslav Tichy, on gizmodo... just look at what gothically beautiful photos are coming from this hodge podgy camera made of trash!


Here is a little excerpt from the article.


it's Miroslav Tichy, posing with one of his amazing trash cams, which he fabricated from paper towel tubes, thread spools, rubber bands and other bits of detritus and has used since the 1950s. Now in his 80s, Tichy and his works have only recently (as far as the art world goes) been discovered. And like all good photographers, he trained his intentionally imperfect camera rigs on the considerably more refined female form.

Here's a link to the article on Gizmodo... enjoy!

Currently creating...

Here are a few little hints about what my hands have been up to...
lovely maps and many references to BlueClara's lovely silhouettes on etsy.

I'll post the final product lata.... smooches, kiddos!

my smart little snooka

Fair warning: this is a proud mamma post...
yep, yep... our little Autumn Marie is using her first baby sign!

She has conquered the baby sign for more and is using it like a pro!

I guess I just can't believe she is getting it so early on. and that she caught onto the whole idea so supa dupa quick!

We taught her big sis all sorts of sign language and were very pleased with how much easier it made life with a little non verbal person... I just can't believe how quickly Autumn has picked it up. and for those cats out there that say "i don't really get into that... seems a bit strange".... well, i thought so too until we gave a whirl and had amazing results... fewer tantrums, better understanding and quicker verbal skills... blahblah blah


ya know, I think the pride thing that wells up in you about your kids is kinda funny... it seems a little unreasonable when you really take a moment to think about it. Here we are so happy about something that we really had nothing to do with... and yet that doesn't seem to deminish the sentiment. so weird...
nevertheless, I am so proud of my Autumn Marie... what a smart little snooka you are!

The Christening

Today was Autumn Marie's Christening...
Such a beautiful celebration of the covenant.

And this day full of wonderful significance equals one tired baby.

Oh yeah... Lavender said "I want some water too!" in the midst of the dedication... so funny!

kickin it

hey kids... here are a few pics from today that didn't make it onto ye ol' 31photos.

If you cats haven't checked out our little project you should take a peek...

www.31photos.blogspot.com

I'm out to kick it with some good ol' Blue Moon!
peace.

the roller overer

My sweet Autumn Marie is coming into her own little person...
She is growing so big and moving into that toddler creepy crawling stage so quickly.


Keeping her stimulated enough during the day is becoming quite a challenge, but at least her big sis is always eager to help out.

The only thing we really gotta watch out for is all that little itty bitty polly pocket gear that covers the floor. She just wants to grab, grab, grab and touch and mouth all over everything. So, if you're around, watch out for those little hands... they might get ya or they might have 5 tiny polly shoes or something hidden inside!

Oh and one more thing...
Autumn is officially a roller overer... and yes, that is a word!

Summer nights

There is just something so effortlessly wonderful about summer nights with the songs of crickets and secadas floating through that golden light that only happens at dawn and dusk... intoxicating!
I took these pics tonight in the midst of swinging, ball chasing and frisbee throwing...
Too cute not to share...


Did I mention...
I just love love love this girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lovely Swatch town

check out these lovely, oh so lovely paper swatches!!!
These little beauties are on their way to a super cool new home... my studio!!!

I am itchin' to get my little hands on these guys... and ya know what...

they are all for me!
I am actually making some little somethings for my wall. yep... my wall... mine, mine, mine...
hee hee.

I was in this strange creative space that would not allow me to fully complete a work until I got these works (which have been rompin' around my head for about 4 months now) out of my system.

This strange little urgent desire to work on one specific project has only really happened to me one other time... wonder why...

the unattended 2 year old

so this is what happens when a little Laughfer is left to her own demise...

markers and unattended 2 year olds don't mix.

the Olympics

yo... i hope you cats were able to catch at least some of the Opening Ceremonies from the Olympics.

May I just say WOW... and WOW!

I just love love love the Olympics... doesn't matter whether it's Summer or Winter... I just love the Olympics. There is something about the sheer magnitude of it all... the grandeur and the uniting of so many people groups. I find myself thinking about nations that I probably would not take even a moments notice of all year except for the fleeting camera pan that lets you know that they are present at such a global event. I think about what a typical day must be like there and try to imagine what they are thinking walking into such an alternate, unreal experience.


I love to feast my eyes on the crazy opening ceremony performances and the wonderful costume and artistry of it all.

I love to see what kind of get up the athletes have to wear in their walk o glory... and i like to think about all these diplomats in suits sitting in a board room tossing ideas back and forth like "I think this time around they should all wear bowling hats... no, no... berets!!"

There are many odd things that cross this mind when watching such a phenomenon.

Hope you can catch the Olympic bug too!!!

these pics came from the Boston Globe on a site called The Big Picture - you should check out the whole set if ya can... so cool!

sunny sunflowers

i hope you cats got to go be outside at some point today... and if you did you know that it was unbelievably gorgeous!!!

We spent our morning at Crabtree Farms.... just look at these amazing flowers!!! ahhhh....

There is just something about sun flowers, isn't there... they just make me smile. Their boldness and brilliance just seems to shout to the world "look what God has made this earth to do!!" Amazing.... wish I were so bold.

I must say that our little trips to the Farmer's Market and Crabtree Farms have really made an impression on Laughfer (and hopefully Autumn too, even though we stayed till she cried... oops). Lavender has taken to exclaming every time we cut up some veggies, chomp some yummy melon or even sink our teeth into some incredible pumpkin bread that "We got this at the Farmer's Market"... or the latest "We got this from that farmer I laugh to"... (explanation - she had a funny little convo about tomatos with Farmer Mike and it all ended in reasonless giggling)

Nevertheless, every trip seems to be an education... learning where tomatos, pumkins and flowers come from... learning about bees (speaking of which... I have a killer birds and the bees story comin' your way soon enuff) and all sorts of other parts of God's creation. Gotta tell ya, the farm holds quite a key to education and info mation.

oh one last funny thing.... on the way to Crabtree (which is kinda in the Rossville gettooo) Lavender kept saying "We see the men with the umbrellas!!! The men with the umbrellas!!!!" over and over and over again... I had absolutely nooo idea what the heck she was talking about and couldn't seem to get images of men dancing with umbrellas across Rossville Blvd. out of my head. Then we past that giant civil war monument and Laughfer went bizzerk...

so now I know... "men with umbrellas"
equals Civil war monument with men holding rifles!!!

she is so cool

my Mary Cassatt girl

so yesterday i was watching this Classical Baby video with the girls... it has this strange little baby crawling through an art museum (or MUUU ismmmm, as Lavender says) looking at fine art masterpieces and such.

and in the middle of it, this Mary Cassatt painting came up. Then there was a close up of the little girl and Lavender turned to me and asked "Is that me?"

At first I just laughed and said nope... then, I looked a little more and then rewound it and looked a little more. This little Cassatt girl really does look a lot like the Laughfer Dafer!!!

What da ya'll think?

Draw the people, mamma!

so you're probably looking at this first pic thinking "what a sad (maybe mean even?) little face the Laughfer is wearing... I can't help but love this pic... she soo did not want her picture taken. (It is just like a mom to do it anyway right?)
I think I like it so much because it just is the face of having a hard day, ya know. and because i feel like it is a picture of heat... that kind of inescapable late summer heat that just sticks.
It really has been so very sticky and hot the past few days... ergh. We have been making it through with sprinklers and sidewalk chalk and all sorts of other distractions.
Little Lavender got to take in a pretty cool distraction yesterday... I enrolled her in a Play Gym class at the ol' CDM. And I have to say that it was incredibly fun, for both her and I. Her best little friend, Matthew, is in the class and they just have sooo much fun bouncing on balls, chasing bubbles and singing songs and so much more. I will come right out and admit that the first time I took Lavender to the free trial class they offer I had one of those "oh my
little girl loves this sooo much! sniff sniff" times... you know, those times when you can actually see them learning and more excited than you ever would have imagined they could be.
And then there is that inevitable (for me, anyways) feeling that I should have been making more of an effort to provide her with stimulating, participatory type learning activities. (erhhh - why do moms always do that guilt trip thing to ourselves??)
So all that to say, I don't know how long we will be able to afford play gym, but we are taking full & joyous advantage of the time we have there.

And if any of you cats out there are interested... the CDM offers one free trial class to anyone who is interested (I think they go from 4months to 3yrs olds). But, I will warn you that it requires parental participation, so you would have to have some one watch your other kiddos (if you have em)... anyways... always more info about class times and descriptions on their webby site, you know the drill.

oh and one last thing... this last little city scape is soo funny to me b/c Laughfer insisted on me drawing the little people to the left o the buildings. I know, I know... you're thinking "how cute! Their little family!" - nope! that is (form left to right) Autumn being pushed in the stroller by Cat and Mary holding Lavenders hand!!!! Yep, no family wholesomeness here.... it is a outting just for the girls!!!

the dark knight

so i got to go see not one, but 2 - yes, 2 movies this past weekender!! woah...

and i gotta say that i have been mulling over what I took in for some time now. i have been reluctant to post about it all, but felt compelled to say something...

See, me and the Joshers watched The Dark Knight.
And let me just say that it is undeniably a great film... good action, awesome new characters, surprising and exhiliarating. however, there are things about this flick that just disturbed me. And it's not that this film was the darkest, most depressing thing ever... not even close... especially when you've been watching David Lynch for a few years! But, I guess maybe it was just that I didn't expect a little ol' Batty man flick to be so dark. There were some scenes that seemed to follow you outta the theatre... and these weren't the thoughts you would want to bring home and sleep on, ya know.

I guess maybe things I watch will always feel different to me now that I am a mom. I feel so brady sayin' that, but I just can't seem to seperate myself from the changes that it has brought me. I don't think I can sit and watch a family cowering under a madman's knife and think "oh well, this will be a great character building device!" - nope! things are different ---

I guess I just need to try to check it at the door, but I don't think that is what the filmmaker wants of the viewer. Perhaps it would be a little easier if people would not bring a 10 year olds to watch such depravity soaked entertainment. It's just a little distracting when you hear tiny little pre-pubescent voices asking "Is that going to explode, Dad?" - argh!

all this to say, if you check out this flick, don't expect big POW! and BANG!s to come across the screen... expect to jump a time or two... and make sure you don't sit near a little kid.