• Buddies,  heavy on photos,  Tis the Season,  Washington D.C.

    Fall Pop!

    color

    I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live somewhere where there are seasons. I figure I’m too much of a Californian wimp to handle months and months of snow and sludge but I’m really digging that I’m getting to see other parts of the country during their prettiest times of year. Last time I was in Washington D.C. we got to experience Spring and it was soooo amazing.

    amazing tulip flowers giant tulip tree flower Bug in Wonderland garden side of Smithsonian walking back to the car springtime!

    Remember these shots? I thought I had blogged them but apparently not.

    The cherry blossoms were amazing but what really blew me away were those pink tulip trees. The blossoms were huge and pink and EVERYWHERE! I was very lucky to be here right when winter gave way to Spring. I thought everything was brown and ugly when I got here. That coupled with the traffic problems made me think I’d never want to live here but then I realized that you can put up with a little bit of ugly brown when it turns into amazing color like this. We never see this in California.

    leaves with telephone wires

    fall!

    And now here we are in Fall experiencing yet another wonder of color. I know all you locals are probably rolling your eyes just like I do when you flip out over a palm tree. But this is really cool to me. Leaves leaves leaves! They are everywhere! Who needs snow when you have mountains and mountains of leaves to fall into and throw around?

    so pretty! goobers

    red

    shoes

    me with leaves leaf!

    ready to press

    We’ve collected some obviously. We can’t help ourselves. I have great plans of waxing them and then mounting them on cards to send back home. We’ll see if I actually get that done though because of course there are a million and one other things to do. AND! Bethany might have her baby any day now. It’s all very exciting.

    8 months

    Don’t let Bethany’s expression fool you. She’s about to pop!

    p.s. Thank you for all the kind emails. I have a bunch of really sweet and supportive readers. I’m so blessed.

  • Buddies,  Bug,  crazy stuff,  heavy on photos,  movies,  travel

    there’s always time for painting

    paint bottles

    No matter where you are or what you’re going through, there’s always time for pottery painting. That’s my motto.

    the studio

    OMSH took us to a little pottery-painting studio about an hour away from her town. It was quaint and cute and totally worth the drive.

    Pink Kitty goes everywhere these days

    Even Pink Kitty came. She goes everywhere Bug goes these days which might explain why she’s looking a little worse for wear. That poor cat.

    The other day Bug was off doing something in OMSH’s master bathroom. She loves that bathroom because it’s big, it has lots of mirrors and it has a pretty pink rug on the floor. A perfect princess bathroom by Bug standards. Anyway, Bug kept calling for me to bring her a towel and I was a bit annoyed with her because I was working on my computer in the schoolroom, and why oh why would she need a bath towel? She wasn’t taking a bath.

    “But I’m giving Pink Kitty a bath!” she hollered at me.

    “You’re what?!!”

    First of all she knows she’s not supposed to give Pink Kitty a bath because we’ve been through this before and real baths for stuffed cats equal crunchy stuffed cats later. Second of all I didn’t hear the water running. This was not going to be good.

    “I’m giving Pink Kitty a bath with my spit!” she finally clarified. Duh.

    Spit might have something to do with why Pink Kitty isn’t as fluffy as she used to be. Good thing she is machine washable is all I can say. Ew!

    something funny is going on

    Em

    attack hug

    So anyway painting was super fun. Pretty much anything is fun with the OMSHes. They are their own entertainment. The kids have all kinds of inside jokes and they break out into song every time anyone says anything remotely near a lyric of a pop song. I am never that fun. Bug is going to be bored out of her socks when we have to go home. Good thing we have a trip to Washington D.C. planned right after this!

    Omsh painting

    kid corner

    searching for inspiration

    Maybe the kids get their entertaining sense of humor from their mom.

    smush face

    painting the Omsh's

    Love Bug and me

    Comedy aside, I had a really good time painting. I’m happiest when I’m creating. This is a mug I painted with a little squeeze bottle with a needle tip on the end. They’re called mosquito writers, I think. I’ve never used them before and found them pretty challenging, but they’re way better than a fat ugly paintbrush which was my only other choice since I left my special fine-tip brushes at home. I hate it when I do that. But I loved using these mosquito writers. The line is a little wobbly but I kinda like it. The painting is of the OMSH family. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it gets fired.

    little raincoat girl

    I also painted this little raincoat girl. I painted this one first and accidentally used a thicker-tipped squeeze bottle so the line is a lot thicker. But I still like it. I’m going to put it in my shop when it’s fired if anyone wants to buy it.

    Princess Pink and Queen Harley Bug Eye

    Bug painted a pink plate with flowers on it, of course. I should have taken pictures of it but I didn’t. Sorry.

    color chips Suck it up.

    OMSH painted a coffee mug that says, “Suck It Up,” which I thought was pretty funny, since it’s a COFFEE MUG! Hahahaha! I think the OMSHes are rubbing off on me.

    And then we yeehawed all the way home.

    those crazy Texans