ice cream shop

cups 'n' such

This crazy shelf was in our house when we bought it,
along with a kitchen table, some chairs, a marble-topped
end table, a hospital bed, two avocado-gold couches,
and an odd assortment of bathing equipment (the house had
functioned as an elder-care home before we moved in).
Much of the leftover stuff came in handy,
as you can see.

weird buggy thing

Emily found this in the stream last week.
It was about an inch long and scrambled like a crab.
Maybe it was! She found all sorts of things that were
camouflaged in the pebbles underwater.

post party depression

Well, it was a successful 7-year-old party!
Now for the cleanup.

sunbeam

emily's papasan

May, 2004.

socks

desert stream, revisited

This is more what it looks like, really.

desert stream

Elliott & I spent the morning here with Emily and her
little people. It's just beautiful. I can hardly believe that
places like this exist in the heat of Tucson,
and just half an hour from my home!

sheet cake

This is the result of my first ever attempt to decorate a cake.
Not brilliant, but it'll do the trick! In fact, Layne and I were
working on this late last night, and we threw out our first attempt.
It consisted of chocolate that melted and then coagulated which
we were supposed to mix with the sugar syrup that boiled and then
crystallized. Sigh. On to the powdered sugar! You just can't go wrong
with powdered sugar. Well, I might be able to, if I cooked it. But we were
smart enough to stick with stuff that didn't need cooking after all that.
We also found an easy recipe for the decorative icing, & it worked great!

kitchen bottles revisited

kitchen bottles

(Happy Birthday, Ashton!)

tiny tea set

Julie made it for Anna.

tea bag

cobalt blue

Watercolor & line. May, 2004.

Castle

Here's another collaborative effort by Ashton, Eric, myself,
and a very dry selection of markers.
I'm particularly fond of my daughter's depiction of the sun
and of the horse on the drawbridge (complete with tiny stirrups).

kelsea & friend

Whenever we have some big event happening at our house,
right before it happens (when I am feeling most worried),
Kelsea will bounce in with a big smile on her face and say,
"This is so exciting!"
Which helps me keep things in perspective. And enjoy
whatever is happening a little bit more.
This painting is from a snapshot taken at one such time.

Shoe

November, 2004.

Sleeping Rosie

Beautiful Old Chevy

Ovation

can of worms

I'd like to develop this one a bit more,
but here's the sketchy version of it.
This is how I'm feeling about life right now:
just one can of a can of a can of worms after another.
And a can opener.

Rocking Chair

April, 2006.

Pool Ramada

This one's from swim lessons this summer.

Glass Lampshade

Kim & Aaron recently remodeled. They kept this lovely green
glass lampshade that came with the house, in their "her" closet.
I love it!

Tiny Glass Bottle

Is it sand from a blue beach? Or is it fairy dust?
Or is it dust from the blue fairy in the original tale of Pinocchio?
Are fairies really that dusty?

Playing Board Games

Elliott's been really into board games lately.
Or at least the parts in the box.
It's been great rediscovering the joy of all those little, colorful
plastic pieces, the slips of paper, the timers, the dice, etc.

Happy Houseversary!

Celebrating 10 years today!

morning after the party

We had our big Decade Party yesterday in celebration of
the 10 year anniversary of life in our community house.
Thanks to everybody who came, and also to those who
helped us set up before and clean up afterward!

Praying for Kelsea

A bunch of people came over last night to pray for you, Kelsea.
We prayed up all sorts of good stuff! And a lot of people who didn't
come over are also praying, and we're all waiting expectantly.