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Brain Dump . . .

July 9, 2012 By Kim Filed Under keeping it real, small words art, this is me . . .

Yes, that is what I’m about to do. Dump my brain all over this post. Sorta gross visual, but you know what I mean. There is just so much pinging around up there and I thought I would drop it off right here and right now. AND I’ll throw in some art photos too – basically because it is art that I’ve done for gifts over the past year that really don’t have a “number” which makes it hard to find a time to blog about them since I’m trying to keep my numbered art in some type of order!!! {That was definitely a run-on sentence.}

for those wondering if I ever draw out the design.

All three boys are starting a new school in the fall – I am so excited. They are, too! I found out a few weeks ago that the principal that I was so excited for us to have, got a HUGE promotion and will not be there. I laughed. Because what else can I do. I am so happy for her because really, this new job is awesome – but dang, it sucks for the students losing her!!!

Since summer started, my kids have not got into bed before 10. Not one single time. And I hate myself for it because we are usually very routined people. But there have been pros to this slacker-like behavior – the biggest one is my kids sleep in. But to tell you the truth people, we are having too much fun at night. It has been fantastic. They love playing board games and we have so many. So, we play these cheezy games what seems like all night long. We have one kid that really is a sore loser. And it is bad. The others want him to win so they don’t have to hear it. But with four kids, we don’t cheat. If you win – it is fair and square.

The kids’ rooms have been picked up {cleaned} every night before they go to bed for over 4 weeks! Down to the tinniest of legos, it is all picked up and put away {in their labeled bin – because I am that kind of mom.} This is huge in our house. And that is two rooms that I don’t have to worry about other than dusting and vacuuming. They might be going to bed late, but their rooms have remained cleaned. Awesome feeling.

I have my first bona fide nephew. Lonnie’s brother and sisters have kids, but this sweet babe came from my side of the family – my brother. Me and a few of my crazies visited him at the hospital. Gahh, he is so cute. But you know you are done having kids when you have zero baby fever when you see such a cute baby. After my kids terrorized the room, it was made known that that was the only kid he was having. I couldn’t imagine why. I mean, Ems thinks she is a ninja right now and she is proud to use her skills. Carson will forever be a super hero in his heart and firmly believes they trump any ninja and tries to prove it all times. And Lawson, well, …. he is just Lawson and at least he didn’t start doing math sequences and freaking everyone out – because that is what usually happens.

my nephew

It has been so hot here – as everywhere in the south – other than the beach. I keep hearing how the beach goers are having 80 degree weather. Well, ain’t that just nice – while we have drought-like 110 degree weather. But today, a we are finally getting  a break in the heat. And I heard that on Wednesday, it is suppose to be 81 as the high. I might have to break out a sweater for such frigid weather!! But that is also a couple of days away. The one thing you can depend on here in the beautiful Middle Tennessee is change – there is a huge chance that forecast will change before then.

a neighbor had a baby! AND this was an old cabinet door bought from a yard sale already painted this shade of green!

I have been laughing at how all these people have been reading the Shades of Grey books. Here is my current stack of books on my night stand – The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, The Out-of-Sync Child, Your Daughter Needs a Hero and I just ordered Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew. Now, there would have been a time I would have been all over some Shades of Grey, but right now my mushy brain cells are focused elsewhere. After all these kids, I only have a few good ones left ya’ know! Back in the day, I read romance novels all the time – like 5 or so a week! My favorite author was Johanna Lindsey. My first romance novel to read was her Falcon and the Flower – I was in 7th grade. It was during TCAP testing. They told us to bring in a book so we had something to do after each test while waiting for the time to run out. This book had over 500 pages, so I had plenty to read! haha! I was hooked then. And for the record, I also read classics. Just not so many once I found out about romance novels! haha! So, you guys have fun reading your dirty books as I’m over here reading about how to help my daughter with body image!! hah!

a few weeks later, another neighbor had a baby! Do NOT drink the water on our cul-de-sac!

I have not had pasta in over 4 months. But I finally had spaghetti squash a few weeks ago – o my. Yes, it does have a crazy little crunch, but it is fantastic! For those wanting some of my recipes I have been using ….. Here is how I prepared the squash, this is my sauce and I had to have mushrooms! And I also ate a salad with spinach, a little baked chicken, strawberries and a smidge of this dressing. Of all the ways to cook the squash, this was the best for me. As for the dressing – I do 1 Tbsp of vinegar to 1Tbsp of  olive oil. And any balsamic or apple cider vinegar is great! I freeze the sauce and can get 3 meals for our family of 6 from the exact recipe above. Since I am the only one eating the spaghetti squash, I pan fry it all and then freeze it in individual portions and I got 6 total out of 1 squash. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but so much of it was prepped before hand. So, really it is an easy meal! I’m now at a size 2 or 4 {depending on the brand} and as of this morning, I’m about 1/2 a pound from 110. And I’ve still not exercised {*cue eye-rolling} – I will eventually! haha!

I have painted for this fabric several times. True "sweet nursery" bedding.

And as a friendly reminder ….. Thursday, August 2nd at 8 pm on the small words facebook fan page!! Just in case you don’t know what I’m talking about, go here and you will see! {Unfortunately, I have more random art pictures to post – I guess I’ll have to have another brain dump soon!}

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Post full of sneaky peekies . . .

June 4, 2012 By Kim Filed Under sneaky peeky, this is me . . .

The first week of summer is officially over! And I’m whooped! Amazingly enough, I painted over 40 hours last week. I’ve never had that much time devoted to painting in a single week ever. And it was awesome! There were 2 nights that I pulled all-nighters. And then 2 days, I had a babysitter. The same sister who sit for me last year is doing it again this year. She is out of town this week BUT her boyfriend {who she has been dating for about 2 years} wanted to come over and play with the kids!!! This guy is so great with my kids so I told him to come over! So, 1 day he will be here. This is going to sound crazy, but I feel like we have people beating down our door to spend time with our kids and we let them! haha! It is because our kids are so cool – just in case you didn’t know.

I’m going to litter this post with sneaky peekies from all the art completed last week. Unfortunately, it will be a few weeks before you see them {unless you have seen them on facebook} because I’m terribly behind posting art on the blog – but I’m getting there!!!

Since it is the first of a month, I went back to other June posts to see what I was doing this same time last year and years past. I love that part of blogging!!! Since I don’t write anything on a calendar, it is fun to go back and see what the kids were doing or did that warranted me to “write” about it on the blog. A year ago, Lawson was finallyusing the potty. {That is more of a miracle than anything.} I posted that he still wasn’t talking – fortunately, I can’t shut him up now! Love that baby’s voice. Hudson and Carson gave themselves hickeys – and thought it was the funniest thing ever. And Em had her tonsils removed! What a month!

One of the biggest things it seemed that happened in June of 2010 is I finished my window treatments in my studio – I also painted a lot of furniture! I focused on Em’s room and got the ball rolling to redo her room, but that was about it. Slow month.

Now, June of 2009 was a little different – Anyone remember the show Harper’s Island?? Man, I loved that show – clearly, enough to blog about it! I also mentioned how my kids saw a bird in the Target parking lot and simultaneously, all 4 kids started singing to them like Fiona does to the blue bird in the movie Shrek. Yes, they were trying to make the bird blow up. Classy bunch I’m raising. We also went out to eat at the Aquarium- just click here to see these photos – really they are hysterical! I did my first video post – did nothing but prove how dorky I am. This was the month the “April Rose” blog came out as a hoax. Some of me thinks “that was only 3 years ago?” But then the other part thinks “that was only 3 years ago?” Either way, it seems it happened just a few months ago or forever ago! I also created a painting with nothing but an idea in my head. It was the first time that I didn’t draw anything or grid any part of it out. I just painted. It was very liberating.

I laughed while reading the June 2008 because of a “tagged” post! Remember those?? Where you would get tagged in someone else’s post and you would have to tell all this useless info about yourself. I found myself not having the time to do those, but I’m glad I did do a few – they are funny! Just read this one – you will feel like you know me better! I also did a post of my hair in one week – you do know that I take a picture of my hair daily, right? haha! I met Kijsa this month – love that girl and her art! I was introduced to fluffer-nutter sandwiches – have mercy. I got Em’s birth announcements. And I was tagged. And tagged again!

And then there is June 2007 – the month I created my corner in the blog world. June 9, 2007 to be exact. At the time, I had 2 blogs. One about the kids and this one that was suppose to be about my art. But every time I would post on this one a small story about my kids, things would just happen – positive things within my business. So, I decided to combine the 2 blogs. You can read about my favorite shows, see the inside of my house, my kids, their milestones, MY milestones, my hopes, my dreams, my funny day to day living. But, you can also read about all the imperfections in my life as well. You can read about my failures, the days that I’m mad or hurt, see my house trashed, hear about when my kids are sick, bad mommy moments …… you know, the not so fun day to day living. Most of you are mothers – some to babies and some to adults. Some of you are creative and some of you swear you can’t do anything artsy or craftsy. Some of you know about autism, kidney issues or sensory integration. I know there are different things that bring you here, but whatever the reason …. I’m so thankful for everyone of you. What an awesome 5 years!!

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Hitting a brick wall . . .

May 26, 2012 By Kim Filed Under keeping it real, some home love, this is me . . .

I hate to tell you guys this, but I did – I hit that brick wall. It happens sometimes. This time it was because of my studio was trashed, yet again. I finally just had to stop everything I was doing and really do an over haul of my room. Seriously move stuff out and clean base boards. I hate that frazzled feeling. And at my age, I’ve learned that if I feel that way in one area of my life, it will quickly go into other areas of my life. And it all begins in here – my studio. Probably because this is my space to get away from everything. This is the room that just takes me away. I hope everyone that reads my blog has “that” space. We all need it. Creativity has always been very important to me and I have to have it. When I have lost it {creativity I mean} for a moment, I feel lost. Everyone is different. And everyone has that crutch that they lean on – their creative outlet. Some people read, write, sew, play an instrument, whatever – but it takes you away. It helps fade the edges of rough day or it could be the cherry to top off a great day. I don’t care how you look at it, we each need that extra something that helps define who we are. And in most cases, you need that place, space or spot that will help you get the most out of your creativity – whatever it may be.

In this stage of my life, painting is my outlet. And it has been for the past 7ish years. To say that I enjoy painting would really be an understatement. I love painting. It is a part of me. And I love to throwing myself into a painting in whatever mood I’m in just to see what the end result will be. But when my studio gets so crazy looking that I’m finding myself staring at the mess more than a canvas, I have some serious problems. So, today I just started stacking things up and moving them out. Between the Clorox wipes, Pledge and Windex …. this room transformed .

I didn’t take a single picture before hand because I just dove in. I didn’t even think to. And frankly, it was so bad that I’m sure I wouldn’t have posted them. I had to box up shipments, write thank you notes and print out shipping labels. I listed out all my paint color needs and supply needs. I even changed up my inspiration board – moved it, too!!

I have to admit, the table that holds all the paints drives me cray-cray because I still have not painted it white! My chicken coop table still isn’t white either {I didn’t take a picture of it – sorry.} Maybe I will get to that this summer! Although, I distinctively remember it being on last year’s summer list. I want the kind of studio you’ve seen that is incredibly cute and functional as well! And for some reason I think my furniture needs to be all white for that to come full circle! I also want a sheet of glass to cover the entire top of my painting table.

Of course I cleaned my room while watching all of this weeks episodes of Days of Our Lives. I have officially ran out of stuff to watch while painting. I kept seeing previews for the show The Only Way is Essex on Hulu. I couldn’t help myself, I started with season 1, episode 1. Confession – I had to stop what I was doing to concentrate on what they where saying!!! Now, let us get something straight – I have a thick southern accent. So, I have no right to be talking about the way anyone talks. But I really couldn’t understand them!!! My favorite was “Shu-Up” – I heard it so many times in the first episode, I have officially started saying shut-up just like it!! hahah! And for the record, I love their accent – even if I couldn’t understand it {at first!} Now, I have 4 seasons to finish up because nothing is better than fake reality. Nothing.

As for that brick wall – it must have come crashing down as soon as I moved everything back in the room because I am ready to paint again. I’ve sucked down a few cups of coffee. My kids are in bed asleep. And I’m singing the Essex theme song – it is time to get my paint on.

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