Impossible Christmas gifts

"Poinsettia" 6"x6" watercolor on clayboard

I am siting here thinking about Christmas gifts. My kids never want normal easy-to-find Christmas gifts. One of them always asks for something weird or impossible to find. Some of the Christmas gifts my have kids wanted: laundry baskets and tin foil (he wanted to make a space ship), a potty trained talking pony (This was the year after he "found out" about Santa and I think he just wanted to see Santa say no), A million dollars (we told him that even Santa's elves would get thrown into jail for forgery) An actual real-life Pokemon character, (his cousin told him they existed).

This year My 16 year old wants a laptop, Yeah right, like we have that kind of money. My 11 year old wants an actual, real life sword, Santa told him NO. My 14 year old can't think of anything he wants, so we'll just surprise him. My 7 year old wanted a world war II army medic set, army medic bag and a medic helmet (they have to be camouflage with a white circle and red cross on it), I don't think they sell these at Toys-R-us. Good thing I can make these.

What do you need for Christmas

We were asking the kids the other night what they wanted for Christmas and my middle 2 sons could not think of one thing they wanted for Christmas (I usually only let them ask for one thing). My 15 year old said "Mom , but I don't need anything. It's kinda cool that I have everything I need and can't think of anything I really want right now." Actually I'm sure there are lots of things he wants, but I am glad he appreciates what he has.

believeing in Santa

Jimmy has had a crisis of belief, he came home and told me that a girl at school told him there no Santa Claus, that mom and dad got up in the middle of the night and left presents for their kids.

He thought that was pretty ludicrous: Mom and Dad intentionally missing sleep? ha ha!

he told me he set her straight; he said to her "oh yeah, then where do they get the presents? If I wanted an I-pod touch my mom and dad could not make that, but elves can."

What is a Man?

Big as Mothers Love 12x16" Acrylic on canvas

I was talking to my 7 year old telling him we are going to get new family portraits done. My son said "good, I don't like the picture we had done last year because I had a wiggly tooth"
I replied "You can't tell the tooth is wiggly in the picture"
"Mom! it made me look like a little kid and I am a big man now"
"You are?"
"Yes, I even put on deodorant this morning"

I guess he thinks stinky armpits define a man.

more brain tumors.

I have close friend who very courageously battled breast cancer last year. I was amazed how she went through surgeries, many rounds of chemo and hair loss without a whimper, just like it was a minor bump in the road. They found a brain tumor last week when she started having seizures. She is having brain surgery today. I know what a craniotomy is like, I watched my son go through 4 of them. It breaks my heart to see someone else I love go through it.
All I can say is: brain tumors SUCK!

recovering from a siblings brain tumor

"No Smoking" 8x10" watercolor

Grades just came out for last quarter. I was so happy! My 16 year olds GPA is 3.75, which is remarkable because he is taking some very difficult classes; half of the classes he is taking he is getting college credit for, and my 14 year old got a perfect 4.0! I knew they were capable of getting good grades but they have been struggling. The last few years my 14 year old was just barely passing his classes. He would easily get "A"s on all the tests but, he was not doing any of the classwork or homework, it was like he was not even trying. My 16 year old went through that same thing but he got his act together last year. Their grades became a problem 3 years ago when Jimmy, their little brother , got diagnosed with a brain tumor. That year my boys went from near perfect grades to barely passing grades. My 16 year old told me at the time he felt like his school work did not matter, good grades were not going to make Jimmy better, nothing he could do would make Jimmy better. So, on top of the fact that my kids are getting good grades *yippee!* I am also celebrating another sign that my children are recovering from their brothers brain tumor.

We are in trouble...

This was sent to me by a friend


We are in trouble...
The population of this country is 300 million, 160 million are retired. That leaves 140 million to do the work.
There are 85 million in school. Which leaves 55 million to do the work.
Of this there are 35 million employed by the federal government. Leaving 15 million to do the work.
2.8 million are in the armed forces preoccupied with killing Osama Bin-Laden. Which leaves 12.2 million to do the work.
Take from that total the 10.8 million people who work for state and city Governments. And that leaves 1.4 million to do the work.
At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals. Leaving 1,212,000 to do the work. Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons.

That leaves just two people to do the work.
You and me.
And there you are,
Sitting on your butt,
At your computer,
reading jokes.

Nice. Real nice.

My husband in jail?

Crabby ACEO 2.5x3.5" mini watercolor

The other morning as I was making a shopping list and my hubby was in the bathroom getting ready for the day, he noticed that he was out of hair gel, so he hollered to me "I'm out of gel"

"OK" I said making a note of it

My seven year old ran into the room with a very concerned look on his face asking "What did Dad do? How come he was in Jail?"

First job

My oldest boy just got his first job. He wanted to do tech support for Geek Squad or Fire Dog. He lives for computers, he is a computer genius, When he was 2 he would sneak out of bed at nap time and go turn his dad's PC so he could play, He wanted a modem for Christmas when he was 5, he wrote his first computer program when he was 7and he built his first PC when he was 10. However, he has no prior job history and 1.5 more years of high school left to do, so he could not get those jobs. He settled for working at Circuit City in sales. He hopes to work his way into Fire Dog. He was very excited when they called and told him his first day of work would be Saturday. The next morning on the news they announced they will be closing a number of Circuit City stores. He may get to experience his fist job and his first layoff.

Stitches again

We had to take our 11 year old son get stitches Sunday night. He is a very creative thinker and my little inventor. Apparently he decided to make combination exercise equipment and Halloween candy storage gadget made from 2 large eye bolts screwed into the wall and a rope strung back and forth across the room. The eye bolts were screwed into the wall studs or so he thought. As he was doing "chin-ups" from the rope the eye bolt came out of the wall and hit him just above his right eyebrow. This is the second time he has had stitches, the last time it was in the other eyebrow. He had to get 6 stitches amongst much protest of "I'm fine", "it doesn't even hurt" and "I DO NOT need to go to the emergency room"

Halloween Costumes

For Halloween Jimmy (age 7) wanted to be a soldier, this is no surprise considering he is constantly pretending to be a soldier and fighting bad guys. (blog entry 2/25/08) He insists upon wearing camouflage everyday. I knew he would wear a soldier costume very often. I looked for a sturdy costume that could take a lot of wear and tear, be affordable and it had to be authentic looking, Jimmy is very detail oriented. I could not find one anywhere. So I made one: I found sturdy camouflage fabric at Wal-Mart for only $3 a yard and looked up photos of soldiers online and made this costume, I even made the hat! It took forever, I didn't use a pattern, I never have been good at following directions, If I had used a pattern it probably would have been easier and faster. It turned out cute and Jimmy loved it! Very good considering I haven't really ever made clothes before.



My 11 year old wanted to the Tooth fairy only with his own personal twist, He wore a tutu and wings and and carried a wand that was duct taped together. he had torn, dirty jeans and wore a stained pillow stuffed T- shirt that read "I'm the tooth fairy -'ya got a problem with that? this costume was all his idea, he enjoys being funny. It was easy, all I had to make was the tutu.


My 14 year old was a monk, He wore the robe I made for a "death" costume a few years ago with a big silver crucifix, a rope around his waist and sandals. He looked good.


My 16 year old went as a hippie: he had a long wig, a tie dye shirt, peace sign necklaces, and a fringed leather jacket.


My 14 year old decided he still wanted to do some trick-or-treating, but he did not think he should eat the candy, so he gave all the candy to his older brother who was at a party all night, I was proud of him, he has been dieting and this was all his idea to give the candy away.

pumpkin seeds recipe

2.5x3.5" ACEO watercolor

We carved pumpkins last night. Yeah, I know it is a little early for pumpkin carving, but it was the only evening the family was all home together to do it. We carved the pumpkins and saved the seeds for the kids favorite Halloween treat: Pumpkin seeds. I have had people ask how I cook Pumpkin Seeds so here is my recipe:

Separate pumpkin seeds from pumpkin. the easiest way to do this is to scoop the seeds out with your hand, before you remove the pulp from the inside of pumpkin. rinse all pumpkin pulp from seeds, you may have to rinse 2 times. Cover seeds with water, add Worcestershire sauce (if desired) and salt: abt. 2 tsp. of salt to one pumpkin's seeds. and mix well. Let seeds soak in brine overnight. Drain seeds, scatter seeds on buttered cookie sheet, let dry. cook seeds at a 350 oven stirring every 10 min. until seeds are toasted to a golden color.

Try different seasonings. Try adding garlic powder or butter flavor.

Thoughts on being alone

ACEO watercolor miniature 2.5"x3.5"

My brother-in-law posted in his blog about going to a movie by himself. It made me think. I have never gone to a movie by myself, I just don't have time, I usually don't like movies unless they are really good, I just sit and think I about how I could be better spending my time. However, I wouldn't mind going to a movie alone. I don't mind eating alone in restaurants either. When I go on business trips or conventions with my husband he always frets that I will have to be alone most of the time. I always have to convince him that I enjoy spending time alone. I do like being around people, but I am just as content to be with myself. Does that make me weird?

life is so unfair

Portrait of my oldest son 12"x16" Acrylic

The other day, just after parent-teacher conferences we were talking, my second oldest son had just had an exceptional parent teacher conference, after getting poor grades all year last year, he was now getting almost perfect grades. Last year when we had a similar report at parent teacher conference with our oldest son we stopped and bought him a T-shirt from his school as a spur of the moment reward. When all of my second sons teachers praised him so abundantly (one even cried) I thought I'd better buy him a T-shirt too, just to be fair, but they were not selling any shirts that night. I told my second son that I wanted to get him a shirt, but instead of a shirt I would spend an extra $10 on the scriptures that I was getting him anyway and make it a nicer book. My older son overheard this and started whining, about how unfair I was being, he had already been complaining about how we wouldn't buy him a laptop and how we expect him to do chores on his day off from school. It made me so angry. When my oldest was that age I got him new scriptures and a t-shirt, the t-shirt cost more than the extra $10 I was going to spend on his brother.

When I calmed down some I firmly told my oldest that if he goes around comparing what he has to what other people have he is always going to be unhappy. There will always be someone who is better looking, richer, has nicer parents, is more talented than him and if he looks for life to be fair he will be forever disappointed, bitter and angry. The trick is to be grateful for what you do have that is what really makes you happy.

I sat there fuming and suddenly I wondered if God ever feels that way toward me when I am asking for more or complaining about what I don't have. Do I ever make him that angry at my selfishness and ingratitude?

painting on watercolor canvas

Temple Square Tulip 9"x11" watercolor on gallery wrapped canvas

I did this painting for the Utah State Fair art show. I try to do a painting for the fair every year. I usually hurriedly paint something the day before or the day of the deadline. This year was no exception. I frantically painted this the day it was due. This watercolor was done on watercolor canvas, the first painting I have ever done on watercolor canvas, it was a learning experience. It is nearly impossible to do any glazing on watercolor canvas, the canvas stays wet for quite a while and the colors seem to lighten quite a bit when it dries. Had I known that I may have used another technique to paint it . The watercolor canvas did come with a little "tips and techniques for watercolor canvas" flier, but I did not read it until I was finished with the painting. One tip I wish I would have known is that if you want to glaze on watercolor canvas spray a fixative between layers. I'll have to try watercolor canvas again and use this tip. The cool thing about watercolor canvas is you don't have to frame it under glass. If you fix it you can just frame it and hang it like an oil on canvas painting. I painted this on gallery wrapped canvas so I did not frame it at all. I did have someone from the fair call me to make sure that this was really a watercolor.

Overall it is not a bad little painting but it probably would have been better if I read taken more time on it and read the directions.