more walks, more beauty

amazing the things you notice when you stop and look. i run and walk past things every day that, when i take time to look, are amazing... i have been longing more and more lately to live somewhere beautiful. montana, colorado, the beach, the mountains, hawai'i. i want it to all be just outside my door or window. so tired of the asphalt and concrete. but there are these moments... when the little details are just so beautiful and intricate... when i can show the world to my son, and my son to the world... when the wind blows so powerfully that it stirs my soul... that i am awed. thankful for the bits of beauty in MY world.

how did i get such a beautiful baby boy?

joey & his daddy go on walks too! they are so cute!!

oops

so we got this amazing package from jason's aunt a couple days ago... it had a children's bible and "i'll love you forever" both with awesome sweet notes from his aunt (and grandma posthumously), a couple of handmade blankets, including this one with an airplane just like the one i painted on the wall in his nursery, and his name... except it's not his name... joey's name is josiah! and this same aunt made a blanket in the same style for jason's mom that said "josiah", but all the little notes in the package, and the blanket WE got all say "joshua"... LOL (she'll laugh about it too someday ;)

soul project

my spiritual director and i were talking about joey and his wonder as he explores the world around him... and how "sensing" he is, and that i'm just like that - take everything in as i see, hear, taste, smell, feel it... how i love textures and find so much beauty around me... so she gave me a "soul project". she sent me out to take a walk with joey and talk with him about all the beauty we saw. then later, i'm supposed to process that walk and the beauty as though it was God showing ME the beautiful things (he's made many of them just because he knows how much we'll delight in their beauty) and talk to him about it... haven't done that part yet, but the walk with joey was awesome! i showed him all the things i found beautiful, even taking him out of his stroller if he couldn't see it from where he was.

and i got to see some things from his perspective that i would never have noticed otherwise.


joey, what are you looking at? ...oh!



something that has always kind of bothered me is how beautiful i find rusty objects. i mean, they're like decomposing! and it's always man-made stuff that is rusty and i find so fascinating - shouldn't i be so much more inspired by "nature"? flowers and animals and stuff? but i was thinking on this walk that God made rust, too... he made iron and he made it with the property that it begins to rust when exposed to weathering forces... now, there is probably some practical purpose in that, but couldn't it be, too, that he made it work that way because he knew it would delight people like me? that the history and texture something like rust adds to an object would just be a joy to some people he loves? just pondering...

my community

i have been thinking that i need people in my life. people besides my husband and my baby. i need "community" with like-minded people... so... i invited a bunch of my facebook friends to join an ArtsyCrafty Club, hosted by me, and come play! we had our first meeting thursday night and it was SO fun :) everyone who came has also come to my birthday parties in the past, and they love me... and i was so rejuvenated at the end of the night! i don't know if it was that or the iced tea, but i couldn't fall asleep that night 'cause i felt so happy - happy to have spent time with people that care about me (and vice versa), happy to be creating... we did a "mixed - media recipe card swap" for our first evening together. here are some of the results!

meanwhile, jason took joey to the doctor and came home with antibiotics :( he has an ear infection and some "chest congestion" left over from his cold a couple weeks ago. he was acting weird for a few days after this, so we stopped giving him the cough medicine... and i think he's back to himself now...

(i think most of the people actually came to see joey, so they were glad when he showed up before they left ;) here, he's attacking lynda's face and pulling up his shirt at the same time - check out that chub! ha!

on a ROLL!

"there sure are a lot of pictures in this post," you say. and you are right - because everything on this post i made in two days time (and jason wasn't even on spring break anymore!!)! and i have so many more ideas rumbling around...! i only stopped because i ran out of wood blocks... time for a trip to home depot!

i'm making art!

jason being on spring break was awesome - he gave me all these little "breaks" - little chunks of time i don't normally get during my day, and i made a bunch of art! you saw the first 2 in the last post... here's 2 more, and i have 2 more that are almost done! it's amazing what you can do when you have that little extra bit of time! i'm thinkin' jason should just stay home with me and joey ALL the time - any ideas how we could be Independently Wealthy? maybe i'll actually be able to sell my art and be a "professional" artist! ha we'll see...







token easter pic of joey: he LOVES this jumper (and completely ignores the chocolate ;)

jason looked at me yesterday and said "are you tired, baby?" and i realized that i can't remember the last time i wasn't tired... sometime before joey i guess... having a baby has been by far the hardest thing i have ever done in my life. and the most amazing... i'm tired :)

making art!

so yesterday, jason took joey with him to have bagels with duane, thereby giving me an hour break in the morning to work on art! apparently morning is more my "prime time" than afternoon or evening... i made 2 brand-new pieces!! planning to keep working on pieces along this line and posting them to my etsy site soon! ha! awesome!

today, jason went off-roading and i NEEDED a break. i spent 3 hours trying to post this and the last blog post... the combination of dead and dying batteries, low internet signal strength, and fussy babies just made it take FOREVER and i STILL didn't get the pictures posted! drama! soon and very soon though! cable people are coming tomorrow to install a router, so i don't have to go to panera to go on the internet :) all shall be well.

"dad, can i come with you in the jeep? i'm wearing my jeep onesie..."

a week in the life...

Monday
joey has his first cold... and took his first self-portrait (i was holding him and the camera & he grabbed my hands and pushed my shutter finger!) in all his drooly glory...

Tuesday
i'm sick now too... but i made a pendant!

Wednesday
my parents have been here a week and a half now from Hawai'i! it's been so fun being all together as a family! joey gets to spend a bunch of time with his Mima & Papa Johnny...

Thursday
i went to the doctor and got some antibiotics... my parents babysat... they've enjoyed watching joey and helping me out while i'm sick (and i have very much enjoyed the break!)

Friday
SO sick. but we drove out to my sister's house in Temecula... joey & i got to get taken care of by my parents and family. my mom made me gargle hot salt water and drink lots of tea with lemon and honey....

Saturday
joey helped his dad mow the lawn at Aunt Kimmy's house and hung out with Aunt Kristi and the rest of the fam... while mom painted an Eiffel Tower on the wall in the guest bedroom upstairs (feeling a little better, but had to take frequent breaks due to uncontrollable coughing fits)!

Sunday
finished the Eiffel Tower, went to church, and sent the grandparents off to the airport! joey and i are feeling 100% better, but mima and papa johnny took my sore throat with them :(