Happy Face.

#1 Answer to "where have you been and what have you been up to?" is "Having adventures with Sirryha." Last weekend was the ZOO, today was a bit of shopping (new clothes and a stroller! Hello summer---we are ready for you now!) and in between was lots of walks (and lugging home HUGE ROCKS from the pit in front of the mailboxes...please don't report us to the homeowners' association! Rob and I return them when she isn't looking!)...and visits to the park for swinging, swinging, swinging, playing on the sliding boards, and watching the ducks.

Can't stop grinning over these photos from today! She was so funny! Totally posing and flirting and hammin' it up for the camera. (She is in LOVE with CHAPSTICK. Burt's Bees and Banana Boat Sunscreen for Kids versions. Yes...she eats it. And then tries to wipe her teeth and tongue off with her fingers.)

And then she gives me this face when I say "smile!" [CLICK!] priceless!

...and 75 or so snapshots later...I think she's officially "bored of this."

I, on the other hand, cannot get enough! SERIOUSLY. How do full-time moms get anything done besides staring at their lovebugs? And squishing and hugging and kissing their whole face? Seriously. And how on EARTH do you stand the wait until they can talk in full sentences?

I can't stop! Seriously!

Artfest Envy

Ever since discovering Teesha Moore's art journals back in 2006, I have wanted to go to ARTFEST. I have discovered so many creative artists through links from Teesha Moore's site and from reading about the teachers each year. And then came ARTFIBERFEST, which I also came to dream about....and now? In the works is JOURNALFEST. Oh how I want to go! (This is the part where I usually start talking about auctioning off a few body parts to finance the trip!)

ARTFEST was April 1-5 this year. And now some of the attendees and teachers are blogging about it....which I so appreciate and can't wait for each year. How much do I want to take THIS CLASS? How is it that I don't know any CARTOONISTS? I really want to hang with this Theo Ellsworth guy. How much would I love this class?!?! Check out Pam Garrison's class example. Seems the instructions were to "doodle blindly" with markers on a page. Then, find images in the doodles and outline and color them in. So I see Pam Garrison's and I immediately try my version (again--I don't know the full instructions, I just started with swirly shapes. Some drawn in deliberate fits and starts, others without looking.) And then I outlined some forms and used my colored pencils to fill in.

SERIOUSLY! How fun is THAT? A flamingo and a peacock and various swirly feathered friends. I cannot draw. I doodle and I color - but I can't draw. Apparently, my DOODLES can!

I can't stop...I am filling in all the blank pages of my art journals with these scribbles!

For my sister*....

...because she loves SPRING and her garden and digging in the dirt and being outside in the sun.

Come on SPRING...GET HERE ALREADY! (It was 40 degrees this morning. Wha? We have the FIREPLACE GOING TONIGHT. Seriously.)

This was inspired by the oh-so-inspiring Donna Downey, she herself. I want to make one in every color.

(*Shhhhh! Don't tell! I don't think she reads my blog daily and this isn't in the mail to her yet!)