The Lord is Good to Me!

My shorty went on his first field trip to the apple orchard with his kindergarten class.  It was great fun and a wonderful learning experience.  It also was a great photo taking opportunity.  I cannot resist taking a bazillion pictures at places like this!!!!

Johnny Appleseed

Oh, the Lord is good to me,
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me the things I need:
The sun, and the rain, and the apple seed;
The Lord is good to me.

For every seed I sow,
An apple tree will grow,
And there will be apples there
Enough for the whole wide world to share;
The Lord is good to me.

Here they are putting their apples into the giant juicer.  

Thump went the apples!

They had a really great play area!

This is one of my favorites...pure joy running through that tunnel!

Okay and this picture...it is just too much!

Love this Kindergarten to the moon and back!!!!

GET JOY!

Argh.....Tall Ships!

We had the awesome opportunity to see the Tall Ships in Bay City, MI this year.  They are some pretty cool working ships.  It was a hot day; but it was still good fun!  Yummy food, wonderful music, funny characters, fun crafts, and big boats were everywhere. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for bringing us along!

They were really super cool boats if I do say so myself!

Ahoy Matey,

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Generations of Artist

My Great Grandmother

I love the date on this...1894! She is my grandpa's, pictured below, mother.
This hangs in my mom's living room. It is huge and amazing!

My Grandfather

I love this picture of my mom's dad.  It is so awesome.
I am glad we have it.

My Mother

My mother gave this picture of my son, in watercolor, to me this Christmas
along with two other paintings of my daughters.  My mother's brother and my sister are artist as well.
I have several cousins from my grandfathers brother who are also gifted artist.
And for good measure...my dad's mom is an artist too.
 It is so amazing how God passes talent through generations.  

Myself

Picture of my girls that I gave to my mom for Christmas a few years back.

My 12 year old Daughter

Who has taken a go into the 3D world with her talents! Going where the women in her family have never dared to go.  LOL

Her cross is made out of wood (support system), cardboard (created the form), and covered in little pieces of duct tape to create all the beautiful color.

She wanted to do something that reflected her faith.  So after many designs on paper, she went with the cross and her favorite medium...duct tape of course!  The colors in the background reflect a sunset (one from our recent trip in the U.P.) and the grape vine represents us being in the vine (Jesus) and as we are His branches we will begin to produce fruit.  We can only do this because of His great work on the cross.  Pretty cool huh?!

My daughters piece just won a great award and will be going to compete at Nationals in Orlando, FL in the Fine Arts Festival.  We are so proud of her.  I was able to be a part of this same competition when I was in high school my junior year.  I won the highest award in my state, the merit and then went on to Nationals.  So, I am so excited that my daughter made it to Nationals on her first attempt at the age of 12!  WOW!  I can only imagine where her talent is going to take her over the next five years.  Watch out Fine Arts Festival my daughter is about to make her mark!  

You may remember I had the wonderful privilege to judge at the National Fine Arts Festival a few years ago.  You can check out that post here. What a great experience for all of us!  

Here I am at Nationals a bazillion years ago.
And yes that is my hubby in the background!
So young we once were!

During the creation of her piece she wouldn't let any one see.  Thankfully she took her own pictures of part of the process.  She is such a funny girl!

Could not be more proud of my girl!  She did this all on her own and she did a great job.  3D is so out of my comfort zone.  She is has passion for creating sculpture.  I think that comes from the love of math part of her which sadly I do not even dream to have.  Many hours went into this piece and she even got a blister from all the ripping of duct tape.  I am so excited. One way or another Florida here we come....even if we have to ship it to a friend to submit it!

Thank you Lord for all the talents and abilities you give each and everyone of your children.  May we always glorify YOU with them!

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Happy 65th Birthday Day, Dad!

My dad turns 65 today!  What a most fantastic birthday!   If you have been reading my blog, you would know my dad suffered a major stroke last Mother's Day.  We are so thankful to celebrate this special day and realize the privilege it is to have this day.  

We took some time to celebrate his big day over the weekend at a favorite spot, Famous Daves!

It is always a great time being with family.

And of course we ate a lot of food...

lots and lots of food!

To much food I am afraid.

Everyone had a blast!

And of course there was cake!

Happy 65th Birthday Dad, We love you!

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Christmas Downtown!

Tonight we went for a night on the town...downtown Midland.  

First some yummy pizza at Pizza Sam's.

Then some wonderful frozen hot cocoa made special at Journey's coffee house and some fun music too!

Then some walking around downtown to see the lights!

And of course some pictures of Santa's Workshop!

The man himself was there!

And then a photo shoot in the manger scene...Shorty was so cute!

Merry Christmas!

GET JOY!