Faces of my Children

Wherever I go, I'll always carry the faces of my children in my heart with a smile. It has been said that a person changes not except for the books he reads and people he meets. The little people God has allowed me to know and influence have influenced me in a way they will never understand. Each child has taught me a unique lesson about life and love, and with every lesson has come a new awareness of the blessings God grants every day without our knowing it. I love every step and stage I've witnessed, and I love the faces that go with them. I never become bored with the growing and learning little babies experience and I cherish every awed expression as they make new discoveries of the world around them.

CJ

Leoni

Alycia: Muffin

David

Andres: my litte buddy :)

Maliyah

Liana

My Little Woodwind Family

I am pleased to introduce to you the newest addition to my musical instrument collection: the Hall Crystal Flute in D. Always looking for a new challenge, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning to play this whimsical instrument.

The emboucher is very close to the end. This was awkward at first, but it is not difficult to adjust.

My entire Woodwind Family

Members include Concert Flute, Crystal Flute in D, Fife, and Piccolo.

I love my flute. The Lord gave it to me for a dirt cheap price from some people that didn't know what they had. In fact, the flute and piccolo came together for only $125! Practically a heist! AND the flute is a Gemeinhardt!!!

The piccolo is so adorable. :) I haven't played it much because the occasion to has not presented itself.

What's a fife? It is a high-pitched transverse flute used commonly in military and marching musical groups. In fact, this one is an authentic reproduction of the kind used in the Revolutionary War.

Following are a few videos that I've recorded of the Crystal Flute so you can hear what it sounds like. I don't play it well yet and the quality of the videos are awful, but you can still get the basic idea.

video featuring the song "I Wish My Love Was a Red, Red Rose"

video featuring the song "Since You and I Were True"

video featuring the song "Shenandoah"

check out http://www.hallflutes.com/ to see more crystal woodwinds.

New Addition

This is Piccolo! She's almost 3 months old and she arrived at her new home January 17, 2011. She is very lively (I almost named her Scherzo), hyper, and sociable. She loves to cuddle and eat vanilla ice cream.

Above is a humorous video clip of Piccolo trying to get a staticy baloon off of her back.

A Wild Time!

The Wild's Music Conference was incredible! It was my first time to attend, as was for many others in our group, and we all had a simply marvelous time.

The long treck to North Carolina...

Waiting in the Registration line...

An immediate game of Ultimate...

Lunch: Served by our sweet waitress Katrina Reed...

THE STAIRS (ugh!)

The Game Room....

The Sessions....

The Hike!

Beautiful!

Most of the group....



Lobbying for my Hobby

I LOOOOOOOOVE making cards, it's great fun, and I think everyone should do it. So here's my shoutout and some pics to go with it. They're not very good because I used my phone camera, but you can get the idea. Enjoy!

This one of my favorite cards. It's a mix between Victorian and vintage country. The ornaments are 3D stickers from Hobby Lobby (my absolutely most frequented store ever).

This is a very simple layout. What makes it "pop" is the texture on the paper, giving it dimension. An easy way to get an evenly textured look without spending money on "petrified" looking paper, is this: Gently dab the edge of the paper on an ink pad of a dark brown color, doing a little extra dabbing on the corners. It's fast, easy, and always looks great! I love this technique.

Don't be afraid to write part of your layout. Instead of a stamp or sticker, I wrote "Merry Christmas" in the corner, giving it accents and scribbles around the shape of the letters, making a sketch look. Again, another inexpensive way to dress up your layout.

The envelope can work just as much as the card does to complete the look you want. Tearing is a great technique and saves time from drawing a line and cutting down it with scissors. Just tear and dab with ink just as you did with your card layout and you're done. (This is if you are making your own envelopes, which I recommend. The sky is the limit to what paper you use, how big or small to make it, and how it's shaped.)

Card and envelope together. Very complete and Christmasy.

What to post, what to post...

This is Alex at four months...

This is Alex at six and a half months.

He's grown so much!!!!

Such a cutie patutie. :)

Family Fun

Isaiah and I

Nathan laughing at Kristy

KK wanted to help Grandpa open his birthday present

Then she wanted to play ring around the rosey

It was good to see Isaiah draw again. I brought my sketchbook in hopes it would entice him to take it up after so long of not sketching.