Mississippi Girls Visit

We had a wonderful time with Shelly, Natalie, and Danielle when they visited us! 

Here are a bunch of photos of the cousins from our great time together.

Brennan surprised me by dressing up for the drive to the airport to pick up the girls.

He said he felt like because family was coming to visit, he needed to look his best.

He was outside cutting a rose to put in his pocket with his homemade pocket square.

So stinkin' cute!

We were waiting outside baggage claim for Shelly and the girls.

A security guard wheeled by on his Segway and said, "he looks like a porter waiting for his guests".



We, of course, had to take the girls to KidsCommons, and their giant toilet bowl/slide.

It makes a flushing sound when you go down to the next level.

Natalie and Danielle in the Bubble Room.

Natalie on the Balance Board

Danielle and Thomas playing Just Dance

Brennan and Danielle playing with the Stacking Cups

Our stroll to Zaharako's for lunch and ice cream!

Danielle (5) and Thomas (12)



Walking to the Commons Playground

Brennan taking Natalie up the Lucky Climber for the first time

Danielle and Thomas on their way to the top

They all made it to the very top

It's a great indoor play area when it's 100* outside!

Back at the house, we enjoyed two beautiful days of swimming and hanging out.

Thomas lounging

Natalie floating around the pool

Danielle with her super awesome new goggles

Chillin'

It took Natalie a couple of times on the slide, but then she was the pro

Thomas made his own version of a slide

Brennan's always happiest in the pool

We also took the girls to the boys' elementary school playground, which is really a cool place

Danielle and Thomas

Birthday Buddies Brennan (10) and Natalie (8) at the top of the Spider Web

We miss them already!

We also had some family photos taken by our friend and pro photographer.

Can't wait to see those and share some with you!

101 Places to See Before You're 12 - An Artist's Studio

An Artist's Studio

We had the opportunity to meet some amazing artists today when the boys and I visited An Artist's Studio, as one of our 101 Places to See.

You can see all of our 101 Places by clicking this link.

I emailed local artist Laurie Wright at her studio to ask if we could stop by for a quick tour some time this summer.  She was so enthusiastic about us coming - I was really looking forward to our visit!

Laurie spent a lot of time with us this morning, showing us all of the different creative work she and the other artists at their studio create.

She truly went above and beyond!

She and photographer Bob Anderson frame their artwork.
Here she is showing us how they cut the mats and glass themselves.

There is some serious equipment in their studio!
We watched a professional photograph coming off an oversized printer.
They also print the photographs off onto canvas and dry mount them.

We recognized many of the photographed scenes that were hanging in the studio.
I fell in love with many, many of their pieces!

They have a photography/videography studio as well.
The boys were mesmerized by these close ups of sand on canvas.
They were absolutely gorgeous.

Brennan, of course, wanted to touch everything.
He was really fascinated by the equipment the artists use.

Laurie is well-known for her silkscreen art.
Here she's showing us the process to transfer the ink onto the paper or canvas.

She showed us how the silkscreens are built and designed for her projects.

And then she surprised us by letting us each make a silkscreen image!

It was really cool!  Thomas really wants to frame his for his room.

Laurie also showed us two beautiful icons that she has painted.  They both included gold leaf, which she then showed to Brennan because he was just fascinated that she works with real gold in her art.

Laurie's artwork is truly beautiful.

Here are a few images of Laurie's work.

A beautiful mural hanging in our Learning Center.
Image from Laurie's website.

And two other examples of her silkscreen prints.

source

source

It was such a treat to visit with Laurie today and see artists in action!

From the Book:

#3 - An Artist's Studio

This is where the magic happens:  fire and sand are transformed into glass, globs of clay are molded into fantastic sculptures, and paint and brushes make a canvas come alive.  An artist's studio is a place where imagination can run free and the only rule is that there are no rules.  No two artists are alike, so no two studios are the same either.  You might see a paint-splattered space with soaring ceilings or a cozy cottage outfitted with a potter's wheel and kiln.  But you need to visit and artist's studio to see how many different ways there are to express yourself and get your own creative juices flowing.

Summer Fun - part 3

I love the summer!  Have I mentioned that before?

I've been begging the boys to let me homeschool them so we don't have to go back to morning wake-up schedules, and gobs of homework, and all that other stuff that comes with school starting back in 3 short weeks.

They assure me they want to go to school, which I guess is OK because would I really want to homeschool?  They'll learn more where they are, I'm sure!  But, oh I love summer.

Love this photo! 

12 year old Thomas with a ginormous Panera brownie, before taking off for Jr. High summer camp

Thomas celebrated turning 12, then took off for church camp for a week - this time he and his friend Nate attended the Junior High camp!  Thomas came back tan, happy, and much much older than when I dropped him off. 

He had an absolute blast.  They hiked, did a high ropes course complete with zip line, did a low ropes course, swam, played tons of games, and did all sorts of other activities.  He enjoyed the worship times and their cabin's devotions each night.  I can't believe he's moving into Middle School soon, starts Confirmation next month, and is a babysitter!  Oh, and he's less than 2 inches away from catching up to me in height.  Stinker!

Brennan and his new bike

And speaking of growing boys, Brennan outgrew his bike and graduated to an adult bike this month.

He visited his grandmothers and cousins in Mississippi with David for a few days, and we enjoyed some Brennan time while Thomas was at camp.

Then it was Brennan's turn to go to the 4th-6th graders summer camp with our church.

This was a hard thing for us because he wouldn't be with Thomas this year, since he had graduated to the Junior High camp. 

Brennan, all by himself, it was hard to say good-bye.

And hard for Brennan too.

But he had a blast!  We were so excited to see him that weekend!  We missed him so much!

He was just so excited when we picked him up.  It was really awesome to see.

Two weeks apart.  They were happy to be back together.

OK, I might have been pretty excited to see my baby too!

Out to dinner after picking up Brennan at camp 

It has been hot, hot, hot this summer.

And super dry - our grass looks absolutely awful.

But it's been great for swimming!

We are really looking forward to having Aunt Shelly, Natalie, and Danielle come visit later this week!  We've been planning lots of fun activities while they're here.  Can't wait to see them!!

Hope you're having a great July!



101 Places to See Before You're 12 - Your Parent's Workplace

Your Parent's Workplace

The boys have had plenty of opportunities to visit our workplaces in their lives.

I took Thomas to our office in Memphis for a pot luck meal when he was 1 and everyone ate him up.  He was the star of the show and hugged on all the ladies in his little khaki shorts and polo shirt.

I was saving this 101 Place until we could take them to David's office together, all four of us at the same time. 

Because while they've been to mine, to David's, and to the company's offices repeatedly, we've never all been together as a family, taking photos.

But Brennan just went ahead and marked this one off himself, not waiting for the "perfect family photo op", so I won't wait either!

Thomas has had the chance to visit David's current office (and my former office) a couple of summers in a row when he attended Take Our Children to Work Day.  Here are some photos from 2009 when Thomas was 9 (and so cute and little!)

Finance Game

Touring the company planes

On a break with Dad in the cafeteria

Thomas and me...

And Brennan has been to the office a number of times as well.  They haven't always been photo-worthy trips, but he enjoys visiting.  We took him there to see the new office layout earlier this year then out to dinner downtown.

Last year when trying to capture a good Christmas card photo, Thomas and Brennan asked for a photo in front of Dad's office, so here are a couple of shots from that stop.

From the Book:

#84 - Your Parent's Workplace

Sometimes when you ask your parents what they do at work, they might answer "Go to meetings" or "Talk on the phone".  On a snow day or teacher's workday, ask whether you can go along to your parents' workplace and get the real story.  Promise not to "disturb" anybody or "get in the way".  Then, pretend they're not your parents and just observe them like they were a science experiment.  Ask questions such as "What do you like about your job?" and "What do you hate about it?" and really listen to the answers!  Find out what they eat for lunch and who they hang out with at work.  You'll be surprised how much grown-up work life is really like school - interesting parts, boring parts, good friends, and the opposite.  You may come away liking school better because grown-ups don't get recess.